Packing...

...it's messy business.  Although we have packed up our house several times in the last few years, I always seem to forget how long it takes & what a big mess I make while packing!  Our house is a wreck, but I'm hoping to have the packing finished by Friday.  That will give us the weekend to say good bye to friends & prepare for (yet another) cross-country drive!

New Year's Fun...

On our way back to California, we stopped in Santa Fe to celebrate New Year's.  Brook & Heath went with us to Santa Fe & Heath reserved a great place for all of us to stay.  It was COLD & we even faced some inclement weather along the way.  The high on Friday was 14 degrees, but the wind chill was -7 degrees.  Like I said, it was COLD!  But we had fun nonetheless.  We got there on Thursday night, just before they closed I-40 (as some friends headed to the Fiesta Bowl experienced).  We stopped & grabbed some groceries, settled in to our hotel, & then headed out in the snow to grab some dinner.  We found a cute little pizza place with a great atmosphere & even better food.  Friday morning we spent a little while looking at the shops around the plaza, & checking out the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis.  This church was built in 1869, but is on the site of the 1st church built in Santa Fe in 1610.  Part of the original building is still standing today.

The wind & cold had us heading for lunch & a movie before too long.  We saw True Grit, which was a GREAT movie, and then headed back to the hotel for a crazy, wild night of playing SkipBo, board games & chatting.  We were party animals for sure!

Here are a few pictures of the Basilica:

 

And a few pics from around town:

We had a great weekend & were so happy to get to spend time with Brook & Heath!  Santa Fe is beautiful, especially in the winter, covered with snow.  I would recommend a trip to Santa Fe, especially if you have time to ski or explore the nearby mountains!