Spring break trip

We had a great time touring around southwestern Virginia and southeastern Kentucky on spring break. The primary destinations of the trip were Cumberland Gap, a historic site where settlers found passage across the mountains, and Big South Fork, a rugged and wild river along the border between Kentucky and Tennessee. We stayed most of the time at state park lodges, but we managed to venture out on our first camping trip at Big South Fork. We spent three nights at Pine Mountain State Park, where we had a great view of a forested ridge and valley from our room. We also spent a night at a Kentucky park called Buckhorn Lake. Pictures are posted here.

Baptism

Calista was baptized at our church on Sunday. Both sets of grandparents were in attendance, as well as Uncle Tyson and Aunt Sarah. The Ausema grandparents were here for about 5 days. We spent a nice sunny day at the zoo on Saturday, and it seemed that everyone in the area with young kids had converged on the zoo - we practically needed lane lines to safely negotiate the paths. We also took a few "7 weeks old" pictures on Monday. A few pictures are posted on on our Picasa site. The ones from the baptism are a bit grainy - I think my camera was set for outdoor shots. Maybe we can get some better ones from the grandparents . . .

6 weeks!

Calista is 6 weeks old today! She is starting to show a lot of expressions, including some smiles! We figure she is probably about 10 pounds, after a 9 pound weigh-in at the last doctor's appointment. Some new pics online in a new folder: http://picasaweb.google.com/jausema/CalistaAtSixWeeks

5 weeks old

Not much to say here, but it's a progress photo :)

Blackwater Falls

We made our second weekend excursion with Calista this past weekend, traveling to Blackwater Falls State Park in West Virginia.
It was fun hanging out in the cabin with friends, and I was able to go skiing for the only time this winter. There was great snow at White Grass, a cross country ski resort in Canaan Valley.