Memory Lane Friday - No Theme

This week's Memory Lane Friday is another "No Theme" week. So what am I going to write about? Well, I sure had to think about it this week.

I ended up deciding to write about one of my favorite places, and the adventures I had there - the Southwest in general, and New Mexico in particular.

When Andrew and I were stationed in southern New Mexico, we tried to do a lot of fun things with Livie. And when Abuelita would visit, sometimes she would babysit so Andrew and I would do what Livie now calls "Mommy and Daddy adventures."

So one time, just before Livie's second birthday, Andrew and I decided to take her to White Sands National Monument.

I'd been there plenty of times, but neither Andrew nor Livie had been there. I was trying to tell Andrew that the sand was so white, it was like snow. He'd seen photos of it, but it's never the same as seeing it in person. So off we went.

Of course, Livie fell asleep during the 15-20 minute ride from our house. She slept when we pulled into the White Sands area, and stayed asleep while we slowly drove around enjoying the scenery.

At some point, I found a place to park so I could get out and take photos (like the one above). I found out it was really windy that day, so I figured that it was alright that Livie slept; I was afraid she'd get sand blown into her eyes, nose, or mouth.

I did get a photo of her with the stunningly white sands outside the window. It's so glaringly white, it almost looks like the after-effects of a blizzard, doesn't it?

She had one of those half-moon "pillows" so her head wouldn't bob around while she was asleep. We were just about ready to leave when she woke up and smiled at me.

Another fun memory of New Mexico was when we'd take trips to Mesilla. Click here to read about our favorite restaurant in Mesilla: Memory Lane Friday - A Restaurant.

And then there was the time my mom babysat Livie for about 24 hours, just after Andrew got home from his 120+ day deployment to the middle east. This was when Andrew and I went on the first of our "Mommy and Daddy adventures" - we'd headed to Santa Fe to spend the night in a great inn. Read about our experience by clicking here.

There was one other time in the Southwest that I remember fondly - the time I really appreciated having an extra set of helping hands.

Andrew, Livie, and I still lived in New Mexico, and were in El Paso at my grandparents' house for the weekend. It was right around the time we'd celebrated our 4th anniversary.

My uncle Hector was visiting at the same time. Andrew and I always enjoyed having lengthy conversations with him over cold bottles of beer - we'd talk about books, movies, history, grad school . . . you name it.

Plus, he was really good at entertaining baby Livie (about 10-months-old at the time). He could always get her to smile or laugh, always enjoying being on the floor with her, keeping her company.While Andrew was deployed, he was always willing to babysit Livie if I needed to run an errand or two.

This photo of Livie and Uncle Hector was taken over a 3-day weekend (Veterans' Day), when Andrew, Livie, and I visited my grandparents' house.

Well, during our mid-December visit, after realizing Andrew and I had just celebrated our anniversary, Hector offered to babysit baby Livie for the evening so Andrew and I could go out for dinner to celebrate.

When the time was right, I gave Livie a bath, got her pajamas on, nursed her, and put her down for the night. Then I made sure there were a couple bottles on hand (just in case). After handing the baby monitor to Hector and letting him know about the bottles plus the location of the diapers and wipes, Andrew and I headed out.

Andrew and I went to the Olive Garden near Cielo Vista Mall (in the parking lot, actually) in El Paso. I think I had the cheese ravioli. I don't know what Andrew had. And I had a margarita! It was all soooo good. I'm not sure it was the food or the fact that we had a couple hours alone to leisurely eat a meal, uninterrupted.

When we got back, Hector said Livie had slept soundly the whole time. I think he may have peeked at her once, and she was just fine.

It was such a nice treat that Hector had given us, those couple hours to enjoy a meal.

Please come back next week, when the topic will be "Something You Hated."

Don't forget to click on the button below to read the rest of this week's Memory Lane Friday posts.

Memory Lane Friday is sponsored by Two Bears Farm and the Three Cubs.