Christmas 2008

the stockings were hung by the chimney with care. or, in our case, they were laid by the wood burning stove with care. The far left stocking is for the new baby. It wasn't stuffed.




Our little drummer boy on X-mas morning, not sure what to do with all this stuff.




Cool! ornaments! let's grab them!




Daddy made some sock monkeys for his babies.





The aftermath

More snow, cuddly babies, and boxes are the best toys

So here are some random pictures from today. First, it's been snowing for the past 24 hrs. Here are the Jemez Mts. in the snow.



Second, James gets very cuddly mid morning and midafternoon. He's doesn't fall asleep, his nap times are different. He just wants to cuddle with his daddy.



and the babies had a blast playing with a box today. so much fun!
Helena is inside this box, they're playing peek-a-boo through the handle hole.












And a final video for your enjoyment:

Birdies!

There were three new additions to our house yesterday. One of the teens from the church was giving away some finches in anticipation of going off to college. here they are in all their finchy glory:

Like father and mother, like son and daughter

The babies love to climb. They'll climb anything: chairs, bookshelves, tables. They can't quite make it into bed yet. Airports are particularly fun because there's so many tables and chairs in the waiting areas. I put together a short photo essay on the amazing climbing babies. keep in mind that no parental help was given at any time (except when Helena wanted to get down)


Step 1: getting up. This generally involves grabbing something with your hands and then hoisting your butt up as high as it will go, hoping your knees or feet can get some purchase on something.

Step 2: Pointing at Daddy and laughing. Hey kid, don't brag. I can do it too, you know. I just don't fit between the shelves.

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Step 3: Try to get down, realize you can't, and laugh some more.

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Step 4: Turn into James. Lounge like a monkey in a tree.

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Step 5: scoot right off!

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that wasn't so hard, was it? Next time, Helena, I expect you to do it all by yourself. Also, pick up your toys, both of you!

snowy skies

Yesterday and the day before it snowed, but those were insignificant amounts that soon melted. Today it snowed steadily alllllllll day. In the last two hours I think 3 inches accumulated on our balcony rail. Furthermore! It is supposed to continue snowing till Friday-- we're going for around 20 inches here. As of right now there is no more than a two hour delay for schools and the lab (that's with at least six inches already down and no sign of letup). What?! If this was Northern Virginia the county would be peeing its pants right about now. The world would shut down and the supermarkets would be devoid of tp and bread.

I (Logan) for one am enjoying the snow. So far. :) When Eric got back from work today we bundled up, babes and all, and went for a walk. We were intending to go a few blocks down the hill to visit the Kohlrusts, but we never made it more than a few houses down because we met some of our other friends who were outside shoveling. We stopped to chat and pet their dogs and soon they brought out their sleds and showed us their sledding hill in the empty lot next to their house. We had so much fun sledding with Helena and James! I'm not quite sure if they had as much fun as we did. . .

Finally we were all frozen and decided to head back home for some hot mulled cider. A very nice time. We joked about it being so cold on the way home, that we're not used to it being snowy and so bitter--just under freezing is all you need for snow in Va. Now we know we're just a bunch of wimps about the cold.

The snow stopped for a few hours Tuesday morning, but it has started falling again, soft and heavy.

Anyway, enjoy the pics from the snow.



Our Deck after 3-4 inches of snow. Taken Monday around 5PM.




Our deck Tuesday Morning. How many inches is that? 12? 14?




"Um... what's all this white stuff? It's cold!" Our neighbor's driveway. They had just shovelled 15 minutes ago...


Helena and Eric sledding. Eric needs to learn how to steer...

Dancin' Babes

The babies love dancing, and we finally caught it on tape! Enjoy these two. In James' video, I think he decided to quit dancing to go play Backgammon with Helena...

and a bonus video: Helena playing dress-up with my coat:

Snow!

Apparently, it snowed whilst we were in NY for Thanksgiving, then melted away. We got maybe 1/2 an inch the night we returned, but that's mostly gone except for the part of our deck that never sees sun.

And, just to reiterate the previous post, today I lifted my arms to get something, and Helena got a glimpse of my belly button and went berserk, in a happy, giddy way.

belly your neighbor

Helena is obsessed with belly buttons. Hers, yours, her brother's, it doesn't matter. If it's a navel, she'll play with it. First she finds it, lifting your shirt up a little bit. Then she plays with it with her index finger, smiling and laughing the whole time. Sometimes she'll blow raspberries on you, other times she'll hug your belly like it was a dear friend.

It's great to watch them grow in intelligence from day to day. Each day it seems like they are more interact-able. We play fun games, read stories, and eat good food together.

Life is good.

Up to my throne

We have an armchair that James has taken to climbing into and sitting, but only when the seat cushion is removed. He never liked sitting in it until he stained the seat cushion, and we took the cover off in order to wash it. While the cushion was gone, James found that the new, lower seat height was just right for climbing into and proudly sitting in the cushionless chair.

When the cushion got put back, he found the chair too high to climb into, and now whenever he wants to sit in the chair he labors to remove the cushion as big as he is so he can climb into the chair and once again sit proudly.

He watches from his mountain walls

Every so often I am privileged enough to witness the sunrise over the Sangre de Christo mountains. Before the time change and our move, Logan saw them often, but I am only up once a week or so.

This morning it was glorious. A front came through last night, and there was a curtain of gray across the Eastern sky. The peaks of the mountains disappeared into the clouds, but there were places the Sun could peek through, deep orange and red overflowing its gray walls and pouring out to meet me. I drove the longer way to work with the better views so I could take it all in.

veggies!

Well, very exciting news-- we finally got hooked up with a vegetable coop that delivers fresh local produce to us every monday. The produce has been really great so far, we've had two deliveries. Really fresh, and its fun because its a surprise what you get every week. They only collect from local farms so all the food has to be seasonal so you don't get any tomatoes around now, but you do get bok choi. We're lucky here in New Mexico though because there is a really diverse growing season-- in the south it stays warm pretty much throughout the winter. I'm excited to get on the eating seasonally/locally bandwagon. The more I read about it the more important it seems to take these small steps in the local foods direction. And its far more important than just eating organic food. When I signed up for the coop they had a little questionnaire that polled: "Would you rather purchase organic apples flown in from California, or local apples from a small farm in Albuquerque? " I thought that was an interesting question to pose to people who wanted to join their coop.

Wacky weather

Man we're having a crazy storm today. It's freezing cold and alternating dark, windy, and snowing, with bursts of cheery sunshine. We've seen rain, snow, and sleet today. Not much is sticking though. Anyways, a good day to stay warm indoors and make some yummy soup.

Chutes and Ladders

Los Alamos just built a new skate park in front of the public library. There was some controversy over the location, with many vocal opponents at city council meetings. I don't see how it's a bad thing, the Library is close to downtown and across the street from a park. The skaters hardly interrupt anybody.

In any case, we went to play on the adjacent playground, and watched the skaters. For Helena and James, it was the first time we had been to a playground that they could truly appreciate. Helena proved herself to be the more daring, practically diving down the slide. James warmed up to it eventually, but Helenas thoroughly enjoyed herself.

It was a good day.

rare little rose, piece of inmost horticultural art

Last night was Halloween. Los Alamos has a "Trick or Treat on mainstreet," where every kid in town goes trick or treating around the several businesses downtown. It's quite the event, nobody goes around the neighborhood until that event ends around 7. We only had 4 or 5 groups of kids come to our door between 7 and 9. Logan and I speculate that many people don't give out candy because they figure the kids get enough from mainstreet. Also, we didn't see any teenagers or middle schoolers, which was strange, because I know for a fact that there are several that live on our street. My guess is they focus on certain neighborhoods, especially the more well-to-do areas. There is a house in one neighborhood that gives out Godiva chocolate. According to the teens I work with, people come up from towns 30 and 40 minutes away in order to hit up that houses and others like it.

We also had our friend Jeff over. The idea was we could play games and give out candy together, although the dearth of costumed visitors meant we pigged out on the smarties and snickers ourselves. It was good to chat and play games and drink Sangria.

Episode IV: A New Home

We have bought a house! We don't have internet there yet, but soon. The babies love it, we love it. It's cute, but big enough for our family. God is good.

The Bonsai adventure begins!

Inspired by several trips to the National Arboretum, and sidelined from Rock Climbing while my knee heals/recovers/stays the same, I am intrepidly undertaking a new hobby: Training bonsai trees!

it's a slow process, but i've taken the first step: getting a tree. Two, actually. One's more of a shrub right now, but with a little patience and diligence (virtues I often lack, and hope to cultivate through bonsai) both will grow into great looking bonsai.

in the pictures: The little shrub is a flowering quince, and the tree is a trident maple.

Helena's Scrunchy face caught on film!

Reddening the sun with smoke; or, smells like bacon and SUVs

As we didn't bring much furniture with us across the country, some parishioners have been very kind and have donated things such as chairs, bookshelves, and a dresser. The guy who gave us the dresser delivered it the other night with his friend while I was in the kitchen cooking bacon. Logan was at first confused when he showed up at our door, because he is a cop and was still in his uniform. His buddy was another cop. We weren't in trouble with the law, they only wanted to give us a dresser. After it was moved into our apartment, I thought I would be neighborly and offer some of our food that I had just finished cooking... "Hey, do you guys want any bacon?" They accused me (in jest) of making a cop joke in poor taste, and we all had a good laugh.

Today we have just returned from a grocery trip to Santa Fe. As there is only one grocery store in Los Alamos (Well, two, but they are both Smith's) If you want anything special or something that Smith's doesn't have, you have to drive to Santa Fe. Our itinerary included four different natural food stores (different sales, stock, etc. you see.) Upon exiting the first, we found that a huge SUV had done a horrible parking job next to us. It was a foot over the line, and about a foot and a half away from our car. Our passenger side door bore the marks of a huge ding obviously caused by the urban assault vehicle's Driver door. It was ridiculous, we had to put both babies in the car from the other side because we couldn't squeeze in on that side. Some people. I contemplated writing a note, but thought that it would be useless, as the driver already knows he or she did a horrible parking job. There was about five feet of space on the other side of the car, no exaggeration. We weren't unnaturally close the the line, we were spot on in the center. The other guy had to know it was horrible, either through banging up our car upon exit, or after returning to his car and seeing how it was taking up the better part of two spaces.

We shrugged it off and got lunch at a mediocre buffet, then proceeded on to whole foods and trader joe's. At trader joes, we pulled into our spot and parked, then noticed that the car directly in front of us was the same monstrosity that had parked so poorly only an hour before! They must have been on the same natural foods tour we were. We recognized the people getting in the car as customers from the first store, so we are pretty certain that it was the culprit. Logan ran in to the store and I stayed with our sleeping babies as I watched them load their car, and leave their cart in an empty space next to them (their parking job this time was ok). I couldn't believe they would just leave a cart in the middle of the parking lot, when the store was just twenty yards away! Some people. sheesh.

In other news, the population of our apartement is going to double over the weekend, as my family will be in town. We'll see how that works out, space-wise.

How modest, kindly, all-accomplished, wise

The babies are becoming generous, offering to help out in their own special way. The other day I arrived home from work, and James toddled over to greet me. He gave me a hug and then showed me what was in his mouth (a piece of pita he was working on). He stuck out his tongue, and was very proud of the fact that he had pita, then the mushy half-chewed pita fell onto my leg. James sauntered off, happy to give his father a gift. Thanks James. This morning he also tried to feed Helena the bits of food he found on the ground after breakfast. yummy.

Helena helps out, too. Just yesterday I was changing James, who had given me a rather large gift in his diaper. Helena went for the baby wipes, which she loves. I managed to get them from her before she pulled them all out, but she still got a few to play with. I continued to clean James up, and Helena decided she would help. Squatting down next to James, she took a wipe in her hand and started to dab at his nether region. Thank you Helena! But I think I can handle this myself...

Photos are here!

Lots has been going on here. For one thing I've been on a really big cooking kick, which has resulted in some tasty delights. I was most proud of my homemade potato bread which was a hit around this place. Also, I finally made cream cheese (I've been scared to try it) and now have some whey so I can try my hand at culturing something, anything! Other cooking ventures were not as successful, for example-- my hommus. I really like garlic you see, so I thought if I just added five cloves of garlic instead of the three called for, then it would taste super delicious--right? Eric still won't kiss me, 24 hours and many tooth brushings later. The face the babies made was priceless.

Next project, PESTO!

Here is my beautiful basil plant I bought for the occasion:



Next up in our strange and unusual lives, Eric's knee decided to develope a swelling the size of a grapefruit above it. This is apparently quite painful, so painful infact, that Eric actually went to the doctor to see what it was about. The doctor ordered xrays and speculates that it's either bursitis or some sort of inflammatory arthritis. We're hoping its not the latter because that would not be very fun. Today we get to go to back to the doc to have the thing drained, I'm hoping I get to watch!

Finally some baby action-- cuteness from last night's bath. Enjoy!

we will no longer roam

There are a number of Arizona Ashes surrounding the Smith's parking lot, and as I walked home from the bus stop this evening, the leaves were crisp and rippling off of branches as the wind disturbed their peace. I got caught in a rain yellow, the clear sounds of fall all around me as I continued home. The sound of skittering leaves faded as I walked through the ghost town strip mall, an abandoned parking lot full of boarded up windows, weeds and potholes.

I learned from the residents here that White Rock used to be thriving, with a movie theater, bowling alley, two grocery stores, and more, but there had been a decline. Los Alamos (of which White Rock is technically a subdivision of) has experienced a similar decline, but has bounced back in recent years, with a variety of restaurants and stores available. White Rock has very few restaurants (2, maybe 3?) and only a smattering of other services. No fast food places can stay open, because there are no employees available... All the teenagers get enough money from their Los Alamos National Lab-paid parents, and with the increase of gas prices in the past 2 years, nobody from Santa Fe wants to drive all the way up the hill for a minimum wage job. So, the result is that White Rock is mainly a bedroom community, with a few gas stations, tiny library and beautiful parks.

On my way home I was reading a book, taking my time strolling through the suburban desert. I kept feeling small drops of water, but a quick glance up from the pages revealed blue skies and no threat. 200 yards from our apartment, the drops came more regularly, and it was then I realized that directly behind me a grey cloud was approaching. The cloud was friendly, not threatening, and the rain coming from it was hardly a bother, even to the pages of my book.

Arriving home I had a rollicking good time playing on the floor with the babies, who loved my cashmere sweater. I like it, too.qww

Life in the Logan-verse

Well new for me is my position as barista-of-the-morning at Hot Rocks Java cafe. Now I rise as early as "in the fours" to go make lattes and such for the lovely folk at Los Alamos National Lab. I'm actually delighted with my little job (even though I get up at hours I didn't actually believe existed ) and I enjoy all the seemingly trite aspects of this new adventure. People are so friendly here and I think its fun to start their day off with a smile and a warm brew. I beam with pride when a customer complements a drink I crafted for him. The people I work with are great too, and help me feel better adjusted to being here. I never knew I had missed my true calling in life.

In other news, today we saw a parade. I've had "it's a parade, it's a parade, it's a parade, it's a parade..." (to the monotone mar-lu ditty) running through my head all day. Anyways, the whole town I believe turned out for this parade, actually, let's say half--and the other half were in it. It was pretty cute, especially since the only occasion warranting the event was the highschool's homecoming. This town is small, let me stress, and pleasantville. We got quite a kick out of it. Babies were unenthused and fell asleep. I ate smarties.

Also exciting, we're under contract for the house we were scouting. HURRAY! I can't wait to move in, I want to finally be somewhere I can unpack and make a home and know I won't have to move again for a loooonnnnnng time.

close to the sun in lonely lands

we saw the most amazing sunset the other night, after picking ben up in Santa Fe after his 24hr jaunt into Colorado. The Entire valley between the Jemez and the Sangres was covered with clouds and grey, except one large window which revealed a blue-gold sky in the distance. to the west it was raining, and the light from the sun was filtered through the raindrops, spreading the sunset along the ridge. it was like the ridge was on fire, or the volcano had become active again. on top of that, there were several rainstorms in the valley, purple from the light of the sun, and lit up with bolts of lighting. It was an amazing sight, and hard to keep my eyes on the road because of the beauty of the sunset. We would have stopped to gawk, but the babies were tired and hungry and crying.

Always roaming with a hungry heart

So, the babies love the drawer under the oven where all the pans are. Our stuff still hasn't arrived (I talked to the driver of the moving van today, he said he's on his way... so that's nice) and so the drawer is mostly empty except for a baking sheet. The babies love to pull out the drawer and play inside. there are also a few toys that they keep there... whenever I find them in the drawer (the toys, not the babies) I take them out, but they inevitably find their way back in.

At least they're learning to put their toys away...

such a tide as moving

James is now old enough and big enough for his carseat to face forward, and we turned it around for the first time today, right before the short drive home. He didn't like it at first, until he realized he was face to face with his sister (who is also old and big enough to face forward, but we don't have the right carseat yet).

they spent the rest of the trip laughing and giggling and playing and grabbing each other's hands and feet. It was a good moment in their relationship. A nice way to close out their first year of life outside the womb. Helena and James have grown much and travelled much, and it is an honor, privilege, and blessing to know, to love, and to parent them.

I'm gonna drive all night (or, Mark Spurrier was right)

We saw a red tailed hawk today, and a coyote. I suppose those aren't unusual sightings for this area, but hey, I'd never seen a coyote before. He was taking a pair of jet boots from an ACME box, in an attempt to catch a clever roadrunner. The last we saw, he had chased the road runner off a cliff, and didn't fall until he realized he wasn't on terra firma anymore. Actually, the coyote we saw was just prowling the streets of Los Alamos at 9:30 at night. The streets are already pretty much empty by that time.

The hawk was on a telephone pole on the side of the road, then it swooped down right in front of an F-150. it missed whatever varmint it was going for, though, and the Ford missed the hawk, so no wings were lost and there was no injured animal to take to the New Mexico DNR for rehabilitation and use in children's wildlife show-and-tells.

I'll let you know when we come across elk. Haven't seen any yet, except in burger form.

I don't wanna grow up

James has never been one to enjoy a pacifier. from very early on, pacifiers would last about 2 seconds in his mouth before he would eject them out across the room somewhere. Once he learned to hold things, he no longer spat them out, but turned them around. He would put the "wrong" end into his mouth. the strange thing is, that would pacify him, and he'd be quiet for awhile. it wouldn't put him to sleep or anything, but it would occupy him.

Well, he's almost a year old, and neither James nor Helena needs/uses a pacifier, but we have them laying around the house with the other toys. Helena will periodically pick one up and parade around the room, showing how good she is at walking with something in her hands (as a side note, here favorite things to hold while parading are socks, preferably a matching pair). James will play with a pacifier, but still will only put the "wrong" end into his mouth.

Two cute things bear mentioning. First, while Helena was parading around on Sunday after church, she picked up one of her summer dresses and walked around the living room holding it up to her, as one would do while shopping for a dress, seeing how it might look. She eagerly let Logan put the dress on her (over her church dress!) and was so happy once she had it on, she marched around the room feeling very happy.

James is not without his cuteness, either: I was laying on my stomach, reading a book while the babies entertained themselves with fun exciting things like boxes and socks, when James crawled over near me, laid out on his stomach like me (an unusual position for James for playtime), and began to read one of his books. A chip off the old block, as the saying goes.

I seem to think alot about all the things I forgot to do

Highlights of the week include:

1. Internet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is a big one, ('specially for me, logan) since I was feeling completely out of touch with everything and everyone. In my desperation for information (prior to said web installation) I bought a book on edible plants and spent the last two weeks memorizing it. When I'm out with Eric now I can inform him of the edible parts of any plant we pass. I think he finds this mildly annoying and endearing (or at least I'd like to think so). [Edit by Eric: I find it endearing and only slightly annoying]

**some persons in this houselhold remarked that my use of multiple exclamation points is lowering the literary value of this blog, to that I say "pshaw."**

2. Making an offer on a house!

Yesterday we sat down with our real estate lady and hacked out an offer on this cute house we found. The whole process seemed surreal and too grown up. We're super excited about the prospect of this house, and are anxiously waiting to hear if our offer was accepted.

In baby news, James took some real steps the other day. And I think he'll be walking like Helena soon. Hurray for James!

Man, and just think it's almost their first birthday-- where did my year go?

don't need no makeup

Our weekends here are very relaxed. Not knowing many people yet, we spend our time either exploring the area, or just lounging as a family. Since our furniture hasn't arrived yet, our lounging surface is generally the floor. The babies love it, though: Helena runs around on two feet while James sticks to what he knows, crawling on all fours. They love to laugh and play: one chases the other, then they switch. James' favorite game is being chased until he's caught and tickled.

Yesterday we drove up into the Jemez mountains. It was a rainy day, and beautiful. The drive up through the woods reminds me of Transylvania, or at least what Transylvania looks like in the rain. the scenery is beautiful, especially the Valle Grande, a huge grass valley in the Valle Caldera. We originally intended to get a babysitter and check out some of the local rock climbing, but we were shut out by the rain. We made the most of it, and had a pleasant drive over mountains and through valleys and canyons. The volcanic nature of the area means there are hot springs and interesting geological formations all over. We had dinner in a nice little mountain diner. I had an elk burger, Logan had a La Cueva dip, which is a French dip sandwich, New Mexican style.

So, a culinary aside: New Mexico's biggest crop is Green Chiles. And New Mexicans' favorite food is green chiles. They put it on everything. Enchiladas, tacos, and the usual suspects, but also burgers, soups, and more. We were invited to a BBQ where we had chicken with green chiles and cheese.

Being newly New Mexican, we have embraced the green chile. Everything is better with green chiles, especially French dip.

Where the wind blows tall

We've had two New Mexican experiences in the past few days worth sharing, one regarding cuisine and one regarding the local citizens.

Although Los Alamos is relatively small and isolated, there is a surprising number of international restaurants, including two sushi places and a mediteranean/mid-east/north African cafe. There is also a Thai restaurant in town, Lemongrass. Last Friday Logan and I, being without kitchen, and upon a friend's recommendation, dined there. However, this being Los Alamos, the delivery truck with the Thai chiles had not made it for some reason, so instead of being flavored the traditional way, we were served our entrees with a side of spicy red chile sauce. It was Thai food New Mexican style, and quite good. Certainly better than Italian gelato French style.

Yesterday, we met a character while using the free wi-fi of the best coffee shop in town. It shares a building with a fancy cookware store. A young man sauntered in, and was looking at the various pans and knives, and one of the most bizarre exchanges took place:

store's proprietor: "Can I help you with anything?"
young man: "not unless you have $200 or a bottle of vodka."

the kid couldn't have been older than 18 or 19. He came up to us and asked:

"Do you think there's Native Americans living around here?"
"I'm sure there are."
"Well, you're looking at one!"

We had a nice conversation with him later, and he told us all about life on the reservation, his love of breaking horses, and how instead of going to McDonald's, they would slaughter a sheep. It was quite educational.

twilight and evening bell

Since Los Alamos is snuggled up against the Jemez mountains to the West, the Sun disappears behind the skyline long before sunset. Being somewhat of a sunset lover, this was a disappointment, at least until tonight. Logan and I took the babies on our passeggiata, exploring the neighborhood, checking out trails, and enjoying each others company after I was away at work all day.

As we turned around to head home, we had a clear view across the valley to the Sangre de Cristo mountains. Above the mountains the sky was lavender and gradually changed colors, like a wide, fuzzy rainbow stretched out across the ridge line. It was not as brilliant and bright as the sunset to the West, but rather was subtle and fair to behold.

They are night zombies! They are neighbors! They have come back from the dead! Ahhhh!

So Helena is walking, and when she does, she looks like a zombie. She holds her arms out in front of her, her movements are jerky and stiff, and she lets out a long groaning sound as she moves forward. I'm not sure how she did it, but today I even saw her do a zombie run.

I'm not worried that my daughter will eat me, or at least not yet. If she learns how to say "Brains..." I'm heading for the hills.

Eric

flora and fauna

The other day I hopped in the car to go pick up Eric from work. As I was heading into town I felt something tickling my leg. I looked down and a rather large spider was crawling up my ankle. Suppressing arachnophobic panic and a strong desire to drive the car off a cliff I managed to slow the car and shake the spider off my leg and under my shoe. I continued on my way with phantom creepy crawlies prickling all over me. When I reached Eric, I joked that I had almost got into an accident on my three minute drive because of a spider. Eric usually sneers a bit at my fear of spiders, but I insisted that it was a really big one and no laughing matter. Holding back his eye roll we got back into the car, but before we drove any where I ordered him to remove the body of the dead spider (I didn't want it coming back to life and eating me). He glanced around on the floor grabbed one of its black legs and pulled it out. I punctuated this ceremony with faux girly squeals, but felt a real shiver of panic when he flipped the black bulbous body over to reveal the perfect red hour glass on its belly.

Hello Mrs. Widow.

"Do what I want, and I'm gonna get paid"

We arrived in NM Sunday afternoon, and were greeted by a big storm as we drove across the Rio Grande to go up the hill to Los Alamos. The afternoon Sun was in our eyes and our entire field of vision was white from the glare. The rain and hail pounded the car, then cleared up as we drove up to the Atomic City. They say that after living here for two years you get a super power, though I'm not sure if you get to choose or if it is assigned to you.

The drive out West wasn't bad. The worst part was leaving less than 24 hours after returning from Europe. We made several stops to visit family and friends, which was nice. Helena and James took everything in stride, sleeping in their carseats, mostly. They charmed the country at every rest stop and restaurant along the way, smiling and giggling and being cute. It's what they do best.

My first day of work coincided with the Los Alamos County Schools first day of schools. Several of the kids from my new parish stopped by during their lunch period, which was nice. (Immaculate Heart of Mary is right next to the High School) We have our own building for the youth, the John Paul the Great Center, which was an old visitors center for the county that got uplifted and planted right behind the Church. Everybody has been very welcoming, especially the pastor, Fr. John Carney.

So here we are, at the end of our Transatlantic Oddysey: New Mexico by way of Italy and France.

Eric