vacay!

New Mexico was so beautiful. I felt like a kid again watching the balloons lift off en masse. What a sight to behold! To sum it all up, I went to the balloon festival; white sands national monument, lots of parks and hiking; and soaking in the hot springs! Here are a few pictures of my trip. I will post more of the balloon festival later on! I will post more of the trip in general later on as well. :)

 

We hiked up to this spot!

Just call me Mary Katherine Gallagher!!

Micah showing his horns (unfortunately!!) 

On the road to the hot springs - it was a 5 mile hike!

There is an artsy feel to this photo - I like it!

Me wanting to take an artsy, pensive shot

Notice the footprints - Micah walking up to the top of the dune

Me trying to get a good shot even though the sun is blinding me and I'm not wearing makeup! 

I'm about to go sledding down this dune. 

Get your guns up in White Sands

Me sledding down the dune

This is not the beach - this is New Mexico!!

My first time sledding - it was a blast!!! 

Micah did pretty well - he was hanging on with one hand. haha!

The hot springs - 1.5 hours away from Albuquerque

The smallest tub - 1 out of 4 tubs! 

Don't make fun of my white legs!

The water was around 108 degrees! 

I'm thinking that I wish the naked people would leave the top tub so I can check it out!! 

We will miss our Pepper :(

All of the kids and our schnauzers - we are a Schnauzer family!

Pepper and his snow boots - it snowed on Christmas eve in 2006

Pepper Allen passed away yesterday, October 4, 2010, in Corpus Christ, TX.  He was a wonderful gift from God sent to our family 13 years ago (almost 14 ). We got pepper in Houston as we were all in town for the Shell Houston Open golf tournament. We saw someone selling mini-schnauzers in a parking lot. The family fell in love with him at first sight, except for me of course because I was a little stubborn and wanted a bigger dog. However, I soon fell in love with him too and he made me realize what a wonderful breed Schnauzers are. They are now my favorite type of dog! My sister has two (Chance and Harley) and I am the proud parent of Luna Belle.

Some of my most favorite memories of Pepper are when he used to pull scrunchies out of my hair, as well as my sister’s. I remember him getting on one of his barking binges (as Dad would put it) in the backyard. I also remember taking him and Harley with us one Thanksgiving to the farm and they both tried to recreate Homeward Bound as they ran away in the pasture. We could not find them for several hours and we were hysterical. Mom and Dad finally found them and they were both shaken up by something they encountered on their journey. We were so glad to have them back safe and sound.

Pepper was one of the best dogs we ever had. He never tried to escape from the backyard like Roxy or Buttercup (our dauchsaund we had before). He was overall a very independent dog and although he did not like to cuddle, he would occasionally surprise me by wanting to sleep with me and give me a small kiss on my face for taking him on a walk. This was by far one of his most treasured past times!

Pepper in 2006, Christmas Day

He was loved by all who had the chance to meet him; he will be dearly missed!