Yesterday it snowed.
A lot.
My staff meeting was canceled and somehow I ended up with Ava and Finn all day. I thought about working from home, but I quickly realized how utterly lame that would be. So we decided to go sled riding with some friends instead. The following photos stem from an effort to not be a dweeby dad.


“Hey Ava! You sure are good at making snowballs. Can you make me one?”


Little punk. She teamed up with Jonah for some good snowball fight action.


They make a good team. He provides the strength.

And she provides the beauty.


Here’s Jon. He throws large snowballs at tiny little girls.

But then he makes up for it by carrying them up hills when their tiny little legs are too tired.

Then he has the nerve to push the tiny little girl down a large hill.





I think she likes it. Even though she did hit a jump that we never thought she’d hit at the bottom and flew several feet into the air followed by a spectacular faceplant. Still, she likes it.
Here’s Jack. He’s the only one who did worse faceplants than Ava.

Well…maybe this kid.

These are so much more effective in the snow than in other forms of precipitation.

Time to go back inside, where Melanie has been sniffing Finn’s head for a couple of hours. Poor Hazel had no idea the princess torture Ava was going to put her through. She didn’t mind though. She’s glam. Dogs need pink toenails now and again.


Wow…you’re right. That dog does have more nipples on her left side. Hmm.

After several hours of sledding, snowball making, and dog torturing, we headed back to our house. Which I think looks a lot better with a thick blanket of snow on it. Yesterday was a good day.



Posted in Ava Beans!, Photography | 31 Comments »
It’s cold outside. I needed some warmth. So I changed the desktop background on my computer to this image I took in South Carolina and thought you might want to as well. Click the photo for a big one.

You can save it as your desktop background, or you have my full permission to get it printed. It should look great in pretty much any size up to 16 x 24 inches…maybe even 20 x 30. Frame it up nicely and hang it in your place, or give it to someone else for Christmas. Or both.
Tis the season,
Ryan
Posted in Free Stuff, Photography, Wallpapers | 27 Comments »
A group of us guys headed out to Red River Gorge on Monday night to stay at the Cabins of Quiet Waters. A friend of mine whom I have traveled to Honduras with, Jeremy Strom and his wife Sonya moved there a couple of months ago after God gave them a vision for a retreat center. They bought several cabins and have been renovating them to provide a place for people to experience adventure and peace away from the mundane lives we often find ourselves in. You can visit their Facebook group page if you’re interested in more info.
We stayed for two days and packed in as much manliness as we possibly could. The best part for me were the amazing conversations around the fire, under the porch, in the hot tub, and at the table. We went rock-climbing and the few of us beginners completed a 5.8 level climb that challenged us physically and mentally. I’m going in for something harder next time.



























A note to all the ladies with men out there:
Please support him in being the masculine creature he was meant to be…not some ridiculous, Al Bundy or Homer Simpson version of a man…I’m talking about a true lion. You have the power to do this.
Posted in Photography, Short Trips | 30 Comments »