Day Trip to Carlsbad Caverns

I took Monday off, and we took a 3-hour (each way) day trip to Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico. It was our first time there, and it was quite amazing! It was like Timpanogos Cave times 50. The cave was HUGE! We hiked down into the largest part of the cave, which was a total of about 2.5 miles (1 mile down and 1.5 miles once you were inside). We had a hard time getting our flash to work right inside the cave, so I'm including a couple of pics taken by other people to show you how cool it was. (The pic with the guy pointing shows the entrance - the tiny light.)






Also, here is a pic from the drive showing some oil wells of West Texas, for those of you who have never been here.


And, this will only be interesting to my family, but 10 years ago my dad, brothers, and I drove across the country together and ate at this dive of a restaurant in West Texas (after searching for a normal place for an hour and practically dying of starvation). We often reminisce about that experience; it was like stepping back in time about 50 years. (My dad thought it was so cool that real Texas ranchers were telling cattle roping stories.) The place has since been renamed and painted, but you can still see how ghetto it is. So, this is the old Cattleman's in Pecos, TX.

Six Years Later...

Today is my sixth wedding anniversary, so I thought I would post some pics from these last six years...I look forward to many more!

New Bathroom!!

We FINALLY finished our bathroom renovation! All we did was remove the wallpaper, texture the walls, and paint. But, boy, was that a major task! Taking the wallpaper down was the worst part, but now it is back in working order. Come one, come all to visit us and this can be yours.....

BEFORE: I didn't get great pics, but you can kind of get the idea. This ugly wallpaper has a forest with dancing, woodsy bears playing trumpets. Why?



DURING: We were down to the sheetrock at this point. What a mess!





AFTER: It was A LOT of work, but worth it.







We learned a lot doing this, but I don't look forward to removing the wallpaper border in the master bath now...

Chris likes to say that this blog isn't really his since he never posts on it. But, just to prove that this is his blog too, I am posting a pic of him and his brother Rich. We were in Utah last week for Rich's law school graduation from the University of Utah and to visit family and friends. It was fun!

OK, so finally I am posting some house pics....We are still putting things up in most of the rooms, but here are some pics of the living room, kitchen, and my office. Those are the rooms that are closest to completion. Notice the new carpet we put in...MUCH better than what was there before. I will post more as we finish the decorating. We tore all the wallpaper down and scraped the popcorn ceilings in the guest bathroom, so that is a work in progress...one day you will see before and after pics...

What a fun Saturday! Chris and I drove to Lubbock to go to the temple and see Becka and Sam Reedy. It was a fun barbecue with the Reedy and Noteware families and a great mini-55er reunion. (Becka was my roommate at BYU, and we had not seen each other in 5 years!) Sam and Becka took us on a tour of Lubbock, which was awesome! :) I also included a pic of the Midland skyline from the ride home - quite a big skyline for such a small place, eh? I also posted a pic of hail from the major storm we had on Thursday - everything IS bigger in Texas....the storm was crazy!!

We are still sorting through boxes and putting things into place, but I thought I'd post some major progress....Here are some before pics of the bright pink room, old carpet, and black fan and some after pics with new paint and new carpet...I'll post more pics when our other things are in place...

I was able to spend the Easter weekend with the Hart fam in NC! We had a really fun time hanging out, doing an Easter egg hunt, and of course eating....Mom surprised everyone with a bunny....the kids loved Flopsy II (Flopsy I was my bunny as a kid who "ran away" after chewing through a lot of the netting of our patio in Florida)....anyway, it was a great time! We missed Chris, but we will catch him next time.....and, we are in the process of moving into our house....I'll post some pics after the dust settles...