The New Mexico // Part Dos (And a little Texas, too.)

As I mentioned in my last post, we went to Fort Sumner, NM to go to Trent's sister's wedding.  We got to town on Friday to spend more time with the family because we weren't going to be able to stay long after the wedding.  

We couldn't get into the hotel when we got there, so we went to the Billy the Kid museum to take some pictures!

We had been there before in 2009…see?

We went to the rehearsal dinner and Oliver chowed down on some amazing guacamole.  Then on the wedding day, we got checked out and headed over to where the family was.  I knew the day was going to be tricky as far as naps go, so here are naps 1, 2, 3, and 4:

He is a trooper.

Kimberly and Tommy got married at Koontz Ranch.  It was beautiful!  I can see why people fall in love with the scenery in that part of the country.  Tommy was raised in Hawaii and Kimberly in Fort Sumner, so the wedding had island and western/Mexican flare. 

There were adorable tissue paper flowers in the trees.   

Hay for sitting with Mexican blankets.  And tiki torches on the side...

An old table draped with turquoise suede and candles was the backdrop for the vows.  And they stood on the hide! 

Cacti in colorful pots and votives on the brick wall...

Dinner menu written on an old mirror.  Love that!  (We didn't get to eat because we had to rush out.  Everything smelled amazing.)

The lineup.  So cute!

This was when the ranch owner had to go tend to a snake that was eating a bird.  So there was that.  (I think my heart has finally stopped pounding.)

This door, though.  In a little courtyard on the side of the house.  And with the storm rolling in?  Stop it.

Killing time before the wedding started...

Kimberly found these stickers (that are safe to eat) to put on sugar cookies.  Aren't they precious?  Hawaiian scenes and cowboys.  They did this instead of a groom's cake and they were DELICIOUS!

Before the wedding, it rained a ton.  Great for the area, but not on a wedding day.  But then I was told rain on your wedding day in Hawaii is good luck =)

 

  

The girls were in coral and tan and wore boots...

The guys in khaki and white with leis...

As soon as the vows were said, a rainbow appeared.  If that's not a blessing on a marriage, I don't know what is.

And O is now obsessed with solo cups.  

We had to leave immediately and drive 3 1/2 hours to Dumas, TX.  This was the sunset as we were leaving the ranch.  Breathtaking.

We got to Dumas at about 1:15 AM, got in the hotel, put Oliver in bed with us and got to sleep about 2:00 AM.  We got up at 7:00 to get to Grace Thru Fellowship.  We led worship and special music and even got to share our story a little bit because it went well with the sermon.  That was fun!  Everyone was great and we had just enough CDs.  How's that for perfect timing?!?

We left after church and drove to Amarillo to spend the night with Trent's parents before heading out the next day.  We all napped, including Oliver.  He slept for 3 hours!  Amen.

We had a short visit then had to say our goodbyes.  We split up the drive coming home, because it's 14 hours and that's just crazy.  Van Buren, AR is halfway so we stopped there and got to eat with some friends before getting to bed.

Oliver loves to do this when we stop at gas stations =)

And just to keep it real, here was a setup on the final stretch:  lovie in seat, blanket curtain, paci, iPhone on YouTube on the seat.  It was a bit rough.

But we made it home safely and are now working our butts off booking, writing, and raising a very active and into everything adorable boy.

The New Mexico // Part Uno

After we left my family, we drove to Roswell, NM for a mid-week show.  It wasn't too bad of a drive and we got into town with enough time to hit up the Target so I could get some nursing pads.

(Which makes me want to ask, am I alone in this?  Did any of you ladies have to wear nursing pads this long?  7 months and counting?  Anyone?  Bueller?)

We got settled in the hotel room and watched the Food Network, as we do.  (There was also quite a bit of Bravo.)  And can I just say my husband is so clever.  Just look at Oliver's room.  Sheet wall for the win.

Now, as nice as that set-up was for blocking out sound and light, it meant I had to climb over a luggage cart in the middle of the night to get Mister Man when he needed the milk.  I managed it quite nicely and only got one bruise. 

The next day, we went to lunch and then had to find an alien for Oliver to see.  They are everywhere, so we pulled into a parking lot and found one who had a flip phone. 

That night we play at FUMC Roswell.  

After sound check, we went to the chapel to pray and Oliver was able to catch a quick nap.  We hardly ever hold him while he naps anymore, so we relished the moment.

Not many people came to the show and that's always a little tough to swallow.  Part of the adventure and part of living by faith, I guess. But everyone was so sweet and had such nice things to say about the music.  Plus, some of Trent's family drove to see us!

The next morning, we drove to Melrose, NM to see Mama Pat and Papa Tuck.  We love our time with them.  Such good stories and wisdom!  We also got to visit with Pat's sister, Mary Helen, who came in for lunch.

It was a great visit.  Also, Oliver got to really move around.  They have carpet (our parents don't) and it's clean!  His little knees were so red but he loved being able to crawl and do some exploring.  (And chew on baskets and rugs.)

  We spent the night and left the next day for Fort Sumner for a wedding.

Stay tuned!

:: Houston Means That I'm One Day Closer to You ::

Do you remember that song?  

It really has nothing to do with this post but it was better than the other option, "Houston, we have a problem."

Anyway...

While we were in Texas, we had 3 shows in the Houston area.  Houston, Conroe, and Sugar Land to be exact.  And we had the Road Grammie with us.  YAY!

We drove to Conroe on a Saturday and checked into the hotel which was very close to where we were singing on Sunday morning.  Score.  Anyway, if you're friends of mine on FB or follow me on instagram or twitter, you saw this:

That's right.  We shared a bed.  With my mom.  We forgot to tell our contact we had her with us AND the hotel was sold out AND there were no cancellations or cots. It was quite a memory for sure.  (I just love the picture.)  

Once we got settled and rested a bit, we drove to Houston to play at St. Timothy Lutheran.  The show was great!  We had a blast.  And Oliver did well, too!

We ate in the car on the way back to Conroe and went straight to bed.  Straight to the king bed for 3. 

*I will point out that we saw lots of military in the breakfast area and we figured they were in town for something and so that's why there were no cancellations and so we were ok with bed sharing because America* 

Sunday morning we played special music at FBC Conroe.  What an awesome group of people!  

They put us in the paper and on the marquee, which I always like to document.

The Road Grammie captured a pic before Oliver melted down for her All. Morning. Long.  

We think it was a mixture of not enough sleep and that we said bye to him and he saw us walk away which is a no-no for him.  Grammie is a pro, though, and they both survived.  

Here we are with the Music Minister, Tom.  I love that he said, "you're a little blurry but nothing a filter can't fix."  Ain't that the truth these days.  

We left right after church to drive to Sugar Land for a concert that evening.  We got checked into the hotel (which had candy in the lobby for free and melon water) and grabbed lunch at a place named after my favorite color.

The concert was at Christ UMC.  They were so sweet!  They had snacks for us and a 'My First Cookbook' for Oliver.

(That's right, folks.  If you're paying attention at home, that's a Lutheran, Baptist, and Methodist church all in one weekend.  We don't care what you're called, just that you love Jesus.  That should be the Monk motto.)

Anyway, a friend of ours from Florida recently moved to Sugar Land and brought us in.  It was great to reconnect!  The show was another awesome one.  

Sound check =) 

It seems we need a jump-a-roo.  He digs it.

Oh hey, Grammie!

We got back to the hotel, got Oliver down, and then we got to go out on a date.  Thanks, Grammie!

That night was tough, even though we had two beds.  At one point, Trent and my mom were both snoring and Oliver was fussing and I was all like "what's happening and how'd I get here?"

Not a lot of sleep happened.

We woke up, got going, and just got more coffee.

On the way back to Salado, we went to Costco to get diapers because that's what thrills us these days.  

Houston, you were fantastic!  We look forward to coming back!