Brian and Amanda Lain

Meet Ciara (Kee-Ra), Celtic for dark hair, brown eyes. Ciara was found on the side of the road, very dirty and scared. Amanda’s co-worker rescued her, but then was unable to keep her, so wah-lah. She is a lab/pit bull cross and very gentle. She is 15 pounds, and we think she is about 2 months old.

We have already traveled out-of-state this year!! We went to San Francisco in January so Amanda and her co-worker could attend a work training and Brian could get some much-needed R & R. Unfortunately, it rained every day we were there, but Brian was still able to go do some sight-seeing, and he got a lot of exercise hiking around the big city. (Brian walked 13 miles in one day–from the mass transit system to the Golden Gate Bridge and back to the transit system.) Brian also got to do some touristy shopping and go to the aquarium at Fisherman’s Wharf. There are a lot of sea lions at Fisherman’s Wharf, and you can see Alcatraz in the near distance. All in all, it was a great trip, though a bit soggy. Some pictures are below.

San Fran

Golden Gate Bridge

Sea lions

Alcatraz

Aquarium life

Yes– “Foto”, to go with the slightly off family pic below!

From left to right:
Front: Luke (15 months), Natasha (4), Nicole (4), Brad (7)
Middle/Back: Kassy (24), Mom (36 for years!), Chris (22), Laura (29), Amanda (26)
Luke, Natasha, and Brad are Laura’s 3 kids. Nicole is Kassy’s only child.

The problem is, we all see each other in shifts, but we are rarely ever all together. Enter picture above. This is a conglomerate of experiences, with multiple lightings, all melded into one. Whatcha think?!!?

We had a great Christmas, with lots and lots of family. Let’s see, so Kassy, Tim, and Nicole were at their house. Saturday, Brian and Amanda showed up. Sunday, Amanda’s Uncle David’s family from Houston showed up (Lisa, Jessica, and Tina). Monday, Amanda’s brother Chris showed up (though, it took almost running out of gas, being stranded in Van Horn, getting a severe bloody nose, spilling orange juice, getting rear-ended, and running a 100*+ fever). Tuesday was Christmas. Amanda and Brian left Tuesday afternoon. On Wednesday, Amanda’s sister Laura showed up with her three kids (Brad (7), Natasha (4), and Luke (15 months)). On Friday, Chris left, then Laura and her family left. On Saturday, Lisa, Jessica, and Tina left for Houston, Kassy came to Las Cruces to fly to Montana, and Amanda’s Uncle Chris and his family showed up (Linda and Shane) from Colorado. On New Year’s, all the extended family was gone and it was just Tim and Nicole. Whew–good thing Christmas is only once per year!!
Below are some pictures of the kids:

This was Nicole’s biggest Christmas present–Barbie’s Jammin’ Jeep, but she was too big for it!

This is Nicole in her Christmas dress with Honey, the new puppy (aka Frosty, Sarah, Sagittarius, Rocket, and Mutt).

This is Natasha holding Amanda’s biggest Christmas present–a giant panda!

This is Natasha and Luke, barely waking up.

This is a a picture of all Laura’s kids, and again the Panda.

Kassy, Nicole, and Amanda went to Texas this past weekend to welcome Chris, our little brother, back from Iraq. Chris was there for 15 months. Chris is supposed to get out of the Army in September ’08, so he should not have to go back over. We had a great visit, starting with the Welcome Home Ceremony at Fort Hood, followed by a field trip to Dallas and the Dallas World Aquarium, and then back to Killeen to get things in order before he had to go back to work. We are really glad to have Chris home and are doubly excited that he gets to spend Christmas with us all!

This is Chris’ unit–300+ soldiers–marching toward us.

They are the Crazy Horse Unit.

Amanda, Kassy, Tim, and Nicole went to Phoenix to visit our 93-year-old grandfather Thanksgiving weekend. He was very excited to see all of us. On the way there, we stopped at the Rooster Cogburn Ostrich Ranch and fed ostriches, deer, and lorakeets. Once we were there, we went Christmas shopping, Christmas-tree-stand shopping, played cards, looked at Christmas lights, visited family, and ate a lot.
Check out the pictures below:

Kassy, Tim, and I went to The Flame to hear a really great band (Tequila Nights). Kassy and I were asked more than once if we were twins–I wonder where they get that idea! 🙂

Kassy, Tim, and Nicole went trick-or-treating as the “vampire family”. Nicole got tuckered out about half way through, but they still got quite a bit of candy.

Below is a very nice picture of Brian, just relaxing at the duck pond.

This past weekend was the X-Prize Cup, held at Holloman Air Force Base. There were not as many rockets as the previous years, but there were quite a few air shows and we got to see big planes and jets up close, including the Stealth Fighter. Plus, we got to tour a cargo plane and a humongous Air Force plane (that Nicole got to drive), and Tim and Brian toured a B1 Bomber jet.

Amanda had to go to Albuquerque for a conference this past week, so Kassy and Nicole tagged along. They went to the zoo, the botanical gardens, and the aquarium. Nicole got to ride on a gigantic ant, and then they took the train around downtown Albuquerque. Then, everyone got dressed up to go to dinner. See pictures below.

Below are a couple pictures of Chris, Amanda’s brother, with his unit in Iraq. He was recently presented with a Good Conduct Medal (Yahoo!). Chris just turned 22, and we’d also like to congratulate him on his recent success in filing divorce papers. For those of you who know Chris’ now ex-wife, join me in saying “Good Riddance!!” Two years was two years too long. But, as Chris says, there are two ways to do things: the right way, and again. So, he will get another chance, and we all know who Amanda has picked out for his next/final wife. 🙂

(Chris is the guy toward the left hand side, wearing glasses, and blocking the person’s face who is behind him.)

According to the October Newsletter: MAJ Heape, SGT Lyon, SPC McGee, SPC Weary, SPC White, PFC Mendoza, MSG Kimble

This past weekend, Kassy, Tim, and Nicole came to Las Cruces to visit. We went to Walktoberfest, which is a big health fair. There was a walk/run, face painting, pumpkin painting, kids games, and plenty of health stuff. Nicole even played golf and won a frisbee! Then, we went to the park and had a picnic lunch and played for awhile. Pictures are below.

Now that Kassy et.al. are closer, we will spend a lot more time with them. The past couple of weekends, we have gone to Silver City, then they will come to Las Cruces to visit us. They are almost unpacked, and, as you can see, it caused a lot of gray hair!

Here are some of the pictures from moving. The truck was humongous, and was towing an 8′ trailer! Go Kassy! Nicole was very helpful, though not big enough to actually have anything on the dolly and still be able to push it! 🙂
Then, as you can see, they got out just in time. The snowy picture was taken on October 6, 1 week after we got out of there!

Great news! Kassy (Amanda’s sister) et. al. have moved to Silver City to take care of Amanda’s grandmother. It was an exhausting trip, but totally worth it. Amanda flew to Bozeman, MT on Thursday, we cleaned the house and finished packing on Friday, drove all day Saturday, drove all day Sunday, then unpacked all day Monday. It is usually a 20-hour trip, but with a 26′ truck, an 8′ trailer, and a 5 year old, things were a bit slower. Kassy drove the UHaul like a champ, and almost died only once. (Not really almost died, but she did almost wreck the Uhaul in horrible road construction when the trailer was fish tailing like crazy, which, by extension, could have killed her.) Otherwise, mostly uneventful, and glad to be home. Since we got back to New Mexico, Amanda’s grandmother has been in the hospital. She should be released in the next couple of days, but in the meantime, Kassy, Nicole, and Tim will move in and make themselves at home, without supervision.
Pictures coming soon!

Camino de Vida’s Annual Red Ribbon Bash was September 22. It is our largest fundraiser of the year and features dinner, entertainment, and live and silent auctions. Over 300 tickets were sold for $75 each! The goal for this year was $45,000 (the numbers are still out), and all the money raised directly benefits the clients by assisting with medication and doctor visit copays, and travel to see their case manager, among other things. It was a really fun event, with lots of community support. Below is a picture of the ice sculpture in the shape of a ribbon with red lights, to symbolize AIDS, and a picture of Amanda all dressed up for the occasion.

So, remember our big, beautiful house that we LOVED? Well, the owner decided to sell it, so they gave us until August 1 to get out. So we hunted and hunted and finally found one. It isn’t designed as well, isn’t as big, and costs more, but it was the best we could do on short notice. There’s a picture from the outside below, and more if you click here.

We just got back from our Montana trip, and what a great time we had! It took about 20 hours of driving to get there, then we went to Lewis and Clark Caverns, Cliff and Wade Lakes, Whit’s Lakes, the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center, on a boat ride, fishing on the Madison River, Johnson Lake, Hebgan Lake, and built a fence. We did a bunch of hiking, and quite a bit of fishing (Brian caught one 2-inch sucker and a Whitefish, Amanda caught stick and rock fish). No fireworks because of the high fire danger, but everything was so green and fresh and beautiful, we may just move there–3 months out of the year, that is. There are several pictures below, and more if you click here.

Picture is taken on the deck of Amanda’s house in Montana, with a view of Hebgen Lake.

Shane (the dog), Brian, Amanda, Tim (Kassy’s husband), Kassy, Brittany (Kassy’s friend), Kitty (Amanda’s mom), and Nicole in front.

View from one of our many hikes.

Today we took Shane on a looooonnnnngggg hike. At first, Shane was taking Brian for a walk, then, a mile and a half later, the heat and his black fur took a toll, and he had to stop in the shade everywhere thereafter. We’re going to have to do this more often if he is going to get into shape!