Skiing

We've managed to hit the slopes with the kids quite a few times this year which has been really really a ton of fun. Here's everyone back in the car after night skiing---Mason was as tired as he looks in this picture. About an hour before the older two kids finished he skied off-trail and had a yard sale (lost his skis, hat, goggles, etc) in deep powder. By the time I got him back on the trail ad all put back together he was SO DONE! He refused to put his skis back on so he and I sat there and caught snow flakes in our mouths for awhile and then he ended up walking down the mountain. He and Kyle went and got hot chocolate and a cookie after that and he felt much better. Both he and Jake were sound asleep before we left the parking lot.

They all improved quit a bit this winter and it has made skiing with them a ton of fun. Jake's favorite line is "But Moooom! Do I have to turn?" He'd rather just head straight for the bottom as fast as his little skis will carry him :)

Trying to ski through Hallie's legs? I'm not really sure where they were going with this...

Isabel gets ditched whenever we go ski but she loves to play in the snow in our yard when it's there.

A couple of weeks ago I managed the impossible....with the help of 7 of my friends and neighbors and my always helpful mom I managed to go skiing with my good friend Stacia on a Wednesday! It was awesome. I had this slightly devious feeling all day like I was skipping school or something :) We had just had a big snowfall a couple days earlier so the snow was amazing, the weather was great, there were no crowds, and Stacia & I skiied until the mountian closed. I took some pictures but when I went to get them off my camera just now they had all been erased!! So I have to blog about it so that I have a record that it happened. I wish I could make it a weekly event but since that is SO not possible at this point in my life I am at least going to push for once a year....or maybe twice? Once a month might be do-able....all I know is that it is happening again!

Out on the ranch...

Just after New Years we took advantage of having the Alyson & Nate family a mere 4 hours away (instead of the usual 30+) and drove up to Idaho to visit them on the Sharp Family Ranch. Nate's parents very graciously let us drop in and spend the night. It was very low-key and relaxing. We had fun visiting, catching up on Flight of the Concord, learning how to feed the cows, and letting the kiddos play play play with their long-lost cousins.

Hallie: piano recital, etc.

Hallie had her 2nd ever piano recital in December. She's really enjoyed playing over this past year and it has been fun to see her progress. Here is a pic of her with her teacher:

And here is Isabel being like big sis:

This past week Hallie won her class spelling bee and got to go up against the other class winners in front of the whole 3rd Grade! She didn't win but she made it far and even got her picture in the paper. I was really proud of how cool she was under all that pressure, I'm pretty sure I was more nervous than she was. Kyle made her a spelling bee pancake that morning for breakfast and I think it really helped :)

I was going to post a short video of her playing the piano and up on stage spelling but the videos take FOREVER to download! I'm not that patient!! If I find an easier way I'll put them up.