Saturday, Dec 28

It seems to take us a bit to get organized in the morning.  Everyone gets up at different times.  But once we started moving we did not stop.  Rebecca and Nathan liked the Gravity Park so much they wanted to go back.  So George and I dropped them off.  We went and did the cat care, bought a few more groceries for our boudza meal and then we started a search to buy an ordinary round cookie cutter.  I needed it for the bouzas.  Who know that it would be such an impossible job.  We went to about 5 stores.  Finally it was time to get up to where Nathan and Rebecca were.  We went to the Bosque Brewery for lunch. Steve and Jennifer joined us.  I had a 1/2 caprese sandwich and a roasted onion/tomato soup.  Yummy but not particularly photogenic.  We then went on a walk in the Bosque (woods near the Rio Grande).  You can tell that Nathan is more used to cold temperatures.  

Then we tried 2 more stores, the second one I was successful.  Target was one of the 1st ones I had tried but this one had what I wanted.  So I got my cookie cutter.  We went home to start the boudza making process.

I brought my pasta maker.  Rebecca cut the circles and George and Nathan filled the circles.  We have 3 trays full in the freezer now.  So we are ready for New Year's Eve.  All we have to do is make a big pot of soup and heat the boudzas.

We just fixed sandwiches at home for dinner and then we went to the River of Lights at the Albuquerque Botanical Gardens.  http://riveroflights.org/ It was amazing.

I couldn't believe it.  So gorgeous.  Hard to decide which pictures to use.  We did not get home until 10pm.  So it was a busy day.  

Friday Dec 27

We had a slow start today.  We had a few odds and ends we were trying to take care of.  Like trying to get the UPS to deliver some of our Christmas packages before Jan 6!! May not happen. Oh well.  We finally headed out.  First stop was to a home where Rebecca is doing cat care for a friend.  She has been going twice a day to feed the kitty and make sure the Christmas lights are going on or off.  Then we went to Gravity Park.  What a blast that was.  The black squares are the trampolines.  I must say that it was harder than it looks.

It was very difficult to get pictures because with all the movement I could not get them to be in focus.  But some of my movies turned out.  I did not think that I would be able to do it for an hour but the time went by quickly. George went grocery shopping while we jumped.  None of us did the fancy flips that others were doing.  After the Gravity Park we did a few errands on our way home. Played a game of Cranium in the afternoon.  We did some of the initial stuff with making boudzas (though I hear that the correct spelling is bauzi.  Been spelling it wrong my whole life).  Then we went to the Taaj Palace for dinner.  It was good, not great but good. Pet care on our way home.  Played another game after dinner.  All in all a nice day.

"our" Christmas Dec 26

the luminarias were lit right outside our window last night

Nathan was feeling better after a good night sleep.  Christmas morning started around 7 am. Sharon, you may get a kick out of this - Nathan came down saying "Not a lot of zoo cats now".  Took me awhile.  I am just slow (notalotza zu katza zao - merry Christmas in Marathi).

We did our usual routine of stockings and then sticky buns.  I was alittle disappointed in the sticky buns.  I added some time due to the high altitude but not enough so they were underdone so then I cranked up the heat and added more time - and then they were burnt.  Oh well.  They tasted good but not very picture worthy.

Then we did gifts by the fire. It did not seem to warm up the place, though.  We relaxed a bit and then cleaned up before going to a nature park for a walk.

We went to see "Frozen"  which I really enjoyed and then we joined Steve and Jennifer for dinner at the Holy Cow.  I had a very good child's sized burger.  

Home to play a card game and then off to bed.  All in all a very nice Christmas day.  Rebecca got a nice gift from Patty.  

Christmas Day in Albuquerque

We left the house about 9:15 am.  Madeline gave us a ride to the MAX station.  We got to the airport by 10:30 am.  The only line was at Southwest but it moved fairly quickly.  Then we lucked out and got put in the new random line at security.  We did not have to remove shoes or coats, nor did we have to remove laptops and liquids.  So we zipped through that line.  So we had plenty of time to wait for our plane.  The flight was full but uneventful.  We rented a car and then drove to Rebecca's.  Nathan's trip was not so uneventful.  He ended out having a 5 hour delay in LAX.  He stopped at a restaurant for lunch.  But something did not settle right so he spent today being sick.

We went to my brother's for Christmas dinner.  There were 12 of us in all.

Rebecca and George playing with baby Avery

Steve's tradition is a Christmas umbrella complete with fake presents.  

My sweet/sour mustard sauce was a hit.  It survived the journey.  I am glad that Nathan felt up to joining us though he did not eat much.

Home safely

The flight home was uneventful.  We were slightly delayed coming in to Portland.  When we got home I just went straight to bed.  Unpacking and laundry can happen in the morning.

heading home

There is a lot to do to close down the condo.  Dorothy will be here next month to continue this process.  After 4 trips to Salvation Army, 1 trip to the recycling center, 1 trip to Staples to shred some papers and many trips to take trash out there still will be plenty for Dorothy to do.  We turned in our rental car and got to the airport with plenty of time to spare.  We have one extra suitcase and an extra bag.  Because of the extra bag I got to use my travel vest.  No need for a purse.  Unfortunately it is warm.  This gave me a taste of what wearing my travel vest to India might be like.

Nathan, you will be happy to know that George did catch a baby alligator just for you.

We are going through Chicago and won't be home until about 11pm.  I am glad that I came, we got a lot of work done and it was nice to feel connected with Jane as we were going through her things.  We are taking home some treasures.  

 

Monday, Nov 18

Today will be hot but this morning it was cool and clear.  Finally could get a picture of the full moon.

No, this picture is not upside-down.  I left a little bit of grass to prove it.

A lot of pretty flowers around.

This morning a wood stork was at the door.  It did not even flinch when I opened the door.  I think that he thinks that he will get some tuna.  

Personally, I think that they are kind of ugly.  I took a movie of it.  But I can't seem to upload it to the blog.  Probably because of the type of wifi here.  Very limited.  

Right now we are at the rec room.  The laundry is in this building so we are waiting for it to be done before we do the next things on our list.