Nate:  "Mom, is Beth going to heaven too?"

If Beth loves and obeys Jesus she'll go to heaven with us!

Nate:  "Oh.......... Mom, if Beth falls off the edge of heaven, I'll go save her!"

James:  "With a parachute!"

Nate:  "Yeah, with a parachute to find Beps."

James:  "No. I'll fly down."

Nate:  "Yeah, I'll fly down and find Beps."

James:  "No. I'll wear a mask and cape!"

Nate:  "Yeah! I'll wear a mask and cape too. And I'll go save our gi-yrl!"

James:  "No. I'll come down on a cloud with Jesus."

Nate:  " .....{thinking}..... I think I'll just take an airplane."

Nate is on a roll recently.

Yesterday, we were playing outside and I asked Nate to watch Beth for a minute.

Nate, I need you to protect Beth because you're her big brother.

"I don't think I should. Since I am the one who always gets hurt... But Mom, do you know what I learned in Sunday school this week?"

Was it the fruit of the Spirit?

"No... that was last year.... But Mom, do you know what I want to be for Halloween?"

No, what?

"Shoes!! HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Albuquerque - Day 5

The town of Ouray was created as a mining town (with 30 different mining operations) about 125 years ago.

We visited the Bachelor-Syracuse Mine thinking that it might be a little scary, but the little kids would love riding a train cart into the mine.

No train cars. We walked through the muddy, dark mine on the old train tracks. Thankfully, the kids did great! It was amazing to see the beautiful rocks, but a little creepy too. 

Inside the mine, we sat in a little inlet where we listened to our tour guide talk about what life was like in a mining town and how the process of mining worked.

Our tour guide told us that in a mining town, a 5 year old would get his first set of mining tools and just carry them around all day to get used to the weight and to become comfortable with them. James is almost 5 so he was our example.

It was interesting to hear about life in the late 1800's. Children were put to work in the mine at a very young age. It was definitely a hard life.

That afternoon, the boys went swimming at the hotel pool while Beth took a nap. (Well, kind of swimming... James prefers the hot tub while Nate prefers anything with steps so he doesn't have to actually swim.)

And that night, we walked through the town and went to dinner. Nate and James wore the green and blue proudly.  ;-)

Albuquerque - Day 4 continued

After Navajo Lake, we finished our trip to Ouray via Hwy 550 (aka The Million Dollar Highway).

Wow. It was beautiful.

I'm not sure if it was the last 4 days that we spent in BROWN New Mexico, but within minutes of crossing the Colorado border, it was like a feast for our eyes. Everything turned green and mountainous. It felt like home again! But on a much grander scale.

The scenic mountains started just after Durango, CO.

The mountain pass is windy and steep. Its tallest point reaches 11,018 feet.

Compared to Stevens at 4,062' and Snoqualmie at 3,022 - it feels like you're on top of the world!

That drop off!

The town of Ouray is called "The Switzerland of America". It has a very similar feel to Leavenworth, but it sits in a valley completely surrounded by mountains.

We stayed at a cute little Best Western. It was a great hotel with a couple of hot springs-hot tubs, a great pool, and the best made-to-order breakfast I've ever seen at a hotel!

 

Nate, did you help James with cleaning up?

 

"No, I didn't. I was resting so I could be stronger than James."

Buddy, you have to help out and be a team.

 

"I know. But, Mom........ I'm still alive!"

Albuquerque - Day 4

Ready for a boat-load of pictures? Haha! I crack myself up. 

After a few relaxing days at the Bogner house, we took a road trip to Colorado.

The girls took one car and the boys took the truck. It was a much more relaxing ride than I'm used to!

The scenery of New Mexico is different, but beautiful in its own way. Lots of plateaus, brushy-bushes, and oil rigs. Not many cities or trees, and no water anywhere!

Around 11am, we made it to Navajo Lake. We rented a pontoon boat and cruised around the lake for a few hours.

The carp at this marina were c-r-a-z-y. The fish would follow people around on the dock and wait for food. There were hundreds and hundreds of them - and they are HUGE fish. At first, seeing the fish was a fun novelty, but when you really look at them, it's pretty gross!

This was a beautiful - and huge lake. We had a blast checking it out and swimming.

I love my clouds.  ;-)

And Beth loves her buddy Hailey!

Me and Renae

In New Mexico, you can see the rain/storms coming from a distance. The huge rain cloud below was headed for the lake just as we were returning the boat. Good timing.

This was such a fun afternoon - great lake and great people. And it was definitely a nice way to break up a road trip for the kids!

The Blue Balloon

 

We had a big 30th birthday party for Reed on Sunday night. In the middle of the party, John let a helium balloon fly into the sky. (Of course) The boys were distraught. I walked Nate outside to see if we could find the balloon:

Nate, where do you think the balloon went?
"I think it went up to Jesus in heaven. Maybe if I pray to Jesus and he will bring it back to me."

After I put the boys to bed for the night, we heard Nate calling from the top of the stairs. John went to check it out and in the sweetest, quivering-lip voice, Nate told him that he just prayed to Jesus so that Jesus could bring his blue balloon back to him.

In a creepy act of kindness, John tied a blue balloon to their bed that night.  :-)