5k and holiday photo winner!

Here's the holiday photo winner for 2009! We sent out cards recently, so I thought I'd publish it here, too. It turned out pretty well. It only took about 3 shoots this year...yeah.

And I ran my first 5k this weekend! It went well. I am still not 100% sure on my time, but I think it was around 32 minutes or so. I had to run some hills, and I'm not used to that, so I was happy I didn't stop to walk at all. Now I want to run another! I'm addicted. It felt SO GOOD to cross that finish line, especially knowing that just 2.5 months ago I never thought I could run 3 miles without stopping. My new goal is to run a few more 5k runs and train for a 10k next spring or summer. I'm going to take it slow, though.

We're leaving for Iowa in a week, so I have so much left to shop for. I'm taking the day of tomorrow from work to shop in Kansas City. I'm excited to get the shopping done and to have an entire day of shopping to myself! So far I've done most of my shopping with the kids, or over my lunch break, so it's been rushed and chaotic. So this should be good.

More later!

Christmas card outtakes on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/andrew_dierks


Our Christmas card outtakes are posted on Flickr. They were pretty good this year. Last year Gus melted down; this year it was Miss Cleo. Totally awesome. But we did get a winner and you'll see it in a mailbox near you.

More later!

NOW it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Thanksgiving has come and gone for another year. We had a great time. Thanksgiving was spent in Burlingame with my parents, and Shana, Lindsey and Anthony (a.k.a. "Uncle Tony"). It was very relaxing and food-filled. Just how like it.

Here are some new photos taken with Andy's (early) bday gift, a 35 mm digital camera (it has a more complicated name than that, but I don't remember it). He has wanted this camera for awhile. He's going to take the Christmas card photos w/ it. He will not put it down! He loves it. The photos of Gus and his friends were taken at Eloise's 1st birthday party at Jim and Hannah's house. Gus and Cleo had so much fun with Ash, Ebi and Ollie. It is so fun to really see them interact now that they are getting older.

This month is going to be crazy and packed. This week Andy does not travel, which is wonderful. I'm meeting up with long, lost high school friends on Monday for dinner in Lawrence. I hung out w/ these girls for years in high school and after I went to KU and they went to Baker, we just lost touch, for the most part. It should be great to see them again. I cannot say that for everyone I went to hs with (not to be a bioootch about it, but it's true), but these gals are keepers. (Thank you, Facebook). I'm supposed to see New Moon with friends sometime this week, too (yay!), and Andy's company holiday party is Friday night in KC. Saturday night we're going out to dinner with Tom and Marisa to this place in Lawrence called Krause's (sp?). It's a restaurant that's not really a restaurant, held in a couple's old house in Lawrence. They are chefs and they prepare a 6-course dinner or something crazy like that for people, all fabulously delicious, I hear. They are closing it down in January to open a restaurant downtown Lawrence, so we had to get in before it closed. Should be awesome! Date nights are great.

This past weekend Andy put up the lights on our house, and we've already gone out around the neighborhoods looking at Christmas lights. It's somewhat early, but we love doing that, and Gus LOVES pointing out the lights! Cleo just oooooh's and aahhhh's. We're getting our tree next weekend, mostly b/c we ran out of time this weekend to do it.

Next up...Christmas card photos, finishing up with Christmas gifts (I'm almost done!)and listening to a heavy rotation of Sufjan Stevens' Christmas songs. After Thanksgiving, he's pretty much always in our cd player.

Running update: I'm on the final week of my running podcast!! I can now somewhat comfortably run 28-30 minutes, some days better than others. I *think* I'm running about 3 miles at 30 minutes, but I haven't tracked it fully yet. Now that I'm pretty much done with the Couch to 5k podcast, I've put together a running mix of songs on my iPod and plan to keep up with the 30 minutes until it becomes comfortable, so I can run my first 5k in the spring. I'm super proud of myself. Never thought I could come this far. And for me, running 30 minutes is nothing short of a miracle. And I feel awesome. I've lost a little weight (not sure how much, really, but I fit into a size of jeans that I didn't think I'd get back into!) and I just feel more energetic. Loving it. And a co-worker is doing the same podcast now, so we joined the KU rec center (the new one--Ambler--it's awesome), and run on the elevated track. I love that track, it has spoiled me. I tried to run outside Friday and it just wasn't the same...

More to come!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas???

I heard Christmas songs today on a Kansas City radio station. Come on...it's too early! It's only November 2. Give us another month, and let us enjoy Thanksgiving. I just cannot get into the Christmas mood until later in November. Plus, it's 60+ degrees outside and lovely as can be, so it's not Christmas weather right now. I hate that the consumer machine rushes us on all our holidays. We're rushed enough as it is, let's not rush the holidaze.

Here are some fun photos from Halloween weekend. It was a blast, and time flew by. Gus loved all the candy and Cleo had no idea what was going on, but she loved every minute of it, too. She just goes along for the ride, pretty much.

New developments:
-Gus can spell both "Gus" and "August" out loud, but we haven't started on how to write his name yet. He can count to 100 by himself, too. He LOVES counting. It's his favorite thing in the world right now.
-Cleo says new things every single day. Over the past few days she has said "Ouch" and "Ussy!" (Gussy) and "Ears!" and "Eyes!" (she points to them but often mixes them up).
-Gus will say "Where's my little sister at? I love my little sister so much, Mom." It's pretty delicious.
-Gus also loves to say the following at least twice a day: "Mom, Keee-o is a little girl, and she can't climb trees yet because she is too little. But I am a big boy, so I can climb trees. Right, Mom?" He says this but to my knowledge he's never climbed a tree. He seems to want to learn, though, so perhaps we'll do that this week. Oh, and I always tell him "You're right!" but I'm always thinking that with the rate that Miss Cleo climbs these days, she will learn how to climb a tree before Gus. I would not be terribly surprised (see first photo above).

A new poem by one of my favorite poets is posted above.

That's all for now. TTFN...

It's almost Halloween!!!

It's the week of Halloween, and the weather is lovely here in Lawrence. It's in the 50's, the leaves have turned and are falling...it's awesome Halloween weather! It's supposed to be 60 or so on Saturday with no rain. Yes!

Took Cleo to the doctor this morning for her 15 month appt. and she's 30", in the 35% for height, and weighs 21 lbs. 7 oz., 28% for weight. She's our little healthy peanut. She had to get 3 shots (including flu shot), which she hated. Gus got the flu mist up the ol' nose, and he was fine with that. I'm still debating whether to get them the H1N1 shots...any thoughts from other mommas?

Here are some early Halloween photos of the kids in their costumes. We took them to an early trick-or-treat event at the Lawrence Prairie Park Nature Center. The kids took a hike through the woods and met some "monsters" on the way who handed out candy. The kids even got to meet Max and the Wild Things! It was pretty cool, and Gus got to hang with his girlfriends Ebi, Suki and Ash. Ash was Alvin from Alvin and the Chimpmunks and Suki was a bear/zebra. Just like Gus was a monkey/bear! We plan to take both kids to Andy's company trick-or-treat Friday around 4pm, and that should be fun, then later Friday night we may stop by the Hegemans for an All Hallow's Eve happy hour. Saturday I'll get the candy bowl ready and send the kids out with Andy while I hand out treats to kids (and enjoy some vino!)

I love Halloween. Someday I may even start to dress up like a scary witch and scare little kids. That's what my Mom did when we were little. The Curtis house was known as the "scary house" b/c my Mom would dress up like a super scary witch (think tan hose pulled over her face so her features were all distorted, along with an awesome wig, hat and outfit) and jump out from behind bushes and scare trick-or-treaters. And if the kids were brave enough to then walk up on our patio, I would then hand them candy. A lot of kids would just take off. I always felt bad for those kids. Ha ha. My Mom was always my school room mother on Halloween. All the other kids wanted their Moms as Christmas or Easter room mothers, and I always chose Halloween, b/c my Mom would show up at school dressed as the scary witch. She did it up.

More Halloween photos later! Trick-or-treat!

Miss Lydia is in da house

Hanging with Miss Cleo

Mr. Handsome

Miss Lydia, Queen of the (hornless) Unicorns

Why have I posted a photo of a magical unicorn along with photos of my darling children? Well, this is Miss Lydia, and although she may look like a normal horse, she is in fact a magical unicorn (I found a hole under her strip of white hair that is coming unglued). I was given this toy by the janitor at work to give to Cleo, but I'm going to keep it for myself, mostly b/c Cleo will just pull the rest of Lydia's hair off and try to eat it, but also because I have grown to adore Lydia and all her weirdness. My affection for Lydia is like Kelly's affection for her doll/friend, Ellis. In fact, Kelly and I have decided Ellis and Lydia can be BFF. And when I get stressed at work, I just look at Lydia and all is well again.

Actually, when I get super stressed at work, I just look at these darlings

Or this darling...love Dwight

So, it's been a busy fall. Andy is traveling quite a bit this month, and work and other activities are keeping us rather booked up. Gus has been enjoying preschool, and has made some friends. Right now he loves to count and sing. If he's not counting in one of his many counting-themed books, he's singing "I've been working on the railroad" or some other song.

Gus is super psyched to be a monkey for Halloween, and I really need to make his costume this week. We're taking the kids to an early trick-or-treat thing in town this Friday, and I haven't even started on Gus' outfit. I bought all the materials so it shouldn't take too long. We ordered Cleo's giraffe costume online and it's awesome. So I don't have to mess with that! I can't wait for Halloween...the best holiday! I think we're going to carve pumpkins later this weekend, too.

Work has been super busy, but I'm managing. We're going to Iowa City later in mid-November to visit Dave and Sally and possibly see a football game (Iowa is super good this year, like KU!). Should be fun. Other than that, just planning for holiday shopping (already!) and whatnot. I really cannot believe how fast time flies.

More later after Halloween--should have some good photos of the little monkey and giraffe!

ek




p.s. Still doing the running podcast and so far it's still going well. I'm on week 5 and it's kicking my butt, but I'm hanging in there! I'm working my way up to running 20-25 minutes without stopping, which for me is truly amazing.

It's finally autumn!

Gus' preschool bag-the front (thank you for your iron-on decal selection, Michael's!).

One of many walks out to the lighthouse in Ludington, MI

On a hike in Ludington

My favorite season is here, and that makes me one happy little lady. Fall always perks me up a little. I just wish it wasn't so fleeting. I've already put up some Halloween decorations, and I want to do more. We will go to the pumpkin patch soon, too.

Our vacay to Michigan was awesome. We've been many times to Ludington, but this was probably the best time yet. We had so much fun, and the kids had a blast. Gus still asks about "the cabin"--"When are we going back to the cabin, Mom?" I felt bad leaving it. We rented a cabin right on Hamlin Lake this year, and it was fantastic. The front patio was huge and looked over a little cliff on to the lake. Couldn't have asked for a better view. Andy's parents were up there, as was Lindsey, and we all just had so much fun relaxing, hanging out. The kids went on hikes with us and Gma and Gpa, and Gus even got to drive his Great Aunt Ginny's boat. Good times. When we lived in Chicago we would visit Ludington 1x a year b/c it was a mere 4-hour drive. Now it's a much longer drive (12-13 hours), but we'd like to try for every summer. The kids love it, and it's a lovely break from the hot as balls weather in KS (yes, I said "hot as balls"--I love that phrase. Such a guilty pleasure).

Since getting back from Michigan, our world has been so busy these days. Let's see...quick updates in bullet points, b/c that helps me stay concise, which is hard for me (I know, shocker):

• Gus loves preschool. He talks about his teachers, who are amazing, all the time and he's slowly making new friends in class, too. It takes our little guy a bit to warm to new kids. He's a friendly little guy, but like his father, it just takes him a bit to warm up to folks. But Gus really loves school and has learned so much already. I'm really glad we put him in this year. I took him today and a little boy named Owen told him Mom, "Mom, look, that's Gus!!!" It was adorable.
  
• Cleo is like her momma...not introverted. :) Cleo is our crazy, fearless little lady. She speed walks everywhere and breaks out of most things you strap her in, including her high chair. I need to find a better high chair for her to use, b/c she climbs out of hers and tries to literally climb down it to the floor. It's stressful. I've been feeding her in her exersaucer so she's trapped. We never even used straps with Gus b/c he was content to just "be." Not Cleo! There are things to do, see, mess with. She will be a very active little monkey. She's all smiles, all the time. And still super affectionate. She's a social butterfly. The more activity and the more people, the better. I took Gus and Cleo to work the other day and Cleo walked right up to this opera professor I work next to, and hugged her for the longest time. No stranger danger here. That probably won't be so good when she's older, but it's cute right now.
  
• Work for us is still crazy, but for me it's starting to level off a bit. I finally got a little help from some students, so that has been awesome. Andy is basically traveling throughout the month of October, so it's that time when I mentally prep myself to be a single mom. I'm getting used to it with 2 kids now. Finally. It's hard when you are outnumbered! But I'm managing.
  
• I'm teaching myself how to run. I'm really proud of myself, to be honest. I NEVER IN A MILLION YEARS thought I could do this. I'm doing this podcast called Couch to 5k through coolrunning.com that teaches folks who have never run before to run 3 miles without stopping on a regular basis within 9 weeks. I'm on week 2 of the podcast, and so far it's going well. My goals with this are to 1) learn how to run 2) run a 5k after training 3) lose 10 stubborn lbs. More than anything, I just want to be active and healthy. So far I love it. And during all this, Andy is training for the upcoming KC 1/2 marathon. Hilarious...I'm learning how to run 3 miles, and he's training to run over 13 miles. A wee different, but that's okay! You have to start somewhere, right?

More later...

The hard times and the good times

Where the changing table once was is now her dresser. So interesting, eh? :)

Cleo's new room...new toybox and shelves.

Gus and his Spongebob popcicle...it stained his entire face

It's been a trying week. Work is out of control crazy and things are slipping through the cracks and hitting the fan, so it's been stressful. Andy was out of town all week, but thankfully he's back home. Today we figured out that Charlie has been depositing blood from his tooshie (sorry) on the carpet downstairs behind our desk. I have no idea what's up with him, so to the vet we go...again. We just spent a huge amount of money on Ruby recently only to figure out he's just fine. But that's how it is with pets. And that's okay.

But when I get down about work or bloody cats or something like that, I remember that bigger things could be happening. One of Andy's co-workers is going through a terrible time right now as her daughter battles cancer, and another friend's brother was killed in a very tragic accident recently. So, when the stuff hits the fan for us, I say a prayer and give my kids a kiss, b/c life is sweet but sometimes way too short. And it could be so much worse.

We're gearing up for our Michigan vacation, and even though I can't imagine getting done all that I need to for work before we leave, I'm so ready to go. We're driving and we'll stay over in Iowa City at Andy's parents on our way up, so we can break up the drive. We'll be in Ludington for a week, and we're staying in a cabin. I'm excited to have some R&R with the kids and Andy's family. I love it up there, and hopefully the weather up there is pretty nice...in the 70's and maybe 80's. Not as humid.

The kids are changing so much every day. Gus' new favorite things in the world right now would be Dora and Boots (from Dora the Explorer...or as Andy likes to call it: "Dorah the Explorah"). Gus adores anything Dora right now. Loves her show and would watch it 24/7 if we allowed him to...and he's even created little imaginary Dora and Boots friends he keeps in his pockets. They even get to sleep over with him at night. I'm serious...we're dealing w/ our first imaginary friends! It's adorable, really. He picks them up and carries them with him everywhere. When we leave the house, he'll say, "Oh, Mom! I have to get Dora and Boots!" and at night he says "Mom, Dora and Boots can sleep with me!" Pretty funny stuff. As long as he's not doing this when he's 15, it's all good.

Cleo is walking! She takes about 5-10 steps at a time before she goes back to crawling, but she's doing more every day. She loves her new freedom. I call her my little Houdini b/c she likes to break out of any straps we put her in (car seat, high chair, etc...). She loves the challenge of breaking out of any constraints, including clothes. She has figured out how to take off her pants, and I often find her in just a diaper and t-shirt, smiling at me as if to say, "See? I did it! Ha ha hahaha!" She's ornery, this one. I have to keep my eye on her. She says new words like "Momma" (yes!) "Dadda" "Kitty" and "Baby" and sometimes I think she even says "Pretty"--oh, and she pants like a dog when she sees dogs. Gus used to do that, too. So funny. Last wknd we reconfigured Cleo's room. We got rid of her changing table and move stuff around to accomodate shelves and a toy box. It's so nice not to shove toys and stuffed animals in her closet now. Of course she still prefers to play in Gus' room, though. But her room is so cozy that I'm proud we were able to utilize vertical space to our advantage. HGTV, eat your heart out.

Let's see...the GREAT NEWS that came out of this week is that our friends Tom and Marisa had their 2nd bundle of joy, a boy! So now they have Ebina, who is almost 2, and Abel Thomas Hegeman, who was born early Wednesday morning. He is absolutely gorgeous...full head of dark hair (Ebi had the same) and looks like a mini Tom Hegeman! Everyone calls Tom "Old Man Hegs" so we were joking that now there's a junior "Old Man Hegs." Marisa was worried b/c she had to be induced with Ebi b/c she was so overdue, and it looked as if the same was going to happen with Abel. He was over a week overdue when she finally went into labor. She had him in around 2 hours total--the labor was that short! I am so happy it was short for her.

Until later...take care. Oh, and the new poem is one I wrote when I was a child. I remember being SO PROUD of it. I wrote it on yellow lined paper and my mom posted it on the fridge where it stayed for a very long time. So deep, right?!

Oh, and Gus starts preschool Monday! Woot! So excited for him.

Gus is 3! And other updates

Gus celebrated his 3rd birthday the first weekend of August. We took him to Vinland Valley Nursery where he had a little party. The nursery is technically in Baldwin City, but it's really in the country b/t Lawrence and Baldwin. It's beautiful out there. We had a great time, and for once the weather was pleasant. We're so used to the scorching heat on his birthday. On his actual bday (August 6), I took the day off and we went downtown to the Toy Store to pick out his gift. He picked out a toy Mack truck, and he loves it, needless to say. Between the Mack truck, the matchbox cars and carrying case and all the other fun toys, he's in heaven. Oh, and he's still our healthy boy. In the 75% and 76% for weight and height. He's 39" tall and weighs 34.5 lbs.

Andy and I went on a sales incentive trip to St. Pete, FL, with some of his co-workers last week. It was so nice to get away, and the resort was great. I met some of Andy's co-workers and their spouses, so it was fun to meet new folks. I've posted some photos of the trip. I didn't take too many b/c I didn't want the camera to get wet. We essentially just laid on the beach or by the pool for 3 days straight! It was heaven, but we really missed the kids. My Mom watched them until Sunday and then Annie came for the last night. I think overall they did really well.

Let's see...work is insane right now. I'm trying to keep my wits about me, but it's hard. It'll calm down, but there are so many new things going on, and I've taken on a lot of extra work. We're going on vacation to Michigan the week of Labor Day, so I'm already excited for that. It'll be a long drive, but thankfully we'll stop over in Iowa City so we can break it up. We've rented a cabin in Ludington, so that should be fun. We usually stay at Andy's parents house in Ludington, but with 2 kids, we need a little more space, so we'll see how this cabin works out. Michigan should be a nice break from the hot sizzling weather here. It's usually in the 70's there in September during the day, which is so nice.

Gus talks to people on the phone now and has conversations, vs. just saying one or two words. It's funny. And he's really into things and their mothers b/c of a book we've been reading by Eric Carle (Kangaroos have mothers, too!). He asks where the cats' mothers are. He even gave Funny Face one of his toys the other day and told her it was b/c she didn't have a mother anymore, so she could have one of his toys. Delicious! Gus starts preschool on August 31. I can't believe it! He's in the "Under the Sea" room with his daycare friend, Elizabeth. I don't really know what all the rooms mean, but I know the "Under the Sea" room has fish tanks and whatnot, so he'll be thrilled. He goes for 2.5 hours every M, W and F. We'll go with him on the first day. I think I may get emotional. I mean, it's not like he's in Kindergarten yet, but I feel like it's just around the corner. Crazy.

This isn't my best photo...but it's hilarious how white Cleo is next to me right now.

Cleo is a little spark plug. She's so fast and into everything these days! She's not walking yet, but she pushes her little walker everywhere. She moves all over the place, and tries to break out of her high chair, her car seat and the grocery cart at the store. Gus never did any of this, so we joke that we'll have to carry duct tape with us to keep her in one place. She's usually still pretty mellow, but she's very stubborn, too! I really see so much of us both in her personality. She and Gus are so tight. They wrestle together, snuggle together, play together all the time. It's so fun to see them actually interact for real now. Gus told me the other day Cleo was his best friend. Oh, and Cleo says the following words right now: "Kitty" and "Daddy" and "Meemaw" (that's me) and "Pretty" (that one cracks me up...she already knows she's pretty! ha ha).

That's it for now! Hope you all are having a great summer. It's winding down...can't wait for fall! My favorite season! I'm already excited for Halloween. Yes, I'm dorky like that.

Cleo is 1! Summer is flying by...

Cleo turned 1 on July 22. We had a gathering at our house to celebrate her bday, and Andy's family came in, which was great. Andy's sister, Jenny, and her son, Eli, stayed with us for about 5 days. We loved having them and wish they could've stayed longer. Gus and Eli, needless to say, loved hanging out. They wore each other out every day! We took the kids to the zoo on Cleo's birthday (zoo in Topeka). It's a great zoo, and there's a train park across the street with a carousel. The kids had a blast.

Cleo's 1-year stats are: 29" inches long (45%) and 19 lbs. 12 oz. (27%) for weight. She had a growth spurt in length, which is fun. She went from the 9% in height to the 45%. She has almost caught up with Gus' growth. He was at just over 30" at one year. Their weights are quite different, though! Gus was over 25 lbs. at a year and Cleo is under 20 lbs. All her weight is in her legs...she has some awesome thunder thighs! Love it. She is also getting her top two teeth, and they are almost all the way out. So cute, but it's been painful for her.

Gus starts preschool the first week of September. I cannot believe it! I'm gathering paperwork for it now. I think he's excited. He talks about going to school, so I think he gets it. And he'll be in class with his daycare friend, Elizabeth, so that's great.

I'm excited b/c we bought a new car. We bought a Subaru Forester, and I love it. It's silver, and it's just nice to have a new car. We traded in the 1991 Buick, and I'm still sad about it. I'm happy to have the new car, but the Buick had been in the Dierks family since day one, and it has treated us so well. It was a wonderful car. I hope the new owners treat it well. It's funny how we get so attached to cars.

Andy and I are getting geared up to go to Florida next week. My mom will watch the kids for the majority of the time and then Annie will come for the last night. I hope the kids do well...fingers crossed. I'm just so very, very excited for some R&R on the beach! Yes!!! It's been insanely busy at work for me, at least compared to what I'm used to, so I'm ready for the long weekend.



New blog on lawrence.com coming tomorrow or Thursday...check it out!

4th of July in Colorado

We are back from Crested Butte, CO. We had a great time, and I already miss my little sis, Kerry.

It's a pretty small town (around 5,000 total including Crested Butte proper, Mount Crested Butte and Crested Butte South), but with all the folks there for the 4th activities, it was crowded and very busy. The 4th of July parade was awesome, and there were easily over 15,000-20,000 folks there. Everyone is so "granola" in CB... it was hilarious. And I thought Lawrence was hippy. Kerry knew people wherever we went. That little social butterfly. She seemed very at home. The weather was brilliant. It maybe reached 80 degrees during the day, and it usually rained for a bit off and on during the day and night, but then the sun would come out blazing. You are at such high altitude there that getting a tan was pretty easy! It didn't take much time.

We took a few hikes that were out-of-this-world awesome. We drove to this tiny little place called Gothic, just up the mountain from CB. It was gorgeous and so remote (only accessible 6 months out of the year b/c they don't service the roads during the winter). We shopped in the fun downtown area of Crested Butte, and our condo was in Mount Crested Butte, just about 10 minutes away from downtown, right on the mountain of Crested Butte. Kerry lived just down the road from us on the mountain. She lives with 3 or 4 other people in a condo. She is a nanny for a family who also lives in Mount Crested Butte. She said she either walks or rides her bike everywhere, or takes the bus.

We had fun with the rest of the family. My older sis, Shana, brought her kids and we all had a great time together. My Mom and Dad came, too. Gus had a blast w/ his cousins, Brody, Rory and Molly. The fireworks on the 4th were honestly the best I've ever seen...ever. They were short (about 12 minutes long) but truly amazing! It was the first time in 10 years they had been able to shoot fireworks in CB b/c it hasn't been wet enough in past years. They shot them off the top of the mountain, literally just up the mountain from our condo. We had the best seats on the balcony of our condo. It was so awesome!!! My 10-year old nephew, Brody, told Andy that the vacation was the second best thing that has happened to him (1st best thing was getting their kittens). I loved that.

Here are some photos and videos from the trip. The second video is of Kerry by a waterfall. Oh, and I forgot to mention we saw a bear! We were hanging in our condo and my Dad spotted a black bear walking down the mountain. It was pretty awesome. I tried to get a photo, but it didn't turn out.

Hope everyone had an awesome holiday.