Durango Get-Away

Shad and I rewarded ourselves for surviving my 4 months of teaching by heading up to Durango for a few days, without kids. We stayed at a FABULOUS bed and breakfast, Country Sunshine B&B.

This was one of the views from our bedroom.

The owners were fabulous. The husband could be a chef - the food was so delicious. We had potato pancakes one morning (which I haven't had since the last time I saw my uncle over 20 years ago) and french toast with coconut maple syrup the next. They always served a heavenly fruit cup with some yogurt and granola on top. The breakfasts really filled you up!

Walter is from Austria and he always had a cookie platter available for guests to munch on (while we were there the cookies were all Austrian recipes and they were heavenly). Also, a true bonus for this dessert lover, every night he would make a dessert for the guests. We could have stayed forever just for the desserts.

The b&b is about 10 miles outside Durango and has trees surrounding it. We enjoyed some birdwatching while we ate breakfast each morning.

Walter and Jody (the owners) had 2 big dogs and Shad had fun playing with them (he loves dogs - the bigger and dumber, the better).

We were so lucky because it snowed for an entire day while we were there. We haven't had a full-day of snow since we left Utah 13 years ago. We took a scenic walk along the river while the snow came down. We were in heaven!

While in Durango, I satisfied a dream I've had for a long-time; we went on a horse-drawn sleigh ride. And it was a one-horse open sleigh! It was fun, even though it was snowing and my coat wasn't waterproof.

Here's a picture of us halfway through our hour-long sleigh ride.

If you're ever in Durango and need a suggestion of a restaurant, may we suggest Mutu's Italian Kitchen or Olde Tymers Cafe (they had the best french fries I have ever eaten). There is an amazing bakery, simply named Bread, that we discovered after enjoying the fabulous ciabatta Mutu's served. I asked the waitress where they got their bread from, and she told us about Bread. Divine!

It was such a relaxing trip. Much needed!

New Calling

Shad was set apart as the 1st Counselor in our ward's bishopric Sunday. We're all excited for the opportunity to serve our church congregation more, and I'm truly grateful that this calling did not come until after I finished teaching.

Anyone want to play Ghostbusters?

Shad asked for the Ghostbusters Wii game for Christmas.

Several family members were happy to oblige.

Please, Thank a Police Officer Today!

The first call (incident) Shad had at work today was the fatal shooting of a 9 month-old baby. The baby's father was mad at his girlfriend, the baby's mother, because she was trying to leave him, so he went and killed their child. That's one of the calls Shad was actually willing to talk to me about. There have been much worse ones that he will not discuss with me, because they're so awful he doesn't want me to have to know about them.

I am so grateful for men and women who choose to protect us and shelter us from the horrors that are perpetrated in this crazy world. I wish people would understand how much the police do for all of us. I wish there was more gratitude and respect for police officers. I wish I lived in a city that was police-friendly. Hopefully the new mayor will help, but I'm not going to hold my breath.

So, if you have a minute, send a thank you note to your local police station or to an officer you might know. We can never thank the police enough for all that they do for us. Just remember that the next time you get pulled over for speeding.

Grateful Sunday

I'm grateful that Shad will not have to work graveyard or weekends starting at the end of April!

The sergeants bid for their new shifts last Monday, and Shad was able to snag a swing shift (3:00 p.m. to 11:00  p.m.) with weekends off. Shad has not had weekends off since he was a cadet in the academy -11 years ago!!!!!!!!!!!

A Post from Shad

I just found out that I have been doing it wrong all of these years.

So Much for Setting a Good Example

Peter has a bad habit of getting changed into his pajamas with his bedroom door wide open. Shad is constantly reminding Peter to close his door, with no success. Tonight Shad employed a different tactic. He said, "I see London, I see France, I see Peter's underpants." That did not make make Peter close his door. But it did make all 3 of my children run around the house repeating that oh-so-lovely verse for half an hour.

Thanks for that great parenting help, dear!

Shad's Birthday

Shad turned 39 last Sunday. The night before we went to Texas Land and Cattle Company for a birthday dinner. (Poor Shad had been craving steak and I don't think I've made steak in about 2 years.) We had originally planned to go Texas Roadhouse, but when we arrived at 5:00 p.m. the wait for our party was an hour and a half to two hours. We could NOT wait that long to eat! So we scooted across the freeway and quickly got seated at TXLC. It took a while to get our dinner, but we were fine with that as they kept giving us the most delicious bread and butter! 

Can anyone explain why Shad was the only one whose eyes I did NOT have to edit to remove that demon-looking red-eye glare?!

And I was a bad wife because I didn't take any pictures on Shad's actual birthday either. And, I didn't make a birthday cake for him because I was still sick from the heavenly brownie sundae from the night before. We'll be having birthday cake on Sunday to celebrate Shad turning 39 years and 1 week instead.

Baker to Vegas

Hey all, Shad here.  

Many of you have been asking Windy about my trip to Vegas to compete in the Baker to Vegas Relay.  Now that I have some more information, I thought I would give you all my report first hand.  

If you don't know what I am talking about, the B2V is a 120 mile relay race where law enforcement agencies from around the world send teams of 20 runners to compete.  I was one of the runners selected to represent the Albuquerque Police Department.  I ran a 6 mile leg that started around 9:30 pm just outside of Pahrump, NV.  A typical time to complete the race is about 16-18 hours.  So you can imagine, that you have runners starting legs in the afternoon and going all night long until the next day.  

Here is a picture of me back in Vegas a few hours after my run.  

One question that has come up is, "How did you do?"  That has not been the most easy question to answer because they have staggered start times and so you never know if the people you are passing are in your division or not.  As well, there are penalties that are assessed and those will change your finish time so until those are calculated in, you never really have the whole picture.  Besides, the race course is 120 miles and takes 16 hours to run, so most runners are either sleeping when the race starts or ends, so it is not like you are standing by the finish line to cheer on your team. 

I'll have to admit that I have never been involved in anything quite like it.  Without a doubt, it was one if the most fun times I've had with APD.  

It was so unusual to get my assignment where they tell you to be dressed and go out to some location out in the middle of the desert in the middle of the night and just wait there for another runner wearing your same number to come by and hand you a baton.  

So here are the results.  Out of 242 teams from around the world, APD placed 16th overall. The division that we raced in this year had 51 teams competing and we placed 3rd in that division. I still do not have the individual results to see how long it took me to run my particular leg. Our time to run 120 miles? It was 15 hours and 06 minutes.  That breaks down to an average of 7 1/2 minutes per mile.  Considering that the course has individual legs that ascend over 1000 feet, we had 50 mph gusts of wind all night and temperatures also ranged from 93 to about 45 degrees I would have to say that I was pretty happy with the results. I'm already looking forward to next year!!! 

Grateful Sunday, I mean Monday

I am grateful for my awesome husband!

His stomach flu only lasted one day (whereas today is day 4 for me and I think I'm finally starting to feel human again) and so this morning, he got up after having only slept for 3 hours (that's right - 3 hours) and did homeschooling with the kids so that I could sleep (bad night last night). He is a saint! I'm so lucky to have him.

Sick as a Dog

Shad and I have been suffering from sort of stomach bug. Thankfully, Emily was able to keep Peter and Laura entertained and fed yesterday while Shad and I laid in bed trying to overcome intense nausea. The kids benefited from my being out of commission - they got Eggo waffles for dinner last night!

Wordless Wednesday - Nap Time