I just finished reviewing the Laeser Institute blog from years past and realized I haven't updated it in SO long!
We relocated to New Mexico (and just today someone in Florida asked me if it was in the United States) and have been spending the year settling in....
This blog is such a great place for me to bring together family memories, so I am going to give a brief (but maybe somewhat lengthy) synopsis of 2013...
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| One of our first photos in LA where the view is awesome! |
Being back in NM has allowed us to spend a lot more time outside doing the things we love. Last year wasn't the largest snowfall year on record, but we managed to play a little bit up at our local mountain. Layton skied for the first time and he did GREAT! Kestrel spent her time snow playing and cheering her big brother on.
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| Loving the sun and snow! |
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| Gaining confidence |
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| Looking good! |
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| Tired after a full day of skiing |
Winter didn't last as long as I thought it would and spring crept up on us quickly. With the warmer weather comes lots of fun!
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| Celebrating the birth of the white rhino at Rio Grande Zoo |
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| Spending time with Bapi at the Zoo |
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| First MAJOR tooth loss! |
One of mine and Luke's favorite childhood memories is of Bandelier National Monument. On a gorgeous sunny day, we took the kids for their first visit. We have been back a handful of times and love sharing this historic place with family and friends.
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| Cliff dwellings |
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| Inside the dwellings |
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| Kestrel's first trip up to the Ceremonial Cave now known as the Alcove House |
Spring also brings birthdays our way. Kestrel turned four on April 26th, Layton turned 7 on May 16th and Luke turned...ahem...older on April 19th.
Our kids had very different birthdays this year because they were surrounded by FAMILY!! It was a first for them and I think you can see that they enjoyed these birthdays very much!! Both kids also celebrated their birthday twice!! Once in Los Alamos and once in Albuquerque.
Layton ended first grade and we couldn't have asked for a better teacher that Mrs. Magellsen to help him in his transition to a new school. He was academically a little behind, but caught up fast and made lots of friends. Once school was out, we were on SUMMER VACATION!!!!
We began the summer with a quick trip to Dallas on Memorial Day weekend. Luke "worked" and we played! We also met up with our cousins, Tyler and Lauren, but I didn't get any pics. It was too hard capturing them while the kids bounced at the trampoline park!!!
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| On our way to LegoLand |
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| Lady Lego |
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| Tallest tower EVER! |
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| Lego stage |
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| He is in Lego Heaven |
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| That's some TX PIT BBQ! |
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| Fort Worth Zoo |
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| Always love hotel pools! |
As soon as Luke had some time off, we packed up the camping gear and headed to Colorado! We picked an excellent spot near Pagosa Springs which allowed us to day trip to The Great Sand Dunes. We finished the trip up with a HOT hike at Ghost Ranch.
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| Camp queen setting it all up |
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| Cocoa in the morning |
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| Day hike |
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| Storm rolling in over the Sand Dunes |
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| Selfie |
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| Storm was crazy |
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| Wish you could hear the families screaming as the sand pounded |
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| Hike in the higher elevations to avoid the sand |
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| Storm passed |
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| Family portrait |
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| Look at that view! |
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| Meanwhile back at the camp site |
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| Yep, gotta have BB gun while camping in the west |
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| Nice day hike to a waterfall |
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| Layton getting some energy out |
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| Mom taking a clown ride after Layton petered out |
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| Last hike at Ghost Ranch. The kids were fairly miserable in the heat. |
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| The landscape is worth the heat |
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| Gotta love Northern NM! |
Summer raged on and we took a wonderful trip to Topsail Island, NC with the Hester Family (Luke's mom's side). We had the best beach house and it was truly a family vacation!!
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| My crew |
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| I love these three! |
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| Cousins with Aunt Jessie |
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| Aunt Jessie telling a story... |
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| I love Kestrel's hand on Aunt Jessie's arm as she says Thanks for the story |
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| Sightseeing in Wilmington |
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| Rainy day on the battleship |
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| Cousins! |
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| Bunk mates |
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| Love this kid! |
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| Looking sweet... |
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| At the guns... |
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| Not sure what she is doing... |
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| Back at the beach |
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| Most days were like this... |
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| AH!!! Don't eat the kids!! |
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| Surfer boy |
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| Beach bum |
After the beach trip, we came home for the remainder of the summer and were joined by Nana and Grampa and our niece, Tea. Nana and Grampa settled in nicely and summer continued to roll along. The Fourth of July was a good time and memorable because Luke and I had our 20th HIGH SCHOOL REUNION (eegads!!!!). We didn't celebrate too much with the group, but we did see some old friends at the annual fireworks in White Rock. We live in a small town now and the Fourth of July Parade was even smaller...There wasn't even a float!! Layton and the girls headed downtown for some hard-to-find-fun...
Due to fire restrictions, we weren't allowed fireworks but I did sneak down to Okay Owingeh Reservation and get some sparklers, smoke bombs and snakes....
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| Love this mimi-me of mine! |
With summer in full swing, we had to spend some time on the boat! Grandma loaded up the coolers and we headed out. We were lucky enough to have my niece, Jillian, with us.
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| Wind in her hair! |
We spent almost every day at the pool in our neighborhood, which is the same as every other summer, but Layton gathered courage and went off of the high dive (about 1000 times) and Kestrel mastered the slide. Summer was FUN!
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| CRASHED! |
And exhausting! I just love the above picture of the girls after a hard day of playing....
At the end of the summer, we spent Grandma's birthday with her.
The new school year came too fast, but we geared up and got ready for Fall.
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| First day of 2nd grade |
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| Back to school climbing trip with best bud, Matthew |
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| At the local crag |
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| Look at him go! |
It was time for my birthday and this 22nd birthday was awesome!! My good friend, Anna, made me my favorite - red velvet - from scratch and it was DELISH!!
I worked the Fall semester at UNM - LA and Layton went head-strong into 2nd grade. Kestrel is at home with me one more year and she is loving her "homework" and learning letters and numbers. Teaching pre-school is HARD!!! I am just hoping she is ready for Kindergarten in 2014.
Fall brought much cooler temps and one of my favorite holidays - Halloween!
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| We let him use the knife and carve it himself |
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| Trying to make the same face as my pumpkin's... |
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| The family |
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| The best one! Truly captures my family. |
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| Kitty |
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| Ninja |
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| Watch out for these two |
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| Grrrrrrr |
My next post will not be nearly this lengthy. I felt like I had lost a whole year of family pictures when I looked through the older posts. We take A LOT of photos and it is hard to really see them all when they are in folders from Luke's phone, my phone, our camera, FB posts and ones that are emailed to us. This allows me to put them in one place and create the history of the Institute for my babes...
