What's Been Goin' On...

Don't worry, we have not forgotten you. It has been SO BUSY at casa de Stephen and Amy that there has been little time to check our email, let alone blog. But there is time now, and This is the official Check in and Update.


After an incredibly busy Tuesday, in which the movers came and emptied out my house of items going to England, I drove to Mom Holen's. A hot night in which I had many nightmares about spider webs and being trapped while the millions of tiny spiders descended to eat me alive left me groggy and out of sorts on Wednesday. But it was a busy day none the less. An airport run to pick up a friend on mine and Stephen's, and then we hot-tailed it to the house to clean like crazy. During the trip and cleaning craziness, there was the silly little girl meltdown. What if what if what if. I can only think it must have been pre-arrival jitters in the worst way. I had a sudden new sympathy for all those brides who freak out at the last minute and change their minds. Thank god someone was there to hold my hand and let me cry, and talk me through it.

Stephen's flight out of Newark to Houston was delayed by 35 minutes, leaving him worried that he'd be unable to make his connecting flight from Houston to El Paso - a connection for which only 40 minutes had been scheduled. Some time was made up in the air, and Stephen had to race across the airport to arrive panting at the El Paso flight's boarding gate with only minutes to spare. That flight was supposed to arrive at 10.20... and we figured we had plenty of time to get there. We didn't. His flight was early, and there was no time to go back to the house and change from grunge clothes into something nicer, let alone shower off the moving stink. We arrived in time, but somehow missed him off the plane. We met up at the baggage claim and I felt as though I could finally breathe. That the hardest part was over.

We left the airport and hit Chico's Tacos for dinner. To his credit, he tried them like a trooper. His response after: "They tasted like nothing, like I was eating fried cardboard soaked in watery tomato juice." But at least he experienced them. Then home, and crawl into bed. It had been a long day, and we were all tired, but sleep was short for staying up, catching up.

Thursday was the start of family meeting time. All the Holens, then a trip to Stahmann Farms to buy pecans for Stephen's mum. They no longer make chile peanut brittle, which is what I specifically wanted to get for her, but they DID have chile dusted pecans, so that is what will have to do. I REALLY hope she enjoys them.

Afterwards was dessert with my mother, a cherry apple crumb cake. Yumminess. Stephen made quite the impression on my mother, who said he was so very smart and awfully cute. She may be as smitten as I am.

Dinner at Mom's - her chicken and green chile enchiladas. Then a movie: Stardust. It was good good good, and the main character has the same name as Boo, but it so late by the time we got home that we fell into bed. Still, it wasn't enough sleep, as we, of course, had to stay up talking until 2 am.

Friday was more family time. A late sleep-in, then rush to pick Tristan up at school on time, and a last conference with his teacher. We are going to be pen-pals with his class, sending pictures and treats to the kids, and able to answer questions. The teacher will definitely let Tristan email us from school, and may be able to work something out as far as IMing back and forth with his class. What an exciting prospect. Then Stephen and Tristan got to see the old house in all its emptiness; Stephen for the first time, and Tristan to say goodbye. It was a little sad.

Friday night was the big family dinner. We picked Ashley up from her Dad's and all of us, sin Mama, ate at a local diner that is older-people friendly. Stephen was amazing and charmed the socks off of every female there... including the ones under the age of 2 and the one over the age of 85. Then a night time hot-tub visit to my Aunt's house. Tristan got to hot-tub in his underwear. That was quite the exciting thing for a 6 year old boy. Again, we got home so very late.

Saturday was a trip to the approx 800ft underground Carlsbad Caverns. I had forgotten how lovely it is, and how much I enjoyed/enjoy such geek-y types of things. The cave decorations were as lovely as I remember them being. We walked the Big Room, which at it longest is just about a two mile walk. Tristan did wonderfully, only really getting tired during the last 10 minutes or so. Then fudge and cider (cherry non-alcoholic kind) and hometime.

Today Stephen and I began our week long trip to the grand canyon, beginning with shopping in Las Cruces, lunch (delicioso tapatillas de pescado y camaron con soda de Jarritos) and the Gila Wilderness. We are currently staying in a tiny (just a few casitas, but each one is relatively spacious) bed and breakfast in the Gila, and it is lovely. The cell phones don't work (nice for me) and there is high speed internet access (nice for Stephen). We originally planned to stay here 1 night, and head towards the Grand Canyon tomorrow... but it is so nice and there is so much to do that we have decided to stay here another day.

So far, Stephen has experienced hummingbirds and stink bugs for the first time. We are having elk with sweet vidalia onions, mexican squash, and purple potatoes for dinner, and he can continue to add to his list then.

We miss you all so much... but are happy to be alone in the wilderness for a bit. It's nice to spend time and just be in love. There have been no nightmares at all since he arrived.