November 2013 and Ruidoso, New Mexico

November was a fun month - here are a few random photos of what we've been up to.

 

Asher loves his glider bike - he's always zipping around the house on it - it never matters what he's wearing or what we're up to, he loves gliding around the house.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Asher is also a big fan of Play-Doh, Gak, and stickers (he found some leftover Halloween stickers and came up to Shauna looking like something out of a horror movie)...

 

 

 

 

Shauna and Asher went to the El Paso zoo with some friends - the meerkats were a big hit - as was the tiger separated from three rambunctious boys by a thickish piece of glass...

We heard that there was a Christmas market in Ruidoso, New Mexico, a ski town, so we spent a weekend there.  The Christmas market was a bit of a bust (more like a southwest crafts market), but they did have a train - Asher was thrilled!

 



On our way home we stopped at a scenic lake to have lunch and feed the ducks.  Asher and Sean had a great time throwing rocks, sticks, and bread into the water.

 



 

 

For Thanksgiving we visited Sean's sister in Phoenix.  It was the first time that Sean and his adult siblings had gotten together in a few years.  We had so much fun that at the end of the weekend we realized that we only took a few photos.  Oh well - below are the photos of Asher and his cousins on our car, of course.  From left to right - Lincoln, Telise, Asher, Colton, and Paityn. 

 

 

 

To round out the photos from the month - we began preparing a photobook for another adoption and realized that over the past few years we have very few photos of just Sean and Shauna, so off we went to the backyard and with the help of a neighbor we rectified that situation.

 

Below are some family photos from Sean's sister Missy and her family - such a good looking family, we had to include these photos on our blog.

 

 

 

Halloween in Ciudad Juarez and El Paso

 

This year, Asher had 3 Halloweens - 2 on the Mexican side of the border and 1 in Texas!  Halloween is Sean's favorite holiday and this year it also became Asher's.  As I post this it is the 22nd of December and Asher is more likely to be singing "This is Halloween" than "Jingle Bells."  Having grown up with Sean and all the spooky things (ghosts, ghouls, severed limbs, etc.), there's no fear, only fun.  I think the thing he was most afraid of was the pumpkin's "guts."

 

A few weeks before Halloween, we carved our Jack-o-Lantern.  Asher wanted a scary face on it, "not a silly face" so we tried to oblige.

 

 



Yes - he is giving his Jack-o-Lantern a kiss...

 

The costume - a Cowboy!  This was the first year where Asher knew exactly what he wanted to be (he's been on a major Toy Story quick lately).  Of course, as we were trying it on, Asher had to put his own spin on it.  Nothing says cowboy like chaps with no pants...

 

  

Halloween #1 - Trunk or Treat in El Paso:  This seems to be a uniquely LDS concept, but we decorate the trunks and backs of our cars and kids trick or treat from car to car in the LDS chapel parking lot.  After convincing him to put on some pants, Asher was ready to get going.

 

He insisted on holding the Jack-o-Lantern on the drive to the church. 

 



 

 After collecting his candy, Asher hung out in the back of our car, waiting for the food and games inside.

 

 

Krispy Kremes that you have to try and eat off a string without using your hands?  Count us in! Asher also won the cake walk on his second try.  What blog would be complete without an old man handing out cotton candy? 

 

 

 

Halloween #2 - Work Event in Ciudad Juarez: A few short days after Asher had a full bag of candy in El Paso, we went to Sean's work for another party.  Sean was Batman, Shauna was Batgirl, and Asher rocked the cowboy costume again. 

  

Sean ran into an arch-enemy...

 

 

There were lots of things to see, the blow up dancing ghost, the hooded man, and even a broom that moved around on the floor all by itself - that was Asher's favorite. 

He was always curious, never afraid.

 

 

 

 

 

Sean's office all dressed up like Super Heroes.  When Sean picked Batman, his #2 in command was less than enthusiastic about being Robin, but got into the spirit of it...

 

 

 

 

Sean's office also won the prize for scariest decorations.  This was the scene in one of their booths (only older children/adults went in) - as you got close to the glass someone underneath the desk grabs your leg - some great screams resulted:

 

 

 

Halloween #3 - Our neighborhood in Ciudad Juarez.  Mexicans on the border love Halloween.  There were a lot of houses on our neighborhood who decorated and participated.  In order to find out which houses have candy, you walk on the sidewalk or in the middle of the street yelling: "Queremos Halloween" or "We Want Halloween."  Those who are participating open their doors and give out candy.  For weeks after this, Asher would chant "Queremos Halloween" whenever he wanted some Halloween candy - Shauna was not amused by this development. 

 

 

 

 

With moving ghosts, strobe lights, severed limbs, vampires that pop out and scary music, our house quickly became the Halloween focal point. 

 

 

 

 

 

 We carved our pumpkin a couple of days before Halloween.  Apparently, pumpkins don't last very long here in Mexico.  By the time Halloween came around, our fierce and scary pumpkin became our shriveled, decrepit, yet still somewhat scary, pumpkin :)

 

 

 

Happy Halloween!