no words to describe...

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK

IN THE WINTER!

Dave was asked to give a lecture at an Emergency Medicine Conference in Yosemite last month so the whole family got to go (thank you Stanford!).  It was only about 5 hours away and even the drive was beautiful too! We stayed at the Inn at the Falls and just loved having this little getaway trip to the mountains.  Our pictures don't capture the beauty of this place because you are just surrounded by these cliffs and mountains and peaks, but I kept telling the kids to take pictures in their heads and when we got home, right before James fell asleep he said, "Mom, I still have those pictures in my head."

enjoy...

We stopped for pizza on the drive and Mia was showing off her new trick...

 "SO BIG!!"

girl party at the hotel... 

and, yes, my eye was infected this whole trip so I look like the sister in Meet the Parents who got hit in the face with the volleyball

hiking up to the falls

how funny and cheesy is this?

half dome

the Lower Falls

the view from our hotel

sunset on Half Dome--amazing!

what's cuter than little polka dot baby bums?

our version of a hot tub this trip :)

we found a playground at the elementary school for Yosemite Valley and it was quite a scene to be playing on the bars and slides with The Falls, Glacier Point and Half Dome in sight

the weather was perfect... everything was beautifully covered in snow, but it was sunny the whole time we were there and just cold enough to need a jacket but not freeze.  

I loved the fresh mountain air and sun on my face!

we even got lucky enough to see a family of deer come down from the mountains to the village right in front of the Ansel Adams store

just having some snacks with Dad 

These last few pictures are on the drive out of the park and there really are no words to describe the beauty and grandeur of this place! This is El Capitan-- granite face formed by glaciers

we stood at this same spot almost ten years ago when we first got married and lived in Cali for the summer...fun to see how we've changed :)

What a BEAUTIFUL, AMAZING, INCREDIBLE, BREATH-TAKING, FUN, RELAXING trip!

We are hoping to come back when we can do more hiking around in the summer....let us know if you want to join us!