1/1/11 : A New-New Year's Tradition

New Year's Eve day: Being in Logan visiting our good friends the Hoopes, we figured everybody's old enough- we really ought to take advantage of all the new snow and get the kids going on their next new experience. Audrey's been able to ski a couple of times through school, but unfortunately, maybe partly because of our hectic schedules/Sam's work schedule, we just haven't gotten up with the kids. Well, this is a new year and we decided a new day, so off we went to Beaver Mountain!

When little kiddos start skiing, they suggest they don't use poles. Also the guy we spoke to didn't favor tying the front of the skis together. Apparently, anything that could provide a crutch vs. just learning to do it on their own isn't suggested. Elle was so excited about her cute pink skis, and I have to confess, they were about the cutest thing I've seen in a long time. She did absolutely great, especially with her daddy helping her. It was a good experience and thankfully, she's ready to do it again a.s.a.p!

Reese had never tried any of the snow sports aside from sledding and decided to go with snowboarding. Lucky for him (and me) Uncle Kyle came along and was basically his own personal instructor. Reese also did great, he really seemed like a natural. Not even too much falling! Here's a picture of him going up the "magic carpet". A fun, moving-sidewalk-type pulley to get everybody back to the top of the bunny hill. At the end of the day he was ready to head up the big lift but just as he and Kyle were about to go, the binding on his board broke. Dissapointed as he was, he's primed and pumped for next time!

Audrey likes skiing but had a couple of her best friends (Navy and Kaitlyn) along, one of which happens to have a brand new snowboard. So all the girls decided to give it a go. We were going to sign them up for a lesson but didn't quite make it to the mountain in time; causing the girls to have to wing it a bit. By the end of the day though, they really had the hang of it! Audrey was gushing, " Mom, I love snowboarding! It's sooo fun! " That was cool for me to hear.

When I was in highschool, I used to snowboard too. I loved it! I haven't been for years and years and I assumed I would always love it. Let's just say I do still love it, but wow, for me it was not "like riding a bike".... It definitely took some readjusting and I actually think I could benefit from a refresher course of sorts because I (here comes a confesstion) actually fell off the rope tow.... mmmm hmmmm.... I did. It was awesome. AND, I was met at the top by a chuckling worker who told me, " It's the meanest slope we've got here." Yeah, tell me about it :)

There's also a little more explaining to do in regards to Sam not being strapped into a snowboard. Sam LOVES snowboarding and to his absolute dissapointment an chagrin, he was told after he got an MRI on his ailing-since-October knee; he's going to have to have surgery. His wings were for sure clipped on this particular outing. The news is not good news but we'll face it and appreciate any/all prayers that come our way for a successful surgery and a speeedy/complete recovery.

It really was great to have Kyle to hang out with. He even came up to Liesl and Travis's later that evening to celebrate with us. Liesl was pretty much stuck in the lodge with her youngest and Travis and their other kids are actually good, so they weren't as easy to catch for pictures. I would've loved a few snapshots in the lodge but everytime I went in, my lens fogged up as seen in the picture below of Sam and his "hot tots"- Everything seems to taste better after being out in the freezing cold and falling down repeatedly. In all it was an absolute success. We're for sure at the begining of a beautiful friendship! Here's to a more adventurous new year!

Had to include these parting shots from our drive out of Logan Canyon. I was hanging my camera out the window, it was just so pretty. Loved this day! So grateful.

Happy 2011 Everybody!