I went to my first graduation

This is Cara best friend Haley, Cara , Jack and I went to her Graduation, while Allan took the boys to a swim meet. All go at that time of year. somewhere there is another picture of Jack and I with Haley, but I can not find it now.

alex birthday

For Alex's birthday this year he had a sleepover with 14 boys, and we bought in Lazer tag to our garden. it was a night event, from 9-11pm, then they fired candy from a cannon, we all sang Happy Birthday to alex and the boys settled down for a movie..a long night I can tell you.

my Birthday party

Jack and I on the night

my dress, i had it made with Cochrane clan tartan my dad had given me for Christmas in 2006

The bar the morning after..we had a huge range of whiskeys

The front entrance

my wreath

the bar

from the back yard looking up to the decking the morning after

I turned 45 this year and we held a party, the theme was Scotland and everyone came appropriately dressed. The house and decking was all themed, I even made a wreath for the front door with different tartans.

dad was out here in February

dad popped out again in February and Allan and the boys all took him to Fredricksburg to the Nimitz museum. Fun was had by all, although the boys go around it quickly, they will keep going around it, so visitors can enjoy it, just not with A and B at there side. a little disconcerting at times. They then went off and ate as dad was hungry and enjoyed a fun day out.
Fredricksburg is one of my favourite places, great shops, a lovely boardwalk, so much character and it feels alive, I just love taking people there. On this occasion i did not go as I was hosting a Stampin'Up event, so I got the peace and quiet of Austin

how hot

Austin is hot at the moment, but the USA is getting fairly hot anyway. we are expecting a cold front today, down to 100F..yeah. As we are off to ARM's family day at Volente Beach, which is a water park on Lake Travis. the boys love that and the jet skis are lots of fun. Hopefully I will remember to post some picture so you can see what they are up too.

now Bens turn

and yes he ate this all himself..Alex did the same with his one. roadtrips must make you hungry..i ended up with no pizza as the waitress dropped mine on the floor, and i could not wait for a new one to be cooked.since I was driving, it was dark and on roads I did not know, I did not wish to try and drive and eat..so hungry was I, but am sure it did me no harm!

last day on the road

Alex had my iphone and was making mini video and as you can see taking self photo's...

Lunch in Colo springs

Ben was in charge of photo's, and as you can see he did a good job, Lisa house is in the foothills of the Rockies, so Alex was thrilled. Lisa had said she has a bear that likes her decking and she thinks it is after her tomatoes ..so the boys went hunting for the bear ( I am just glad they did not find it!!)

It was a lovely break from the drive and was such a beautiful area as well.

CO state capitol

The trip home

Allan had to fly off to France for business, so the boys and I drove home ourselves. We took three days and split the journey roughly in too 8 hours of driving and 500 miles a day. It did not quiet work out like that, but we had fun and fitting in two more Capitol buildings, Wyoming and Colorado.

outside the Wyoming Capitol building

we asked a lovely lady to take one of us all

We had lunch with a friend in Colorado springs and generally enjoyed the journey.

This is the Stampin'Up Convention highlight video

It was so much fun again and this year I am on the video because i won..you get a brief moment of me..but it shows you what fun we have in Salt Lake City when you put 5000 crafters together.

what was I doing in SLC

well I had gone for Stampin'Up convention and had a ball. it was a wonderful time, meeting friends I made last year and more of the team, who I only see at events. lots to do, talk about, drink, eat and of course swop cards and make cards.

the high light for me was winning the Stamp room make over..Stampin'Up CEO and her two daughters (plus a couple of guys to help) are coming to our house and totally redoing my craftroom..and I am thrilled.

This is me on the big screen receiving the prize, i was so overwhelmed i wa shaking, but to say i am thrilled is an understatement..so excited.

Salt lake City

at the Capitol building

at the Salt lakes..with lots of flies

at the zoo, they have a dinosaur section as Utah is famous for dinosaur remains being found

playing in the gateway shopping centre, where water is always a winner

Alex and Allan zip wiring and photographer Ben

The boys had loads of fun in SLC, they went to the zoo, the pioneer park, Park city ( where the olympic village is), discovery zone ( like an interactive museum for kids), to the salt lakes and of course the capitol building itself, so here are a few pictures for you to all enjoy.

still journeying along ( is that a word!)so

So many interesting rocks in Utah, lots of flat land with rocks sticking up, they are spectacular to look at

Just to show we have now made it to Utah..did i show the NM or CO ones??

this was a cafe/shop , so funny..not sure you should disface nature, but

more rock formations

We made it to Utah, and the scenery changed once more, not like NM , flatter with huge rocks. You can decide they look like things..like the game we use to play with clouds.
This was another long day, and we had started it early with a 3 mile run, and then a visit to the capital building..so by now on the journey we are exhausted. but we made it to our hotel by 11.30pm..Allan had done all the driving, as I am driving us back now...whist i type this, evenings in hotel rooms do allow you to blog, where as life does not usually give me many spare moments.

Colorado here we come

This is the sign as we enter into CO

What is this falling from the sky

We went into some very interesting weather..lots of rain, ( that will be why it is so green), lightening forking down and very wet roads...we are not use to this anymore.

lunch time

This is a plate of fries covered in green chilli sauce with cheese, lettuce and toms on top

We are about to enter Colorado!! first for all of us, flying through the airport does not count..

we are now leaving, shots of NM

The reason you need to see these are so you get a feel for the terrain in NM, because as we headed north on HWY 84, towards Colorado, the view from our windows changed .

Santa Fe part of the trip

The house have a very distinctive look to them. Flat roofs, low and in natural colous

This was a beautiful church we found in The old part of town, so charming

This is more houses

Old town Santa Fe was so charming, I would love to go and stay there for a few days and explore

We went and drove around the old town, actually we went to Starbucks to try and get me a mug, as i collect them from all over the world. But fell in love with the quaintness of it, the small boutiques, and other assortment of stores. If you visit us, a trip to Santa Fe should be fitted in at some point ( it is only 12 hours away!!)