Mogollon, NM

September is a great time of year around here. It's starting to cool off a bit, but it's still plenty warm enough to be out and about without having to pack sweaters. We decided to take advantage of a beautiful Saturday and head up the mountain to the tiny "ghost" town of Mogollon. It's a gorgeous drive with views across the valley, so just getting there is fun. Once you're there the cute little town is fun to check out. There's a museum, an art gallery, a tiny restaurant, and one or two other tiny businesses. There's a stream that runs right down the only road in town, and the whole thing is really quite picturesque.

There were tons of great fall wildflowers blooming when we got there, and the kids loved it!

They also really enjoyed throwing rocks in the creek, but then that's always their favorite thing to do no matter where we go.

The cemetery at Mogollon is fascinating, with lots of interesting old graves. Someone has taken the time to document each grave and everything that is known about the people buried there. All the information is in binders in a little building where you can go and look through it all in comfort.

After wandering through the town we got back in the car and drove up the road a little ways into the forest. There are ruins of old building all over the place, and we stopped to poke around some of them. We stopped to snap a picture of the kids, but then that turned into a full on photo-shoot. The kids were having way too much fun picking where to sit and how to pose for the camera.

It really bothered Erik that we had no way to get us all in the picture, so we handed him the camera and let him snap a few of Ethan and I. It's fun to have a kid old enough to do that!

Erik's "cool guy" pose.

Maren didn't really care about all the neat stuff around us. She just wanted to get down and play in the dirt. This girl LOVES to be outside!

August

 August began with Erik starting a new school year. He was SO excited for his first day of Kindergarten! He was so excited to go back to school that there was no way he was going to stand still for a normal picture.

He did however insist that I get at least one picture with Babs in there too. They sure love this silly little chicken.

 Sharli was pretty sad to be left behind when we took Erik to school, but not so distraught as to miss out on a opportunity to accessorize her outfit for the occasion. There was no way she was going to escort him to school without a backpack of her own.

 His teacher, Mrs. Nelson, was ready and waiting to welcome all her students back. She does such a great job with them and they love her to pieces.

 Erik loves being back in school, though he works and plays so hard he's often completely worn out by the time he gets home. He'll head down the hall intended to have play time like this...

 ...and ends up looking more like this...

 Sharli had a hard time getting used to being with out Erik during the days again. She followed me around like a lost puppy dog for the first few weeks. Slowly though, she started to remember how to keep herself busy. 

She loves to play dress-ups, help me out around the house, and help take care of her sister and her pets.

Ethan purchased her newest pet from the little roadside market held here in Glenwood every summer. His name is Rocky Rocky, and he is well loved!

Maren is spent August busily perfecting her sitting and crawling skills. She loves being able to go anywhere she wants to be!

I got to substitute for our church's Nursery Leader and spent every Sunday this month with Sharli and her friends in the nursery. It's so fun to be with the little kids, and it's nice to be somewhere where Maren can do whatever she wants and make all the noise she wants.

When we're not at school or church, playing outside is one of the kids favorite things to do. Erik won one of the prizes at our library's summer reading program and has had way too much fun catching and learning about all kinds of bugs with his new net.

Another favorite activity is to go to the Catwalk. It's so nice to have somewhere like this just up the road.