Drug Bust

The other day the AMERICAN border was closed in Columbus, NM. Some members of our ward were trying to get out to the states and couldn't cross the border.

This can be disheartening when you are considered "stuck" in Mexico. 

Well, come to find out...there was a huge drug bust on the STATES side! They had arrested the Chief of Police...the Mayer...his wife...and others

therefore, they had to close the border so these high profile law breakers couldn't escape.

We live about 3 hours from the border. 

In our small town we have our own, volunteer, police officers.  They hold the authority to arrest and carry a gun. They help keep the peace in our community. 

Lucky for us, they are all members of our ward. Two of them happen to live down the street from us. I can rest assured knowing that OUR police force in Col. Juarez is NOT corrupt.

Die like dogs...

My kids LOVE the Three Amigos. They have worn out our DVD and now it is recorded on our DVR so they watch it constantly.

This morning at the breakfast table, Benton asked, "are we going to die like dogs?"

That is the line that Lucky Day whispers to El Guapo to repeat back to the 3 Amigos when they first meet in the little town of Santa Poco. 

I had to laugh. 

Now, Benton repeats his favorite quote all day long. Cant' wait until Grandma Hatch hears this one.

I washed Benton's favorite tennis shoes. They look like new, now. He was so excited to put them on, even though it was dinner time and we weren't going anywhere.

Once I got his shoes and socks on, he jumped down from my lap and said, "let's see if I can run FAST now!" He then dashed across the kitchen as fast as he could and said, "YUP! Real fast!"

I guess the cleaner the shoe...the faster you can run!

embarrassed

When we moved to Mexico there were many things that I had not ever seen!

I am going to quote my little nephew on this one...he said, "...in Mexico there are lots of dogs, and lots of chips."

Lots of dogs is definitely an understatement. There are stray dogs EVERYWHERE. They get into the school yards, church foyers (yes, it has happened, more than once), sometimes even stores. And you can count on dogs getting in your yard to leave you nice surprises and take off with anything left out.

I'd never seen so many dogs in all my life. Then it happened...I saw two dogs STUCK together!!!! I didn't know what to make of this sight. I was mortified and disgusted.  I couldn't understand why these dogs were dragging each other around, because they were obviously done with the "act" of mating. 

I expressed this horrid sight and concern to Garrett and he said, "I know you are not going to believe me so here...". He then handed me the phone and his DAD was on the other line. 

My poor father-in-law, with a slight chuckle in his voice, proceeded to explain to me how dogs MATE. He made sure to get all the anatomical words correct too! 

I think my face turned every shade of red! Thank heavens he was just on the phone!! I was so embarrassed that I don't think I could look at my Father-in-law in the eyes for several days after wards. And I was furious with Garrett for passing me off to his DAD to explain this!

I got K9 Sex 101...from my father-in-law!

Does this happen at your house??

All of THIS results from those magical words...

TIME TO PRACTICE THE PIANO!

The moaning...and groaning...the tears...music thrown on the floor...

threats of having to play each piece 10 times instead of 5...

then...

the magical cure...

a threat to post her tantrum pictures on the internet!

Her frown turned upside down...into a smile...so she wouldn't be embarassed...

and so everyone would know how much she LOVES to practice the piano!

the great debate

I have a new SUV that I love to drive. It comfortably fits our family of 6 and I am always using it to haul around stuff and extra bodies.

I have officially "moved" into this vehicle. It has my lip gloss in the ash-tray and my tweezers on the dash. My library of CD's are in the middle console and my two car seats are installed and not going anywhere....until my hubs announced that we would be PARKING the car!

Ever since we got married we have always had a nice, new car...that we LOOK at and don't drive! My husband is a believer in "saving" the vehicles. 

My argument is....then WHY buy it??? Who buys a car (that you desperately need) to sit and stare at?!

He is afraid that the sun will beat down on it, since we don't have a garage, and the paint will fade. Well, our SUV is WHITE!! And since we don't have a garage, he wants to park our car at his parents house, in their garage!

I can't tell you how many times I have grabbed the two babies to run out to the car, late to pick up the kids at school, only to find that the car won't start. I then have to huff it...a few blocks...to his parents house to retrieve my perfectly functioning car. AHHH!

Then he will argue that it is getting "trashed" by our 4 lovely children. That is an insult to me because I wash it weekly, I don't let the kids eat in the car, and they have to take everything OUT of the car that they brought IN to the car...daily! I think it is in GREAT shape.

In exchange for parking my new car he has given me a Ford Topaz (from the 60's) to drive. Just kidding, I don't know the year but it was before they enforced seat belts...because there are NONE in this vehicle. It is a beautiful shade of peeling, crackled silver...and it doesn't go into first gear! It only has two doors and the front seats don't lock into place so if you hits the brakes hard the kids can go flying into your seat pushing you into the windshield. It's a beauty!

And so we have debated for many years whether or not we should drive our new vehicles.

His argument....PRESERVATION!

My argument...PRACTICALITY!

march winds

today is laundry day. 

the wind is blowing like crazy. 

the month of march we get hurricane strength winds.

it makes me feel bad for those who have to hang their laundry out to dry.

there is dirt blowing everywhere since we are surrounded by farms and unpaved roads.

my dryer broke last summer so I had to hang my clothes out to dry.

I can't tell you how many times I would find bird doo-doo on the clean clothes.

my kids loved to play in the hanging sheets. it was their new fortress.

i guess i love having the option to dry my clothes in the dryer or outside in the clean SUMMER air.

march is definitely NOT the time to be hanging your clean clothes out to dry...outside!

the garden

it is almost that time of year...again.

we have a garden...as do most in our town.

i asked garrett if he would help me plant a garden and he agreed.

little did i know his idea of a garden was like having another farm!

it takes a full-time team to keep the "garden" under control.

when the plants start producing you need to be prepared to receive tons...literally...of fresh produce.

this is when home bottling skills come in handy

or

an extra large deep freeze.

there is a small window of opportunity to distribute, can, or gift the veggies before they go bad

so

you have to act fast!

i am extending an open invitation to those interested in bottling to come and join me any or every summer.

 this is the area of our yard that we have dedicated to the garden. as you can see, it is bigger than the lot our house sits on. that's what you get with a farmer for a husband.