The Price We Pay....

Well I think we are all doing better now!  It's been a long couple of weeks for me.  The doctors ended up diagnosing Steve with "pulmonary and cerebral edema", a very severe case of acute mountain sickness which left untreated could have caused death!  So I am very happy that we were able to get him to a hospital and get the necessary treatment for him. This type of altitude sickness is rare, and occurs when people ascend too quickly and go above 9000 ft.  Our house is just at 9000 feet in Red River. We ended up going on our snowmobiling excursion the first full day we were there and it took us up to Greenie Peak which is at 11,000 feet. This is what probably did Steve in!  Hopefully with some medications upfront and taking things a little more slowly, we'll be able to make it back up there some day in the future. 

Let's see, going to back up a bit prior to Christmas... We had a wonderful evening out, at the Newport Harbor Boat Parade. This was our first year to experience one of the best boat parades in the world. We rented a boat and along with some good friends of ours, we set sail around the harbor admiring all the decorated homes and boats in the harbor. 

 

Here are a few pictures:

It was a wonderful time had by all and a great way to get in the holiday spirit!

With that we were set to go on our vacation. We set out with a car and car-top carrier packed to the brim.  Our first night we spent in Flagstaff, Arizona. There was lots of snow there so the kids got to play in the snow right away, so that was very exciting for them. Every time we are in Flagstaff we like to go out to Black Bart's Steakhouse and Saloon.  It's a very casual western type atmosphere. While you dine, the waiters and waitresses (music students from the university) get up on stage and sing old time favorites and  songs from different shows. The kids love it and it is something different than your usual steakhouse. The food is pretty good also. 

There was actually more snow in Flagstaff than there was in Albuquerque. I was a little surprised that Albuquerque had so little snow, so I knew that I wanted to head up to the mountains in Red River as soon as possible to enjoy playing in the snow. We had a really nice Christmas Eve with my parents. Here is a picture of their house in Albuquerque with luminaries in their front yard.

We went to Old Town Albuquerque to see the lighting of the luminaries, a New Mexican tradition. Then we had a nice dinner at The World Famous El Pinto Restaurant.  They gave us a table right in front of a big fireplace so we stayed warm and toasty during our entire meal. They make the best salsa. In fact this is one of my favorite salsa's that I can find out here at our local grocery store. Here is what it looks like:

Santa made his appearance sometime during the night!  One little 8 year old boy in our family snuck out sometime during the middle of the night after Santa had been there and took a sneak peek at his Santa Gifts. He tried to get his sister to go out in the den to check it out also, but she didn't want to have anything to do with him. Too Funny... that's our son!!

Okay this is getting long, so I will quit for now. I have lots to tell you so please check back. I have a few recipes I want to put up also. 

Oh, one more thing... I am really, really grumpy at our grocery stores...Prices of food in California are skyrocketing out of sight...$1.89/lb. for a head of cauliflower...at 2 1/2 lbs, that is approximately $4.75 for one head. OUTRAGEOUS! I had it in my hand, then weighed it and then reconsidered and put it back. Just couldn't get myself to pay that much for a vegetable!

SIGH! 

Sorry for the long delay. We made it home!!  

My daughter was sick for 4 days with fever and a sore throat.  We chose a different route for our trip home and ended up spending two nights in Scottsdale. I will fill you in on our whole trip with the next few post. In the meantime, I think all my family is on the mend, except now I am not feeling so great.  I hope I can fight this off.

It's good to go away, but it's good to be home!

Will catch up this week. Please check back.