View from the top of Capulin Volcano

A view of New Mexico from the top of Capulin.
Looking down on the Santa Fe trail from the rim of the volcano.

Ben's taking a break on the rim of Capulin.

Here's some info:

Capulin Volcano National Monument, located in Northeastern New Mexico, was designated a U.S. National Monument on August 9, 1916. It is an example of an extinct cinder cone volcano that is part of the Raton-Clayton Volcanic Field. A paved road spirals around the volcano and visitors can drive up to a parking lot at the rim. Hiking trails circle the rim as well as lead down into the mouth of the volcano. The visitor's center offers educational programs about volcanoes.

From the National Park Service:
Capulin Volcano National Monument is a well-preserved, relatively young (58,000 to 62,000 years old), symmetrical cinder cone. It rises steeply from the surrounding grassland plains to an elevation of 8,182 feet above sea level. The irregular rim of the crater is about a mile in circumference and the crater about 400 feet deep.
Capulin Volcano is one of the outstanding landmarks located in the northeast corner of New Mexico, where the rolling grasslands meet the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Capulin Volcano's highest point provides unobstructed, panoramic views of the volcanic field, distant snow-capped mountains, and portions of four states (New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Colorado). Capulin Volcano also offers visitors excellent opportunities for observing and understanding volcanic formation. The large volcanic field surrounding the monument contains at least 100 recognizable volcanoes, and aids visitors in gaining insights into 10 million years of the geological history of northern New Mexico.

We've been married for 10 years!

Here we are getting ready to go out on the town. Beka, our amazing babysitter, came over to play with Ben and we headed to Nate's favorite place, Fayette-nam, for dinner. We went to the Urban Table which is smack in the middle of the downtown square. They buy food from the Farmer's Market and everything was really delicious!
My gift: WOWZERS! Jake bought me an amazing gift! The stone is blue topaz...Ben's birthstone. It's totally stunning and I was so surprised. I felt like a million bucks. Jake PROMISED me that we weren't going to do gifts. STINKER The 10 year gift is aluminum for goodness sake. I'm glad I got blue topaz :-)

Tents and Caves

Jake has been making "caves" as Ben would call them. Jake calls them forts. We've had card tables, chairs, blankets, and books all over the living room. Ben sure likes the idea of the "cave" but doesn't really like to be in it. So, Jake put up his camping tent and Ben eventually warmed up to the idea of being in the tent. He still called the tent a cave. Funny.

Ben van Gogh

yummy...jelly

I picked blackberries last weekend and Jake made some jam. It is sooo tasty! Ben agrees! Our new favorite snack is toast with LOTS of jelly.

Story Time

Ben opened up a book to read to Jake and this is what Ben read: One day a guy goes off with a horse. The end.

Happy 70th Birthday, Gramps!

Ben and Gramps taking a ride around the yard on the mower....I think Ben could have done this all night! He was so excited to be riding with Gramps. Here are Mom and Gramps getting ready for the big party. Gran invited our family over...I think there were a few folks who couldn't come, but there were stil 37 folks who could come! And that's JUST family :-) We had a great picnic, burgers, hot dogs, and all the traditional fixin's for a summer party.
Gramps said he had been making home-made ice-cream for 50 years! Now Ben gets to experience the social gathering of churning the mix, putting in ice and salt, and hanging out.
Ben , Gramps, and Granny

OKAY!!! WHAT???

I was checking my email and Ben was whining and complaining about a snack that I wouldn't let him have. At this point, I think Ben could eat all day long. He was really driving me crazy. I looked at him sternly and with a raised voiced told him, "You must stop complaining and whining. Just simply tell me what you want kindly and politely." (If only I could do this, right?) He finally just yelled, "OKAY!" I just burst out laughing because he had this look...he had scrunched his shoulders and he thrust his arms straight down his sides with his fists clenched. His face was also stern and he was looking straight in my eyes. As I was laughing (for many reasons) he just looked at me and said, "WHAT!?!" with the same body expression. I suppose he was either confused that I could be irritated one second and amused the next or infuriated that I was laughing at him. Well, it all blew over...he still didn't get his snack but we did go outside and play.

Hmmm...I'll have to think about that.

Friday driving home from friends I heard Ben say, "hmmmm, hmmmm, hmmmm." I turned around and he had his head turned to the side, slightly raised, and his eyes looking pensive with his finger tapping his lips saying, "hmmm.....hmmmm....I'll have to think about that." Now, being Ben's mother, I know he does indeed do many cute, sweet, and funny things. But this one has topped them all. This goes to show that he for sure watches every move we make and really listens to what we say.

swimming pool fun

Ben was jumping, fishing, and now he's smacking the water with his stick.

Going down the slide.
YOU EAT THE FISH!

green and blue fish are tasty

Ben and his fishing buddy (that would be mom)

fishin' in the pool

Ben went to the patio to get his chair, put it in the pool, found a good stick, and told me he was fishing.
Waiting for something to bite.
He's handing me a fish he just caught. There's nothing like fresh fish!

jumping in the pool

Our neighbor, who is moving to Nebraska, gave us their little pool. Here's Ben jumping away with his "fishing pole."

VBS 2008

Jake was in charge of Bible story time. He was GREAT! The theme was Surfin' Through the Scriptures and each night focused on a Be-Attitude: Be Obedient, Be Kind, Be Forgiving, Be Bold and Believe.

There was a class for the little one's too and there were 4 boys---the Angel Fish group. This was their "rec" time---bubbles.
Here are Ben and Eliot chasing bubbles. You see Wes and Sherri, the leaders. Ben really loved Wes. He still wants Wes to come over dinner each night. Cute.
SNACK TIME!
Micah, Wes, and Ben
Ben and Micah decorating a fish for craft time.
Sidewalk chalk---each boy first tried to eat the chalk as if they were popcicles.
Jake and the "big boys" learning about forgiveness.
Jake and Nate reading scripture as a play.
Dr. Jake doing his thang.
Wes, Allison and the boys with more bubbles.

After this little finger dancing scene, Ben went into the aisle to surf!
Ben giving me a bubble.
Here's the aisle surfing!

I was the official photographer. And, I did take pictures of ALL the children and leaders. Needless to say I took about 50 pics each night and then made a posterboard each day for everyone to look at. I had a blast too!

The Wedding Weekend

Last weekend we visited 'ole Milwaukee to see our great friends Jess and Neil get married. The pics are from the reception at the swanky Hotel Metro in downtown Milwaukee. We had a blast!

Jake and Liza. Liza and Jess have known each other since middle school.
Jess and Jules
Jess and Liza
The newlyweds! Jess and Neil

Jumping on the bed

Okay so this is a little long....

• The first thing he says is, "I don't want you to fall."
• He looks at the pillow and says, "That's for sleeping."
• He looks at my alarm clock and says, "Oh that's music. I like music."
• We have no idea what he's saying about Jake's shirt. He did say that it was cool at first and then something about a "sign." And then he cracks himself up.
• Later Jake asks him what he's doing and he says, "I'm doing fall down and jump..like this."
• Then Ben gets really close to Jake and says, "I wanna do it again, Dada." This is Ben's famous way of getting our attention = breaking the "space" bubble!
• He's looking at the wall because of the mirror. He likes to watch himself jump.

Jumping on the bed ocurrs after bath. He will say, "I want to see Ben cry. And then he'll stand up, look in the mirror, and pretend to cry. Then the jumping begins and whatever else that's in his mile-a-minute brain comes out to entertain us.

Making faces with Dada

scary face
smiling face
silly face
crying face