July 2010

July 2010 was a month filled with many memories. We flew back to New Mexico on June 27th for our annual "home" leave. It was a trip that we will all cherish forever.

In Angel Fire, it was a time for sitting on the porch swing and trying to catch butterflies.

A time to practice tennis...
and get Jason back on the court.

It was fun having a ball girl just like at Wimbeldon and

Having an audience with the hats and sunglasses.

In Raton, it was time to eat at an old favorite restaurant - La Cosina.

Then it was time for good fun and eats for an early 4th of July picnic.

It was time to have fun playing catch with an Uncle and

for one - practicing karate in the mirror of the truck. (He is such a funny nephew!)

Then there are those that love the pogo stick - nonstop for at least 1/2 hour!

The piggy back rides were a must!

It wouldn't be a picnic without Nona (Jason's grandma) in the kitchen giving directions and all the delicious food!

It was a time to catch up between friends.

Also time to play cards.

or watch with a nice cold drink...

or relaxing with a pal.

Of course, there was one more card game outside.

There was stealing of ice from Pa Pa's glass...

and riding the pogo stick with Aunt Nancy.

It was a time to learn about cousins that we saw in the 4th of July parade.

Then it was time to get a group picture and say our goodbyes to Raton.

It was off to Angel Fire again where we watched the humming birds....

and had manicures on the front porch.

It was also time for the hardest goodbye that I ever had to make.

We arrived back in Switzerland on the 12th of July. The next day, Mom began to not feel well. Each day she progessively got worse. Our young neighbors learned about my mom from Jason while they were talking in the garden. The next day they brought over beautiful flowers and a jar of jam - their tradition of when someone is sick.

The next day, July 20th I was flying back to the U.S. and it was time for my mom to end her battle with cancer.

The following week was a bittersweet time. It was a time to gather with wonderful family and friends. It was a time to reflect and remember the fun times and why we loved her so much.

We made some flower arrangements from the wildflowers out in the yard that Mom loved so much.

When we were previously in Angel Fire, mom was disappointed that this vine wasn't blooming for me to see. However, I am very grateful for the time we did get to spend with her during those 2 weeks.

The sevice was simple but beautiful - exactly how she would have liked it. She is loved and we will all miss her dearly.

I am ending this post with our favorite picture - Mom with her dogs and her great smile!

Netta Chris Gordon (1932-2010)

June Posting

Hello everyone! As always, time is getting away from me. I can't believe it is almost July. I have been taking some pictures meaning to put them on the blog but that just didn't happen. So today, I decided I would do an update for all of June.

The weather hasn't been all that great. It's been rainy and down right cold at times. Today was very nice but the breeze is a bit chilly. I think we hit the mid 60's and I finally see the sun on my toolbar for the next 4 days - yea!

It's been fun walking along the lake recently. We never saw the swan's nest vacated. I thought the nest was so pretty to see.

The mate was on guard duty and swimming not more than 15 feet away. It was fun to see it going after a small black duck. It almost looked like they were playing at times. Of course we didn't get a picture of that.
Further down the lake, we came across this duck with 4 babies on its back. I'm still trying to find what type of duck it is.
One of the babies fell off and was swimming around for awhile. I couldn't get over how big it was.

Then the rest of the babies got thrown off when the duck shook.

One of the babies fought like crazy to climb back on. It didn't want swimming time.

Before long, all four of the babies were back on the mother's back. I think it's "mom's" back. I have never seen this before. We sure did have a good time watching them!

Then we have the "World Cup" action happening. They love their futbol here! When Switzerland beat Spain - well it was a surprise. So much of a surprise that people went crazy and celebrated all night long. Horns were honking for at least 5 hours.

The police were out standing guard but they never had to close down the streets. You would have thought that Switzerland won the "World Cup"! I couldn't imagine what would happen if that was to ever happen.

Jason and Kate got into the spirit of things when Italy played the other night. Last night when Brazil won, the horns were going crazy at 10:30 pm. As I was staring at the ceiling, I really wanted to climb out of bed and grab the camera and record all the noise but I guess I was more tired than I thought!

We finally have raspberries!!! Kate and I picked this bowl today. We are hoping to make a batch of jelly before the weekend. I'm actually going to need quite a few batches this year because the kids have grown very fond of the homemade jam.

The boys are in London for a few days with their school. I hope we can post some nice pictures at the end of the week. Check back on Saturday - until then "Have Fun"!

Time in Austria

We had arrived in Salzburg Friday afternoon. We were all getting hungry around 5:30 pm since we didn't really stop for lunch. It is a typical European city where dinner is not served until 6:30 or 7 pm. There are a few places that do serve something but finding them can be a bit of a challenge. We were given a great Austrian Pub that wasn't too far from the hotel and quite a bit of schnitzel was eaten!

The next day we decided to walk around the town. Three of us wanted to do the "Sound of Music" Tour but it was 4 hours long and we were going to be on a bus the majority of it. We decided against that. So we just walked and it was quite chilly but no rain.

Devin took a picture of Mozart's house where he was born.

The streets were busy but the signs were so pretty.

Devin thought the McDonald's sign was pretty cool. It is quite different than the huge golden arches that we are familiar with.

A picture of Hohensalzburg Fortress - the city's landmark built in 1077.

We decided to take a 25 minute horse carriage ride thru the old town area. It was fun and something different. It was pretty funny how our horse would rest his head on the other. I think he also had some attitude.

Lucas enjoyed being up front with the driver except when the horses had to relieve themselves.

The stores were really decorated so pretty.

A statue of Mozart.

There are many museums and musical events in Salzburg. We happened to come across a "Big Band" playing in one of the streets.

Mirabell Gardens

The next morning we got up early and had about a 7 1/2 hour ride back home including 3 pit stops. We chose to take a more scenic route thru Austria. We could tell there were lots of mountains, but we only saw a few due to the rain and snow.

It was a fun weekend and another one of our more memorable adventures!