Annual Tahoe Ski Trip with "The Brothers"

We spent the weekend in Tahoe with "The Brothers" as they are affectionately named by Brooke & Gavin. It was a beautiful weekend, cooler than last year and we got dumped on the last night with 18 inches of new snow! Needless to say, after 2 days of skiing, we just played in the snow the last day and it took awhile to get home with the roads just being plowed.

Here's Brooke & Gavin in the snow out front of the cabin!

Gavin being goofy!

Brooke being silly!

Trent and Vance in the snow.

Kayle and Gavin in the loft playing PS2 racing games.

Some of the rest of us downstairs - eating! You work up quite an appetite skiing!

Shoveling out the snow.

More pictures of the beautiful snow.

The brothers on the slopes.

The brothers on the lift.

Looking back at the base and Lake Tahoe in the background.

Need a hand Kayle? He actually did very well for his first time snowboarding and by the second day was hardly on his rear end! Wish I could've had some video of him - he picks things up so quickly.

Beautiful Lake Tahoe

Kim & Kayle on their way up!

Oh no - Trent's down . . . HA! HA! At least this year he was just faking it!

Trent and Vance on the slopes.

Brooke & G peeking out of the loft!

Our Prince Charming . . .

I picked Kayle up from school today and my friend congratulated him! For what I ask . . .

Kayle was voted by his classmates as Homecoming Prince of the Junior class! So I thought you would enjoy a photo of him from when he turned 13 and then a recent one three and half years later:

Great Game Kayle!

Getting introduced for the game!

Here he is, Kayle Baker, number 33, getting ready for the rebound.

Kayle scored 8 points during last night's game - here's a video of one of the shots. He was on fire! I missed the video of the most beautiful lay-up but managed to get a few video shots.

Here's the assist . . . And below is what happens to Gavin by half time of the game!

New Year 09

New Year's Eve - went to see Dad at work that afternoon, since the kids were off and had been begging to go see Dad at work. The kids had just spent some of their Christmas money on these voice recorders and were having a great time showing Dad how they worked!



New Year's Eve party with Brooke and Gavin at our house.






Having snow withdrawls . . . we headed towards Tahoe to find the first snow we could to play in!

Winter Banquet 09

A last minute decision to go to the Winter Banquet . . . he asked the new girl at school (actually a former student) and she said yes . . . the guys all said WAY TO GO KAYLE! . . . she is tall, cute and fun to be around! Plus they are all going as a group anyway. So here they all are . . . putting on the first corsage and boutoniere, taking a million pictures, and getting the warning from Mr. Bicknell - be nice to the girls or else (hence the photo with the gun)!

Christmas 2008

Grandpa Ron with his son Brandon and grandsons Kayle & Gavin.

Brooke with the crew of Apollo 11 . . . a rainy day at Space Center Houston!

Watch out - the sign says it all . . . I'm a TALL, LEAN, eating machine!

What's around the corner, G-man ?!

Brooke & Granddad





3 Generations of Baker's - Granddad Gene, Grandpa Ron & Son Brandon


At Granddad and Grandma's farm - making a little bonfire with Uncle Vance and his dog . . . here come the cows!



Annual tradition . . . making gingerbread houses! They are so creative and have so much fun. Note to self: very humid in Houston so roofs collapse after a day!

Trip to Ft. Bragg

Gavin on the rocks . . . how a boy loves to climb! Kayle quite the explorer as well, leading us out on the rocks to look for tide pools . . .

We were blessed with a trip to Ft. Bragg the weekend after Thanksgiving . . . just houses from the Pacific Ocean . . . so beautiful . . . so grateful for the family time to be away from it all savoring the granduer of ocean.