Merry Christmas

Caleb
This year has been filled with various fun and excitement. I have enjoyed all of the activities, including a family reunion and trips to Hinkle Family Fun Center. I've also enjoyed time with family and trips to Utah. This year has been very exciting, and many parts make me ecstatic. I'd like everyone to know how much I've loved this year. Things couldn't be much better, I think. So I'd like to tell everyone this: Merry Christmas and a happy new year!

Spencer
This year I have done a lot of projects and started holding the Aaronic Priesthood and have become more organized. I have done a lot with Lego Technic making machines and have gotten lots better at building with it. I have also made some new friends. I have enjoyed reading more and do it quite often. Thats all I can think of to share. Merry Christmas.

Andrew
I have done lots of things this year. This summer I went to the national model train show celebrating the 150th anniversary of the golden spike ceremony. We built our models of New Mexico trains and the landscape to bring to the show. I also saw the Big Boy steam train 4014 with Spencer and Dad in Wyoming on its way to Utah. I also went with my family to the Eagle Nest Lake in northern New Mexico. This was a fun reunion with cousins and grandma. I finished my Eagle Scout Rank this fall and will do my board of review in a few weeks. I have been working on my N-scale model railroad this year. Have a merry Christmas.

Ruth
This year has been a lot of firsts: I bought my first car, I went on a summer trip without my parents for the first time, and I went on my first date! I’ve had a lot of fun this year with friends and family, and even though this year has brought its share of challenges (finals, stressful AP classes, and car insurance) it’s also been full of fun (going to girl’s camp as a youth camp leader, hanging out with friends, being a part of our stake’s youth committee, and spending a week at EFY). I’m thankful for all the good times this year has brought! I hope 2020 will be just as full of fun! Merry Christmas!

Becky
This past year has been full of activities with the family. It is a busy time of life for us. The kids all have their hobbies and things they enjoy and are busy with school and church activities. Sometimes it is hard for me to keep up with them all. One things I have learned to appreciate this year is family time. I am thankful for extended family and relationships we can build there too. Family is so important to us as we help one another through a busy life. I am thankful for the gospel of Jesus Christ and how it gives me hope and strength to deal with the day to day activities of life. We are blessed to have such a good life. I wish all my family and friends a happy Christmas.

Neal
I had a good year working, spending time with family and friends, and helping the children with their activities. I helped to organize the family reunion at Eagle Nest Lake. Over the course of a week, we caught fish, rode bikes, played in the lake, watched an Independence Day parade and fireworks, and cooked in dutch ovens. There were crafts and games for the children, plus a campfire with marshmallows. I enjoyed seeing a couple of Shakespeare plays with Becky and Ruth: “Romeo and Juliet” and “Love’s Labour’s Lost”. They were performed in an outdoor amphitheater on some pleasant evenings in June. The boys all joined a youth model railroad club and built their own segments of a modular layout. They decorated the segments to look like a local ballast quarry, which they toured. I helped them make wooden covers for their modules so that we could transport them easily. We showed the club layout twice in Albuquerque and once in Salt Lake City. Andrew and his high school marching band competed in two shows that drew bands from most of New Mexico and one town in Texas. I was able to watch both events, and the band won a medal in each. I went with Andrew and Spencer on many Scout adventures. We pitched tents on snow, helped build a 45-foot-long bridge at a Scout camp, caught fish, served refreshments to runners in a 50 km race (including our Scoutmaster), played on white sand dunes, and rode mountain bikes. I began bicycle commuting to work about half-time this year. I joined a group of local cyclists for a long ride on Labor Day and made some new friends. I plan to ride with the group as time allows. I am grateful to God for His blessings on our family and friends. He can’t make our lives easy because then we would not accomplish our purpose, but He is with us to support us. I especially felt His help at the funerals for my grandma and father. The hardest part of the year was speaking at my father’s funeral and dedicating his grave, but I was glad to do my part to honor him. He lived a great life and set an example for me. It is wonderful to celebrate Jesus Christ this month and remember that he prepared the way for us all to return to our Father in Heaven.

Beautiful Fall

    Another  month has flown by. The weather is getting cooler and I enjoy the colors of the leaves. It is a beautiful fall time. The kids are staying busy and that means I am busy too. Andrew is working hard to finish some merit badges. His scout leaders took the troop on two camping trips this month, Neal also went with them. At the end of September they went to Mt. Taylor to man an aid station at a 50km race. The boys helped with this last year too and enjoyed it again. Then in October, during our fall break, they went to White Sands National Park. They enjoyed camping in the area under the stars and playing in the sand. Both trips helped Andrew by letting him do troop cooking for the cooking merit badge and also getting more nights camping with his troop to finishing the camping merit badge. He is very close to getting everything done and in the next month should have things finished for all the requirements for his Eagle Rank.

   On October 3rd we celebrated my birthday. Caleb was so excited for it and was counting down the days for me. He loves birthdays. We had the rare event in that no one had anywhere they needed to go in the evening, so we could all be together at home and enjoy a nice dinner and evening together. Neal gave me a nice camping chair. Caleb gave me a candy bar he had received as an award at school. He was so kind to share with me. The kids were happy and we enjoyed the evening. I am thankful for my kind family.

I have also been working on photo books. I am trying to get caught up on my projects of recording pictures. The kids enjoy looking at them and remembering times past. They love seeing themselves when they were little. They bring fond memories for me too. I also finished a sewing project I started last Halloween. I remember cutting all the little triangles out on Halloween and thinking it was funny I was working on a Christmas project. I made a quilt out of pieces of fabric I had from other projects. I learned a lot about piecing a quilt. I have only done squares and rectangles before, so this was new to do triangles. I think it turned out nice. The first week end of October I had a friend post on Facebook she had grapes a plenty on her vines and didn’t want them this year. She is preparing to move next year and didn’t want to bottle any grapes this year. Spencer, Caleb and I went to her home and picked grapes. The following week I borrowed a steam juicer from another friend and bottled 14 quarts of juice. We have drank some of it and it is delicious.

    In the boys train club they had a party this month to celebrate 5 years as a club. One activity they had was a load competition. They needed to make a load for a train to pull. They could do this in HO scale or Lego. The boys worked hard on things, then they realized there was a conflict. Andrew and Spencer decided to do the camping trip to White Sands and missed the train activity. I took Caleb to the train club meeting. We brought the other boys loads. At the meeting they judged the loads. Caleb won a prize for his Lego car carrying tires. He had done things in good dimensions and made it life like by tying down his tires and separating the hubs. Andrew won an award for his log load, it was very life like and beautifully down with real wood. The judges loved it. Andrew was also praised for his scrap metal load and would have won a prize for that, but, it exceeded the weight limits. He will try reworking it and getting it to the right weight for the next competition in February. Spencer did a fun Lego load that was praised for his creativity. He did an observation gondola train car, making the people the “load.” He did a good job with it.

   We enjoyed General Conference. The kids built some little forts or “nests” to listen in. They liked getting comfy with blankets and pillows. It was nice to sit together and listen to our church leaders.  The Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta was also at the first of October (that is why we had fall break, they always have a couple of days of no school during the fiesta). At the elementary school Caleb, Neal and I went over and saw the balloons they brought to the kids. We enjoyed seeing them from our house every morning and watching some of the fireworks in the evenings. We have a pretty good view of the valley from our back yard, although it is distant, we can see a lot.

The little dots at the hot air balloons

    Ruth had a busy month. She decided to ask a friend out to the church sponsored Homecoming Dance. She asked Eric, he is in our Stake but she really knows him from work. They have been working together for over a year on Saturday afternoons. She was brave and asked and he accepted. Ruth and some friends got a group together and had a wonderful time last Saturday. They had dinner, that the girls all helped make, and then went to the dance. Ruth enjoyed her first date.

Another thing Ruth had this month was earning an Academic Letter from the high school. She had to have her GPA at a 3.5 or higher for four semesters to receive this, then she had to fill out an application with teachers comments on it. She did great and earned it. I went to the ceremony with her to watch her receive her big E (for Eldorado). Ruth and I attended a BYU admissions meeting. It was good to review what she needs to do to apply next year. She still has BYU as her #1 school choice. I think she will be a good fit for it and I hope she gets in. Only one more year and she will be applying to universities! Ruth is loving her AP Psychology class and tells us things she is learning about the brain and why people do what they do. She is working hard with school and keeps her grades up.

    Andrew has worked hard with band this month. They have had a busy schedule. He plays at the football games and has after school rehearsals. Three Saturday’s in October will be taken up with band competitions. On the 5th they went to the Valencia Classic competition in Los Lunas. Last Saturday they participated in the Zia Competition at UNM. At that one they received 3rd place over all, it is a state competition. (I didn’t hear their ratings for Valencia.) This next Saturday will be the Pageant of Bands for the school district bands and others from around the state. It should be fun to watch. Neal went to see them perform at Zia, I plan on going this Saturday to watch. Andrew also had a band concert two weeks ago. They did a good job playing their concert music too. Andrew is managing things well and even with all his time spent on band and scouts he is maintaining all A’s in his classes. He works hard. (I guess Andrew is so busy I didn't manage to get any pictures of him this month. I do have the goal to take pictures of the band this week and try to get him in his uniform. The band leaders keep the performance shirt, so I don't have a picture of him in it.)

    Spencer had band concerts recently too. He started jazz band this fall. He enjoys that. Last night at the jazz band concert he played a little solo and did an excellent job. Spencer received straight A’s on his first term report card. He is organized and does his work well. He enjoys walking with Jonathan home from school, and sometimes he walks to Jonathan’s home instead of ours. He always calls and tells me where he is though. I am glad he has a good friend. In his social studies class they are studying New Mexico history and his teacher gave out some recipes to try for the Day of Dead celebrations that many do. Last week end Spencer and I made the bread. He did a lot of the work and it turned out great. He enjoys cooking and helping in the kitchen. I enjoy working with him and talking to him about his ideas. He is creative with his Lego play too. I am always amazed at what he comes up with. He has a good mind for how things work.

When downloading pictures I found a lot of Lego pictures, I believe these

are things that Spencer has made.

   Caleb had fun going to the zoo with the cub scouts at the end of September. I went with him and it was fun. I hadn’t been to a zoo for a long time. Caleb went to a Halloween party his friend Asher  hosted. He had fun with the other kids. Asher is new to our ward and Caleb has enjoyed getting to know him. During our fall break at the beginning of the month I took Caleb to the Hinkle Family Fun Center. We played mini golf together. He did really well and beat me by 2 points. Then he did the bumper cars and had fun with that. It was nice to do something with just him. Last week I took Caleb to his school’s fall carnival. He had fun playing games there. He is working hard at school too, just like the others. He likes numbers still and can add them so quickly. He also likes making up songs on the piano. He decided to do a song for the Reflections program this year, especially when we noticed it said the elementary kids didn’t need to submit written music, they could just do it as a recording. He loves his music.

Caleb with friends at the zoo

Caleb loves his puppies

Caleb in the bumper cars

    I am thankful for my wonderful family. I hope this finds you all well.

September Days

    I haven’t written because I don’t know what to write. We are into our school time routines. The weather is nice and I enjoy the cooler temperatures. We got our computer back and thankfully were able to get things restored on it.

    Ruth is very busy with school work. She has some hard classes this year. She is really enjoying her AP Psychology class. She likes learning about the workings of the brain and what makes humans tick.  She is still working at the Kumon center. She works on Tuesdays after school and Saturdays. She is busy with keeping up with friends too. Her good friend, Brianna, moved from our ward over the summer and that was a hard transition. Brianna still lives in the area and the girls are both so busy with school they have a hard time getting together. The last few weeks they have met up on Thursday afternoons for a bit, in-between everything. Ruth is also working at her driving skills. We let her drive as often as we can, but find it hard to find opportunities with her busy schedule. Last Sunday I took a drive with her around to the other side of the mountain and it was nice to spend a little time together. Her driving is getting better but we still have a ways to go to log 50 hours of drive time before she gets her Provisional license.

Ruth with a friend at our ward chili dinner

    Andrew is very busy too. Marching band has been demanding on his time. He goes to school early every morning, leaving our house at 6:00. He has marching band before school and many days has things with band in the afternoon. The Friday evening football games have been fun but tiring. It is hard to go from 6am to 10pm on a Friday. Then to get up on Saturday for rehearsals or last week a car wash to earn money. He is enjoying it though. He is keeping up with his school work too. Andrew also finds time to do things in the yard. He is harvesting his peppers, and they keep coming. He decided to try drying some and strung them up in the garage. He likes to explore and look at things. Recently he caught a small scorpion and put it in a jar to observe. He is working on his scouting. Last week at a court of honor he received four merit badges he had finished. Today we plan on getting some signatures on his Eagle project to get it finalized. (We are bit slow in getting that done because of our computer problems.) This week end Andrew, Spencer and Neal will go on a camping trip with the boy scout troop.

   Spencer is enjoying school. It is fun that he comes home with a smile most days. He enjoys having classes with his friend Jonathan. They always work together when they can. Often I get a phone call after school from Spencer saying he is at Jonathan’s house and they will be doing homework together. I think they also have lots of fun. Last week I went to pick him up from Jonathan’s home and I could hear them as I approached the house. Spencer was playing his saxophone and Jonathan had a trumpet out. It was rather loud. I am glad he has such a good friend. I went to the middle school for a parent night and was able to meet all his teachers. He is a hard worker and does well in his classes.

Spencer being silly with pillows stuffed up his shirt, eating a brownie

    Caleb is healing well from his accident. He does have some scars but I am hopeful they will lighten up as time goes by. He went about two weeks without riding his bike to school but then one morning he said he wanted to ride again. I am glad he wasn’t afraid to get back on. He loves bike riding and also playing basketball. He is always talking about his game he had at recess. He has so many friends it is hard to keep up with them all, he is a social kid. He loves math. Right now he is working on a math interactive website he uses at school and wanted to log into at home. He is also working on writing stories on the computer. He loves to read and goes through books pretty quickly. He likes making up songs on the piano, I still have to work with and encourage him with his lesson material. He is quick to learn and is doing well with music. A couple of weeks ago Neal took Caleb to the school for an evening activity that the Sandia Labs sponsored. It was “math night” and they had all sorts of activities and games to do that involved math. They both enjoyed going. Caleb enjoys going to cub scouts. Last week at Pack Meeting he earned his Religious Knot and some other awards. I think his biggest reason for enjoying it is being with his friends and hopefully shooting a few hoops if they gym is open.

Caleb at his school jog-a-thon to earn money for the school

    Neal and I went to a Family Strong Conference together last Saturday. It was a nice day. It was a conference organized and sponsored by our church and the Catholic church. They had some great speakers. The key note speaker was Dr. Foster Cline. He wrote the books with “love and logic” themes. He was entertaining to listen to and gave me some things to think about with relationships and parenting. It was nice to spend the day with Neal and talk about things we were hearing. I am glad that we took the time to go. I have enjoyed reading and listening to books. I went to a book club last night and enjoyed the discussion. I am in two book clubs right now, so I always have plenty to read. I am also working on a Christmas quilt. I have it ready to be quilted, I plan to start working on that during General Conference next week. I have worked on pictures and working on photo books on the computer. I seem to find time for a few things each week. Things are also busy trying to keep with with the family activity.

    Neal wanted to get some firewood. We haven’t done much with our fireplace here because we haven’t had a source of wood to burn like we did in Texas. At our Texas house Neal was taking out old trees and we had a constant supply of wood to burn. Neal bought a pass from the Forest service to collect wood. It has to be down wood, no cutting down trees. But, he has enjoyed going up into the mountain were he can collect it and bringing back loads. He has done it for the last few Fridays. (He has been taking some days off to catch up on his vacation time.) The old chain saw is working great. Now we have a huge pile of wood to burn this winter and many years to come. I don’t see how we could burn it all in one year. Neal is riding his bike to work twice a week. It is a good work out for him. He has also joined a biking group here with friends from our ward. He went on a long ride a few weeks ago with them. I think it was about 77 miles. He rode from our house, around Sandia peek to the road on the east side of the mountain and then rode up the road to the summit of the peek, and then back home. He does that on his road bike, he hasn’t done much mountain biking recently. 

   Well, I guess I found things to write about. We are enjoying family life and the busy time of it. I am thankful for a good life.

The Start of School

I want to keep caught up on writing so I will try doing it today. First off, our computer is having problems so I don’t have access to my pictures. Sorry in advance that I can’t share pictures of all the fun things going on. Hopefully we can get everything working again and I can enjoy working on my picture projects again, as well as sharing them with you.

The kids are getting into their school routines. They have completed three weeks of school now. Ruth and Andrew have an early start to their day. Ruth goes to seminary that starts at 5:50 Monday through Thursday. She has Friday mornings off. Andrew goes to the high school for band, that starts at 6:30. He leaves about 6:00 every morning. Andrew is doing an afternoon seminary class that meets at 4:00.  I am glad they have option for the kids involved with before school extracurricular activities. Most mornings Ruth, Andrew and Neal, who gives Ruth a ride to the church, are gone before the younger boys even wake up. I get up early to help them get off, so I see them. Their classes are going well. Ruth is already very busy with homework. She is taking three AP classes and one honors class. She also has a fun class of creative writing. She is enjoying her new French teacher that the school hired over the summer. Andrew is keeping up with things well in his classes, getting used to high school and keeping up with band commitments. He is enjoying being in the band and enjoys jazz band too. He is working hard and wishes he could get more sleep. Spencer is doing well with school. He likes that he has multiple classes with his friend, Jonathan Merrill. Spencer decided to join the beginning jazz band, they meet after school on Tuesday and Thursdays. He said that it is a fun class. Caleb loves school. He enjoys learning and being with his friends. 

I was able to go to the elementary school and high school parent open house nights. I enjoyed meeting some of the teachers and seeing more of what happens at their schools. The middle school will have theirs next week, then I will get to see Spencer’s classes. 

I have enjoyed starting up helping in the elementary school library again this year. It is nice to feel I can contribute to the school. I enjoyed going to a baby shower for two ladies in my ward, both were having their first baby and that made it fun. They are so excited about it. Neal and I also went to a wedding reception for a families son in our ward. We didn’t know the bride and groom very well, but we know the groom’s parents and it was nice to support them. I enjoyed going to a book club last night. I am thankful for good books.

Other activities that we did this month involved supporting the band. Andrew is playing field shows at the football games. Neal attended one game that was held on a Thursday evening. This last Saturday Ruth and I went to a game together. It was Ruth’s first football game, I think she enjoyed it. I talked her through a lot of the game so she would understand what was going on. I know what I know from attending BYU football games with Doug, that was a long time ago! It was fun to watch the band and they are doing a good job. They are still working on finishing up their whole routine that will be performed in October at band competitions. We also helped with a flea market to raise money for the band. The day of the flea market the band marched around the neighborhood streets playing. It was fun to watch them go by. 

I think a big event this month was that Caleb had a bike accident. At least it was big for Caleb and me. It was two weeks ago. He was riding his bike home from school. He was carrying a basket ball in a bag on his handlebars and we believe this caused an imbalance as he curved around the corner onto our street. He was going fast and lost control. It was pretty sad. He had a friend following him home, she wanted to ask if he could come over to play, but instead she ran and got me. I was glad he had a friend to help. He was pretty cut up and I had to take him to an urgent care. He got cleaned up and got stitches on his face and leg. He was swollen and sore for a few days. He didn’t want to miss school and was determined to go. But, he was also very worried about how kids would react to him. He didn’t like the stares and questions, but over all the kids were kind to him and worried about their friend. He is doing so well at healing. I can tell he is a healthy boy. He got his stitches out last week and they looked great. Now all the sores are mostly healed, only the deepest “road rash” places have scabs. I am thankful he didn’t break any bones or knock out teeth! The same day as the crash we had a cub scout activity about bike safety. I went to it because of my responsibilities in cub scouts and also took a minute to tell the boys how important it is to wear a helmet, it helped Caleb. Also, don’t try to carry things on the handlebars, it doesn’t work well.

I was sad to hear that my uncle Kenneth Anderson passed away on Monday. I have many good memories of him. I hope all who might be traveling to the funeral will be safe and know that I will be thinking of them. I don’t feel like I can travel at this time. 

Our iMac stopped working on the first week of school. Neal was in California on a business trip. The kids were coming home each day from school needing a computer to do homework. Thankfully we were able to manage for a week with just the iPad to get the work done. Ruth was able to go into the school computer lab to print things she needed. Then we decided to buy a chromebook that was a good deal at Costco. It has been very handy for the internet access it gives us. The kids can do their homework now easily, since most of what they need is is web based. I know it is a simple computer but it works great for the kids. We have tried getting our computer repaired but it is looking like it might really be out of commission. It is always hard when things break and you need to fix or replace them. I hope we can get things going better with that soon. I am thankful we have back ups of our stuff. 

Well, I am grateful for the good things in life. I am thankful for the temple close by and that I can go easier now that the kids are back in school. Life is busy but good.


I was quick to finish this letter and realized I forgot an important event, Spencer’s 12th birthday! He was so excited for this birthday. He was all smiles all day long. It was fun to see his excitement. He had his traditional peanut butter pie as his dessert of choice. He was excited to get Lego kits to work on. He also got a special gift from Grandma Hubbard. It is a giant hex bug. She told us that Grandpa had worked on putting it together and playing with it some before he passed away. She thought Spencer would enjoy it since he likes robotic things. He loves it. I am thankful for our Spencer! 

Epic Summer

    Where to start? I knew I had a busy summer and I hadn’t written for a long time, but then I realized I hadn’t written all summer! It has been a good one. The kids started school this week. Hopefully things slow down for awhile. At least I have time every day for myself and doing projects while they are all gone. Or, at least I will have time once things slow down. I have a lot to get done this week still with shopping for specific school supplies the older kids need and catching up on things that haven’t been done. Every one is happy with school so far. They started up on Monday the 12th. Ruth is in 11th grade, Andrew in 9th, Spencer in 7th and Caleb in 4th. That means Andrew is in high school now. He is also doing band, which is keeping him very busy. Seminary will start next week and then Ruth will have to get up early too. Andrew will do an afternoon seminary class, since band meets at zero hour, or before school.

    Well, to back up and talk about what our summer was about. June was busy for the boys. They worked hard to finish their model train modules. They spent many mornings at Mr. Hovey’s home (he is their club leader) working on the artistic part of the modules. They enjoyed their time in his work shop and learning how to add grass and bushes to their layouts. At the end of June they displayed, with their model train club, at a convention in Albuquerque for the Train Collectors Association. Others in the club had worked hard to get things done too and their layout looked great. We spent a lot of time at the train show and letting the boys play on their layout and look around.

working at Mr. Hovey's home

The TCA train show

    To continue with the train theme, in July we went to Utah for the National Model Railroad Association’s National Train Show. It was a huge show in Sandy, Utah at a convention center. The boys helped set up the club’s train layout and also worked at the show running things. I helped with an activity for the kids and had fun with that. We enjoyed helping out and also looking around at all the model trains. I thought it was great that our youth club was able to display at the National Train show. This year it was held in Salt Lake City because of the 150 anniversary of the Golden Spike. While we were in Utah we drove out to Promontory Point, Utah to see the spot of the Golden Spike. The boys enjoyed seeing the steam engines there. We had a good trip to Utah, that was focused a lot on trains. We also enjoyed some visiting time with our families and friends. Neal organized a dinner with his friends from USU and their families. We had a great evening visiting with them all.

    Neal and Andrew did some big hikes in Utah. They were able to hike to the summit of Timpanogos Mountain, even with all the snow on the back side this year. It was a hard hike but they did it. We enjoyed a day at BYU and going bowling with the boys. It was a good trip. (Ruth wasn’t with us in Utah, which was a bit different for us, more about that latter.)

Timpanogos front view from my mom's house

The back side of the mountain and Andrew at the summit

The boys with their layout at The National Train Show

Spencer showing his cousins around the train show

Neal and the boys walking around BYU

Promontory Point UT

Me with two of my sisters. 

I realized I didn't take many pictures while in Utah.

    In June the kids enjoyed their church camping trips. Ruth loved going to girls camp with the young women. She was a YCL (youth camp leader) and helped the younger girls have fun. Andrew, Spencer and Neal went to a Stake YM camp where they had a theme with “warriors.” They had lots of fun camping and doing the activities around Book of Mormon warriors. They also went on a back packing camp out with the young men in our ward, where they did some fishing.

Ruth at girls camp

Andrew and Spencer at the Stake YM's camp

    This summer we were involved with our community Bear Canyon Academy, where we do some classes for each others kids. The boys enjoyed going to some classes with art, hiking, swimming, reading and just some fun. I taught two classes, one science and one with board games. We had some fun at our house too.

    I planted a garden. Andrew worked with me on it through the summer. He has an interest in the pepper plants growing. He likes picking them and eating them with eggs or other meals, to spice them up. When we got back from our vacations we found that the insects won over with our squash, cucumbers and two of the tomatoes. We planted a little late and haven’t harvested much yet, but we will soon in the next few weeks with all the green tomatoes and little peppers I see. The fruit trees are doing well too. The apricots and peaches were delicious. The trees are still small, so didn’t produce much, but I am glad that the fruit tastes so good. The apples and pears are getting close to picking time in the next month.

The garden in early June and below in late July

    While the boys were busy with BCA and trains, Ruth took a driver’s education class and worked at Kumon. She was able to buy a 2000 Chevy Malibu car to drive. She has her student permit now and is working on accumulating her driving hours to get a driver license. It has been a bit stressful for me to teach her but she is improving every week with it. She is anxious to be able to drive on her own and have more independence.

    At the first of July we went to a family reunion in the Taos, NM area. Neal worked hard to plan and organize the reunion for his Grandma Johnson’s family. Because of her funeral earlier in the year many in the family felt they couldn’t make another trip and didn’t come to the reunion. It ended up being more of a Hubbard reunion with us and Neal’s sister’s families, his mom and an uncle and aunt. We had a lot of fun camping and playing at Eagle Nest State park. The lake was a big attraction. The kids loved being with their cousins. Neal and I worked hard to help with the food, which we provided for everyone, so it was a big job. We were there for the 4th of July and they did a huge fireworks show at the State park. It was really cool. I think it was Caleb’s first time seeing big fireworks and he was amazed by them. Andrew enjoyed the fishing and caught a few. He liked frying them up and eating them. I liked that we spent half the week in a little cabin, it was much nicer than tent camping. We brought bikes with us and that was a big hit with the kids. Neal and Andrew took a longer bike trip one day and also some hiking. We were up there for a week. It was a good trip.

Andrew frying up a fish he caught. 

Below is Eagle Nest Lake, it was beautiful

Spencer being artistic at the reunion

Our little cabin

    At the end of the family reunion Ruth got in the van with her cousins and drove with them to San Antonio Texas. We missed having her with us for about 12 days. She went to EFY in College Station Texas, at Texas A&M campus with her cousin James. That was for one week of her time away. EFY is a program run by BYU for teens. It is a time of classes about spiritual development, games and activities for fun, good food and making new friends in a good environment. Ruth loved it! Ruth also loved seeing her cousin’s house and spending time with them. When we lived in Texas we would visit the Mabey family a few times a year. Ruth has many memories of playing with her cousins there and really enjoyed seeing their home again and spending time with them.

Ruth with her EFY group

 

Ruth riding the Mabey's horse

     We were able to arrange with my brother, Doug, to help Ruth get home. My sister in law, Alisa, picked Ruth up from the Mabey’s home on a Monday afternoon. Ruth hung out with Alisa and her daughter Jenna (who is Ruth’s age) for two days, which she really enjoyed. Especially when they drove through Waco and stopped at our house and Ruth’s old schools and church buildings. She thought it was great to see things. Then on Wednesday the 17th Ruth drove with Doug, Alisa and Jenna to our home in Albuquerque. That was the same day we drove from Utah home from our train trip. We all got the to the house close to the same time and enjoyed an evening visiting. It was also nice to have our family back together. Doug’s family continued onto Utah the next day for a vacation there.

Ruth with Jenna and Alisa at the River Walk in San Antonio. 

Below Ruth standing in front of our house.

Ruth and Jenna in Waco

     July seemed to fly by. The boys had lots of time to work on Lego projects too. They had fun riding bikes in the open space. We did reading with the library program. This summer the kids didn’t want to go to any of the library activities. I think it was my first summer since Ruth was a baby that I didn’t go to music, puppets or magician shows at a library. We did go swimming a few times. The boys enjoy the water and I tried to help them improve their swimming skills.

    Andrew has worked hard with scouting this summer too. He organized his Eagle Project, which we did the work for on July 20th. He did a landscaping project for a the New Mexico Art League. It turned out good. It was also a lot of work and I was thankful for all the help we got. Andrew has worked hard on merit badges and hopes to finish his Eagle rank in the next couple of months.

  Andrew participated in the high school band camp for two weeks at the end of July. He was at the school from 7:30-4:30 every day. After band camp they had a meeting for the parents and families were able to watch the band perform. They did a good job.

    Neal and I celebrated our 17th wedding anniversary in June. We were able to go out to eat a couple of times together this summer. Twice we went out to eat with the intern group that Neal was involved with this summer. We also celebrated Andrew’s 14th birthday in August. He is growing into a fine young man. Literally growing, he grew five inches this last year and is almost as tall as me now. I bet he will pass me up very soon. We had a busy day on his birthday so we celebrated the day before (but he opened gifts on his birthday, that is why he is dressed differently in photos.)

We went for a walk down by the Rio Grande after dinner one evening

    Well, that brings us up to August and school starting. I am thankful that the kids are happy with their classes and teachers. It will be a good year. I am thankful for a wonderful family and all the great things they are doing. It has been busy the last week getting all our supplies and attending all the school registrations and “meet the teacher” times. I know the next few weeks will continue to be busy as we adjust to the new schedules and going to more meetings. Today I went to a meeting for the library volunteers. I plan on doing that again this year. I enjoy getting out and being involved at the school in a small way. I also hope to find time to continue working on photo and sewing projects. Neal is busy with work and supporting the kids in their activities. Like last week taking Ruth out driving around the city for two hours, and going camping with the boys. It is a busy time in our lives and I am thankful for the support of family and also church. I feel so blessed to have many friends in church who help me along. I also find strength in my daily devotions and weekly trips to the temple and church meetings on Sunday. It helps a lot to see purpose and meaning in our busyness.

Ruth and Caleb outside of the temple

Spencer on the first day of 7th grade

Caleb starting 4th grade

Ruth in 11th grade

Andrew in 9th grade