New Year's Eve in VT, 12/31-1/1

Kyle and his two room mates Alyssa and Pat Teehan hosted a 70's theme New Year's Eve party, complete with a dj, dancing, games, and an end of the night scuffle. The day before the party Ken taught Kyle how to use the brew kit we bought him for christmas.

Skiing in VT, 12/29 and 12/31

We brought our randonee gear and went cross country skiing around my Mom's place and back country skiing on teardrop with Kyle, Analese, James, and Kyle's friend.

Christmas in VT, 12/29

Ice Climbing in VT, 12/28

Ken's friends Rob and Graham met up with us in Stowe and lead the blue room in Smuggler's Notch. It was Kyle's first time ice climbing, and he did his first route with only one semi-attached crampon (we discovered snowboard boots don't effectively take crampons). After climbing, Rob and Graham joined us at my mom's christmas party and stayed the night to climb at lake Willoughby the next day.

Christmas in New Mexico, 12/23-12/27

In addition to the typical full Las Cruces house with Ken's parents, grandmother, brother Keith, and Keith's girlfriend Jill; we were joined by Ken's uncle Wally, Wally's girlfriend Sarah, and Ken and Keith's friend Justin. Also, Ken's parents and grandmother have two small dogs, Keith and Jill have three large dogs, and uncle Wally brought his border collie! We spent most of our time in New Mexico shopping, lounging, and playing with Justin's christmas gift the Nintendo Wii; but we did manage to squeeze in an hour at the Pena Blanca bouldering area and Ken rallied everyone for a hike up the local A mountain.

Courthouse Rock, AZ 12/22/07

We drove to Las Cruces, NM for Christmas and then flew out of El Paso to VT for New Year's. On the way to Las Cruces we stopped to climb the standard route (5.5) on Courthouse rock in AZ. We did the first 3 pitches (there were 8 total) and then it was time to continue the drive.