When Cousins Come Callin'

Once upon a time, Necia told me that she was thinking of coming to visit in October. I told her we would love to have her, but I honestly didn't know how realistic it would be. Their lives are super busy and it takes a lot of time to get down here. However, one Thursday afternoon, Nec called me and asked again if this was a possibility, and if so, they would be there the next day. I said absolutely! Still in a little bit of disbelief, I got to work cleaning up the house, prepping food, and making sure we had enough places for people to sleep. She would be bringing her four, plus a family friend. 

They made incredible time and were here Friday afternoon by 3:30. I still don't know how they made it that fast. Haha. I sent Ryan to the park with all the kids, minus Dev while I finished up dinner and chatted with Necia. Since we had visitors, we decided to try out this authentic New Mexican pork recipe that had three ingredients: red Hatch chili peppers, water, and garlic. It was good, but we almost died. It was so spicy! And we didn't even use the full amount of chilies it told us to. Holy cow. Baby steps, guys. Baby steps. I think we need to aclimate to the love of chilies as much as the weather! Wow!

After dinner, everyone was pretty tired, so we all headed to our corners of the house. Necia was on the air mattress in the office, the boys were on the couches, the girls were in Pierscen's room - one on the bed, one on an air mattress, and hilarious as it was, Issy decided to make her bed out of a box. We had sleeping pads and plenty of blankets, but she opted for the box. Hahaha. We kept Pierscen in our room because he had a cough and was struggling a bit with his breathing again. 

Case and point: here is Pierscen receiving a breathing treatment while falling asleep standing up. Having cousins come to play is exhausting. Haha

The next morning we kept to tradition and headed to the church to help clean. We tried to lure the girls there with the promise of cute boys, but it didn't work. Deiderik and Issy were good sports and came to help. It went really fast and I think they enjoyed helping. 

Following church cleaning, we went to Pierscen's last soccer game. It was entertaining as always. And he loved having family there to cheer him on. 

After that we headed to The Three Sisters to hike. This is the same volcano we hiked earlier in the year, but when it's gorgeous weather but none of the pools are open any more, you've got to do something active!

Little Miss Dev was exhausted and missed the return trip - again. Haha. 

From there we headed over to A Park Above. Ryan really wanted to walk over (about 20 min walk), but he was largely vetoed as we had just finished hiking. So instead we decided to race - Ryan on his bike and us in the car. The car may be capable of going faster, but it's not as direct. Ryan beat us by a long shot. Well that and the place was insanely packed. We had to leave to go find parking at a nearby apartment complex, which I'm sure technically wasn't the best place to park, but what can you do?

Everyone had a great time. Devry really latched on to Deiderik. She just adores him! He was a little unsure of it. Probably not used to a little person wanting to be with him 24/7, but he was really sweet about it. 

We did dinner and another early bed night after the park. 

The following morning was Sunday, so off we went. Had to get a picture of these pretty ladies in their matching dresses. 

After church we drove to the cemetery so Necia's family could spend time at Bill and Sarah's graves. None of the kids have been there before and Necia hasn't been back since they were buried almost 10 years ago. It was a difficult, but beautiful experience. We spent a few minutes with them while they placed the flowers, then gave them some time alone. 

Deiderik and Issy were not born when they passed away, but Issy has had some really amazing spiritual experiences where the veil has been very thin. I think this experience at the graves was the most tender for her. She knelt over the grave crying and wiping the tears off the headstone. It was very sweet. 

After the cemetery, we went to find petroglyphs. I had posted pictures of the ones we found when Ryan's parents were here and Necia and crew really wanted to see them in person and come up with stories on what they meant. 

Everyone had a really great time climbing the rocks and searching for new petroglyphs. 

We ended the evening playing games and eating lots of gummy bears. :)

I am so grateful they came to visit. We had an incredible time and we loved spending time with them. I know Albuquerque isn't the hottest vacation destination, but I promise there's plenty to do. Come visit!