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!