A fun Christmas gift

Dad got this Vietnamese dragon gong for Jen's birthday, then for Christmas he made her the stand.  It is a very lovely and fun way to call all the family together at dinner time and other family meetings.

Grant's Big Day

Caroling

We made a plate of treats to share with friends and neighbors on Christmas Eve

Very festive

The many costume changes of Christmas

Caroling

Acting out the Nativity

Sunday Worship

Ghosts for Halloween?

A slightly different take on a Halloween classic.

NC State Fair

Last weekend we made a trip to North Carolina to visit Aunt Stephanie.  We all had a blast at the state fair.  Personally, I have to say that a deep fried slice of pecan pie is the funnest thing I have ever eaten.  Photo Credits to Steph.

High Bridge Trail

We had an awesome day trip to Farmville, Virginia and a bike ride along the High Bridge Trail.  We did a 9 mile roundtrip.  We thought that was pretty good for our first big bike outing.

As you might guess, the trail features a bridge that is very high- over the Appomattox River.  This bridge was used by both the Confederate and the Union forces in the last days of the civil war. 

A fun picture

This was a slightly older picture, I forgot about.  Definitely worth a post.  This was at the Richmond Flying Squirrels game.

A day at the beach

We suddenly found ourself with no major plans on a Saturday.... Beach trip!

Belle Isle

We try to make a trip to Belle Isle at least once a year.  Last week we went to climb around on the rocks and some of these post-modern ruins.

The Swing is Back

We redid the tire swing.  It is a super fun summer activity.

Teton Vacation

Wow!  What an awesome week.  We spent a week with the whole van der Horst family in Jackson, Wyoming.  We had a lot of adventures.  We saw beautiful scenery.  We dressed up like cowboys.  We got a lift to the very top of the peaks and hiked in the mountains.  We got to do a family adventure climb.  We went floating down a lazy river and through white water rapids.  We spent a lot of fun time with family, playing games and hanging out.

The whole gang.

This old barn made a great photo spot with the Tetons right there in the background.

A stop on our driving tour of the area.

A view from the top of the mountain in Teton Village.  We rode a tram to the top of the mountain then hiked down to another gondola which took us the rest of the way down the mountain.

We saw a variety of alpine scenery.

It was the season for wildflowers.

And we found a patch of snow- enough for a little snowball fight.

The gondola ride back down.

Getting the boat ready for our lazy river float trip.

The water was cold but refreshing.  Jen is ready to get back in now.

The first stop on our 6 mile hike.

More scenery.

We made it to Phelps Lake.

This was our whitewater trip on the Snake River

Laurel and all the girls.

The whole family gathered at the lodge.

We caught a pig wrestling competition in Jackson.

We got to take the whole family on a climbing adventure this year.

A good looking bunch of cowboys.