White Sands or Bust...(literally!)

See? I told you that the next blog update would be coming soon. Again, it's simply because our life is, and continues to grow more and more exciting. We were extra thrilled to have a few visitors last weekend, too. Cody's parents and sister, Katie made the long trip to New Mexico to spend some time with us. It was so great having them here, though the weekend definitely went far too quickly. We saw the sights of Las Cruces (Cody is an excellent tour guide), ate lots of green chile (signature New Mexico cuisine), watched Aggie football, and perhaps most importantly, took a trip to White Sands for the Balloon Festival. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is where the excitement really went down.

After lots of resistance on my part, my mother and father-in-law convinced me to wake up at the crack of dawn on Saturday morning to view a collection of hot air balloons. I must say, I'm glad I gave in to the peer pressure, and not just because it enabled me to break my shopping record by being the first customer at our neighborhood garage sale at 6:00 am. It was one of the most gorgeous sites I've ever seen--a white sand backdrop, clear blue skies sprinkled with just the right amount of color from the mountains, and TONS of bright hues as each hot air balloon signaled lift off. If you ever get the chance to witness something like this, do it. It's truly incredible and yet another reminder of the natural beauty around us that we too often take for granted. OK, my hippie moment is over now, so back to the excitement...

 Katie and Lynn pre-balloon launch

 Cody just being fabulous, as usual.

 Big sis & me! So glad we were finally reunited.

 Balloon launch pad

 Time for takeoff!

 A little father/son bonding time at White Sands

 Family photo op

 Isn't he even more handsome with a colorful balloon backdrop?

 I have the best in-laws, and no, I'm not just sucking up. They're incredible!

 Had to document the Aggie-colored balloon. Whoop!

After the balloon launch, we had to participate in the must-do activity of White Sands: sledding down the sand dunes. Naturally, we loved the thrill of speeding down these hills, and Lynn and Tami even participated. Tami, in fact, was probably the most hard core sledder of our group, when she flew down the dune and got at least 2 feet of "big air" upon landing...and that wasn't all she got. She unfortunately bruised the heck out of her tailbone and caused quite a scene at the national monument (hence the "bust" in the title of this post). The park rangers even called the paramedic team over! I promised I'd be a good daughter-in-law and not go into too much detail, but trust me, Katie and I could hardly resist taking a few paparazzi pictures of the scene. Not to worry, Tami is doing well now and mending the tailbone like the champ that she proved to everyone that she is. In other words, I have one tough rock star of a mother-in-law!

 Let the sledding begin!

 I think I was born for this.

 Right before the rock star, big air moment...

 The paramedics responded rather quickly. Moral of the story: if you're going to be hardcore and bust it while sledding at White Sands, it's nice to know their first responders will be there in a flash.

The excitement clearly did nothing to deter us from continuing the sledding extravaganza. It's always good to get in touch with your inner child, right?

 My favorite part of the morning was the hot air balloon ride! Sorry the pic is so far away, we were busy floating over New Mexico...

Can you believe how cool we are?

We were really sad to see a portion of the Johnson family go back to Texas, but now we're even more excited about the big reunion at Christmas. Plus, as quickly as time is flying, we know that will be here before we know it. Thanks again Lynn, Tami, and Katie for spending a wonderful weekend with us!