New Mexico

Mike and Holly's big day finally arrived! They got married this weekend in Santa Fe. It was my first time there as well as Lynn's, so even with the wedding festivities we took some time to tour around and experience the flavor of the city. Everything from the location to the wedding was so unique and beautiful. We had a thoroughly enjoyable weekend!

One of the most infamous sites in Santa Fe is the

Loretto Chapel, which is home to the "Miraculous

Stairway" pictured here. When the chapel was

completed in 1878 there was no way to access the

choir loft. Due to the small space of the chapel

the Sisters were told that the only way to get up there

would be by way of a ladder. The legend goes that

after that the Sisters prayed a novena to

St. Joseph (patron saint of carpenters) and asked

for a solution to their dilemma, on the ninth and

final day of their novena, a man appeared with a toolbox

looking for work. Months later, the stairway was

completed and the man mysteriously disappeared

without pay or thanks. What is miraculous about this

staircase, however, is that it was built without any

nails or glue to hold it together. It remains standing

by the sheer genius of its construction, a design

which other carpenters have tried to create since and

have never been able to duplicate. Even stranger,

the wood used to build the stairs did not come from

New Mexico, and researchers have yet to be able to

trace where it came from. The railings that you see on

the staircase today were added later for additional

safety, though the Sisters used the stairs without a railing

for nearly 100 years.

Over the weekend we were also able to tour

the Georgia O'Keeffe museum and see some of the

most influential artwork of the 20th century.

The bride and groom had asked Neal to be the

emcee for the rehearsal dinner, which he pulled

off like a pro. It actually made him the hit of

the weekend, as dozens of people came up to

him afterwards to tell him what a great job

he had done. I was pretty proud of him too. :-)

The wedding took place on the rooftop of our

hotel - La Fonda - and had the beautiful

St. Francis Basilica as the backdrop. The weather

was perfect, the clouds made for a spectacular

sky, and the scenery was almost magical.

In the spirit of Santa Fe wedding tradition,

Mike and Holly, along with all 100 + guests,

followed a Mariachi band in procession around

the town square.

Neal and Mom

Lynn was like a second mom to Mike

growing up, as was Mike's mom to Neal.

She was very proud to be there to see her

surrogate son get married.

At the reception, we experienced the most

ironic thing. A man approached Neal to, once

again, tell him what a great job he had done the

night before at the rehearsal dinner. When they

got to talking - asking where we were from, etc.,

Neal discovered that he happened to be the

Chairman of the Board at the company where

I work! We've actually met several times but

didn't recognize each other since it was so out

of context. It turns out that he has been good friends

with the grooms parents for over 20 years! He lives in

Colorado, is neighbors with Mike's parents at their house in

Arizona, and we ran into each other in Santa Fe.

What a small world!

On Sunday there was a post-wedding brunch at

the house of a family friend. This house, which

is spectacular, was recently featured in

Architectural Digest magazine.

http://www.architecturaldigest.com/homes/homes/archive/bacchieri_article_102006

Awesome views, delicious food, and good company

made us not want to leave!

With the happy newlywed couple

"Clouds"

On the way back to the airport in Albequerque....

Before our flight we had a couple of extra

hours to spare so we ventured out to the

Hot Air Balloon Museum. Neal is such a huge

fan of hot air ballooning, I think he would

move to New Mexico just to be more involved

with it. Back in the day he was part of a "chase"

crew that would help set up balloons for flight

then follow them in a chase vehicle to pack them

down after touchdown. Yet, he's only been on one

actual flight. Hopefully we'll get to go

together someday, though I've never been

and am a little nervous to try!