We had some great times in the Colonies! We rode horses. The kids really liked it. They laughed and laughed when the horse started to trot, thinking they were going a hundred miles an hour!

Lydia got so good at being on a horse she was leading it all by herself on the last day.

And we LOVED going up to the orchard! We loved riding in the back of the pick-up truck,

picking peaches,

And eating them!

Yum!! We also enjoyed paletas (Mexican popsicles that blow American popsicles out of the water).

Here's Evelyn drinking Mike's horchata. Good stuff. My agua de melon (cantaloupe juice) was super good too.

More Colonies adventures!

Here's a great story. Grandma had a litter of kittens at her house, much to Lydia's delight. Well, we were driving to the city of Casas Grandes one day which is about 15 minutes away from the Colonies. When we got into the city we heard loud mewing. I looked around the car thinking, it sounds like there's a cat in our car. We pulled over and we looked and looked, people on the side of the road came to help us look too. We could all hear it, we just couldn't find it! Well, we finally found that cat. Inside the front wheel hub down inside the front bumper! I was amazed that it lasted all that way! Great, so we ran errands with a cat. It was a pretty exciting morning. And we did get the kitten safe and sound back to Grandma's house. Too bad we couldn't take a cat across the border, or else it would have been fun to have a pet with such a neat story.

Another great story...

You know you're in a small town when the junior high school music class shows up to sing Happy Birthday to your grandmother. It just made my day! One of our cousins was in the class and suggested it to her teacher. So they all came over and sang to Grandma in her kitchen! Adorable!!

We spent a week in Colonia Juarez, Mexico last week and had a wonderful time! Mike's Grandmother turned 98! She is amazing!

We had so much fun being with Mike's aunts and uncles down there. Mike's parents were able to make the trip too! 4 generations. I'm not purposely elbowing Mom Johnson out of the picture, I promise!

We got to do all sorts of neat things in the Colonies! One morning we shelled peas from Great Grandma's garden.

I did that whole bowl of peas! I was so proud of myself!

We jumped on the trampoline, swung on the killer tire swing, and just relaxed. It was so nice to be out of the Houston humidity.

That evening all the families got together for dinner outside (we did every night, what a party) and in honor of Lydia's birthday they had a pinata! Here's Evelyn at her first ever pinata.

Lydia wearing a piece of the pinata as a princess hat.

What a blast! And that was just the first day!

Evelyn turned 1!

We made chocolate cupcakes and she devoured hers! Ha! I'd just barely set it in front of her and she grabbed it! That girl is the heartiest eater I know.

Our dear, funny Evelyn! I can't believe we've gotten to have and love her a whole year now! Such a doll!

Then Lydia turned 6 a few days later! We were actually driving to Mexico on her birthday, which she didn't mind at all. She loved getting to watch movies in the car and going out to Cracker Barrel for dinner, but her favorite was getting to stay in a hotel! She loved her birthday! But lame-o occupied traveling mother as I was I didn't take a single picture! Here's the only birthday-ish picture I have. The night before we left on our trip we had ice-cream cones and we put six candles on hers.

Our sweet, kind, and smart Lydia. Sigh, six years old. It's funny though because half the time I swear she's a little adult. She's just so grown up!

Amazing Lydia strikes again!

Lydia cut her hair to donate to Locks of Love. She saw a picture of her cousins do it in December and she liked the idea. What a sweet thoughtful girl. We love her new short hair!!