Some updated pics

If you've kept on FaceBook, you may have seen that I got a new camera a few weeks ago. I upgrade to a digital SLR and have been really happy with it. I still need to purchase Photoshop to I can do touches to the photos but that comes with a hefty price tag ($700). So for now, you'll just get the raw photos but I have to say that even without trying to clean them up, they look pretty good. Here's a few of Kara that I thought you might like.

From Drop Box

From Drop Box

Kara taking a nap. Who knows how she got like this but it's pretty funny.

From Drop Box

From Drop Box

Trinidad Vacation Pics

I know that some of you aren't using FaceBook still, but I've been posting pictures up there. Luckily I can just link to them from here, so maybe the blog isn't going to be as colorful as it use to be, but the volume of pictures you get to see should be more frequent and higher!

Here's a few from our trip to the north side of Trinidad where we went and watched the big Leatherback turtles come and lay their eggs. We even got to see some of the babies crawl out of the sand and run into the ocean.

There are also some here of the trip to Tobago. The place we stayed at was very nice, quiet, and peaceful. It was a great relaxing trip. Half the time, it seemed like we were the only people in the resort. We enjoyed it so much, we changed our flights and stayed an extra day.

We had really nice time while we were. The trip back was horrible (took us about 18 hours to get home), but we enjoyed the time away!

Birthday pics

I know - I'm behind. My Grandma keeps fussing at me because I don't ever update this thing. Who know it was going to be so much work?! I've been trying to render some new videos but my computer has not been cooperating. Maybe after we get back from vacation I can get those videos up and running. In the mean time, birthday pics will have to do! We'll have some beach pics in a few weeks too :-).



Kara's birthday was a lot of fun. We had all of our friends over since she doesn't really have many friends yet. Those birthdays are coming though!! Obviously, the cake was good too :-)


It's hard to believe that a year with Kara has already gone by though. Time flies! My good friend Tim just had a baby not too long ago and she is so small! I remember when Kara was that small. They are also not getting much sleep. Luckily, those days are behind us but there are definitely new challenges ahead!




Sorry it's short, but I've got a lot to finish up. You can track us on FaceBook if you want www.facebook.com/samckinn. I seem to be doing a better job of keeping that udpated because I can do things quickly and I can do it from my phone. If you don't have an account, it's easy to make one, and then make me your friend (samckinn@gmail.com if you're looking for me).

Oh Yeah

Here's our Kool-aid pitcher in training. For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, you can read up on your Kool-aid pitcher man history on wikipedia. We've got more where that came from so I'll try to keep the videos coming. Btw, you can see the HD version of the video on YouTube you want (the smaller size can only fit on the blog right now...I'll have to do some page editing to get a full size video up there).

Who knew Christmas could last so long!?!?

The Christmas post lasted for nearly 5 months. At this point, I've probably lost my reader following but I know there are a few die hard's out there looking for a new post....so here it is!

A lot has changed in the last few months. Kara is walking and talking. She's throwing temper tantrums and she has 4 teeth! She is picking up on words fast and we'll probably have to start watching what we say pretty soon. Here's a good example:

Kathy - "These gummy works are like crack to me".
Kara - "Crack, Crack, Crack!"

Most of the pictures below are from Easter. It was a nice sunny day (but a rainy morning) and Kara got to do her first Easter egg hunt. The eggs were just laid out for the kids so they didn't have to do much hunting, but Kara managed to find rocks instead of eggs. She had a whole pile of eggs in front of her but she went right for the rock....Kathy says she's going to grow up to be a park ranger because she likes rocks and dirt and being outside so much. Anyway, I hopefully will get back on this posting thing again. I've got some video of Kara saying "Oh Yeah" like the Kool-aid pitcher that I'll try to get up on YouTube.

The first Christmas Tree

I was meaning to post these a long time ago but now is better than never. After Thanksgiving, we went with Grandma and Grandpa Tilson on the annual Christmas tree pilgrimage to Elgin. I'm not sure how long this has been a tradition, but it's been a number of years. Every year, the Tilson's, Biel's, and Bookout's head to Elgin to chop down a Christmas tree. It starts with a stop at the Dollar Store for the women while the men sit out in the parking lot and drink a beer. After that, it's off to the Christmas tree farm to cut down trees. So far, the McKinney's haven't actually cut down a tree because I'm a picky and like the Carolina Fraiser Fir trees, so Kathy lets me buy one of those since we can't drive to the mountains and cut one down ourselves like we use to do in NC. I digress, back to the story. So we hit the choose and cut Christmas tree farm in Elgin and rode around on the hay trailer till they dropped us off at the designated cut spot. It was chilly that day and Grandma just wanted to find a tree quick and get out, so the Tilson's pretty much cut down the first tree they saw, with Kara's help of course. After the tree cutting, we went to the Elgin sausage and bbq place and had some bbq. The rules state that you have to bring a pocket knife with you to cut your brisket and sausage, otherwise you will be ridiculed by Walter, so we all go our pocket knives out and had some bbq. We headed home after that because Kathy and I were exhausted from not sleeping much the night before (due to a little poker party at Uncle Doug's house in San Antonio that was a little loud and didn't stop till 4am). It was fun to take her to get her first tree though, we had a good time. Can't want for Christmas to be here next week! It'll be a lot of fun.

A Kara Christmas

Kara's first Christmas is just around the corner and we can't wait. Here's some shots of our little girl from this past weekend that I think you'll enjoy.