The Big 3-0!!

Here's the birthday boy enjoying his warm homemade apple-raspberry pie and cinnamon gelato!

For Thanksgiving dinner, it's our family tradition to have lobster instead of turkey. Doesn't that plate look divine?!

Well, it was!

The timing worked out great because his parents were already here visiting Annabelle, so they were able to celebrate Thanksgiving and Shanam's birthday, too!

For his gift, they bought Shanam a much needed, incredible new slant board to help straighten his back. The puppies love attacking him while he uses it :)

And as for my present, I've arranged a way for us to hike 30 state highpoints while he's 30. This poster will help us track and document when we do them. Stay tuned for more info about the highpoints! That's one of our new adventures coming up this year :)

But I'm pretty sure this little lady was his favorite gift this year :)

Sweet Annabelle

Annabelle has arrived! Go to our baby blog at www.mapetiteannabelle.blogspot.com to read the birth story and see more pictures :)

The Year of the Triplets

We didn't think having a baby was going to change our lives drastically enough, so we've added some more fun to the mix :) Heheh! Meet our new 7 week old Huskies!!

Sophie

and Sasha!

We got them on Monday this week, after getting back from our trip to Utah. One of our friends knew a family who was selling husky puppies and it was just too good to pass up! Shanam has always been in love with huskies and has wanted one since before we got married. It's the perfect mountain dog...says the mountain man himself :) And of course I think they are adorable, too! Not just adorable puppies, but they'll grow into gorgeous dogs. They are great with children and Annabelle will have immediate best friends when she gets here :) She'll be able to grow up with them and call them her own. After discussing it, we thought two sisters would be best and we were right! It's so fun to watch them together! And they really are just like babies...

They eat...

they play...

they chew...

they sleep...

and of course they like to have a little fun and get into mischief :)

Shanam hates leaving for work in the mornings and will come home at lunch to see them. They run to greet him at the door and his face just beams :) He's already a great dad, lol!

While we were still in Utah, a couple of days after we had decided to add to our family, we figured that our little beemer wasn't going to cut it for all the new adventures our growing family was going to have. So, last Friday night, we searched on KSL for a Toyota 4 Runner, found a couple we wanted to look at, made appointments the next day to see them, and had a '97 4 Runner within 24 hours. Everything just fell into place and worked out! So, we have our highway car and now our mountain vehicle to take our mountain family to the mountains...3 hours away.

We've gotta get out of Texas!

They'll be coming with us to Utah for Christmas and Shanam just can't wait to introduce them to the snow! We're already planning on a family snowshoe outing and Shanam wants to bring them skiing with him in the back country. Should be fun!

Big Bend Balloon Bash and Balmorhea!!

Well, it was time to get away from Andrews again for some more adventure! This time we chose to explore down south a little into the Fort Davis Mountain area about 3 hours away. We loaded up our camping gear, grabbed a camera, and took off after church on Sunday for a lovely road trip :)

Our first event was the Big Bend Balloon Bash! Every Labor Day weekend, hot air ballooners from around Texas gather in the small town of Alpine, Texas. They take flight every morning and come back in the evening to perform what they call a Fire Concert. Boy, was that a fun experience! They all line up their baskets and wait til the sun goes down. Then the extravaganza begins! The pilots play their "fire" to rock and roll music! Check out the video!

We had almost front row seats, and I tell ya! When every flame went off at the same time, you felt the heat!!! So cool! After the concert, we drove about 10 miles out of town to check out what is called the Marfa Lights. These are lights that mysteriously appear off in the horizon next to the little town of Marfa. They don't always appear, but we were lucky enough to choose a good night, cuz they were good and bright...and very mysterious! Dodododododo :)

The next morning, after a beautiful night of camping under the stars, we went to go see the balloons take off. Unfortunately, it was too windy :( So, that just meant we got an early start on mountain biking and hiking! We drove up to Fort Davis State Park, after a little breakfast, and hit the trails. Shanam biked while I hiked and I actually ended up hiking the entire 4.2 miles up and over into the Fort Davis National Historic Site. The view was neat at the top of the mountain and the climb down through huge molten rock boulders was definitely a fun experience!

We decided to cool off a bit afterward by hitting up "The Caboose" for an ice cream treat :)

Then, our last stop as we made our way back up to Andrews was Balmorhea State Park. A gorgeous natural spring that has been made into a 2 acre swimming pool! It's the oasis of West Texas! The water was a cold 75 degrees and little fish swam around you the entire time. In some spots, it goes down 30 feet and people come to scuba dive and see the much cooler fish that live down there. About 1 million gallons of water is naturally fed in and out of the pool every hour! It's a pretty neat place and we will definitely be coming back with snorkeling gear!

We had such a nice weekend! We just love being able to get out and explore! And we look forward to the very near future when Annabelle can come on our adventures, too!

Telluride, CO!!!

Telluride, CO has got to be one of the most beautiful places in the world! We were able to stay in a beautiful mountain cabin with 15 other friends for 5 days this last week and we loved every second of it! The weather was perfect, the air was clean and crisp, the landscape was breathtaking, and the memories we made with amazing people will last forever!

Here are a few pictures of the little shack we stayed in :) Not too shabby, eh?

In the evenings we had a blast playing games, doing puzzles, cooking dinner together, hot-tubbing during a meteor shower, watching the sunset, meditating and doing yoga on the porch, watching slide shows, and just plain enjoying each others company. And during the day, well, keep reading...cuz there was plenty of adventure!!!

Shanam had been researching and planning an off road trip through Black Bear Pass and was actually able to talk 3 other guys into doing it with him, one being his dad! Black Bear Pass is supposedly pretty crazy and hardly anyone ever attempts it, but of course that's only more encouragement for my man :) You can look it up on youtube if you want to see videos of people going down "the stairs" and "the deadly switchbacks." Only 7 groups have done it this season, so far, and now Shanam can proudly add his name to the list!

When they got back to town, it was Ellen's turn for an off road adventure! Shanam and his parents went back up the mountain and watched the sun set from Telluride Peak. The ride was going to be a little too rough and bumpy for me so I enjoyed the sunset from the back porch of our cabin with everyone else :) They were able to capture some beautiful pictures, though!

Isn't this one gorgeous?! You can see the moon with Mars and Venus above it and the town of Telluride below. Just beautiful! The stars at night were really incredible!

We found shirts for all the guys that went off-roading that said "I Survived Black Bear Pass." They all thought that was pretty cool especially since one of them didn't think they would ever make it off that mountain :)

So while Shanam had fun with his extreme adventures, I chose to take it easy :) This was at the top of one of our hikes by a beautiful waterfall. I could have laid there all day!

I just love this picture of Shanam's mom :)

This is part of the group at Hope Lake.

This is mountain man Philip. While I relaxed at the waterfall, he decided to strip down and go for a swim! Crazy guy!

Another day, while Shanam was mountain biking all over the 13,000 ft high mountain range, trying to kill himself, I chose what was supposed to be a short easy hike that turned into a 7 mile trek! Yes, you read right! At 7 months pregnant, I went on a 7 mile hike! It was beautiful, though!

Ellen and Tim used to live right where the cabin is that she's pointing to. How neat is that! At that time it was a little one-room schoolhouse that had no insulation. During the winter, it would be warmer outside in the sun than inside their house, so that's where they would shower! Her hair would freeze before she had time to dry it! I can't even imagine! It was great to hear all their stories!

We took several trips down into town on the gondolas. The view was just spectacular! Main Street was adorable and of course Shanam found an expo showing the latest electric car, the Tesla. I must say, it was pretty sweet!

And last but not least...our future home! We put an offer on it, but I don't think they'll take it :) j/k! Haha! One day, though, we'll be millionaires and have our dream home :)

What a difference a year makes!

LOL! I was looking through our honeymoon pictures and found this one where I'm wearing the same cover-up as I'm wearing in our picture in Orlando, 6 1/2 months pregnant. Scroll down and look at the difference! Hehe :)

Orlando!!

We were able to get away and escape for the weekend to Orlando! Yay! We met up with Shanam's parents and stayed at Disney's Coronado Springs Resort. This is their awesome pool that we spent all Saturday afternoon in...hallelujah for being weightless :) My baby bump is definitely unmistakable now and I get so many comments from friends and strangers alike! I really love it :)

Cloudcroft!!

It had been raining in Andrews all week long, so we were very worried that our 4th of July camping trip was going to get rained out, too! But, alas, on Friday we decided to chance it and packed up all our gear and headed out! Laura came with us this time and we all knew we were in for a crazy adventure!

As we got closer and closer to the mountains, though, the clouds lightened up, the sun came out, and a beautiful rainbow appeared! This was definitely a good sign! And we totally lucked out, because by the time we got to our camping spot, the rain was gone for good! Never to come back all weekend!
While Shanam hit the trails on his mountain bike the next morning, Laura and I decided to play some golf :) I had only been to the driving range a few times in my life and I've always been secretly afraid to actually play on the course. Silly, I know, but I did gather up my courage and grabbed the biggest club of hers I could find. That made me feel better :) After a few practice swings, trying to work around my pregnant belly, I actually hit the ball and it soared straight onto the green down the hill! I could do it! Come to find out, real golf is just like miniature golf, but bigger :) LOL! The morning was perfect golf weather and the course was breathtaking! Sitting at 9000 ft, Cloudcroft is the 5th highest course in the US! And of course, driving the golf cart through the mountain trails was almost just as fun as hitting the ball :) I hit a few sweet shots and one amazing shot that we all deemed was the most awesome shot that day. (We were teamed up with another couple) My first hit landed the ball close to the lake's edge, and I decided that instead of trying to go around the lake, I was going to go over it. As soon as I hit it, it shoots off and literally SKIMS the top of the water and lands on the other bank!!! We were all in shock! My daddy would be proud :)

This was our sweet camping spot! There's nothing like a huge campfire, a good book, an afternoon nap, tin foil dinners, s'mores, and card games that go on all night!

The next day, we hit the trails! Shanam took off on his bike while Laura and I enjoyed the hike and gorgeous views! In the same time it took us to hike 4 miles, Shanam biked 20 :) That's my man!

The view from the trail was amazing! We could see all of White Sands 5000 ft below!

And this was our view on the 4th of July! We drove up to the highest point and overlooked the entire Ruidoso valley, hoping to see some fireworks :) No fireworks, but we saw plenty of elk and deer! The ride home was quite the event! Whole herds of animals were lurking in the shadows! It made for a very slow and cautious drive, but so cool, nonetheless!

It's a GIRL!!

Today was our very first ultrasound and it was, of course, an amazing experience! To be able to actually see our little one was so special and to see how active and healthy she is was so comforting :) I mean, I can always feel how active she is, but to know that she is kicking me with beautiful long legs and punching my bladder with perfect little fists, makes it that much more special :)

She had her hands up by her face throughout the whole ultrasound and looked so content nuzzling right into the side of my uterus. Isn't she just beautiful!
She finally uncovered herself a little bit so we could tell what she was and when the technician pointed to that spot and said, "Do you recognize what that is?" Shanam and I both answered, "um...no, not really." LOL. Like anyone but the tech could really tell! When she told us it was a little girl, we both just looked at each other, squeezed hands, and smiled big. As I looked back at the monitor, tears welled up in my eyes and I could barely see for a little while :) I really wanted it to be a little girl :) And Shanam is happy to have a little princess. But make no mistake...she WILL learn how to throw a ball and she WILL know how to ski! (Shanam's words exactly)

I loved looking at her long gorgeous legs!

And there she is, smiling sweetly, because of course, she is going to be a perfect little angel! Hehe :)

Fiesta Time!!

Last weekend was filled with Mariachi Bands, fish tacos, and grilled corn! Sometimes I really enjoy living in Texas :) It was our friend Andrea's surprise birthday party and we had so much fun eating and dancing! Shanam spent all Sat afternoon helping set up, it looked awesome!

Can't tell too much that I'm prego here, but there was no question when I stood up! :)

Laura and I

I think he ate about 7 of these :)

Ever watch that show where professional cake decorators compete and when they're done making their masterpieces, the final test is to transport the cake to the table? That's what I felt I was watching here! :) They did it, though, no problemo.