Balloon Fiesta

Last weekend Jake and I went to Albuquerque, NM to visit his cousin, Andrew and family. When we let them know we were coming we were informed that the Balloon Fiesta was happening during this week. They seemed super excited about it, but we had know idea what it was. So they explained that a bunch of hot air balloons come to NM to participate in this event and that we get to go watch them take off. So we decided that we would go Saturday, but Andrew called us before we left and said there was going to be bad weather on Saturday and the balloons probably wouldn't ascend so it would be best to go on Friday, which was special shapes day (not your typical shaped balloons). We arrived in Albuquerque around 3:30 am on Friday and then left at 5:45 am to go to the Balloon Fiesta. After battling the large amount of traffic we finally made it and this is what we got to see:

I had to take a picture of this one...get it...a cactus...we're from Arizona...

This is the view we had from the field where all the special shapes were preparing for take-off

Jake and Andrew looking like studs (which is not hard to do for them)

More special shapes shots

Jake and I scoured the place looking for the best backdrop, and I think we found it
After all of the special shapes took off from the field we took the opportunity to sample some Award Winning (even though all of the booths said that) Hatch Green Chile Breakfast Burritos. And let me tell you, they did not disappoint! As we were sitting down enjoying them, all of a sudden waves of regular balloons started flying overhead. They had taken off from a different field to participate in a "key grab" on our field. There was a car key attached to a 20 foot poll and if you could get your balloon close enough to grab the key you won a car. So, it was quite a sight seeing all of these balloons.

We had a great time!

In addition to the Balloon Fiesta, we went to dinner with Tom, Joan and Andrew, played some Wii, saw another side of Joan during the BYU-New Mexico game, checked out Andrew's new office (because he is a big lawyer now!), went on some walks with Dixie and Lucy (Andrew's dogs), braved a hail storm that unfortunately some pine trees in the Johnson's backyard did not brave, played 5 Crowns (I won't mention the winner, but let's just say the best man, er, woman won), enjoyed lots of NEW MEXICAN Hatch green chiles, and overall had a fabulous time in Albuquerque! Thank you to the Johnsons for hosting us!