Christmas Ski Trip Day 7 - Skiing at Jackson Hole again

We all loaded up to go skiing in the morning trying to get there in plenty of time for opening... it still took us a little too long and we were not there by the time it opened.   It was snowing... again.  It was beautiful snow in big flakes.  We had a much easier time this time getting up on the slopes.  Cameron and David headed up to the top while the rest of us girls skied the bunny slopes for a while.  Annika and I tried skiing through the trees on a little trail for fun.  After Joni and Chris got their ski legs we took a couple trips up to the blue traverse and did that.  It was fun.  At lunch time we got more strange looks when we ate our lunch out on a patio close to an outdoor restaurant.  The snow was actually quite wet that day and we kept getting soaked.
After lunch we decided to all ride the tram to the top.  Cameron didn't bring his skis and was really disappointed when he realized there were some runs with descent coverage from the top.  The view from the tram is really amazing!  We even saw a moose half way up the ski slopes!

Ali felt tired and ended up going home with Jodi, Chris and Holly while we all decided to ski more. We skied the traverse again as well as a couple bunny hills and then Ashling went with Joni and Samantha up the gondola to ski off there and Annika and I stayed on the greens.  Annika learned to ski quite well, she turns on a dime and it was fun to ski down the runs with her since she was skiing fast and well.  Eventually we got soaked and Annika and I had a cinnamon roll while we waited for everyone to finish.

Ashling had her own adventure with Samantha and Joni.  They skied down the mountain from the top down several traverses.  They had a crash on a steep hill between Joni and Ashling where they ended up hugging.  They had to stop for some hot chocolate...  it took forever and they were very tired by the time they got done.  But it was fun.

Cameron and David also had an adventure where Cameron tried to kill David.  He ended up calling mercy and skiing to the bottom after several steep runs that did him in.  We all met at the bottom and headed back to the house.  Ali had made us taco soup for dinner and we all relaxed after a long hard day.

Christmas Ski Vacation Day 6- Visiting Grandma and Poppy

After getting to sleep in for the first time on the trip we enjoyed Cameron's crapes with strawberries and home made buttermilk syrup.  We then dressed for church and went to the Auburn Ward Sacrament Meeting.  I was surprised to only recognize some names and to realize that all the kids I grew up with were the ones in the meeting with kids of their own!  Funny how I never imagined them growing up too.  I hardly recognized a soul and realized that I really have been away for way too long.  I said hello to a couple of friendly faces and then we left to meet David and Samantha and family at the cemetary.

On the way we saw a field full of at least 200 horses.  Since right now horses are Ali's favorite thing this was very exciting to her.  The girls got out of the car in their church clothes while it was still snowing and headed over to the horses.

They walked along the horse pasture while we followed in the car.  Finally they found one close enough to touch.  

We met everyone else at the Auburn Cemetery.  We added some snow clothes to our church clothes and walked out to my family's Putnam grave plots.  We found Poppy and Grandma's grave marker and showed the kids.  I brought them a pointsetta which reminded me of Grandma.  It was anti-climatic for me.  I wanted to visit Poppy and Grandma's graves and bring something to them.  Although their bodies may be buried there I didn't feel  them the way I wanted.  I can't wait to someday meet them again in Heaven and really see them.  

After the cemetery we drove through Auburn and looked at Grandma's house.  It wasn't green and white but yellow and they had added on to it... It wasn't her house and I was sad that we weren't stopping in to see grandma and opening the fence to see her on the porch.  It wasn't exactly the same and it made me sad.  

That evening we watched an important Sea Hawks game... that they lost and decorated the Christmas tree.  

Cameron tried to snowblow the driveway and David found something to melt the ice off the steps.  We had a great evening and a wonderful dinner that Samantha cooked.  

Christmas Ski Trip Day 5- skiing at Jackson Hole

We were quite tired after our previous days and slept in a little later than we should have.  We also woke to find out that it had snowed about 4-5 inches overnight and our worry that it might be icy was in vein.  It was still snowing as we loaded the car and traveled to Jackson Hole.  Since we had never been skiing here we were totally unprepared for it.  We quickly found out we couldn't park near the front unless we wanted to pay a lot for parking.  We parked in one hour loading and Cameron carried our big box of ski stuff up once again to the locker room because it was snowing too hard to get dressed at the car.  It took awhile to obtain our Mountain Collective passes again....  you would think we would have learned our lesson.

The day did not begin well and we were all a little stressed by the time we actually got our skis on.  Cameron graciously allowed the girls and I to start skiing while he taught Annika on the bunny slopes.  Jackson Hole ski resort feels like a premier resort unlike any other I have been to.  The lifts are great, the setting is beautiful and everything went smoothly once we were on the slopes.  The people come from all over the world and I felt pretty privledged to be skiing there.  It was snowing once again but this was the lightest, softest powder I have ever seen.

The girls and I ended up skiing down quite a steep run.  Ali learned how to ski it quite well while I was somewhat in the back... Ali told me, "Mom you just have to let yourself go..."  I wish I knew how to do that... We eventually skied over to an area we liked and took a couple of runs down some blues all in the powder.  We joined Cameron back at the locker room where we ate our lunch.  (Jackson Hole is such a nice resort that we were the only ones we saw who brought our own food.)

Cameron had his own fun with Annika.  He said the morning still started out a little rough.  She was a little scared to ski and cried a few or not so few tears.  He kept his patience and eventually taught her to turn quite well.  They both enjoyed herself and on one ride up the ski lift Annika said, "Daddy you really know how to love me."  It is moments like this that make the ski trip totally worth all the money and effort!

After lunch Cameron took off with Ali to ski some more and I took Annika and Ashling out.  By this point Annika was skiing quite good and after a few runs down the bunny slope we decided to go up higher and try a blue traverse.

We met Cameron and Ali up there and skied down the traverse.  Annika did great but when we got to the bottom the girls legs were tired.  Ali decided to call it a day and we skied a couple more runs on the bunny slope before we also were finished.  We were all excited to ride the gondola so we got in a gondola and only Cameron brought his skis.

The view was amazing from there and it was fun to see it.  Cameron got out at the top and we all rode back down the gondola.  He enjoyed a couple good runs but the snow coverage was somewhat lacking and he took a couple core shots.  We met at the bottom and after loading the car again we headed back to Star Valley.

The house David and Samantha rented was beautiful!  We arrived and enjoyed a wonderful dinner that they had prepared and had a fun night watching Christmas movies and just chatting.  It was a great end to a wonderful day.  

Christmas Vacation Day 4- traveling to Wyoming

I was born in Wyoming.  I love it there.  I spent a lot of time there as a teen and consider it home.  I haven't been back to Star Valley since I went to my Grandma Vira's funeral.  I have missed it so much.  When  I found out that David and Samantha were going to a house in Star Valley I was super jealous and they eventually invited us to come and stay with Samantha's family.  I jumped on it and had ski tickets bought and plans made before Cameron could find a way to say no.

Driving the way back to Star Valley seemed like coming home to me.  We enjoyed the drive and the snow quite a bit.  I think my vision of winter must still come from being a child.  The snow covered sage brush was beautiful to me in a way I can't even describe.  I love the endless skies and the the clouds made everything more beautiful.  My memories of childhood swirled around me and I felt a part of me return.  We listened to country music and tried to count the horses and antelope.

Towards evening we arrived in Afton.  The town was different.  Most of the store fronts were occupied and there were lots of new big stores.  The town was busy and bustling for the evening.  It was lightly snowing and 15 degrees.  I couldn't have been happier to see it.  Our windshield wiper fluid was frozen so we had to buy some more and try to melt it.  

Our destination for the evening was Jackson Hole so we continued on driving up the snake river canyon in the dark.  We arrived at our hotel and got everything we needed inside.  (One note here:  since we have been traveling so much lately we have learned an important lesson.  If you are only staying in a hotel for one night pack a hotel bag with a change of clothes and pajamas for everyone.  Then you only need to drag one bag inside instead of all the bags.) Cameron and I left again to obtain lunch supplies for our next day of skiing.  We bought mostly snacks and string cheese plus a thermos for hot chocolate.  The best part of having an 11 year old is her being able to babysit!  

We got back to our room and the girls were showered and enjoying a movie.  Cameron and I decided to check out the hot tub without the kids and enjoyed relaxing from the drive in a great big hot tub!  It was a great day and I was very happy to be back in my birth state.  

Christmas Ski Vacation Day 2 and 3

On Wednesday we woke up early and started our drive up to Vineyard to spend a couple days with Wade and Melissa.  It was funny to drive to the top of the passes and find the temperature in the lower 40's and then drive into a valley and find the temperature was as low as 18 degrees.  The inversions were in full swing.  

We made it to Lehi where Cameron dropped us off at Cabellas while he went up to a couple appointments in Salt Lake Area for work.  We enjoyed target shooting and looking at the big trout in the aquariums as well as looking at all the stuffed animals.  Ina picked us up and we had lunch and enjoyed playing with her kids at her house.  I am glad they can all get along so well.  

Later we made our way to Wade and Melissa's and enjoyed time with them.  It was a great day and quite relaxing since we made the drive in two days instead of one.

Thursday Morning we woke up to some snow and rain mix.  We were going skiing at Alta.  We drove up on slippery roads that turned to snow and then more snow as we drove up the canyon.  We found that obtaining our tickets from the Mountain Collective was a little challenging and should have learned that we needed to allow at least an extra hour for that process.  Cameron and Wade pulled all the gear into the locker room where it was dry and made it pretty easy for us to get our stuff on.  We all finally got our skis on and were excited to ski... all except Annika who was quite afraid she had forgotten everything from skiing last year.

Wade and Cameron took off to enjoy some powder and the Ashling and Ali also took off in front of us.  Annika and I struggled through 5 inches of wet powder to try and ski down the run.  She did forget quite a bit, her used skiis were not waxed enough for conditions, and she kept falling.  After a grueling run down the mountain I had enough and decided I was now willing to pay for experts to teach her while I enjoyed the best snow conditions I could remember in a long time.  I obtained an afternoon ski lesson for her and a couple of hours of babysitting for a reasonable although quite expensive price and then headed out to ski again.  Poor Ali and Ashling had been waiting for me and Cameron and Wade finally found them and they started to ski with Wade while Cameron waited for me.   We enjoyed a few runs before it was lunch time.  One of Ali's highlights was skiing to follow Wade through a place that had 5 feet of powder and was quite difficult to ski in.  She made it through just fine though.  

Lunch was quite a surprise for us. We bought hot dogs, hot chocolate, soup and chicken nuggets that were descent in quality but quite expensive. We paid a pretty penny for not very much food and resolved to not do that for the rest of the trip.  

After lunch we dropped Annika off for her lesson and Ali, Ashling and I skied on the lower slopes while Cameron and Wade looked for powder.  I enjoyed the skiing quite a bit and we all got a taste of Utah powder.  

After skiing for awhile the girls were exhausted and they went to the lodge to rest.  The powder is really harder to ski in and since this was our first time of the year our legs were killing us too.  I skied a few more runs until Annika's lesson was over.  Her lesson went great.  She learned to ski without the edgy-wedgy and also worked quite a bit on turning.  She was very happy with her results and we were happy she did it without us!  She joined the girls in the lodge and I skied a few more runs alone.  At last I couldn't feel my legs and decided I should be finished.  Cameron and Wade came a little later and we all headed home in a snow storm.  I considered it a great day of skiing and fun for all!

For Christmas this year Cameron and I decided to take the girls skiing to Utah and Wyoming.  We started out the first day with a drive to St George where we visited my Grandpa at Cafe Rio.  Later we checked into the hotel and played in the pool that was very warm.  It was a nice relaxing drive to just have to make it to St George.  The highlight of the day was paying less for gas than we had in years and watching Annika learn to swim.

Our Snow Storm

We only got a couple storms all year.  Here are some pictures from the only snowfall this year that warranted Cameron breaking out his brand new snowblower... I wish we would have had more snow but we sure did enjoy our one nice snowy day.