Cloudcroft in Photos

I took fewer photos than I thought during this trip because I was more focused on taking videos. I'm glad I made video my top priority because it's so fun for me to compile all the clips and make something fun to watch. It definitely gets my creative/artistic juices flowing, these days! Photography will always be important to me, but video editing helps me tell a story in a different way, and that's exciting. Enough about my love for video- here are the photos! 

CONFESSION- I did not take the rest of the photos in this post. Everyone went on a hike the last full day we were there... except for me! I stayed behind to take a much needed nap- I had a headache and I slept terribly the night before. I totally played the pregnancy card, but I have no shame. I asked my father-in-law to take my camera and snap some photos for me while I stayed behind. So the rest of these photos were taken by my father-in-law or Ryan. I edited them, though! 

I'm really glad they took these photos for me! Looking at them now, I feel like I was there. Like I didn't miss out on too much. I'm so happy we were able to play with most of our New Mexico family. And I'm doubly happy that Gwen was able to play outside in decent weather! 

Camping in Cloudcroft

I've been wanting to take Gwen camping for a while. Now was the best time to do it because I'll soon be too large and uncomfortable to want to camp, and there's no way I'd want to camp with a newborn, so we took advantage of this small window of time that we have. 

We arranged a camping trip with our family in New Mexico since I knew we wouldn't see most of them until after Christmas when the baby is born. It was wonderful to get out of this Arizona heat for a few days! Gwen loved climbing up and down the hill were we on. She fell countless times (nothing too serious!) and ended up with a ton of bruises and a few scrapes on her legs, but this relentless toddler didn't cry about it once. She was too busy exploring to care. 

Enjoy the short video of some of my favorite moments from this trip! 

Snow Day

Soooooooo. I mentioned that I would be making a video about our Christmas...but that did not happen because I didn't take out my DSLR once on Christmas. I was too busy enjoying family time and hanging out in my pajamas for most of the day.

A photo posted by Beverly Houpt (@bevhoupt) on Dec 25, 2015 at 12:59pm PST

A photo posted by Beverly Houpt (@bevhoupt) on Dec 25, 2015 at 11:18pm PST

I don't regret that I didn't take a video of Christmas day because I made sure to make a video the day after when it snowed! Snow is a pretty big deal in southern New Mexico, so it was such a treat. It happens maybe once every year/every other year, so everyone makes sure to go sledding or build a snowman. It's real cute.

A photo posted by Beverly Houpt (@bevhoupt) on Dec 27, 2015 at 9:45pm PST

As you can tell in the video, Gwen is a true Arizonan and doesn't care for snow. It was kind of a bummer, but she has plenty of time to change her mind.

Friday Friend-zy

(I swear, we're not actually Pepsi models. )

Hey, hi, hello! If you're a long time reader of this blog then you'll remember a little something called "Friday Friendzy" featuring my lovely friend Anne. Dude, we used to take the cutest pics, but then we both got pregnant and then I moved away. Life, amirite? While I was in town last weekend, I knew we had to get together and take photos for old-time's sake. Taking these photos with two babies running around had proven to be very difficult. The next go around (whenever that may be!!) we'll probably keep the babes at home, or bring another friend to keep them from running into the street.... 

You guys, I'm getting nostalgic! Reminisce with me about the old days (aka 2 years ago) by looking through all of our old Friday Friendzy posts. 

Kiss the Chef

Hey! Long time no blog. I was at a family reunion in Albuquerque the week before last, and then I was sick all last week and didn't feel like doing ANYTHING. So that was a bummer.

Ryan's sister had a birthday during our reunion and her husband surprised her by taking us all to a cooking class that night. I wasn't sure what to expect, but it was much more fun than I imagined it would be. The food we prepared was probably the best New Mexican food I've ever had. Maybe I just feel that way because I was able to appreciate every step of the process. No matter, it was still the best. My favorite thing we made were the chile rellenos. If I could go back in time, I'd eat more than just one.

We learned a few good cooking tips! I'd love to go take another cooking class again one day. 

My Favorite Little Family

I took these portraits of Holly's family in New Mexico a few days before Christmas and haven't had time to post them until now! Looking back at all these photos makes me miss these friends so much. I'm looking forward to their visit in March. :) 

What cuties.

p.s. Thanks for the advice on my last post about purchasing a blog template on Etsy! I'll be sure sure sure to look into that.