Big Day

I know, what could be bigger than both sets of parents visiting in the same week.... well, nothing really. But Sunday was still a big day. We woke up bright and early - 5am! - to go be a part of the hot air balloon crew again. We hadn't gone since last October, so we were pretty excited. We ended up taking off at the local high school in Alamosa because there was less wind there. David and I went up first. I had never been in a hot air balloon before; I thought it was pretty cool. We were about 800 feet or so in the air. The take off is so gentle; you hardly realize you are leaving earth. It was different seeing Alamosa from the air; there are a lot more trees than I realized when on the ground. The picture to the left shows one view on the northwest side of Alamosa with Mount Blanca in the background. We landed nice and gently - textbook landing, I would say. Jeremy and Emmy went up next. They had a little more of a breeze than we did and moved farther from the launch site. They also went over a small lake, which they used to do a "splash and dash." When landing the first time, they hit the ground and rocketed back up. They landed later, much more gently. There were only about six of us to work at putting the balloon back in the bag. It is very heavy! We went back to Mike's (Jeremy's boss) house for the traditional initiation ceremony and crackers and cheese. The picture to the right shows David, Jeremy, and I sipping champange without hands as an initiation, while later Mike poured water on our necks. We were then pinned with hot air balloon pins - we are official! We went to Calvillo's for breakfast (also a tradition to go out for breakfast). I came home and took a nap immediately after. Jeremy and Taylor watched the big golf match that afternoon.
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Then... Jeremy got his haircut!!! His last haircut was in January (I think), but we were waiting til our parents came before he cut it. (Well, it was more me telling him he should wait.) But, on Sunday night, he got his curls buzzed off to a short, but somewhat shaggy do. Who knows what he'll look like when we return :)

**Disclaimer: This picture has been posted under protest. **

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MONDAY...

We went back to work. Jeremy worked on writing a grant for educational purposes for his non-profit. Hopefully, it will be accepted and they will receive the $5000. I worked at Hunt Ave Boutique. There are more people coming in now that it is summer. The Texans are moving back to South Fork for the summer, and tourists are taking the train and visiting the Dunes. It was a bit busier. We had a great softball game tonight - no, we didn't win, but our defense and offense was going well. Jeremy hit a triple. Muck pitched well. I got on base most of the time (one fly out). We had a great 5th inning, but they other team came back, and we lost 8-9.