We went out to Fairplay this weekend to take part in their holiday festival, including their annual town Christmas tree lighting at the end of Front Street, just outside the South Park City museum.  Step aside, Rockefeller Center! :)  Truth be told, it wasn't much of a festival, but more like a few holiday open houses at some of the businesses, as well as a holiday bizarre at the local elementary school.  They were to have carriage rides and such, too, but the designated horses didn't make it to town that day due to dicey weather on the roads.  Still, we had fun.  The girls got free hot chocolate at one place, got to make and decorate their own cookies at another, got to make their own earrings at the local bead shop, got free candy canes and met Hanky the Christmas Poo ("South Park" fans will know him) at the tree lighting, etc.; and even Mom & Dad got a little treat at the local art gallery, with a free wine tasting.  Not a bad way to spend a chilly winter afternoon.  I'll post more pics after I've had a chance to go through them all.

A few variations on a shot of Katelyn I took earlier today…

I've been pretty remiss when it comes to keeping this family blog updated properly, only adding some photos and a quick blurb every few months or so on many occasions.  That's a shame, as this morning I was reminded of the true value of this blog, and it isn't in what it provides you friends and family members out there in Internet Land, but what it provides to my own immediate family.

I had clicked over to my website to check on something this morning – I can't even remember what at this point – when my girls stopped me once I clicked on the "Family" page.  They were so excited to scroll down and look at the photos and videos posted over the years.  Sadly, we got through it rather quickly, which reminded me that I really don't post here enough.  They had such fun, though, and I had fun recalling to them the past events told by those posts.

So forget about you, forget about me – from now on I'm keeping this up for them, as I think they'll find the value in this history to be more and more important to them as they get older.  Yes, I can just go through photos on my hard drive with them, too, but photos and stories I choose to go up here obviously have a special significance (at least to me), so I think it's important to have those called out.

(the photo above was taken while we were watching a cyclocross race here in Colorado Springs earlier today)

Marisa is always more than happy to turn it on for me if I point the camera in her direction.  She never disappoints with that sweet little smile, either.

…are the ones they don’t know you’re taking.

Karen took this pic of the girls earlier today when we were up at Montgomery Reservoir, which is off of Hoosier Pass, just a few miles outside Alma, CO.  I just love it…

As you can see in the picture above, we’ve added a new kid to the family; a big, furry one at that.  His name is Cosmo.  He’s a Great Pyrenees, and we got him a week ago at the Great Pyrenees Rescue up in Black Forest.  The girls love him to death, and after a week of adjusting, Alfie and Kitty think he’s alright now, too.  Karen’s basically got a new shadow, as he never strays far from her, and he’s still a bit skittish around me due to his fear of men (we’re actually getting on quite well, just still working on a bit of trust issues).  You can read more about him, his past, and how we came to get him by reading the post I wrote over on my “Living Colorado” blog here.

Marisa

Katelyn

Just back from a bike ride and not cleaned up yet, I look like a pile of crap here, but Katelyn looks like a little angel.

Katelyn sure knows how to give it to the camera.  It comes pretty natural to her.  I love this shot.