New Mexico, part 2

 Roswell space man.

 Roswell alien body.

 Roswell aliens.

 Roswell had a rock and gem shop. Man, Ryan would love to have this guy's job. Talking rocks and gems all day! And cracking open geodes! Alex got a beautiful, white geode. Ryan got a rusty one. Still looks cool, but not sparkly!

 Killing time while we wait for Julianne and Bruce to meet us in Ruidoso.

 Macey and I are inside a horse! And Alex is the dropping. And I suppose Ryan is the brains!

 Outside our hotel window Saturday morning. The kids ran out to watch the balloon lift off.

 Cranes.

 Killing more time. Dan never stops at the side of the road... Super weird to hear him say, 'Hey, let's stop here and see what's going on.' This was an iris farm.

 Another stop. This place was awesome! It was a cave of wonders filled with rocks and gems.

 The kids got a bucket of dirt and sand; they panned it looking for treasures.

 Big victory!

 The condo was decorated in the 90's, but it was 3 floors with a pool table, 2 decks, and TVs. The best part of traveling with the Williams is that we play games. Pit was a big hit! We also played catch phrase and some spoons. Here are Ryan and I being sad that we were the big losers that night.

 After church we went out to take some family photos.

 Photo bombers!

 Yep, it was a beautiful place!

 Now there is something you never see. Wait, uh, yeah, we gots mallards in Texas. But still, thumbs up!

 My first round of golf. It wasn't pretty, but not bad. I think I should maybe practice at a driving range some before I try again.

Delicious burgers in Ruidoso. Every closes early here. The shop closed at 7:30. It felt like 10:30 when we left; it was so disorienting. There was only one server so we had to wait a while. We played pass the picture. Some unique pictures came out of it.
All in all, it was a great vacation. Glad to get a few extra days with our friends!

New Mexico, part 1

 8 hour drive to go on vacation with our Dear Friends the Williams? Uh, yes please! DQ for lunch.

 Me and Al waiting for the gift shoppers across the street from the UFO museum. Yeah, we gotta work on that selfie business.

So, if you haven't been to Roswell, NM this statue pretty much sums it up. There once was a farmer who found a crashed aircraft in his field. The government swooped in and said, 'there isn't anything here, don't worry about it, we'll clean it all up and you can forget about it.' Was it aliens? Maybe. But my guess is that the government would like us to think it is aliens instead of letting us know what it really was...

 An outdoor heated pool in October still isn't warm enough for swimming. These fish lasted about 15 min.

 Italian for dinner in Roswell. I love watching my kids play together. Yes, even if it is on a device. At least they are laughing and engaged with each other.

 Ruidoso, New Mexico is a beautiful place. It is a lot like a smaller version of Flagstaff. It was cool and refreshing. Here are some local deer. Ryan and I hiked 3 miles in Plano and saw 2 squirrels. A herd of deer on the side of the road was almost too easy!

 Hooray! Julianne and Bruce arrived. They always take a week vacation and this year they invited us along! I just happened to be while we had a short fall break.

 Here we are enjoying the fitness trail in the Lincoln National Forest.

 Dan won with 6 pull-ups!

 It was super great to spend time outdoors with each other.

 Nice view, eh?

 Picnic in the mountains.

 We found the lake that the locals visit. Lots of fisher folks.

 There was a golf course at the resort we stayed at.

Macers loved this eagle! There were wood carvings all along the course (and all over Ruidoso actually!)

Misc October

 One night at the soccer fields in Plano. Lovely!

 Ryan had to go on a 3 mile hike to earn a Webelos Badge.

 We found a nice park right in Plano. It was a cool day and we had a good time.

 Me and my boy!

 It wasn't all fun and games. Towards the end of the hike I said, 'We should sing!' This was Ryan's song: I wish this hike was over. I am hungry. I want to go home!

 General Conference means we pull out our bingo boards that have been used many years. This fall I picked candy corns for the game pieces. Ryan has realized that this is a ruse to get him to listen to conference. The game has lost its appeal!

 Our good ol' pooch!