There has been so much cold and snow this winter at times we could barely get out of our driveway and down the street. Thank goodness for all wheel drive in our Subarus. We are also glad for a garage we can get one of our cars into because I don't know if I would even leave the house if I had to shovel my car out every day. Our chickens haven't liked the snow at all this winter and barely come out of the coop and stopped laying. Which was disappointing because feeding 20 some chickens all winter and getting 2 eggs a day was eating at the 'feed' budget and Jeff seriously thought about eating a few. Everyone loves the snow in the family, although I seem to enjoy it the least. I use the excuse of not having anything fun to do besides snow shoeing, like skiing.
Phaelen has learned to ski this year, making me the loner in the family who stays home every Saturday because the boys go skiing together. It gives me a lot of 'me' time that I do enjoy but am constantly being reminded that I am the only one who doesn't know how or how my 5 year old brags that he is already better than I am. Calder has made some great improvements and took lessons again. Phaelen isn't old enough for lessons yet but he is also free for one more year. Jeff has taught Phaelen how to ski thus far, but after a few crazy dare-devil attempts we quickly decided that helmets were needed and we ordered some ASAP (thanks Garrett). Jeff volunteers as the ski bus driver/chaperone and gets a free lift ticket so it all works out very well in the budget. The hardest part about the ski bus is that they leave just after 7am on Saturday and waking up that early wears the kids out and they are super tired when they come home around 6:30 pm, they eat, shower and sleep for 12 hours. Luckily church is at 12:30 on Sunday so we all sleep in.
Grand Targhee ski resort.
We were lucky enough to go to one of Jeff's favorite places to ski this year on our way down to a family get together at the end of the month. We were lucky enough to stay with a good friend in Idaho Falls and spend half of a day up at Grand Targhee ski resort just on the other side of the Idaho border in Wyoming. We were able to take some photos and video but the snow was coming down so hard at times that it was almost impossible to recognize anyone skiing. We were lucky to miss a real blizzard while we were on vacation and we had many phone calls from the kids' school that there was a 2 hour delay or a complete cancellation of school. Some friends of our who were taking care of the cows and chickens even got stuck in our driveway in their massive jacked up Suburban! We were so glad we missed it!
Ember turned one on Valentines day. We took some photos of her to show what she looks like compared to Calder and how shaggy she is before we get her groomed this spring. She is still definitely a puppy brain, but she is learning to be obedient and have good manners. She is a wonderful dog but takes a lot of time and training to get her to do what you want, or not do something, which is a typical terrier trait. We are working on consistency, gentleness and being alone. She really likes to be around us, and people, 24/7 and she is learning that although we leave her alone sometimes she doesn't need to escape or be anxious and remain calm and behave well.
