(Editor’s Note: Entry written by Daddy, pictures by Abbi and captions by Abbi w/the help of Noah’s memory.)
From the office we went to Dennis and Cat’s house. They have a beautiful southwest-style home outside of Santa Fe. Their house has very interesting architecture, and the landscaping in their yard is amazing. We enjoyed walking around their yard with native flowers, a waterfall and pool, stones, a great foot bridge, and other features.
Sun rays seen from the car as we drove over to their house.
The Rockies.
Welcome to the ‘West House’ as we named it. The story behind it goes….Nehemiah couldn’t grasp the concept of “Traveling out West”. He continually asked when we were going to get to the West house! After many attempts of trying to explain that we were in the West and still no success, we dubbed Mr. Dennis’ house “The West House”. After all, it was about as far West as we were gonna go anyways. That answer seemed to satisfy Nehemiah and from then on we didn’t hear “When are we gonna get to the West’s House?” it was all about “Member da buttons at da West’s House?” LOL!
Getting a tour of the yard.
Authentic tumbleweed.
The hazy light was perfect for portraits and so I took advantage of it and the gorgeous backdrops. Their yard was a photographers paradise.
Yard Art.
Handsome brother.
Me, Myself, and I.
Bekah dear.
Grace amongst the flowers.
Master Ethan.
Master Eman.
Master Gibbie.
Nehemiah-the ham.
Momma and Daddy.
Don’t ya love the sound of a waterfall in the backyard?
The inside of the house was also fascinating with an eclectic blend of Disney memorabilia, Dennis’ home theater, lots of antiques, and even the four poster bed that belonged to Wiley Post (the famous aviator who died in the crash with Will Rogers).
Mr. Dennis showed us his collection of antique predecessors to television entertainment. Here is a neat, lamp powered scene viewer.
An early animation toy.
Mrs. Cat’s rolling pin collection, creatively displayed in a wine rack.
Looking in another animation machine.
An entertaining coffee table top.
An early Edison cylinder phonograph. Mr. Dennis had it all set up to play ‘Dixie’ for us!
They had lots of Civil War era furniture pieces in their home that I loved! Not sure if this was one of them, though.
A very old marriage certificate from one of Mrs. Cat’s relatives.
Ridin’ on a real ‘buckboard’ seat. “Anyone need to hitch a ride?”
The kids were delighted to find that Dennis had other “buttons” at home and kept him busy showing them his other toys. He also let them watch an episode of Daniel Boone in his home theater (complete with huge screen and twinkling lights) and they thought they were in a movie theater.
Getting to view our blog on his HUGE Mac screen.
Very nice to have a relaxing evening!
We had a great visit, probably overstayed our welcome, and went back to the hotel tired but full of good memories of the day.
Thanks, Dennis and Cat.
Looks like ya’ll had fun! Miss you!!!