Monday's Magic and Tuesday in Taos....and Wednesday

 Monday morning - very early - Jesse drove to Roswell, New Mexico to pick up our older grands at the airport. That meant Louis Dean and I were on our own until early afternoon.

We enjoyed our morning on the balcony with coffee and reading.

We started Johnny Cash the autobiography with Patrick Carr....this is going to be a good read.

We walked up the road here in this residential area that the cabin is in......carrying the bag of trash with us.

With the higher elevation, we felt the need to stop and get our breath before going on upwards.

The air is a bit thin here! But clear and sweet and fragrant!

Coming back down to the cabin was much easier than going up to the trash bin!

We did some housekeeping and then turned our attention to preparing lunch!

A big pan of spaghetti sauce heavy with meat simmered in the stove.

I made a batch of sugar cookies - just because it's such a wonderful thing to come in and smell fresh cookies hot from the oven!

Fresh cherries along with baby carrots and dill dip. crackers and cheese for light appetizers.

I love the Hatch Chile wines from New Mexico and picked these two bottles up on our way to the cabin on Saturday.

Jesse arrived with Sam, Faith and Levi right at 1:30!

They spilled out of the truck and magic started happening!

We had a great lunch together of pasta and meat sauce with some good garlic bread!

Naps and reading followed while the boys went fishing and Jesse took Faith off to scenic areas to do her senior pictures! How special to do that here!

We all gathered back in the daisy strewn meadow in the late afternoon for Happy Hour.

Chili dogs was the main feature for supper Monday night.

They grilled the hot dogs over the fire....

and it was such a beautiful time sitting around together!

Our evening entertainment was Knives Out.....

so good!

I love all things Daniel Craig!

AND they are making a second one - 

Coming out this fall and I can't wait!

Tuesday morning we made a big hearty breakfast.....

a pound and a half of crisply fried bacon and 2 pounds of sausage plus 17 fried eggs and a dozen biscuits!

Then we were off for a day of sight seeing in Taos!

Starting off with a stop at The Coffee Apothecary! 

Photo Op!!!!

Jesse, me, Sam, Faith and Levi.....

my first born son and first three grandchildren.

Are they not beautiful??

Jesse took us on scenic drives .....

and I spied a honey bee!

With all the flowers around here - there's a noticeable lack of bees.

Lots and lots of butterflies but very few bees.

It does rain just about every afternoon and temps up in the mountains have been in the 40's - 60's.

Maybe it's a lack of pollen - I don't know. 

We walked and shopped the Square in Taos.....

Louis Dean got a new hat!

We had Mexican food for a late lunch - not the Tex-Mex we are used to eating.

But we had fun!

Louis Dean and I were sitting up on the deck of cabin

#2 and I looked down and saw Jesse in the meadow below....

crossing the stream ....

and then he climbed up to the cabin using the tow rope.

We were up there for Louis Dean to sing his Old Porch Swing song.....

He's loving his time here!

Tuesday night Faith cooked dinner for us and that was such a good meal!

She made deviled eggs that were out of this world.

I didn't get before pictures but this is all that was left of baked chicken and green bean casserole.

I made a pan of pepper poppers to go with it.

It was chilly enough to have a fire in the fireplace while we watched our movie for the night.

Louis Dean made a big breakfast to send the kids off to Santa Fe to catch their afternoon flight back home.

He loves being in the kitchen and cooking for the kids.

The food goes quick with two teenage boys!

Faith loves good food and is an excellent cook and baker but she's a light eater.

My contribution to the meal was fried apples.

Perfect to top off breakfast on a chilly morning!

Jesse works for American Airlines and the kids fly standby so he picked them up in Roswell, New Mexico and is taking them to Santa Fe which is closer and showed availability.

Just like that, they are gone.

I came in and wrote for three hours and am nearly finished with Chapter 26 - which is about having Amber and Benjamin and then getting thyroid cancer. Writing can be exhausting so I went to bed for a nice long nap and Louis Dean walked up to take the trash to the dumpster and then walked down to the creek.

We both went for a walk after I woke up and it was so beautiful here.

The rain that came in this morning stopped and the sun came out making everything just sparkle.

Louis Dean is doing well and has adjusted well to the higher elevation.

We have one more day before we leave for home on Friday.

This will make a pretty painting!

There he is!

The trip has been good for us and we are feeling rested and restored.

I'm planning on painting this to give to the generous owners of the cabin.

Look who's back!

The flight was way overbooked and the weather back in DFW caused people who missed the earlier flight to get out on this one.

So the party goes on!!!!

We are watching this now as I close tonight's journal entry.

I can't wait to see what we're going to watch tomorrow night!