We took the whole family skiing Saturday at Snowbasin. We had signed the girls up for their class pass program (which is an all day lesson and lift ticket for $49--it goes up every year--it started out being free, but still a great deal). Anyway, you have to sign up early or it sells out so we had this date on the calendar for months and it happened to be their Winter Carnival so the day was super busy. We put Andrew in a lesson too and he had a blast. The girls ended up in the same class and they rode the Needles gondola 3 times and Wildcat express 2. I was impressed. And Andrew said he worked on his turns a lot. Grandpa Stan spent the morning with us then went back to his place in Mt Green for the afternoon to be with Mimi and Marcus. We picked the kids up and went there. Mom had prepared a dinner and we hung out for a bit.
My parents planned to stay in town for the weekend because Rita and Jolie were coming into town so they planned to ski again on Monday. I thought it would be fun to take Andrew and ski Little Cat with him then spend the afternoon skiing with the group which ended up being my Dad, Uncle Kirk, Aunt Rita, cousin Jolie and her husband Joe. Andrew and I were having a blast on Little Cat. At one point he said, "can we ski this lift until it closes?" I said, "that's all day. you think you can do that?" He said, "oh that means I couldn't play at Mimi's house with Marcus?" Then he had to think about it.
We did probably 12-15 runs and I had just texted my Mom to meet us in about 20 minutes when Andrew said, "I think I'm running out of energy." I love his cute wording. Not I'm getting tired, but I'm almost out of energy. So we did a couple of more runs then saw Mimi pull into the loading zone on our last run and waved to her from the mountain. After loading Andrew in her car I met up with the rest of the crew. My first run with them Dad took us down Two Bit which ended up being a bunch of rocky moguls. We all survived and laughed about it. Then we skied and skied. Dad said he was done about 1:30 so we skied him down to the base then went back up the Gondola. After one more run Kirk wanted to go to the base and at that point Jolie and Joe said they were going to sit too. So Rita and I rode the Gondola back up and did Dan's Run and had a blast. We sat down with the group for a bit at which point those four decided they were done and heading back to my parents house, but Rita and I did one more run. It was so much fun! I love these memories with my family and I really enjoyed my chats with my Aunt. After we got back she said, "we should have done one more run to check out Becker that would have been fun." I had told her I wanted to look at it before trying to take Andrew up there and it was so thoughtful of her to say that. We were having a good time and it was obvious because we both would have continued. That is what skiing is for me. . .a family activity we get to chat on the lifts, laugh when we get stuck on some crazy run like Two Bit, and get a little exercise in. Good good times!
We planned a skiing trip to Sun Valley over 10 months ago when we bought our Mountain Collective passes (because we can ski there twice with our pass). My Dad's Snowbasin pass also includes several days of free skiing at Sun Valley so we invited them and he invited his brother Kirk who also has a Snowbasin pass this year and his sister Rita who frequently skied Sun Valley with her family.
The kids have eagerly been anticipating the trip. Every day Andrew would tell the girls, "Today's number 10 so cross it off the calendar. Now only 2 more days until our trip." and so on every day. It was cute.
Not gonna lie the day before we left, Thursday was a rough day. I had been working really hard in the basement with Steve and had set aside Thursday to finish prepping for the trip and I was tired and cranky. Bless the kids for just shrugging it off and helping me get everything done that evening which included taking a meal to a family here in our neighborhood.
We were planning on leaving early Friday around noon, but Lila's last Chinese Calligraphy club was moved to that Friday and Steve got called into work and wanted to do some more painting in the basement before we left. So we didn't hit the road until 3pm. We pulled off in Rupert and had dinner at Burger's Etc. with Mimi and Grandpa then Andrew got in with them and we kept driving. In Twin Falls we traded around so I drove Mimi's car and Dad rode with Steve it was good to visit with Mom. It was dark by the time we started driving through the cute little towns there and they still had their Christmas lights up which made it festive and a bit magical for the kids. When we got to our rental place the kids excitedly ran around looking at everything and saying, "This place is awesome!" "I love this place!" I thought we would never get them settled down. Finally I snuggled Andrew and watched a Netflix show on my phone then put him to bed.
Saturday morning we woke-up ate some breakfast and headed over to Dollar Mountain with the kids to get everyone's passes and ski a bit with the kids. We were all having a great time until we took the big lift up and got Andrew on a fairly steep bowl like run. . . oops, we didn't know the mountain that well and a map can only tell you so much. After that he wanted to be done so we took the kids back to the vacation home where Mimi was watching Marcus and she had heated up some chicken tenders for everyone then Dad, Steve, and I headed over to Baldy to ski with Rita and crew (Kirk left early because he had skied hard the day before). We had a fun afternoon skiing and visiting with them. Dad and I were tired at the end and on the last run we ended up by the Gondola and Steve asked if we wanted to ride the Gondola down and I said sure. So Dad and I took our skis off, the nice gentlemen at the top helped us on and we enjoyed a nice relaxing trip down (it was a good idea by Steve and my Dad even commented on how Steve thinks outside of the box).
We came home and Steve got in the hot tub with the kids while I made dinner and a cake for Dad's birthday. We invited the whole crew over for cake and ice cream. I finally started taking pictures that evening.
It was fun to visit with them, they didn't stay long because they didn't want to interfere with getting the boys to bed. We told them they'd be fine to get in the hot tub and hang out for a bit, but they went back to Rita's family's cabin and hung out.
We were all glad to have Sunday to relax and recover from a long day (I went to bed at 8:30pm Saturday. . .I was exhausted from packing, traveling, and skiing all day). We played games in the morning and just lounged around.
At 1pm Kirk had arranged for a hayride with our cousin Paul Buckley. The kids had a great time. We learned a little about Sun Valley and saw the first ski lift in the world, a little one person chair not near either of the resorts now.
Steve didn't go on the ride with us because Marcus was sleeping at the time. So we went back and the girls played outside in the snow and I took Steve for a ride to see the lift and the lodge area. Then we walked around the lodge and shopping/dining area there. Then drove to downtown Ketchum and walked around a bit. It was good for Marcus to get out.
Monday we started the day off at Dollar again. We did quarter dollar lift and found some fun terrain with bumps all the kids enjoyed. I even have a video with Andrew saying, "weeeee. this is awesome as he goes over the bumps."
Mimi
brought Marcus up for a bit and that was fun to chill with him there. It
was a beautiful day and we just sat at the outdoor seating and watched the
kids ski for a bit.
We skied there until after 1pm then we went back and grabbed a quick lunch then took the girls to Baldy. Grandpa took the afternoon off and helped Mimi out with the boys. Lila was super nervous to go to Baldy, but after a little bit of the first run she was going to the sides and going up and over jumps and was skiing faster than Ellie and I. She had fun and said, "I'm really glad I went." So was I. I love visiting with my girls on the lift and having fun with them. Nothing makes me smile more than to see Lila dance with her fists pumping in the air as she goes down the mountain or watching Ellie follow Steve into the trees to catch some powder or hearing Andrew say, "weeee" with a huge grin on his face as he goes down.
We of coursed hit the hot tub again and then had dinner and the kids talked Mimi and Grandpa into playing Ticket to Ride with them while I made yummy chocolate cookies. Andrew loves playing games and even had me play the "drawing game" (Telestrations) with him once before we left.
That night Marcus did not sleep well. So I was tired. I sent the girls with Steve and Grandpa to Baldy while I packed everything up and made lunch for them and sandwiches for the drive home. They came back just before 1pm. We loaded up the van. I was going to ski the afternoon with Andrew and everyone at Dollar, but Marcus was super fussy and I hit my head so hard on the van loading up that I got a huge goose egg, I was hurting and tired and just told them to go. After things settled down, Mimi and Grandpa took Marcus and I for a little drive then we went to Dollar to watch them ski again. It was a little colder on Tuesday because the sun wasn't out, but they were having a blast. At 3:58 Andrew said, "I'm done." And Steve and the girls quickly caught the lift one more time before it closed at 4pm. We took everyone's gear off in the parking lot and got settled for the drive home. Andrew wanted to ride with Mimi and Grandpa again so he got in with them and I got a text from Mimi before we even left Ketchum that he had fallen asleep. We got in late last night 8:30pm. We quickly brushed teeth and put the kids to bed because this morning real life started again with early morning ballroom and an IEP meeting with the principal for Lila's speech therapy. The girls managed to wake up happy and got their bag unpacked before coming down for breakfast. Steve was a great help with finishing the girls lunches and making breakfast while I ran around organizing for the day. When Andrew woke up he said, "The next time we go to the vacation home in Sun Valley I want to use the hot tub more." So I guess we're going back. ;)
Andrew had a little singing program with his preschool yesterday. It was cute and he was surprised that I knew so many of the songs (I grew singing some of them. . ."Sharing, caring that's the thing to do" or "I'm a VIP in My Family"). It was fun.
Today Ellie was supposed to have a "drive-in" movie at the school, but the teachers told them earlier this week that they couldn't show them a movie because of a district policy so to bring their cars and games to play. Steve and Ellie had fun making her car during her bonus time last Friday and so movie or not it was a fun experience.
Andrew was certain we could take her car to Sun Valley this evening. . .I guess we'll have to watch a few Flinstone movies for fun. :)
Today we reviewed our family goals from last year and talked about how we did and then modified them. We also decided on a family theme for the year, "Decisions Determine Destiny" by our beloved Prophet Thomas S Monson who passed away last week. We're going to study that talk more this month and talk about how it applies to each individual in our family. It's always nice to review with each other and see how we are doing and it is always amazing to me how fast the year can go by (I feel like it was just yesterday we set some of those goals). So here is our revised 2018 goals.
Eggnog is big in my family. I'm not a huge fan, but my Mom, brother, and sister love it so much so that growing up my Dad came up with a homemade version to help cut costs (imagine raw eggs, vanilla and milk blended together. . .maybe that's why I'm not a huge fan). Anyway, I bought some eggnog in November to put in these pumpkin pie cupcakes. They were delicious, but the eggnog didn't really get drank so I made pancakes with it etc. Well while I was at Smith's yesterday returning an item and buying a few little things I found eggnog they were discounting and thought I'll buy some pumpkin eggnog (I remembered enjoying pumpkin eggnog one year). It was Marcus's first taste of eggnog and well. . . he liked it. He'd lift the glass to make sure he got every last drop before saying, "moooore, peeaas" translated to more, please.
That half gallon didn't last us a day. So I went back to Smith's today and grabbed a couple of more along with some seriously discounted cookies (like $.50 for a whole pack of sugar cookies, pumpkin chocolate chip whoopee cookies, and red velvet cookies). I guess we're going to enjoy another week of holiday eating. . . which also includes yummy things like smoked chicken last night with squash, salad and roll and tonight barbecue chicken chili with the leftovers. YUMMO!
