Ski Day!

We are fortunate to have a great, low-key amazing ski resort (Eagle Point) only two hours away from home. We don't make skiing a habit because it's an expensive hobby when you don't own your own gear. Bryan took taken Ava, Isaac, and Charlie a couple of weeks ago. He enrolled them in lessons.
By the time I joined them last Sunday.... those three kids were as good as me! I haven't skied in 4-5 years. I really would like to take lessons still to master zigzagging. Bryan dominates the hills, he looks like a natural.
I took this first photo in the canyon on the drive up. This is exactly how it looked.... raw photo (unfiltered). Ahhhhhmazing!

We had fresh powder to ski on; as it was snowing pretty hard on the mountain. The kids were excited to go. I was nervous at first; wasn't sure how this was going to go for me.... haha

Someone shook the snow globe really hard!

Even on a holiday weekend, there were areas to find solitude. The lift even seemed empty at times.

 I made it down some hills without falling so I was feeling a little more confident :)
Didn't mean I wasn't scared every time. 

Isaac had a difficult time in the beginning but before lunch he was really moving well.....

I had time to take more photos on the lift .....

We decided that the snow was falling so much that we were going to buy some goggles. We've always thought about having them, but it was a necessity today!

Here's a quick little video:

I let poor Isaac have my glasses until we got a replacement :)

We ate lunch (skiing works up an appetite!) and got the goggles.....

The second part of the day went much more smoothly. We were all much more happier and warmer. Ava and Charlie were doing jumps by the end of the day. They requested to take snowboard lessons next. We will see I guess. We want to try to get one more time in for the season. What a great, exhausting day! I was notified the day after that I used muscles that I haven't worked out in a while ;) 

February!

February arrived! Before we knew it, one of the biggest school fundraisers was in progression: The Winter Carnival. The theme this year was "Once Upon a Time."
June, the assistant to the teacher in Garrison School whips up an amazing stage presentation every year. She really is creative. It makes a wonderful backdrop for taking pictures.

Willow found "Cinderella's Closet." She got to dress up like a princess and she loved it of course :)

Her Majesty, the Queen....

We try to make it to the photo booth every year too......

February has not been as wet as January, weather-wise. We managed to get a little more accumulation of powder. We knew it would melt in 24 hours, so we took advantage and went back up to the sled hill. Isaac was at a friends house so it was just me and the girls :)
We were eager to try out our new sleds......

We managed to build a large snowman on top of the hill. We couldn't find sticks for arms. We had to be creative ;)
Haha!

Gretchen invited us to go into Lehman Caves. With all the snow melt, the cave is active with pools, dripping, and even spraying water. I had fun walking through taking photos and reminiscing of countless hours I've spent in this cave. It really is a treasure.
Last time I've seen it this wet was June 2011 when their were a couple of bubbles on stalactites. It's happening again this year......

Some cold, gloomy days are difficult for us. We try to fill time doing things like painting to avoid being drawn to the electronics. We have too much screen time on days like these.
Anyway, here is one of Ava's paintings. It turned out so well, especially for water coloring!
I'm going to try to have some paint-project days this month. I've got some ideas :)

This picture makes me long to go camping. Is it Spring yet?! Ha! 

January Wrap-up

January proved to be an eventful month and it passed by before we knew it. Emma Baker had an early birthday party. She performed a great magic show for us before we sat down to dive into dessert....

Happy 7th birthday Emma! 

We had some inversions in the valleys. Baker was 10 degrees warmer than EskDale at times. 

It was really cold but made for some pretty scenery....

It was my mom's birthday. We celebrated by throwing her a surprise (catered) dinner. Company was a surprise too! Rachel, her kids, and Audrey drove out from Spring Creek and Moab.
Mom loved it; and we knew we did good :)
It was great to get together....

I plan to age as well as my mom  ;)

My little side-kick, Willow, proves to be quite the fashionista. She likes to dress up, accessories and all.
She enjoys being silly in front of the camera.....

One of her favorite costumes is her ladybug girl outfit....

Last week the kids got a cough and sore throat. We managed to nip Ava and Isaac's illness in the bud somewhat quick. Poor Willow got a fever with her cough and it took half a week to get her bouncing back to her energized self....

*Knock on wood* ~ this is the first sickness in the house this season. Which is pretty good since it's already February!  I hope round two doesn't come around too soon. A household is not fun with sick, whiny kids....and I sure don't want to be next in line

The sunsets are beautiful with snow capped mountains. The first month in 2017 ~ come and gone.....