So, is This What Getting Old Feels Like?

Well, it's been a while, but here I am. Things are heating up in El Paso ~ today's high is supposed to be around 75! I am so ready! We spent this past weekend in Ruidoso, NM. It's a nice little ski town about 2 hours north of us. But no, we didn't go skiing. And we didn't ski a couple weeks ago when were up there! Not really our thing & kinda hard to do with an 11 month old. The purpose of these little weekend getaways is that they are Single-Soldier Retreats. And since Issi is the acting Chaplain's Assistant for his unit, he gets to be a part of all the fun stuff :)

But I wouldn't exactly say that this particular trip was the most fun. For starters, we weren't planning on driving up until Saturday afternoon. But one of Issi's soldiers (a young Private who shall from hereon be referred to as the Kid) missed the vans carrying the remaining 20+ soldiers that managed to make it on time. After learning that it wasn't the Kid's fault, Issi felt bad for yelling at him and, purely out of the kindness of his heart, decided that it wouldn't kill us to drive up a day early.

So, we go on Base to pick this Kid up and there just so happens to be a monstrous sand storm going on. And I thought the wind in Iowa was bad! Eva and I waited in the Jeep while Issi ran in to his office and I just about died laughing as I watched him get chased by a giant tumbleweed all the way to the door!

Anyway, this sand storm was so bad that they shut down all of the gas pumps on Base so they wouldn't get contaminated. So we drove off base, filled up the Jeep and began our 2-hour drive to Ruidoso.

Now, I call this guy the Kid not only because that's exactly what he is, an 18 year-old kid, but because he is responsible for making Issi and I realize that we're not Spring chickens anymore. I mean, who has never heard of the Doors?!

The retreat itself was good. We had no major incidents which is always a plus since everyone is free to do whatever they want after supper Friday and Saturday night. And since a lot of the soldiers are under 21, the fact that they realize it and act accordingly is one less thing for Issi to worry about. Our Chaplain gave a couple of great presentations about how God loves us no matter what and talked about what it is to be soldier in the military today. And apparently, I missed an amazing juggler Saturday evening. More about that in a minute.

Now, I really wish I had a ton of pictures to share with you because Ruidoso is such a beautiful little town with the snow-capped mountains and all of the cute little candy shops. But alas, I have NONE to share. But I have good excuses. On the first trip, I left my camera at home. On this trip, I got food poisoning. I know ~ you're jealous, right? Thankfully, by Sunday morning, I felt pretty much back to my normal self. Good to go for the trip home. But don't worry ~ I'll have plenty more opportunities to capture Ruidoso in all it's splendor and charm. Issi is working on organizing 3 more singles retreats and another one for married couples!

I do have a couple of pictures of Eva in the hotel room in a pair of new pajamas. And I managed to get a decent shot of her 2 bottom teeth coming in! Isn't she just the cutest? And here's a shot of the yummy treats given to us by the fabulous caterer, Lynn. Such a nice guy. And a GREAT Chef!