Weekend in Yosemite National Park

Suwei at Glacier Point, Yosemite National Park, CA

Santa Clara, CA - This is going to be another super speedy post. Just went through the photos from our weekend in Yosemite National Park, December 17th & 18th, and well... I figured I'd stick em up on the blog.

Eng-Shien was the planner for this particular weekend. I think his hopes were for a nice winter weekend with the family in the valley, however, although the weather was sufficiently chilly it was a far cry from a typical December in Yosemite. We are currently in the midst of the 3rd driest December in recorded history and the weather that weekend was quite stunning. So, it didn't feel like winter, but the weekend was really, really nice none the less.

On Saturday, since both Tioga Pass and Glacier Point Road were still open, we decided to venture up to Sentinel Dome and do the 2.5 mile walk (5 miles RT) to Glacier Point. There was a little ice here and there and lots of downed branches, but just the fact that we were up there without skis in December was amazing.

Lunch on Sentinel Dome, Yosemite National Park, CA

Maria, Keira, Karl & Suwei at Glacier Point

On Sunday we took a long stroll around the valley floor and enjoyed the sunshine. Another great weekend!  Thanks to Eng-Shien for organizing! Hope you enjoy the photos.

Group Shot at Lower Yosemite Falls.

Lunch in Leidig Meadow, Yosemite National Park, CA

There are 23 photos in the slideshow. Just click the link below.

Yosemite National Park, CA

Fall Road Trip 2011 - Part II - Misc. Colorado Including Grand Mesa

Suwei walking the rails near Hotchkiss, CO

Santa Clara, CA - Merry Christmas all! I'm just throwing together a quick post, keeping the text to a minimum to save a bit of time. Busy, busy, busy lately. Plus Suwei tells me my descriptions are pretty damn boring anyway. I'll let the photos do the talking. If you want to know more about each one, check out the slideshow (link below).

These photos come from our road trip in October. We spent a few days between the front range & Keystone having a new window installed in our townhouse, buying a new mattress for the ski condo and pricing cabinet modifications & counter tops also for the ski condo. In the meantime Keira was able to visit with her grandparents and Suwei was able to pop into the Boulder office for work.

Hanging out with Ah-ma & Ah-Gong (Grandma & Grandpa) in Broomfield, CO.

On Friday, October 14th, we hit the road again. We had 12 days to get back to California and we planned to make the most of it.  But first... we wanted to make an early morning stop in Montezuma.  Our friends Kevin & Chica are building a cabin just above the town of Montezuma (very near to Keystone), and when I say building, I'm not talking about having it built.  Kevin and his partners are putting in much of the physical work themselves.   Kevin was up for the weekend (probably the last of the season before things became too snowy) and gave us a full tour.  Afterwards Suwei and I had a nice breakfast at the Sunshine Cafe and then headed out to the west.

Kevin & Cabin near Montezuma, CO

Our first destination of the return journey was Colorado's Grand Mesa, a 40 mile long mesa covering 500 square miles from the Colorado River to the Gunnison.  The views and fall colors were out of this world. We made a point of hanging out up there until the sun was well and gone. Anyway,  enough typing... here are the photos from this leg of our trip.

Keira enjoying the Fall, near Glenwood Springs, CO

Feeding time, Grand Mesa, CO

The View from Grand Mesa, CO

Fall Colors, Grand Mesa, CO

Sunset at Grand Mesa, CO

And that's it for this post.  I'm off to do a bit more eating.  Best wishes to everyone in the New Year!

Here is a link to Part 1 of our trip:

Fall Road Trip 2011 - California to Colorado

Here is the link to the slide show.  There are 40 photos in there.

Fall Road Trip 2011 - Misc. Colorado including Grand Mesa

Happy Birthday Keira!!!!

Before and After - Keira Turns One Today!

Santa Clara, CA - It's hard to believe my little girl is already one year old. I'm still shaking my head trying to figure out where the time went. As usual, I keep telling myself, "Take more photos!", "Use the video camera!",  "Capture this while you can!".  But then things get busy and you forget.  Well, here are a few more photos from the times when I didn't forget.  This post is a bit of a grab-bag of snaps from past events where I never got around to doing an actual post.  In the meantime.... Milestones!

At one year old, Keira can now pull up easily on anything and crawl with great speed, but still not yet walking. When she's excited, however, she will stand straight up without pulling up on anything (even with a cheerio in each hand). She'll stand there balanced and look at you for a few counts before realizing what she is doing, then she'll quickly sit down with a startled look on her face.  Also, she can use a baby walker with one hand and get around just dandy.  So, as I've been saying for the last two months... it's not going to be long before she's running away from us on two feet.

Other new tricks include; holding her own bottle, crawling up stairs, and understanding some requests (Can you give the baby tiger a kiss?)  She's talking a bunch, but not using any words that we can understand.  We hear a momma or dadda every now and then, but we're still not sure if she is talking about us.  She still loves to be chased, digs peek-a-boo in all forms, and is at times more intent on trying to sort her blocks then chucking them.  However, entropy is still her specialty.

Wendy & Dustin's Wedding.  San Diego, CA.  May 21, 2011.  From left to right:  Karl, Keira, Shelley, Keira, Yih-Shiong, Keira, Keira & Wendy.

At the 19th Annual Aloha Outrigger & Polynesian Festival in Santa Cruz, CA - August 2011.

Keira at Home

Some of the most adorable photos ever (I might be biased)

Keira at Googleween

Point Lobos, Monterey, CA - November, 2011

I tried today to explain to Keira how important her Birthday was, but I'm not sure she's getting it just yet. Maybe next year. Anyway... Happy Birthday little one. We love you lots.

Also, a super big Happy Birthday to Suwei, who turned >1 yesterday!!

Birthday Girls

Bye for now

That's it for now.  I'm still promising videos.  I just need to find the time to sit down and work with them.  Soon, soon.

Here is a link to the slideshow.  There are 28 photos in there.

A Keira Fall Roundup