Carlsbad in July

On July 1 my little brother Seth returned home from his 2 year Latter-day Saint Mission in Honduras. His return was cause for a party at our little airport in Carlsbad NM.

Here he is hugging our Meme. (My dads mom)

We got him a vanilla Dr. Pepper from Sonic to welcome him off the plane.

You can see the little plane that he flew in on behind us. The people on the plane thought there was a local celebrity on board because of the crowd gathered and all the screaming at the airport. It was funny because the pilot got off first and soaked up some of the glory and took a bow. Then came Seth off of the plane, we were all hoopin' and hollerin', the kids were holding up signs and it was a joyous reunion!

A few nights later we had a homecoming party for him at the church. Here is all but 2 of my Meme and Papa Jenkins great grandkids.

After party fireworks. I LOVE the lack of restrictions for fireworks in New Mexico! Daisy...not so much.

On the 4th of July we bar-b-qued at the Volpato's home. My 5 year old nephew found this king snake and immediately knew what it was. Isn't it cute?

My handsome dad (Punkin) and Daisy.

Every year an amazing firework show is done by the Pecos River. We could watch them from the bar-b-que.

Me, my bro Seth, and sis Jamey.

Lily mowing with Punkin. This was my job in high school.

Seth found a box turtle in the yard and Daisy was smitten by it.

She showered it with kisses, despite its attempts to bite her, and kept squealing "I touch it! I touch it!"

We spent lots of time at Meme and Papa's pool with the cousins.

We also played at the little water park in White's City which is at the bottom of the hill to the Carlsbad Caverns. Here is my Uncle Joe D. teasing Daisy.

We hit the free nightly bat flight that evening and of course they don't allow you to take any photos. The one I did sneak of the bats has disappeared (serves me right, I guess). Here is Daisy and her cousin Ridge walking hand-in-hand down to the main cave opening.
The bat flight is truly spectacular, it had been over 15 years since I had seen it last!

We also spent some time on the Pecos river. My cousin McKenzie and her hubby Mike live on the river and they let us play with their water toys. We had a blast jet skiing, tubing, and wake boarding!

Future, pro-wake boarder.

The last night there, my dad planned a minute-to-win-it family game night with real cash prizes!

First, there was putting as many penne pasta on a spaghetti noodle with your mouth as possible.

Second, how many M&M's can you suck and move with the straw. I am pretty sure I beat Sean in this one.

Last was the shake all 6 ping pong balls out of the kleenex box while it is tied to your waist game.

This was hilarious. We were all cracking up.

Here is my big sis Jamey shaking what her mama gave her.

My dad in action.

It was such a fun trip home! I sure love that family of mine!