A beautiful evening in ABQ

I took Eli and Eva for walk after dinner as its a beautiful spring evening in ABQ. We ended climbing trees and playing in the park.

We made a year!

We made a year! Today Peter James and Joseph Henry turn ONE! God has been so good to us in this crazy wonderful overwhelming year. And now, we celebrate!!

Morning racing

Brother and sister enjoying some laps before breakfast.

Mobile!

We have 2 mobile babies. I'm exhausted! :) Also, every picture from here on out will be blurry. They are on the MOVE!

A Day at the Zoo with Oma and Poppi

We spent a beautiful day with Oma and Poppi at the zoo. See them with all the grandkids in the African throne?? Theres more than 1 little monkey in that bunch. Eva enjoyed special attention from Poppi and climbed every rock she could find.

We were especially enchanted by the mama chimpanzee who just had baby twins! She cradled them so protectively. We felt a bond! We think they will be some of our special animals to visit, just like the giraffe that was born a few days after Eva, and the playful baby rhino, Chopper, that Elijah especially enjoys watching.

Hot drinks for everyone!

Our morning routine lately... Hot milky drinks for everyone! Our line-up: honey lattes for David and me, cocoa or milk tea for Eva and Elijah, and warm bottles for Peter and Joseph... Mornings are hard enough. Better to face them with a hot beverage! :)

Hope Kindergarten Service Project

Eli's Kindergarten class at Hope Church had a service project at a nearby elementary school. He was so excited he packed all our yard tools himself in the car and buckled himself in an hour before we needed to go. I was so proud of him at the project as he worked the entire time with such a great attitude. At the end he helped "test" the playground equipment we helped clean. He and I stayed an extra 20 minutes at the playground to have snacks he had packed for us.

Me and my boys

Happy St Patrick's Day!

Love my little leprechauns!

A big helper

Eli stepped in and helped feed his little brothers while daddy and mommy were busy making breakfast.

A Play House

Every time we go to Costco Elijah and Eva would play in the playhouse they had there and would always ask for one at home. Jamie and I had been discussing a playhouse for a while anyway so we finally decided to get one for them. Elijah and Eva helped me put the house together and loved playing with it.

Into Carlsbad Caverns

After the somewhat mythical drive to the visitors center through ice covered desert, reminiscent of the frozen Narnia, the descent into the caverns felt like we were entering into another world... something more akin to Underland in C.S. Lewis' Silver Chair. The Big Room, aptly named as it's a massive cavern, took us two hours to walk around. 

Thankfully there was a very well designed path for us to stay on and the cavern was well illuminated. They said it was designed by a lighting crew from Broadway, and we believed for how artfully it was done.

One baby was strapped to Jamie and one to me for a bit, and then dad for part of it. They were amazing troopers on our tramp around the cave. sleeping for part of it and looking around the other part. 

This giant stalactite below is called Rock Of Ages. Early in the caves history when rangers would give tours they would turn off the lights at this point and show how dark the cave was. Then they would turn them back on and walk up the hill next to the formation and sing the old hymn "Rock of Ages." Seeing as tours are too large now and people are walking throughout the big cavern they no longer do either tradition, but it was fun to picture what that must have been like.   

The below shot is from the top of a hill looking back through part of the big cavern. 

Notice our little princess leading the way (below). Eva and Elijah did an outstanding job walking through most of the cave. We got them flashlights, which was a great decision. They felt confident shining the flashlight in front of the path, and shining the light at various features helped them focus on the many things to see.  They also enjoyed carrying the self-guided audio tour player. Elijah listened to the entire kids tour himself.

Elijah declares the Caverns were amazingly good and big. It was a highlight for him, and he tells all he meets about this trip!

A trip to Carlsbad Caverns

To conclude our time with Dad and Mom Otten we headed down to Carlsbad Caverns for the weekend. Of course this trip coincided with one of the few snow storms we get here in New Mexico, but thankfully it was a safe drive down.

. What should have been a four and a half hour drive ended up being much longer, but it was great to finally get there. We enjoyed a wonderful meal at the No Whiner Diner, a recommendation from a friend whose in-laws owned the place. The food was excellent with a great atmosphere... highly recommended for anybody passing through Carlsbad. 

The next morning we headed to the caverns, but discovered there was a delayed opening due to the storm. We made do by checking out the gift shop attractions. 

The drive into the mountains was absolutely beautiful thanks to the ice fog that coated everything with a layer of ice. We were especially amazed at the ice-coated cactus.

At the Visitor's Center we learned about how the cave was formed, as well as took some fun pictures. 

Next we head down into the caverns...