The Campers Return

The Solar Powered Golf Cart.
(Solar Panels are on top)

Hayden and Chris (his counselor)

Another reason Rachel loves camp.

Rachel riding the barrels.

Hayden getting ready to chase the clown.

Notice his feet aren't even touching the ground.

Hayden with Jack and a couple of other campers.

Rachel

Headed home...

Well, things were very different without kids. It gave us a little taste of an empty nest. We LOVED it! Don't get me wrong, we love our kids, but we really love each other and having fun together, watching movies that we want to see, eating out where they don't serve chicken nuggets, getting ice cream for fun...

All the kids are back home and we have enjoyed hearing their songs, stories, and awesome tales of their adventures of camp.

Here are a few of the things they shared:

Kate came back from visiting Gran and Poppy in Lubbock with her new camera! She got to take pictures of the cousins in Lubbock and do her first photo shoot. She then took her camera to Hidden Falls to get pictures of the rodeo. She had a great time going shopping and spending time in Lubbock.

Sarah, who went to WT's engineering camp, got to weld this week. She brought home this really cool WT metal art piece that she welded together. She also got to make her own fireworks! She got to convert a golf cart to a solar powered golf cart. It sounds like she got to do a lot of fun stuff at camp. Now, the funny thing is that she talked about how several kids were falling asleep during the class time. She made it a point to count how many were asleep during each session. Her highest count was 13! They were engineers after all. (I do realize that engineers won't find that funny.) Sarah also won an award at camp this year. She was awarded the "Best Smile". She says that it is thanks to Dr. Sparkman.

Rachel, who went to Hidden Falls, got to spend a week with several of her friends and celebrated her third year at camp. She loves it just as much as the first year she went and has decided that she will in fact be a camp counselor when she is old enough. Her favorite counselor was Sebastian. He is from England and plays soccer for WT on scholarship. She, along with everyone else at camp, loved his accent. Rachel rode the barrels in the rodeo and did a great job. She looked like a natural on her horse.

Hayden, who also went to Hidden Falls, got his first taste of camp. He was a little nervous when he found out that he couldn't call us, but he did great. He introduced us to every counselor at camp. His counselor in the Rockin' B cabin was from California. He learned about Hidden Falls because his mom is from Amarillo. This was his 10th year at camp. Hayden did the clown chase in the rodeo and had a great time. His favorite story was when the camp leader asked for his help. Hayden had to help unlock a bathroom. His leader had him climb through a window and into the bathroom from outside the building to unlock the door. He thought that was pretty cool.

There's A First Time for Everything...

Three Campers ready to go...

Hayden's Cabin

Rachel and her new roommates.

Hayden's first time to go to camp!

Well, it's taken 15 years for this to happen, but all our kids are off to camp and to visit family this week. A week alone...

Day 1- movie (X-Men) Check!
Day 2- dinner with friends
Day 3- dinner with husband!
Day 4- paint the town red, oh wait, I mean paint the office tan. ( Boring, I know, but it's what I do)
Day 5- a little shindig at my house (thirty-one party)
Day 6- Children return home refreshed, renewed, and ready to spend the rest of the summer together!


Hey, one can dream! I'll let you know how it goes...

Rio Grande Zoo

The Rio Grande Zoo in Albuquerque is still our favorite zoo. While in Albuquerque, we decided to go back to the zoo. When we lived there, we went to the zoo all the time. The kids loved going to see all the animals. It has been about 6 years since they last went and they still love this zoo. We had a great time on our animal adventure.

The best thing about this zoo is that you can walk through and see everything in just a few hours and still have time to make it to Old Town or the Aquarium in the afternoon. LOVE it!

Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives... ABQ

As we planned our trip to Albuquerque, we decided to sample a little something from the food network. We went to The Standard Diner; a place seen on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. The Standard Diner features a fabulous selection of diner favorites taken to a whole new level. Country Fried Tuna? Yes, that is what John had. Sarah had the Monte Cristo, shown above. Hayden tried the Mac-n-Cheese; while Rachel went with a safe bet and tried the kid's meal hamburger. Me, I went for the 'standard' chicken fried steak. Let me just say, there was nothing standard about it. It started with a bed of garlic mashed potatoes, topped with fresh asparagus and on top of that, was the best chicken fried steak in ABQ. Top that off with a creamy garlic peppercorn gravy, and I had the best dish on the menu! The kids really enjoyed going to a place that Guy Fieri himself had gone. If you're in Albuquerque, check out the Standard Diner.

Show Fest 2011 - Albuquerque

A weekend in Albuquerque to watch Kate compete in the 2011 Show Fest was very entertaining. We had a great trip and enjoyed watching Canyon High School's very own Glee club compete.

CHS Glee

Kate has been working hard all year in her show choir. They are ready to take their act to Albuquerque to compete. They did a great job performing tonight. Way to go Kate! I took the video with my phone, but it gives you an idea of what they sound like. I'll take a better video camera to ABQ.

Our new friend Nikki Heat

The storing of Nikki Heat

I had to peek...

My first batch wasn't very pretty, but they tasted great.

Hayden came back for more.

Say hello to our new friend, 'Nikki Heat'. Our friend has a twin that lives in Lubbock. My mother-in-law posted about it on her blog. Nikki Heat is the name she has given to her sourdough starter. This sourdough stater was given to her by a friend. It has been in their family for 25 years! When she suggested that she might share it, I felt a little unsure if I wanted to accept her gift. The tending, feeding, stirring...it sounded worse than having a new puppy to me. Um,... no thanks! I'll just get my stale old bread at my little grocery store.

Don't get me wrong, I love to cook, but cooking is way different than baking. When I was a kid and my dad would work late, I would go to the pantry and throw a can of this, a can of that, a pound of this and a little of that together, and voila, my brother and sister thought I was the best chef ever. I loved being creative in the kitchen and still do. Baking is a whole different ball game and I don't know the rules. If you get too creative with your baking, things could go terribly "a-rye".

After going to Lubbock and spending the weekend learning all about the care and keeping of Nikki Heat, I soon began to like her. I felt like maybe I too could make luscious cinnamon rolls and tasty breads. What once seemed to elude me felt attainable. I could bake and it could be good and my family would eat it. Okay, give me some! I'll do it.

And so, I return home with my little bucket of Nikki Heat. (She travels well if packaged properly.) Eager to see if I too could make some delicious baked goods, I set out to feed her and then mix together a batch of....cinnamon rolls. There, I said it, "I am going to make cinnamon rolls". That is something I had never done before, ever. Sunday afternoon, I carefully followed the recipe. I measured everything just like my MIL taught me. I covered the dough and prayed that it would rise. Just before bed Sunday night, I took a peek under the towel covered bowl. Much to my surprise, it was a fluffy ball of risen dough! Step one, check! Next, I had to roll it out, turn it into a cinnamon roll and say another little prayer for it to rise a second time. This time in cute little stone pans ready for the baking. I got up early Monday morning to check on my precious dough. Yes! It did it again, and I didn't even have to do anything. Like magic, the cinnamon rolls were double their size, slightly touching each other as if not to crowd, ready to go for a little baking. Step two, check! Fifteen minutes seemed like an eternity that Monday morning. I waited, and waited... Oh, I almost forgot step three, the frosting. I hurried to make the frosting while they finished baking and by the time I was done, my first ever batch of homemade cinnamon rolls came out of the oven. While they were still warm, I frosted them. They glistened like a new pair of sparkly Toms! By this time, my children were eagerly awaiting their yummy breakfast treats. With oohs and ahhhs, they delighted themselves by eating fresh hot cinnamon rolls for breakfast that day.

Well, my friend, if baking has eluded you, fear not. You too can make delicious baked goods right in your own home. All you need is a little Nikki Heat and some coaxing and instruction from your mother in law and you too can achieve baking success.

CBA Champions

Well, since the day Hayden turned two, he has been prepared for this moment. For Hayden's second birthday, we bought him a little basketball goal. We handed him the ball and he took his first shot and made it! He has been ready to play basketball ever since. When we moved to Canyon three years ago, he saw the sign for CBA and was ready to play. The bad thing is that you had to be in second grade. So, this year, CBA sign ups came around and Hayden was ready to play. The time had come for some real basketball. John was asked to coach and he led the spurs to a Championship victory. What a season! The spurs went undefeated in the tournament. Way to go Hayden. We can't wait to watch you play for the Canyon Eagles someday!

Comfort and Joy!

What a wonderful time we've had spending Christmas with family. It brings me great Comfort and Joy to know and love this family of mine. We spent several hours playing games, lounging in our pajamas, watching movies, building lego stuff, creating art and craft items, cooking, eating, playing Kinect... Okay, I've done a little cleaning and organizing too. I have enjoyed my time off and have really loved spending it with family!

Hoggard Family Christmas

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Today, the Hoggard side of our family got together to celebrate Christmas. Our 'traditional' Christmas dinner includes chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes and gravy and more trimmings than you could possibly imagine.[ It reminds me of when my brother and I were in high school and on Friday mornings, before the big game, my dad would make steak for breakfast. The coaches got a kick out of asking my brother what he had for breakfast. I think they were hoping to one day be invited.] This was definitely a Texas style Christmas dinner. My dad cooks the steak outside and we prepare the feast inside. I think we could actually feed the entire neighborhood if we wanted. There were 23 of us and we had 48 steaks!

After our stuffing, we exchanged gifts white elephant style. I don't know if any other family does this, but it certainly makes for interesting gift giving. We have come to find many women in our family would prefer knives and tools to all the sparkly foo foo stuff most women want. Also, we are not afraid of stealing other peoples gifts. The best gifts are frequently stolen and end up with a third owner for their final destination. If you don't put your gift away quickly, it might just get hidden in order to go home with one of its previous owners. Some of the gifts this year included a set of knives, a jig saw, an electric griddle, a warm fuzzy blanket, jewelry and a set of bowls.

Hosting our lively bunch is always a treat. We love that they are all willing to come back each year.

Hoggard Family Reunion

Last weekend, we celebrated the Hoggard Family Reunion. The day started with a trip to the Bar-H Dude Ranch near Clarendon, to watch a cowboy action shoot. John's dad is a part of the group that was there for the day. It was great to see him shoot. We got to meet some cousins that came all the way from Tennessee. What fun to meet these great kids that had never been to Texas before. What a welcome! After watching some serious shooting, we traveled to Hedley for the Hedley Cotton Festival. The big town of just over 200 celebrates the fall cotton season with a parade, BBQ, Bingo and craft and game booths. This year, there were about 10 booths participating. That is about double the booths of last year. The weather was much colder and rainier last year. After celebrating the cotton festival, we went back to the Bar-H Dude Ranch for dinner. Talk about the BEST BURGER in the Texas Panhandle, this is hard to beat! Dessert was my dad's famous peach cobbler and homemade ice cream. It was a great day and beautiful weather!

Buff-a-Rama

West Texas A&M held its annual Buff-a-Rama today. Free hot dogs, free shirts, free cokes, free ice cream, lots of stuff and all for free. Lots of fun was had by all!