christmas --round 2

Since we stayed home for Christmas (because of the snowstorm), we headed out to G&G Vawdrey's house on Saturday for dinner and presents. Here's a great shot of Rachel showing off her new soft fluffy pink boa! All the boys (except Matthew) got a zero gravity remote control car. (My pictures are in the wrong order, but you'll see how it works in a couple of photos lower.)

Here's Jared showing off the BYU pillowcases grandma made for the big boys -- love them!!

Ryan & Ethan spent awhile building with legos on top of the pool table -- it's out of Matthew's & Katie's reach, so things can't be destroyed.

Finally, here's the remote control car -- it drives on walls. So cool!

Here's Matthew checking out his stocking.

We had a fun afternoon opening gifts, eating, playing and watching a movie. Thanks G&G!

christmas day

A few pictures from Christmas. Here's our filled stockings (it's a family tradition to stuff real socks) Each sock had cereal and grape juice for Christmas breakfast, some candy, and one other little present. Jared got an ihome -- ipod dock, clock and radio in one. He was totally surprised and thrilled!

Here's Matthew figuring out his leapster thingy -- lots of buttons to push and sounds to hear, plus a phone to practice talking to grandparents. He loves it.

Here's the boys checking out Ryan & Jacob's DS's. Ryan's previous DS broke a couple months ago, so now he has a snazzy white one. Jacob is thrilled to have a DS like the big boys. He figured it all out in no time!

This is Matthew enjoying one of his new books. He loves looking at books -- he must take after his Dad!

I got a super deal on this lego set for Jared -- he was pleasantly surprised and excited to start building. With 625 pieces, it took some time to put together -- he really enjoys doing that. I'll post a picture of the finished product later.

Here's Ryan with his Lego Coast Guard Platform. He was totally excited to get it -- so was I, since it was really a little bugger to shop for.

And here's Jacob with his Lego Imperial Dropship. He was soooo excited!

The kids loved everything they got and especially enjoyed opening gifts they gave to each other. The boys each drew names this year, but when it finally came down to it, the older boys decided to give a gift to everyone. I love that they did this all on their own. They really found joy in giving as well as getting. We enjoyed the day together at home playing with our Christmas stuff and Mark & I even managed to get in a long walk together in the afternoon. A very nice Christmas all around.

gingerbread houses

A fun tradition we have is decorating "gingerbread" houses at Grandma V.'s with the cousins. Here's Jacob pulling a funny face. Ryan getting serious about the placement of the candy.

Jared trying to smile -- at least we got a picture!

Matthew sampling the M&M's and me squirting frosting.

Thanks for the fun, Grandma!

pre-christmas festivities

I've been a real slacker when it comes to blogging lately -- just simply too busy getting ready for Christmas. Here's a sampling of some of our pre-Christmas festivities: This is Pirate Jacob with his cousins Kaymi and Colten. They had a fabulous time playing together at our family party. They always get along so well together, that its too bad we don't see them very often. OK, these picts are in the wrong order, but oh well, you get the idea. We had a santa derby -- each of us built our sleds from two large candy canes, two small candy canes, one Hershey bar, and one little santa with lots and lots of tape. Then we raced them down an inclined table. We had a fun time trying to see whose sled was the fastest.

Jared's grade had a Christmas concert. My camera batteries were totally dead and this was the only shot I got -- a terrible one at that! (Jared is in back of Santa) The kids really did a nice job. They sang, acted, and played their recorders. I was really surprised -- 100 kids playing recorders and I only heard a couple of squeaks --truly an amazing feat!

christmas eve

Christmas Eve day was very productive -- everyone pitched in and cleaned the house for the Christmas Eve festivities. Mark got to work on putting our storm door back together since we FINALLY got the parts for the door. He also got new weather stripping in on the regular door, so we are all snug and cozy again in our house. We invited our neighbors, the Muellers, over for dinner. We had all the fixings for tacos/taco salad with soda and cherry cobler for dessert. After dinner we all played a fun present opening game and "Scene it?", Disney version. We had a fun time together. When Muellers left, we opened the Christmas pj's (the basketball theme pants were a big hit this year!), got ready for bed, and then read the Christmas story from the scriptures together. After family prayer, the kids found their biggest socks, hung them up and we got everyone tucked into bed. Jared, Ryan, & Jacob had a sleepover in Jacob's room. Mark & I relaxed a bit, watched some news, and then went into "Santa" mode. I love setting out the Santa gifts and stuffing the socks and anticipating the kids reaction in the morning! Merry Christmas everyone!

done!

I'm done sewing the pj pants for our family for Christmas! Hooray for me! New pj's on Christmas Eve is a tradition. I decided I should make us matching pants last year and it was so fun for our family, that I did it again this year. I got the fabric for them months ago. I starting cutting and sewing a week ago during Matthew's naptime -- the only time of the day I can work in peace. Nothing like waiting till the last minute to start a project, eh? And just to make things more exciting, my sewing machine foot pedal is on the blitz. I spent at least a 1/2 an hour one day just trying to jiggle cords and bang it in the right place to get it jump started! Thank goodness it started and thank goodness I'm finished! I'll get a photo posted soon!

that felt good

Winter seems to have hit us all at once over the past week and a half. With the cold and snow, I just can't drag myself out to do a morning run anymore. I've been braving the cool mornings up until now, but running in snow and ice really isn't a very smart thing to try. I don't have a gym membership anywhere, so last week I opted to do some daytime walking with Matthew in the stroller. It wasn't that satisfying. I was really beginning to crave a little run. Yesterday I finally got a chance to run in the late afternoon. It was short (as most of my runs are), but it felt really good to run again. I never ever thought I would say that.

christmas giving

Over the weekend we took the kids shopping with their cousins to pick out and purchase a few toys that we could donate to a "bishop's room" located at a local DI. (We do this instead of exchanging some family gifts) Local bishops can give members of their wards who are in need permission to go to that room to find items for their families for Christmas. This was good for my kids -- we asked them to pick toys that they would wish to have for themselves. Jacob had a hard time parting with a Lego Imperial Dropship that he dearly wants for Christmas, but he did it. I was proud of him. (BTW, he will get his own for Christmas, he just doesn't know that yet, of course) When we got to the DI with the toys, we found a manager to take us to the room where the kids got to see what will happen to the toys they are donating. The teeny tiny room seemed to have quite a few toys, one rack of coats, and a few socks and other personal items hanging on a back wall. The manager told us that the room had just opened last week and they had had about 150 families come through so far. Last year, that room had 800 families come through -- wow! They are expecting at least that many families again this year, if not more. There was no way in the world that the supplies they had in the room at that time would ever be enough to help that many families. Hopefully they will continue to recieve donations as the Christmas season continues. We were able to look around the room for a minute and the kids were happy to know what was going to happen with their donated toys and it helped them feel even better about giving.

There are so many places seeking donations this year. What really gets me the most is when agencies are asking for donations for basic necessities for babies -- i.e. formula, diapers, blankets. My heart just breaks to know that there are hungry, soggy, or cold babies out there. Tonight, our cub scouts get the opportunity to help out at the local food pantry -- I hope I get to go with them, I've always wanted to help with a service project there. I'm certain that any service we give or donation we make can help someone.

***Mark, Ryan and I were able to go to the food pantry last night. We filled approx. 215 individual food bags in our short time there. Each bag had 4 cans of tuna, 5 cans of soup, 1 can of vegetables, 2 cans of fruit, 2 cans of beans, a can of meat, and 1 box of mac n'cheese. Individuals can get one of these bags per month. We were able to see how our donations were weighed, sorted, and distributed. It was a really fun activity -- we all enjoyed it! Ryan even said it was one of the best pack meetings ever!! And when you compare a service opportunity with pinewood derby's and rocket making/shooting, you know you've really got a winner!

what every toddler's mom needs

All store shopping carts should be equipped with amusement park style seat restraints, in toddler size of course. Notice that the full body is restrained -- gotta love those over the shoulder harnesses!! Maybe these kinds of toddler seat restraints would make it so that the kid actually has to sit in the cart instead of wiggling out, crawling all over the cart, hanging over the edge, climbing or falling out and then proceeding to run through store aisles at lightning speed. I'm sure this kind of restraint would cause a multitude of screaming as well, but so do amusement park rides!

just sound it out

Yesterday Jacob wrote the following on a piece of paper all by himself (except for the last word, which Jared told him how to spell). See if you can figure it out:

The IFL TAWR IZ The bIGIZT TUWR HISTORY

Translation: The Eiffel Tower is the biggest tower in (he forgot to write that word) history.

He loves writing and has become quite fascinated with sounding out words on his own.

draper temple

I made my reservations for the Draper Temple Openhouse yesterday. I am so excited to take the boys to see the temple, I can hardly wait till January!

check writing etiquette

Laura posted a similar pet peeve on her blog awhile back and I just want to reiterate, that writing checks in public is very ANNOYING!! Today at the grocery store -- busy as all get out, mind you-- I have a cart of groceries and two children, one in which I am physically wrestling to keep in check while enduring high pitched deafening screams in my ear, and I pull into the checkout behind a lady whose completing her payment and another lady whose only item is one small bottle of diet coke. I picked the short line, right?! Wrong! The lady totally had to write a check for her dang bottle of diet coke!! Hello, the time it takes to write the check, dig the ID out of the wallet, let the cashier check the ID and then write more stuff on the check, double check to make sure all the info is correct, put the check through, give the lady her cash back and receipt, and then the lady had to stuff the change into her wallet and then into her purse, and get the bottle of soda and the receipt before finally moving on out of the checkout lane. It was all I could do to avoid eye contact with her so as not to give the look of death as she casually glanced guiltily in my direction. People, please do not write checks in public -- especially when there's a million people and screaming children behind you in line!!

basketball-a-palooza

The boys each have a basketball game during the week, plus practice on Saturdays. This past week we also found out that Jared is old enough to play "church ball" and so he had another game on Saturday. Somewhere over the week or weekend (its all a blur now) we watched a Jazz game on TV. On Friday night we were able to get tickets to the BYU game for $1 each, so we couldn't pass up the opportunity to head to Provo for the game. One good part about all of this basketball-a-palooza is that every game played or watched went into the win column. And another good thing about it was that we lucked out and bumped into the Jensen cousins at the game as well as Jack & Lindsay -- we haven't seen any of them for quite awhile! Many thanks to the Jensens for giving the boys the BYU "swatters" as a game souvenir!

so tired of...

1. things breaking/having to be fixed
2. hearing kids (especially one) complain about every little thing
3. cooking meals

test question

The first term of school is over for the boys and they each brought home fabulous report cards! This definitely makes for happy parents. Ryan recently brought home a health quiz that he got 100% on. He missed one question, but got the bonus question correct, so he still got 100%. Here's the question he missed:

T/F An appropriate way to reduce stress is to hit your little brother.

Um, yeah... he circled True! I just can't stop laughing (privately of course)! This is classic Ryan. I definitely pointed out that question to him and reminded him that he should NEVER hit his little brother or anyone else. But I also heartily congratulated him on getting the bonus question correct and getting a super-duper-fabulous grade on his quiz.

'coon huntin'

We had a family phone call with my family on Sunday night. My parents shared their adventure of the week -- a raccoon hunt. My parents like to have cats around the home/farm to keep control of mice. To keep the cats around, my dad likes to supplement their mice feasts with a little cat food, which he puts out on the carport for them. For awhile now, they have been aware that the cat food has been getting eaten by a raccoon(s). Well, Dad had had enough of feeding raccoons and brought the shotgun into the house, so he'd be ready next time he caught the raccoons feasting on the cat food in the carport. About 10 pm one night last week, my parents heard some noises on the carport and flipped on the light to check it out. Sitting there eating the cat food were FOUR adult raccoons!! Dad grabbed the shotgun, Mom grabbed the flashlight. They opened the door and scared the raccoons out of the carport. My parents followed in hot pursuit. Dad shot one by the tree (Dad didn't say which tree, and there are many to choose from) and found another one up IN the tree and shot it. By then the other two were nowhere to be found, so Mom & Dad went back inside the house. A little bit later they heard the rustling again on the carport and the two remaining raccoons were back to finish off their evening meal. Mom & Dad headed out again with the flashlight and shotgun and Dad managed to mortally wound one raccoon as it raced screaming off into the darkness. The other one got away, but not for long. Dad set a trap out by the sheds and back fence and in the morning he had a huge raccoon caught in the trap. Even though Dad offered a few people the opportunity to make some nice coonskin caps with a long tail, no one took him up on the offer and so he disposed of them somewhere. Mom & Dad thought they had taken care of all those darn raccoons, but alas, there were more raccoon noises on Sunday night. Maybe Dad will have another coon tale (tail) to tell about soon!!

student of the week

The fish have nothing to do with being student of the week, it's just a good picture of Jared. Way to go, kiddo!

new friend

Jacob played with a new friend today. Yay!

tooth #5

Matthew's fifth tooth finally broke through a couple days ago! HOORAY! So far, he doesn't usually get grumpy or sick when teething, but it seems his teeth are just taking a very long time to come in.

In other teeth news, Jared got his expander taken out on Monday and will get a permanent retainer placed on his upper teeth next week. Next up -- pulling teeth. Poor kid!

new chapter in the history books

Today the nation elected a new president -- Barak Obama. He is the first African-American to become President of the United States. He's got some serious national issues facing him as he takes office in January 2009. On some of these issues, I support his ideas. On other issues, I worry because I don't agree with him. It should be interesting to see what unfolds in the coming four years.

halloween

I was saving the best picture, for last in this post, but accidently deleted it at the last second. So, why save the best for last? Here it is: Matthew loved the suckers he got trick-or-treating -- so much so, that he kept stealing suckers from his brothers loot bags. Gotta love his sticky grin!

I'm probably the last person on earth to post Halloween picts, but here goes! As I was loading the pictures, I realized that I didn't take any pictures of my older boys dressed up, probably because their enthusiasm for dressing up was zilch -- they're only interested in the candy. However, we did get a shot with the cousins at G&G's. Here's Ryan with Matthew (spiderman), Ethan, Katie (pumpkin), Rachel, Jared, and Jacob (clone trooper). Jared & Ryan are whatever you can imagine a black caped person could be -- I think they were going for some sort of grim reaper look. Rachel's butterfly costume was so very cute with a twinkling light-up skirt. Oh, the things you miss out on when you don't have girls!

Here's Jacob & Matthew all ready to head out the door to trick-or-treat!

Ryan and Jared took off with a group of friends and trick-or-treated for a good long time. Ryan was definitely the loot winner for the evening! Here's looking at what we think is 6 pounds of candy -- yes, I said SIX POUNDS!

Here's Jared's loot after throwing out things he doesn't like, doing a little trading with Ryan, and separating the goods into similar stacks.

Here's Jacob's loot for the evening.

Here's my little Matthew Spiderman, all ready for his first trick-or-treat adventure!

Here he is checking out his candy -- Mark took him out just on our street.

His favorite candy was the suckers.

The boys have been pretty good so far about eating their candy in moderation. They are also having a wonderful time trading candy with their friends or trading candy for basketball cards and other wonderful treasures.

bat mitzvah

Mark and I attended our first ever bat mitzvah on Saturday. The honored girl, Hannah, is a daughter of one of Mark's co-workers. It was a very different religious experience for us, and we enjoyed learning a bit about the Jewish religion. The service lasted about 3 1/2 hours total--we were there for 2 1/2. Most of it is done in Hebrew. The Torah is read during the service and it is not just read but chanted. Hannah and several other people took turns reading from the scrolls, which are handwritten and quite large -- very interesting. In one particular part of the service, Hannah carried the Torah through the congregation. She was nervous about dropping it (but did not) because I'm sure it was rather heavy. I am simply amazed at the amount of learning that takes place before one participates in the bat mitzvah service! I can't imagine learning all the Hebrew and melodies to accompany it -- wow! The Cantor was excellent and the Rabbi was very personable and spoke in English. She gave a speech (kind of like a mini-sunday school class) about the Garden of Eden. Hannah also gave a speech (in English) about learning from Isaiah to pay attention so that you don't miss out on important things. Following the services, we were invited to a kiddush luncheon. The food was absolutely delicious -- bagels, cream cheese, smoked salmon, fresh fruit, a traditional pasta dish of some sort (yum), couscous salad, a pepper salad with olives and feta cheese (my favorite of all the dishes), potato salad, cookies, cake, and I've forgotten what else, but it was all very good!

over and over and over and over and over

This picture was taken in March. You'd think doing this same activity several times a day for 7+ months would get old, right? Wrong. Matthew does this same thing with the books in the bookcase and it's driving me crazy!!!

10 signs that my kids are growing up

1. They have their own money and bicycle and ask to go to DQ with their friends -- and I let them.
2. They go to activities at 9PM instead of going to bed.
3. They are learning to read all by themselves.
4. They want to go to sleep without being rocked.
5. They have an afternoon meal instead of an afternoon snack.
6. Their pants are too short.
7. They can cook and eat an entire box of mac n' cheese alone.
8. They aren't scared to go downstairs to the storage room alone.
9. They go to nursery.
10. They can babysit themselves.

finding closure

During this last summer, my doctor of the past 10 years very unexpectedly passed away. For some odd reason, I have had a hard time with this. Yesterday I finally realized why. He has shared some very important life events with us, namely delivering our 4 youngest boys. Think about who is actually in the room with you when your new baby is born, your husband, a doctor and a nurse. This is a major life event that is shared with only those few important people! I will always remember the kind way that he treated us when Cole was born. Cole was born around 8 p.m. and he was not actually there to deliver him since Cole came so quickly. I don't remember details, but he talked to me on the phone in the minutes after delivery and told me there wasn't anything he really needed to come to the hospital for at this point (he was at home), the nurses had already done everything that I needed medically, but asked if we wanted him to come anyway? I remember saying "yes" that we wanted him to come anyway and he came without hesitation just to be there for us emotionally -- I believe that act was above the call of duty. I also came to appreciate the way I was treated at the office by him and his staff -- I was a real person and not just another appointment, patient #592 of the day. I never had to introduce myself at the reception desk, they knew me when I came in and the MA's would always ask how the boys were, etc., etc. I miss that. I took it for granted. Thank you, doctor, for your professional and personal care of me and my family.

juvenile delinquent?

Yesterday should be a day to remember for Jacob. I say "should be" because he is only 5 and who knows how much he will remember later in life. So, he and his buddy were playing yesterday and decided it would be fun if they threw rocks at a neighbor's basement window (a house in the friends neighborhood). Golly gee, what happens when rocks are thrown at windows? Yep, they break. I think Jacob found that out. Not one of his better playtime ideas. Now we are in punishment/consequences mode around here. He's turned over his money to Mom and Dad, except for what's in his wallet -- it is nowhere to be found -- how convenient. He's now grounded from playing with his buddy, and gamecube and tv priveledges have been taken away as well. I hope a few life lessons will be learned from this.

jekyll & hyde

Last night we went to a performance of Jekyll & Hyde. I had never seen this before and I only knew it was a musical because one of our neighbors was performing in it. Anywho... it was very well done! The guy who played the tormented Dr. Henry Jekyll & Edward Hyde was quite good and the two women who played Emma & Lucy had amazing voices. I didn't love the storyline so much, although it is perfectly halloween-ish with lots of gory deaths. I kept hoping for a happy ending, but alas, only death. In speaking with our friend after the show, I realized that actors love playing death scenes because they are so, well, dramatic! No wonder this show had lots of people audition for parts! Going to the show was my b-day gift from Mark -- we had a fun evening together!

a day in my life

I had a pretty productive day on Tuesday. Here's a look at what I did:

• wake up/get boys up & going
• go for a short run
• shower and dress
• make & eat breakfast
• get the boys out the door to school
• start a load of laundry
• get Matthew dressed
• do the dishes/clean up the kitchen
• pick up Matthew's messes
• sort the rest of the laundry
• run a couple errands and go to Costco
• pick up Jacob from kindergarten
• put groceries away
• make & eat lunch
• start Jacob on homework
• put Matthew down for a nap
• pick up Matthew's messes
• help Jacob finish homework & read with him
• blog, e-mail, other computer things
• grind wheat and start a batch of bread
• get big boys going on homework
• pick up Matthew's messes
• make & eat dinner
• get boys going on their daily cleanup jobs
• finish cleaning up the kitchen
• pick up Matthew's messes
• give the 2 little boys baths
• go to Jared's basketball game
• get everyone into bed
• clean the bathroom
• pick up Matthew's messes
• climb into bed exhausted

Throughout all this I managed to wash, dry, fold, & put away 6 loads of laundry.

first snow

Sunday morning we woke up to a few inches of wet, perfectly packable snow. We happened to have stake conference that day, and not until 2:00 p.m., so the boys were able to have some good snow fun before conference. Here's Jacob and his snowman: Jacob making a snow angel -- note he's still wearing pj's!
Ryan and his snow buddy:
The snowball fight.
What is it about snow that always makes kids want to eat it?
Jared wasn't into the snow thing until he decided it was good football playing weather. By the time he and Ryan dragged out the football for a few passes/diving catches in the white stuff, I was back inside the house warming up in my warm fuzzy slippers, so there's no pictures of the football fun.

birthday girl

Ok, so I recently had a birthday -- here's the picture to prove it. Yes, I am 3 years old. Well, maybe not, but at least my real age can still be written beginning with a 3! I made myself a quick b-day cake without much effort thanks to Betty Crocker. I've always liked german chocolate cake with butter pecan frosting. A little vanilla ice cream on the side and we'll call it a birthday treat!

retirement savings -- ha!

With stock markets plunging everyday and the economy in turmoil, sometimes I really have to wonder what I was thinking when I tried to save for retirement. I'd have more money if I'd have just stuffed my savings under my mattress. Fortunately, I'm not even close to retirement age, so I guess I'll just be "riding it out" as the experts say. Buckle up! Anyone else have similar thoughts?

no tv

Our tv partly died yesterday afternoon-- just the part that shows the picture -- the MOST IMPORTANT part of the dang thing! Listening to tv is not nearly as thrilling as watching tv -- I feel as though I've been transported back to the days of radio, before tv was invented. This of course also means, no game cube, no movies. The televison part I can live without for a few days (or weeks), but I really hate to admit it, I am missing my "babysitter" and/or "attention distracter".

just call me sister, just call him coach

This week has brought some new opportunites for us. The youth in our ward are participating in "missionary week" and every morning they are meeting at the church at 6:00 a.m. for a 30-minute spiritual class followed by breakfast. They have been assigned to "missions" and divided into zones (classes). I was asked to be a teacher for one of the zones. So yep, I've been crawling out of bed every morning at 5:30 a.m. to put myself in Sunday attire, walk over to the church, and teach class for half an hour, and oh yes, to be cheerful & talkative! Quite frankly I've enjoyed it -- teaching the class, not necessarily getting up so early! I've been teaching about the restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ through the prophet Joseph Smith and preparing the kids to teach this subject to the families in the ward that they will be having dinner appointments with this Friday evening. We have good youth in this ward and I'm glad that I've had this opportunity to teach and share my testimony with them, it's been a great experience for me.

As for the "just call him coach" part of the post title, Mark is officially Ryan's Jr. Jazz coach this session. That's what happens when you go into the Recreation Center to inquire about why your son hasn't had a call from a coach about an upcoming game! Mark & I decided it was probably our turn to be involved parents, and since the game days and practices work with Mark's schedule, there really wasn't any excuse not to coach. There are 8 boys on the team and they are all firecrackers -- think Ryan multiplied by 8!! Last night was their first game and they won soundly, something like 28 to 4. Ryan scored a career high 10 points. Mark will have his first practice with them on Saturday. He's hoping he can contain their energy enough that they'll be able to have an effective practice session. Secretly, I think he's going to enjoy this!

In more sports news, Jared had his first game this week as well. He had a great game with 11 points (1/3 of his team total -- oh yeah, his team won!), a block, a steal, and a couple other fabulous statistics that I have failed to remember -- sorry about that, Jared. Jacob played soccer this week too. Unfortunately, he didn't score any goals this week, but he has improved so much through the season, that it's just fun to see his progress.

donut falls

On Saturday we took a little family excursion up Big Cottonwood canyon to check out Donut Falls. The kids and I had never been there and Mark hadn't been there since he was a kid. It was a fabulous family hike (very kid friendly, i.e. short distance, good trail, cool, rocks to climb, and water!) and the mountains are just beautiful this time of year! Here's a few photos:
Matthew throwing rocks -- he LOVED this! He could stand in the water and throw rocks without getting wet.
Matthew rode atop Mark's shoulders on the way up, but he walked (ran!) down most of the trail by himself.
Just loved this shot of 3 brothers hanging out together, totally happy together.
At the trail head is this big rock. Jacob climbed up on it and requested that his picture be taken. After taking the picture we happened to notice the carving in the tree behind him -- take a look, there it is -- JACOB. Pretty cool, eh?!
Utah mountains are just gorgeous this fall!!
The boys chilling out on the bridge.

The boys at the falls, although you can't really see the falls in the picture.
Token picture of me at the falls to prove that I did go on the family outing (I'm always taking pictures and therefore avoid being in very many of them!)
Just love this shot of Jacob.
Here's a decent picture of the falls behind Ryan! As you can see, there's not much water this time of year. I would imagine that there is a lot more falling water in the springtime.
I want to go on this hike again next year!