Back Again!

alternate title by Dave:

"New Mexico --- Cleaner than Old Mexico"

 Either way, this was the first time Dave & Mackenzie have returned to the place we lived 

for the first 3 years of Kenzie's life . . . Not to mention Abbie's birthplace! 

The purpose for this quick trip to Albuquerque 

was to attend a Memorial Service for my Great Uncle Elliot

who passed away last Christmas after battling Alzheimers.  

Here's Abbie with Uncle Elliot when she & I visited in '05 with Grammie Ann

for Norma & Elliot's 50th Wedding Anniversary

Uncle Elliot & Aunt Norma happen to be among my mom's most favorite relatives,
and it was a high priority that she,
and all of her children & grandchildren be able to join her.
So much so, that she dipped into her inheritance money from Great Mema
& offered to take anyone who could come!

And, we (the Coe's) of course have special ties to Albuquerque
AND to our Great Aunt & Uncle - so we were definitely 'IN'!

It was tricky for us, even though the memorial was planned for late June, when the kids would be 'out of school'.  Unfortunately, California Schools were not only still in session, they were right in the middle of final exams.  But we wouldn't have missed a chance to return to our 'roots', say goodbye to Uncle Elliot  and visit with Aunt Norma!

"Grandpa" Elliot (as we Coe's call him, 

since he was a surrogate G'pa to Kenzie when we lived in Albuquerque)

was a kind, gentle, soft-spoken man with a twinkle in his eye
and a sweet sense of humor.
He was so handy around the house, grew the most delicious tomatoes &
kept such a clean beautiful yard & garage.
When Aunt Norma would go out of town,
he'd tell her to "just fill up my bowl & I'll be just fine!"
When we lived in NM, he was always our ride to the airport on our many visits home to CA.  (Sometimes the ride was a little wild, but we always made it, safe & sound!)

A few of Uncle Elliot's favorites - golf, gorgeous tomatoes, butter pecan ice cream 

and the hat he wore in the yard.

We miss you, uncle Elliott!

Porter & Jack - first in line for dinner

We love our Great, Great Aunt Norma

I shouldn't include this pic cuz Dave wasn't cooperating, 

but this is a leftover piece of flagstone from a patio Uncle Elliot built.  

And it also happens to be the table that was at the perfect height for Kenzie, as a toddler, 

to cruise around so she could dip her baby carrot in ranch, suck the ranch off, and repeat

 (and repeat & repeat).  Uncle Elliot & Aunt Norma never minded! 

Porter taking a break at Aunt Norma's

We actually had a few hours between the memorial service 

and the family dinner back at Aunt Norma's house . . . 

So not being folks who waste any time

we hopped into our 'pimped out' rental cars

(they gave us an upgrade & we felt kinda conspicuous) 

and headed to Santa Fe -- by way of Albuquerque

First stop was our Shannon Street house in Albuquerque -- our very first mortgage -- and Abbie's first home!  It looked a little different (tan instead of grey) and the deck my dad built us was gone (how dare they?!) but the two manual metal garage doors were still the same! 

Kenz & Abs in front of their childhood home

 (well, Abbie was only 2 months old when we moved...)

I guess two carloads of peeps taking pix in front of the house

 was unusual enough that the residents came out to see what was up.  

They were actually the parents of the young couple to whom we sold the house 16 years ago.

They offered to give us a tour (which we shouldn't have taken them up on --

it was dark & depressing inside - nothing like the bright happy place we lived...)

Then we loaded back up and headed up Route 66 to Santa Fe

We checked out Old Town and the  Loretto Chapel with its miraculous stairway (built by a mysterious traveling carpenter in 1878 when the nuns realized that there was no way to access the choir loft; it has two 360 degree turns and no visible means of support; built with wooden pegs, no nails)

Kenzie & Jed are buds!

While touring the temple grounds, g'ma couldn't resist pulling a weed . . .

. . . or two.  

It's an uncontrollable impulse she has - no matter where she is.

We squeezed in a meal at Blake's Lotaburger - 

Dave misses his burgers smothered in New Mexico green chilies!

Porter had a little mishap with the ketchup while we were there - -

Who knew you could drop a tiny tub of ketchup & have it spray far enough to cover at least three people & the wall behind them?  Looked kinda like a crime scene.  :-)  Sorry Blake!

We put the hotel pool to good use.

Jed

Porter

Abbie & Harriet

Henry

Jack

We had plenty of fun together during our travels

Jed, the carry-on

Abbie & Harriet

The guy driving our shuttle at the airport said we reminded him of the movie "Home Alone"

(so we secretly counted and made sure we hadn't left someone behind...)

We got some special treatment from the stewardesses

Grandma prepared some worksheets for the kids to learn about Albuquerque
 and about their Great, Great Uncle Elliot.
Once a teacher, always a teacher!

Here's the one to help them know about Norma & Elliot:

- 2nd page - 

Thanks for including us Grandma!  

We LOVED taking this quick trip together!