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Firewood and Forts in the Jemez

Today we went up to Jemez to cut some firewood for our camping trips next year. For $20 dollars you can cut up to 5 cords of wood. It helps thin the forest to prevent forest fires and is way cheaper than buying firewood at the campsites. Once again it was a beautiful drive into the mountains. 

The forest department workers had already gone through this section cutting the trees down and making giant piles of the branches. The kids loved climbing into the piles and pretended they were forts. 

It was a beautiful 40 degrees in the mountains. 

Tom and I would cut the logs to size and bring them up and put them in his trailer. We filled his trailer as well as the back of our Traverse and their suburban. 

This was Elijah's first time using a chain saw. Mr. Tom was nice enough to teach him how to use it. It reminded me of my childhood when we would cut our wood to heat through the winter. Many good memories of chain sawing and splitting wood. 

The girls had a blast playing outside and climbing through the branches. 

We had a little picnic in the mountains with some warm cocoa and tea.  

Things did get a little crazy on our way out of the mountains. You know that lack of oxygen with being at altitude. :) 

Visit to Nana on Eva's birthday

We swung through Michigan on our drive from Upland to Mark and Ashley's wedding so that we could visit Nana (Yaya to the kids.)

We had the best time with her!

It was Eva's birthday, and Nana made sure that her birthday was well-celebrated! She was greeted with a tiara to wear, pink tablecloth set with party plates, a birthday cake and candles!

Eva loved it!

Nana gave her a doll which Eva had been eyeing for months. Eva was thrilled. She named the doll Bella.

Nana had presents for Elijah, Peter and Joseph as well. Elijah showed her how he loves to build Legos. First he follows the directions, then he looks at it and thinks of new ways he could put the pieces together. He enjoyed showing his Lego construction to Nana.

Peter and Joseph got matchbox cars and car carriers, which they played with constantly for the rest of the trip!

Bella sat in a seat of honor beside Eva for the rest of the trip.

Charging station hack

I got tired of uncharged tablets and not able to find cords so got a little crazy with the zip ties. :)

Camping in the Jemez

This past September we went camping with our friends at Fenton Lake in the Jemez. It was a beautiful time to be in the mountains. 

The kids loved being outdoors and running to their hearts content.  

We brought the kids bikes along which they enjoyed riding on the gravel road and on some of the trails. The wild flowers were blossoming at the time we there there. 

Eva and her friend Averlee running through the field in chase of the dogs. They had a great time being free and easy. 

Although the water was a bit cold, it was a beautiful day for paddle boarding. Jamie took the board around the lake as the rest of us hiked around it. 

A Jemez Christmas tree

Today we did our yearly tradition and drove into the Jemez Mountains for our Christmas Tree with our good friends. It was a beautiful day and although we didn't get any snow it was a great way to kick off our Christmas season!

We stopped at the ranger station to get purchase our ticket for getting a tree and were surprised with a vendor selling local honey who was giving out free cotton candy. 

This year we drove a ways up into the mountains looking for the perfect tree. There are numerous dirt roads that snake through the Jemez mountains and as long as you cut down in the approved areas you're good to go. 

Once we found a nice meadow to pull off into we decided to hike into the hills in search of the perfect tree (think Griswald's Family Christmas Vacation here). 

We finally found the perfect tree. It needed a little cutting down to size... but she was a beautiful. :) 

Elijah helped me cut the three down. 

After carrying the trees out of the mountains we had coco and gingerbread cake. What fun it was to be out in the middle of nowhere. 

We decorated the tree that night. 

Elijah used a toy claw to put on ornaments just to make it interesting.