Home!

We survived the eighteen hours in the car both ways and arrived back home Saturday night very happy but very tired after five straight days of skiing and two on the road! Zach and I had a blast racing each other down slopes, taking on some challenging runs, and enjoying yummy food in the mountain restaurants. We skied with my dad, my brother in law, and even with my sister and mom when they weren't too busy shopping or getting a massage... Sorry guys - I had to say it :) (I actually wished I'd stuck with ya'll when I was totally exhausted with an aching body on the way home!) I do love to ski though - I love the glimpse of the incredible beauty of creation that you can see from the top of a mountain on a blue-sky day, I love the feeling of finally getting into a good rhythm skiing while listening to a great tune on the ipod (usually just before falling), I love racing, I love the cozy mountain restaurants, I love chair lift 10 watching all the experts and those who think they are, I love the quiet peacefulness of the Blue Sky Basin...

The kids did amazingly well. Allee and Jadon picked right up where they left off from last year and progressed to the point that they can now ski just about whatever we ski - just a little slower (that is changing quickly however). Of course, the last day Jadon and I went to very top of the mountain and began our descent. He had to make a bathroom stop at the little place at the very top. By the time we got our gear back on and went outside, a heavy snow cloud/fog had settled over us. We were also, I think, some of the last people left on the mountain as it was getting late. I began to panic for a minute thinking I might lose Jadon in the fog if he got too far away from me since visibility was so bad! I realized too that I had to keep him in front of me because there would be no one coming behind us to help if he fell and lost a ski. So we went on down sticking close together and somehow took a wrong turn in the fog, ending up on a very bumpy black run (the levels go green, blue, black, double black and the bumps made it even more difficult). Not to worry about Jadon though - he just zipped on down handling the moguls (bumps) like a pro! It was me left behind and trying my hardest to stay up with him - my big, long skis just wouldn't turn as fast as his little ones! Jadon was so funny on the mountain - he would fall, roll with skis still on, stand back up covered in snow, and keep skiing - laughing the whole time! Such a trooper!


Allee made the amazing ski school level of "Mountain Five" - this means she was regularly skiing blacks and going all over the mountain with the ski school class. She loves the snow as is of course - "never cold and never tired"! She took on a challenging run at the end of the last day with Zach called The Zot. Jadon then wanted to prove that he could do it too but lifts were closed... I am going to have to take some classes to keep up with these kids next time!!!

Benjamin and Ella (my little niece) absolutely loved the snow and loved skiing at ski school. By the middle of the week they were riding the short chair lift and skiing down the hill. I did try to take Benjamin up by myself one day and it would take too long to describe the craziness of that experience! Apparently the ski instructors know something about teaching little ones to ski that I don't!!! One of Ben's favorite activities was playing 'puppies' with Ella in the loft of our condo - precious memories. I guess he likes that game better that playing Polly Pockets although he did some of that too!

Of course we couldn't get through the trip without just a little bit of this...but he did turn it off and relax most days...

In the evenings we cooked in the room, watched tv all together, took walks in the snow and had snow ball fights - ask Zach about the innocent person walking by who got blasted with a stray snowball intended for Jason - I wish I had a picture of that guy's face as he recovered from the unexpected shock while taking a nice walk with his date :) !!!! We took important visits to the chocolate factory and the candy store. But every night we hit the hay early so we could be on the slopes bright and early the next day...

Jadon and Ben also enjoyed eating lots of snow... seemed kind of yucky but I guess they lived!

We had a wonderful time and are so very thankful for such a great time, but are glad to be back in warm, humid weather - do you have any idea how much better this is for your skin?! I nearly dried out up there! We always appreciate home even more after being gone!