Let's Try This Again, Shall We?!

58 blog posts...

2 cats...

9 months (how ironic!)...

and a temporary move to New Mexico...

after our unfortunate loss of our twins last year...

Jei & I finally get the good news we've been waiting so long to hear... 

or see rather!

Although I can't imagine us having twins again, we'll certainly welcome whatever we get, and will continue to update family & friends on the blog... which was exactly why we created it in the first place!     

We are super excited about being pregnant again and pray this time around won't disappoint! 

Looking forward to our first doctor's appointment on Valentine's Day!   So until then... grow fetus grow!

Ruidoso For The Day

A long weekend with no plans here in Roswell can mean an extraordinarily boring three days!  But a combination of very poor planning and the fact that we have two crazy Key-Dens to look after meant a weekend trip up north to Santa Fe or Taos looking more like a pipe dream than reality.  So instead of a nice long (expensive) weekend trip somewhere other than Roswell... or the exact opposite and spending the entire weekend cooped up in the house going stir crazy... we decided to compromise so to speak, and head up to the mountains of Ruidoso for a much needed day-trip out of the house and away from Roswell! 

    

Even though Alec had visited before, it had been a very long time... and with me never having been and just glad to actually get out of Roswell for the first time in months, we were both really excited to go somewhere new!  Although to be perfectly honest, Alec was a tad disappointed that we weren't making the trip with all of his ski gear!  So far, it has been a pretty crummy year for snow fall on the mountain... so with crappy snow conditions combined with full price lift tickets, we decided to just leave all the gear behind this time.  

The drive wasn't long at all, only about an hour and a half... and even thought I had no idea what to expect of our little adventure, I have to say I was pleasantly surprised.  The scenery along the way was beautifully landscaped with rolling hills, tiny towns and the most interesting abandoned houses made of stone, brick or wood.  I was super excited... for the day trip was looking very promising!

After leaving Roswell at 3,573 feet above sea level and about an hour & a half scenic drive... we finally made it up to Ruidoso at 6,720 feet in the Lincoln National Forrest.  As we drove in to town, I felt my eyes light up!  The weather was perfect and the main street in town was full of charm & character... which totally reminded me of being up in Julian, CA! 

 

The weather was way too perfect and there were too many cute & charming stores not to park and get out on our feet and walk the main drag!  We found some really interesting stores and amazingly enough... we managed to find a few items with big invisible blinking signs hovering over them with certain family members' names on them, so we even bought a few early birthday gifts... which made the trip that much more exciting!

After all the walking & the shopping... Alec was eager to go up the mountain and check out the local ski resort, "Ski Apache".  And even though Alec thought he was a professional race car driver in a little Honda Civic... the drive up the mountain was a beauty, even though I was afraid for my life!

I was really excited to see snow again!  There wasn't much of it (only in the shade hiding from the hot sun!), but it was nice to see it on the ground again.  Totally made me miss the last time I was in it... helping the "High-Ridge's" pick out their Christmas Tree a couple of years ago!

The snowfall was pretty scarce... 

but the scenery was still pretty amazing!

The pic below is the ski resort.  With more than half the mountain closed and mostly man made snow covering a hand full of runs... we were both amazed at how crowded it was!  Just another reason for Alec to feel better about not bringing up his ski gear.

On our way back down the mountain we noticed a sign outside a residence that had a name on it that totally made us do a double-take!  We just couldn't resist... so we quickly pulled in, snapped the pic below, and high-tailed it out... completely ignoring the "Sheriff's" vehicle in the driveway!  Needless to say, we were thinking about the Meeker gang & wished they really did live there!

After a long, fun and a much needed enjoyable day,

it was time to go back home to flat and boring Roswell.

But not before hanging my head out the window

to try and snap a few pics of the beautiful sunset!

You've Got A Friend In Me

So my buddy Brandon came over the other day to watch some football and eat some delicious home made tacos courtesy of my sweet wonderful wife!  As expected, Brandon brought his better half, his adorable Australian Cattle Dog named 'Gemma'.  The first time Gemma visited the house, we kept Ming & Bing hidden in our bedroom for fear all Hell would break loose if they were to meet... but on this occasion, we bravely decided to have them introduce themselves!  

Much to our surprise, Bing was actually very curious but still very cautious!  Most of the time he just sat & observed under the table while Gemma ran around excited as could be without even noticing him.  Ming on the other hand, was scared out of her mind!  And once we brought them both out in the open and Gemma knew she wasn't the only furry creature in the house... we all got a little nervous for we thought Gemma was going to have a new chew toy named Ming!  Amazingly, Bing was very brave and stood his (high) ground... but as you can see below, Ming was hanging on for dear life!      

Naturally, Bing was a little hesitant in befriending this new creature, but at least he didn't spazz out like his sister!  Ming apparently felt threatened, so she pretended to act real tough and hissed the entire time!  But for Gemma, being the little pup she is, it was a great opportunity for her to get a chance to get acquainted and learn to behave & befriend her smaller friends.  Imagine how many squirrels and small animals Ming and Bing will help save!

In the end, it was a nice peaceful get-together... and although they probably didn't get to the point where they'd call each other friends, it was pretty funny (and somewhat nerve racking) to watch them interact.  Definitely a good learning experience for all!  

Happy New Year

We surely hope your New Year's Eve & New Year's Day were more exciting than ours!  We were in bed by 11:00 pm on the Eve... and then spent all day on the 1st on the couch watching football.  But at least we had delicious chocolate cake to keep our hunger satisfied all weekend! 

May the New Year bring you lots of laughter, love, and happiness... and hope the next four months go by super fast (for us at least!).  Happy New Year!!!

Naughty or Nice?

No family and no kids... which meant we could sleep in as late as we wanted to on Christmas morning... and that's exactly what we did!  Believe me, that was just about the only perk of being stuck in Roswell alone for the Holidays! 

After finally getting up and getting some breakfast in us... it was time to let the festivities begin!  And we began with opening all of our goodies in our stockings!  

Once we emptied out our stockings...

it was time to sort out all our gifts from the gang in L.A.

We knew we couldn't actually physically be with family while we opened our Christmas presents from them... so we did the next best thing!  God Bless Skype!!!  Momma Soch, Gema & Madison get a good look at our pile of gifts before we tear into them!

 

No doubt we would have much preferred to have each other there with us in real life instead of on each other's computer/TV screen... but given the circumstances, I have to admit, it actually worked out a lot better than I imagined!  Below, Momma Soch, Joanne and Helen wait in anticipation of Jei's reaction to their gift. 

 

For someone who doesn't get out of the warm cozy house much...

Jei sure did get a lot of scarfs!

With our Christmas gift opening with the girls in L.A. (via Skype) an amazing success, we decided to do the exact same thing with the Florida crew!  So we divvied out our Florida gifts and prepared for round two of our Christmas! 

We were supposed to be in Florida for Christmas... but this year, this was the best we could do!  Jei & I pose together with Dad-Oh, Moe-Joe, Mandi, Jason, John Hampton and Sammy... certainly not the best family portrait we've ever taken!

So after the dust settled and all the presents were opened... our living room looked like a disaster area!  But to us, seeing such a mess made us realize how wonderful our Christmas morning (afternoon) really was!

But not so fast!!!

There were two certain somebodies that still had their own gifts to open still! 

With all the commotion, wrapping paper, empty boxes, and ribbon to play with... I'm pretty sure our gift opening, which lasted most of the afternoon, completely wore the Key-Dens out!  So once it was their turn, Ming & Bing weren't exactly jumping for joy, no matter how many gifts they had!

But after a little convincing... they both started getting into the Christmas spirit!

 

Little did we know..

Bing was opening his favorite gift of all!  Thanks Aunt Moo!

High on catnip and loving his new toy!  Life is good!

 

So despite not being with family this year, our Christmas here in Roswell was actually quite merry!  We got to sleep in, got lots of wonderful gifts, got to talk (and see!) our families via Skype, and even had delicious turkey leftovers for dinner.  It was definitely hard to complain knowing that it could have been a lot worse... but we were very thankful and felt extremely blessed for all the wonderful gifts we received, but more importantly, that Jei & I were able to spend Christmas this year with each other!

 

Thank you so much for making us feel so special and for all our wonderful gifts!  We hope you had a fabulous Christmas...

and wish you all a very Happy New Year!!!

Dinner for three!

With no choice but to spend the Holidays alone in Roswell, NM... and instead of fighting over which "Christmas" we were going to have (an Etheridge family Christmas, or a Valenzuela/Gonzalez family Christmas), we actually managed to compromise and come up with a brilliant plan to include both our family Christmas traditions! 

We decided to have our Christmas dinner the night before on Christmas Eve (Jei's tradition), and then we would open all our gifts on Christmas morning (My tradition)!  And so Christmas Eve finally arrived and Jei & I both were super excited about pigging out on some of our favorite foods! 

With it being Christmas and all... and having a bunch of that Christmas spirit to go around, Jei & I decided to invite a friend of mine over to join us for our Christmas feast!  My buddy had no other plans, is single, and had no family in town... so we thought it was the least we could do to help make his Christmas a little more merrier.  Much to our surprise, he showed up with his best friend, an Australian Cattle Dog named "Gemma" oddly enough! 

  

We didn't think it would be such a good idea for them to play together, so we locked the Key-Dens up in our room and let Gemma have the rest of the house to herself.  She was such a sweet doggy and was lots of fun to play with!  As you can see... Gemma & Jei got along just fine!

Gemma had never seen a water bowl like that one before... so she took advantage of the cats being locked away and scooped up the last bit of cat food morsels left in their bowl and went to town on all that delicious cat water!

Although a dog-lover at heart... Ming thought she would try to seduce him and change his mind while she had her chance with Gemma taking a dinner break outside in the truck for a while.

Christmas dinner served!!!

After stuffing our faces with deliciousness... my buddy & I braved the cold weather and enjoyed a post Christmas dinner cigar in the backyard... with Gemma keeping us company!

After an amazingly delicious Christmas dinner, a wonderfully relaxing cigar, and absolute divine cheesecake & cupcakes for dessert... it was time to say goodbye to Gemma, her daddy, and Christmas Eve... for Jei & I were super anxious to get to bed and find out what Santa and gotten us for Christmas!