Ranch Open House

What an amazing, exhausting, exhilirating, and exciting whirlwind adventure we've been on this past month! First we made the big move to the beautiful Mountains East of Albuquerque, and since the big move we've been unpacking, organizing, transporting critters here and settling in to our new lifestyle......and all in only a month's time!
Whew!
John planned this Open House/Home Warming party as a surprise early on, but through an e-mail I discovered the 'Secret Plans', which happened to be a good thing because it helped get me motivated to unpack instead of living out of boxes for several months or more.

So, now we are basically all moved in and unpacked....and the reward for all this hard work has been a fantastic and wonderful party and visit with our special friends and family!

One of our real estate friends offered to make a special cake as a house-warming gift!
And I found a cute llama cookie cutter and made llama cookies for everyone.
An entire llama herd...and very yummy!
Even the llamas got all dressed up for the occasion. Handsome Catlinite saying "Hello!"
Cataleya and Catlinite posing for a photo in their all their beauty.
And 2 hours before the party started two stray dogs showed up and refused to leave. One was a large Chow mix and the other a Shepherd puppy. John has been wanting a german shepherd ever since ours suffered from hip dysplasia and old age at 14 yrs old. We had her put to sleep about 7 yrs ago and haven't had any dogs since then, except one that we temporarily fostered for a few months.

We found it ironic that a female shepherd puppy would show up on the day of our special open house.

But the happiness was also mixed with great saddness when the shepherd's partner, the chow mix, tried to attack our llamas, and then decided to sneak up to our barn and knock over and tear open our 4 yr old bunny's hutch, and then preceded to shake her to death as the chow ran all over the pasture. By the time we all got up there, our sweet bunny, who we've had since she was a couple weeks old, had already died. It was a very sad moment and one filled with frustration.
We had fortified the hutch and barn against nightime coyote attacks, but instead our bunny was killed by a stray dog in full daylight.

We were so upset, we immediately called Animal Control, who came and took the chow-mix away because it had no ID or micro-chip.
Because the puppy is so young, even though the chow had been influencing it, we thought she had a good chance of being trained not to attack small animals (like our chickens and cats).
We did finally find the shepherd's owner today, but because the poor puppy's collar had almost grown into it's neck and it's ribs were showing, we had been hoping that she was ownerless. And I know John was a little sad, too. He had already grown very fond of this puppy and her sweet demeaner.
We even tentatively named her "Zuni". But at least we know that she is going back to her home and little boy to be loved. We will plan on adopting a new dog or puppy next year.

John, our neighbor Michael, Cousin Ron from California, and my Fufu (Aunt from California).
Jenna and her special friend, Eryn sharing a sweet moment.
Jackson, Jeremiah and cousins from California: Max and Amanda.
Jeremiah, cousin Max, and friends: Dane, Sean and Johnny(on the trampoline mat).
Uncle Clyde from California
The Girls: (Clockwise from left) Sharon, Me, Jenna, Eryn, Skye
Friends Carissa and Jazzie
Our neighbor Valerie(with the 3 horses) and her Mom, Doris.
John and cousin Ron (from California)
My dear Fufu and me.
My very special and dear friends from South Carolina, Margie and Jessie (Notice the amazing rustic wooden bench that Margie is perched on. Her talented woodworking hubby, Eddie, made that for me, and then both Margie and Jessie carried it on the plane from South Carolina to gift me and our family! Amazing and beautiful. I am very touched by their thoughtfulness and love.

Our special friend, Linda Sue and her twin girls, Tanna and Rocky. We've known her for over 12 years, and now they only live 15 minutes away from us! Hooray!
Fufu helping me cook some corn tortillas to go along with the posole I made. We also had red and green enchiladas, beans, rice, hamburgers, hot dogs, and some of our friends brought desserts and snacks of all kinds and we served hot apple cider, too. Yummy!
Cousin Ron and Uncle Clyde (both from California) watching football in my bedroom with the chairs from our bedroom balcony.
Cousin Amanda, from California, carrying Jenna.
How many friends and family can we fit in a doorway? From the left, clock-wise: Special friend, and second Mom, Nancy here in New Mexico. Homeschool friend and now mountain neighbor, Sharon. Me. Friend Carissa's hubby Tom. Jackson. Friend Carissa with daughter Jazzie. Jeremiah at bottom.
Uncle Clyde enjoyed talking with our llamas.
John making a heartfelt speech thanking all of our special friends and family that have been right there with us all along supporting us and caring about our family along our rough and rugged journey after the accident 2 1/2 years ago. There were even a few tears shed with his touching words.
Jackson getting a loving hug from Fufu with Jeremiah next in line. Friends, Jeff and Mary, and their daughter Hannah, in the background.
Jenna sharing a cuddle with Fufu. Fuf's real name is Phyllis, which is Jenna's middle name.
Cousin's Amanda and Max and Jackson & Jeremiah on the trampoline the next day.
Amanda snuggling with our neighbor's dog.
The kids enjoying the trampoline
'Uncle' Ron playing basketball with Jenna