Utah Ski Trip--Ski Day #1!

First things first: we were able to pick up our newly repaired car in the morning!  (Please, please, please let it work this time....)

Ben, Scott, Emma, and Gracie went with the other Texas families for the first day of skiing, up the canyon at Sundance.  Looks like they quickly got the hang of it!

Scott couldn't pass up the opportunity to snow board (even with no skiing experience).

At about noon Ben sent this text: "Gracie is really good!  She's wanting to do the big slopes.  I stink.  Lol.  Emma is catching on and Scott is able to do it now without falling."

Here are a couple more pictures from Jason, the other Venture Crew leader:

Meanwhile, Caytie, Tessa, Benson, and I spent the day with Grandma D.  We first ran some errands, including a stop at the dollar store.  The girls chose what they wanted (relatively) quickly (Tessa-clay; Caytie--battery operated tea lights), but Benson could NOT decide!  After an HOUR of going back and forth between a few items and then deciding he'd rather not have anything after all, we went to check out, and we saw the Mylar balloons.  He finally decided he'd like one of those (though in line he was waffling, but I did not allow a change).  The lady told him to hold tightly onto the string, which he did, but it didn't prevent the balloon from coming off the TOP of the string less than a minute after we went outside...and we sadly watched it float away.  We brought the string back inside, waited in line again, and this time, with the top adhesive reinforced, we headed back home.

Then, on to our next adventure--a trampoline park, right down the street from Grandma and Grandpa's house!  School was back in session for the local kids, so there were very few other people there for the first hour or two.

When the crowds picked up, and the kids were exhausted, we headed home again.  Ben's mom had made a huge pot of hamburger soup, so all of us (including the worn out skiiers) had dinner there. Yummy! 😋🎿🏂

Utah Ski Trip--SLC

One thing we were excited about for being in Utah near Christmas time was to see the lights at Temple Square in Salt Lake City.  (The last time we had done this in December 2006, Scott was 5, Emma was 3, and Gracie was 1.5--and they don't remember it much.  Oooh--I think I have pictures...)

We started the day with a bit of a hiccup...  We went to the car and found it had dumped all of its oil on my parents' driveway.  Ben found a repair shop nearby and they said the adapter where the oil filter connects to the engine was warped, and therefore the oil all leaked out.  At first they told us that they wouldn't be able to fix it, and that sent us into a panic, thinking we'd have to quickly buy a car away from home with no funds, but later we learned they just didn't have the needed part nearby, though they could ship it from Denver (expedited for an extra fee, of course), and install it the next day.  We opted for that plan.

Then we borrowed Ben's parents' car, and went to the ski shop to get outfitted for the next part of our trip.  The shop rented us everything we needed, including a coat for Emma, and the fundraising the girls did paid for their portions (and their leaders').

After spending the rest of the day with Ben's family, we (all the Texas folks) headed up to Temple Square.  We met up with my parents, who had been working in the Church Office Building that day, at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building.

It was REALLY cold that night--but it was the last night the lights were going to be on for the year, so we were glad to catch them in time, and we started our quick-walk self tour.

So beautiful!

We went into all buildings to keep warm.  We watched a movie about Jesus healing the blind man, and I loved it.  There is an amazing Spirit at Temple Square.  I'm really thankful we made this a part of our trip.

Tubing videos

Caytie--watch out for the kid by the tree!

Benson--no fear!

Ben--aiming for the big dip!

Utah Ski Trip--January 1st

We started off the new year in such a fun way: tubing!  A golf course in Spanish Fork opened up their grounds to the public, and it was a great place for our family (and the other families from Texas, and my sister Patti and her kids Sarah and Michael, who were also visiting my parents, and a large percentage of Utahans).  It was a good chance to try out our winter gear before skiing! ☺

My kids hadn't ever gone tubing before, so they thought they'd start with a big chain.

It was fun, but they were asked to stop because of the danger to anyone who got in their way!  But they soon all tried solo slides, and they all loved it.  They hardly even complained about trudging up hill with their tube each time, because they were so excited to go down again.

We started out on the main driving range hills, but then went behind the clubhouse for some less traveled trails.  There were also more obstacles to avoid.  I took these pictures while sitting on a green electrical box, so any kids who slid crookedly would hit me instead of the box.

There was a tree on the other side of the slope that unfortunately Benson hit with his tube, and then with his head, and he was pretty ready to go home after that.  Some hot chocolate helped sooth him for a while so everyone else could get enough sliding time in.  Everyone was so brave.  I went down a couple times, and I was less brave.

We thought we'd go to the Brick Oven for dinner, but our party was so large (I think there were 24 of us?) that it took an hour to be seated, and then another hour before anyone got any food.  Considering we had all stayed up late the night before and worked hard all day, everyone behaved better than expected, but our love for Brick Oven waned a bit that night.

Overall, the day = success.

Utah Ski Trip--The Last Day of the Year

A couple days late and many dollars short, we were ready to enjoy our time in Utah.  (Should I put a note here of how difficult it is to balance time with two families in close proximity, with miscommunication and misunderstood expectations?  No?  OK.)

We went over to Ben's parents' in the morning, and the kids got a bit of time in the snow, but it was really too powdery to build with.

We took a trip with Grandma and Grandpa R. to Costco for lunch, and then to Shopko and Walmart to finish up winter purchases (including boots for the smallest three and a coat for Tessa--who somehow left hers at home).  Then back to my parents' for crafting, naps, and some dinner.

Then we went back to Ben's family's for a New Years Celebration with all the cousins and aunts and uncles, and the other two Texas families who had arrived and were staying there.  Some craziness ensued.

(That's Brydger, Ayden, Gracie, Shaelyn, Harley, and you know the rest...)

And then back to my parents' for the last couple hours of the year!  We watched a movie and then a couple New Years celebrations from other countries on Netflix, and accidentally missed the real one for us, so we watched the ball drop from another year (I'm not sure how many realized it wasn't right), blew our horns, ate our treats, and drank our cider, and then headed to bed!

(This guy loved it all.)

Now we're all one year older and wiser, too, they say.  Happy 2019!