The Waldron Family

Rusty and I took a short trip up to Loon Mountain NH. We got to stay in a really nice condo gratis thanks to our friend at work Carolyn. We got in very late Thursday and flew out Sunday. It was a much needed trip away together. Day one was foggy and a little rainy. While Kim took a lesson, Rusty boarded in the trees. Warning against boarding in the trees. The very deep snow. A rock Rusty boarded off successfully.

Rusty took this video while boarding. You can check out my mad skiing skills too.

Day two was much prettier weather wise than day one. Unfortunately it had rained overnight and what had been nice packed powder was a sheet of ice. We felt like we were skiing at our home mountain at Whitetail. By afternoon it had softened up and we still had fun. This is a view from the chairlift that took us to the other side of the mountain. Here is a beautiful frozen mountain lake that we could see from the summit Another pretty view. This peak is called Whale's Tale. No moose were spotted on this trip. We were really bummed. One of the few pictures of the two of us at the summit.

Here's one that is about a month old. Its a bit long, but has Bryce talking a lot in it. I just get excited about kids playing appropriately with toys. Its such a rarity to see in my line of work.

Hurray!! I was finally able to upload video. Here's a funny one of Bryce with the laundry basket. If you listen closely Bryce yells at one point "I got milk" when he stumbles upon his milk cup.

I finally got to experience "lake effect snow". Here is the mighty escape covered in snow. Bryce in the snow up to his waste. Sledding with Mommy. Going up the hill. Austyn going down the hill. Bryce riding with cousin Neva.

A rare photo of Lilly and Bryce sitting down together. Bryce is trying to give Lilly a hug. She was less than impressed.

We went to the zoo on a very cold day, but we were lucky to see quite a few animals outside. The zoo is a refuge for injured birds that can no longer survive in the wild. This bald eagle was missing most of one of his wings. He was still beautiful. A very cooperative tiger who was not camera shy. Don't you just want to scratch his belly? Check out the paws!! I think this is a mountain goat with curly horns. I'm sure it has a fancier name, but I can't remember it now. Some penguins. The two in the middle are the cutest ones. Apparently flamingos are heartier than I thought. The most exciting part of the visit for some of the young ones was when this elephant decided to poop and pee at the same time. It was quite impressive. We read that elephants produce 175 lbs. of poop a day. And I thought changing a litter box was bad.

YAY! SANTA CAME!!!!!!! He brought fish... And UGGs... And presents to rip open.... And a shopping cart with a creepy baby in it. we're still not too sure about the baby.

It's a bit blurry, but here's the second stunt. Austyn ends up looking up a lot on these ones. Part two of the pyramid. Jumpin Jehosephat! (I don't know. What would you have put?) Girl, you own that stage! Make it your Be-yoch! James Brown would be proud! (she's shaking her money maker, get it?) I don't know, seeing those ribs makes me want to get some Dinosaur if ya know what I mean. You'd think we never feed the girl.

Austyn had her second competition in Richmond this morning and i figured out how to shoot more action photos. Basically i used the sports setting on the camera and turned off the view screen so it takes them a bit faster. Here's her first stunt group. OOH, Fierce! Cheer Face! This is her flyer. they did much better this time. I caught a fish that was THIIIS Big! Work it Girls! Tyra Banks ain't got nothing on these girls! (that's another Fierce referrence for all you non-America's Next Top Model viewers out there). Oh yeah, they got Grand Champions again. Now it's going to totally go to her head.

Here is a video of one of Austyn's performances. She is usually in the second stunt team from right. She is a backspot. During the dance portion Austyn is in the middle. Good luck spotting her.

yup. Brother and sister love each other. Peace on earth and jumping for joy! Please pay no attention to Kim's casual racism or the fact that we are listening to Christina Aguilera (the girl's got some pipes!).

MMMMMMM. LoMein. I open wide for that. What this now? You say is shrimp? Mmmmmm. Yummy! Hey Mama, what you gots over there? Is that sushi? Hey, Sis, what happened to feeding little brother? You slacking. Job well done. MSG is my friend.

Austyn is on two squads for Dream Allstars. So they had their first competition this weekend in Baltimore. Her first squad is Vision and they are level 1 which means no back handsprings, just cartwheels and back walkovers. her second and main squad is Revelation and they are level 2, which means everyone has a round-off back handspring and a standing back handspring. So, both her teams competed in their respective level fields, which includes minis, juniors (Austyn), and seniors, then there are also small, medium and large of Minis, juniors and seniors. So, what Grand champion of each respective level means, is that they had the high score of all teams that participated in that level. Each level had at least 20 teams, so this is a big deal. I got a film of her performance, but it's hard to see where she is, except for she has so much hair. Here's some pictures that didn't turn out that good. Mostly i wanted to see the makeup so we can recreate it next week. I messed with th...

Mommy, why you put me on this strange man's lap? Could be Michael Jackson hiding under there. Bryce did very well with Santa this year. He was very serious, but excited. He waved to Santa while we came up and was very interested in the goings on, never really looked too worried, just serious. gotta say the scanner is really paying for itsself. It's highway robbery what they charge for a disc with the pictures on it, for what it really costs them. we went with the 14 dollar 5x7 and scanned it. I'm afraid to mail it to people because of the virus i caught that sent junk to everyone in my mailbox. But i will when i'm sure that's all taken care of. Ciao Santa!

Yes, you guessed it, it was Austyn, sporting the lovely blue and white (Dream Allstars colors) braces, and..... Luke, sporting the lovely antlers and refusing to look up for the camera.

Time to tromp out in the field and kill us a nice Christmas tree. Hmmm. Decisions decisions. Eenie Meenie miney ..... Mo! Hey, this looks like a nice one. We employed our patented "pet" technique, where Austyn and Kim pet the tree to make sure it's nice and soft and not prickly. Before, all happy and frolicking it the field.... And after, about to be tied to the car. Bryce weeps for the tree that so selflessly gave it's life that we might celebrate with a Joyex Noel. You lived well, young tree, exchanging carbon dioxide for oxygen that we might all breath easier. Your sacrifice will not be in vain.