Home Sweet Desert

 

It was definitely quite the experience driving from the green tree-covered

 East Coast back to my little home desert...

But there is no greater feeling than coming back to my family and driving into my home town.

 

This was the first summer I haven't really got to spend time with my family..

[Now don't get me wrong.. Blake and I got to spend it as our new little family and what a sweet experience that was..]

 

 Growing up is definitely one of those bittersweet things..

So I was SO glad we could at least come visit for a little bit before heading back to school.

While we were there I had to pack up my room and finish the Thank You Cards that we lucky enough to have so many to write..
[but man am I not sad that I don't have to do pack like that again.. guys.. there is really such thing as TOO MUCH stuff.]
So to keep me and everyone else [my poor family through all of this].. sane
Mitchy took Blake and I on a little afternoon date..

 
He got a really nice new gun when he got his Eagle Scout..
 [& after deciding he would like it more not just hanging on the wall.. even though let me tell you.. this thing is fancy.]
 So we decided it would be fun to go shooting in the canyon!

And man I was just loving it..
:)
Can you tell by my face?!

 
But really.. even though I'm not a big gun [knife, fighting, blood.. anything that could cause blood..]  kind of person
it was really fun.
AND further more.. I was the one that hit this gatorade bottle square in the heart.
Talk about happiness.

 

The rest of the time however..

I just coached watched.

 

Oh yes. They found full cans of beer. The classy excitement in our lives is astounding.
haha
And then [after we went squirrel searching because Mitch was determined]
My sweet brother took us out to a movie too.
Taking care of the poor newly weds..
:)
Thanks Mitch.. You're a dang good brotha.

 
During our week home we also got to show Blake what a REAL [delicous] Navajo Taco tasted like..

We have sweet Navajo friends that we go to church with..
And our cute friend Megan made our whole family this awesome authentic meal..

And it was SO yummy!
I sure having been missing this South Western food.


Then when all the packing, and writing, and work was done we got to go on a little family date to Durango.
My favorite.

 

 

And our first stop?

Yes. This little house/bookstore covered top to bottom in.. BOOKS.
With no rhyme or reason.. or END to the madness.

& With all of the twists and turns and.. did I mention books?
You start to go a little crazy.

If you have ever thought about burying your home in books and calling it a book store..
and were curious to as what that would look like..
Ta. Dah.
You are so welcome for uplifting your life.

What the adventure.
Luckily though we had a cute little tour guide so we didn't get lost in there forever..
[Mar and the rest of the family had been here before..]

Then after our tour of the crazy Motor Cycle Rally that was going on,
[I think we counted like 70 motor cyles just lined up along the sides of the road]
And getting to see the GROSS unique motorcyles,



We finally got to our highlight of the night.
Bar D!

 

 

If you never have been to Bar D.. it's one of favorite things!

They feed you the best dinner EVER and then they have a little country outdoor concert.

 

 

 

& It is SO delicious/fun.

 

Look at those good parents.. holding down our place in line while we are exploring.
:)

 

There are a bunch of shops and fun things to do once you get in to the ranch..

And in one of them we found this horse shoe game that everyone became obsessed with for the night.

 

And Marah was EXTREMELY good at it!
This girl has some serious skills.

Then before we knew it she was teaching a class!

 

 Here's my pretty Momma through all of this.. 

Still saving our place in line.

 

 
Once the kind parents got through the [long] Bar D line.. we got to explore a little more..
 

We thought we would be Cowboys to fit in with the crowd..
[I'm sure Blake was just loving this.. he has been having to 'adapt' to Country Music since we have gotten married]

And Strange Boys..

 
And then somehow we found our way back to this Horseshoe game for a while..
Where you can see Marah was schooling everyone again..

It seemed to turn into some ulitimate goal for the night.
Thank goodness everyone figured it out.
What a great feeling..

I had wanted to ride on the train when we got there but we really didn't want to pay for it.
So once the Conducter left..

We commandeered it..
:)
[Thank you captain Jack Sparrow for the skills you have taught me.]

& After our train adventure.. I guess I was enjoying dinner too much to take pictures during it..
But we finally got to watch our show.

It is one of those interactive funny concerts that everyone can get into.
And I was one happy girl.
It felt so good to be back enjoying the end of the summer with the family.

 

I can't believe how blessed I feel that we have been able to make these fun memories and have such great experiences.

We are pretty lucky..

And I am grateful that I can testify how great life can be.

 

I hope you guys have felt like that at some point this week too.

I love you all.

Happy Thursday! It's almost the weekend.. keep hangin in there.