drew’s news

A couple weeks ago we attended the wedding of our friends Derek and Patty in Yosemite National Park. The newlyweds are both avid rock climbers who recently scaled the face of Half Dome, so the Yosemite valley was the perfect setting for them to tie the knot. It was a great party (with amazing scenery of course)! Congrats to the bride & groom; unfortunately we had forgotten our camera so I don’t have any photos to post. This is the first wedding we’ve been to with Leo, who I may have already mentioned is quite mobile these days - we spent most of the evening chasing him around…

We stayed for the rest of the weekend and hung out in the valley with our friends Bob and Rich, his wife, and their twin daughters. They graciously sent us some of the photos that they took, and I’ve posted a few of their pictures below…

Rich had rented a surprisingly nice house in a small housing community within the park called Foresta, so we were able to cook our own meals, do laundry, etc. Rich’s daughters had fun chasing Leo around the establishment, and Leo had fun playing with all of their toys. We managed some short walks with the kids - up to Bridalveil Fall, and down to a sequoia grove near the western park entrance. And we spent part of an afternoon hanging out at Sentinel Beach on the banks of the trickling Merced River, which was a great spot for the toddlers (OK, the grownups too) to splash around in the cool water for a while.

I must say that it was refreshing to see a sky full of stars. As we sat on the deck gazing up at the Milky Way cutting across the clear dark sky, I realized that I need to make a point of “getting away from it all” more often…

Last week we headed out to Arizona to celebrate with my parents on their 25th wedding anniversary. They threw a wonderful party, with good food & drinks, cake, dancing, and some touching speeches. It was great having the extended family together for a few days, and Leo had fun hanging out with his grandparents (and aunties & uncles) and running around with his cousins. (Yes, he’s quite mobile these days, with plenty of scrapes on his knees, elbows, and cheeks to prove it…)

There were a few dramatic thunderstorms for the first couple of days (in fact, the night before we arrived in Phoenix a small tornado tore up trees throughout downtown!), but the weather soon cleared up and we got in some good sightseeing too. We spent most of our stay in Sedona, where we gazed at the red rocks and took side trips up to Jerome (a cool ex-ghost town) and to some nearby native American ruins. We also spent a wonderful day up at the Grand Canyon. The visitor center at the south rim is only a couple hours from Sedona and makes for a solid day trip. The view from Mather Point is quite fantastic. Thanks Dad for being a great tour guide, and happy anniversary!