camping at morphy lake

One of the main reasons we went down to New Mexico was to take the kids camping. We drove to Morphy Lake and spent a fun day and half there. Everything was great except for the less than classy people who settled into the campsite next to ours at 10 p.m. They stayed up until about 2 a.m. and were very loud. We didn't get a great night's sleep, but our waking hours were fun and relaxing. Here's a look at what we did.

There were great big rocks to climb.

And a lake to canoe in.

Crawdads to hunt.


And marshmallows to eat.


And of course lots of dirt to play in.


And we just sat around too.... some of us read Eclipse (so good!).




























Overall, it was an excellent little overnighter. I mean who wouldn't have fun in a place that looks like this:


Still to come... a few more photos from our trip.

bandelier national monument and overlook point

If you drive about 20 minutes from Los Alamos you will find Bandelier National Monument.

"The ancestors of modern Pueblo people built thriving communities in the area called Bandelier about 600 years ago. Several thousand Ancestral Pueblo dwellings are found among the pink mesas and sheer-walled canyons. The best-known archeological sites, in Frijoles Canyon near the Visitor Center, were inhabited from the 1100s into the mid-1500s." (national park service website)

If you've ever been to or heard of Mesa Verde these cave dwellings are something like that, but on a smaller scale. It's pretty cool to see. Here are pictures from our visit.




Not to far away in Whiterock, NM, we went to Overlook Point. A perfect place to over look the Rio Grande valley.

More highlights from New Mexico to come...

a day in los alamos

My parents live in Los Alamos, New Mexico-- "the town that never was." Before World War II pretty much all that was in this part of the Jemez Mountains was a ranch school for boys. But when scientists started working on the atom bomb technology they needed a place to all come together to work, and Los Alamos became that place. During those years, it was kept very secret; its residents' address was a post office box in Santa Fe. After the war, the Los Alamos National Laboratory expanded and fuels much of the economy of this part of New Mexico.

During our time at my parents' house, we spent an afternoon seeing some of the town's sites, which isn't much. It's a very small town. We went to the Bradbury Science Museum and learned about some Los Alamos history, war weapon technology, and some of what they do at the lab now.

I took these fun pictures outside the museum:


Then we walked over to the Fuller Lodge, home of the old ranch school, and then across the street to Ashley Pond. It was a really gorgeous day!


Last, we took a stroll back up the street where we ended the excursion with some yummy gelato!



Next up: Bandelier!

new mexican sky

We have been back in the heat of Utah for two days now, after a gloriously cool, and by that I mean temperature, time in New Mexico at my parents' house. I'm not even sure if it got above 80 degrees in Los Alamos the whole time we were there. So lovely! Unfortunately, the heat here now feels even worse than before we left! I will post about our various adventures down south in the coming days. But for now, I will give you look at New Mexico's glorious skies. Enjoy.

Taken from the car window on the drive from Santa Fe to Los Alamos. Right now is monsoon season in New Mexico, so every afternoon there is a thunderstorm like this one.

A view from the deck in my parents' backyard. I can't resist looking up in the trees like this.

A view from Overlook Point in White Rock, NM.

From the trail in Bandelier National Park.

Ashley Pond in Los Alamos.

Morphy Lake where we went camping.

a girl after my own heart

We are on the road again headed back to Utah from New Mexico. I will have lots to post about, but in the mean time, here are a few photos to make you smile.

Grace perusing the J.Crew catolog cover to cover.

I say it's never too young to teach a girl good taste.

fun with clippers

My little brother Nick, age 15, let his friend dye his normally brownish hair a sickly yellow blonde. The incident occurred while my mom and sisters were in Utah last week. To show you just how hideous his hair looks this color here is a picture taken a few days ago after we arrived in New Mexico.

We all wanted to just buzz his head, but then decided we may as well have a little fun. So we did this.


And ended up with this.

It's still yellow, but at least it's not bushy anymore. Way to sport the mohawk, Nick!

***If you'd still like to weigh in on my next hair cut, scroll down.***

to cut or not to cut?

Ok, folks. It's that time again when I am totally sick of my hair. I need a haircut before I go back to North Carolina and I want to change it up a little. All summer I have been contemplating the bang. As in cutting bangs again. A few years ago I did the long sideswept thing for awhile. But for the past year or so I have been sick of bangs and mine have been grown out to below the chin, blended in with my long layers. Now I am thinking I want to go all the way and do the straight across look. What do you think? Being a round-faced girl I have combed the internet for other round facers and decided I like Mandy Moore's hair the best.

Seen here (please ignore Jessica) they are kinda long. I would cut them a tad shorter to start.



I also like Kirsten Dunst's here:


And here are a few other celebrity bangs:



I figure bangs are a way to change my hair without cutting it short which i really don't want to do right now. I also really love my friend Tracy's bangs (i hope you don't mind i swiped this off your blog):



So what do you all think? Give me your opinions!!! Here is a recent picture of me to help you out. Pretty much I don't do my hair anymore. I just let it air dry, but with a new style (and no kids this fall) I think I will be ready to put some effort back into it again.