Man Cave

One night this was going on...

So Joan, my mom, and I went out shopping. We came back with a loot of cute pajamas to open on Christmas Eve.

This Year's Winner

We have a family frame that gets passed from one person to another each year. The receiver of the frame receives the frame along with a very unattractive picture of themself. The frame usually goes between Joan and Tim, but this year there was a new winner....


Joan and I actually "framed" my dad (that pun was intended). There was no way we were going to get a picture like this without some coercion. And the runner up...


This was another runner up.

Hmmmmm

Tim was playing around with our camera in Park City. He said he "accidentally" deleted the only picture of us skiing. He did leave these gems on the camera though.

"Ahh, how do these things work again?"

"Like this?"

"Oh, like this!"

The Magic of Park City

I wish I could describe the magic of our ski in/ski out resort stay. It was better than Disney World as a kid...and I went to Disney World as a kid. I wanted to stop time while I was there. I tried to savor each moment. Only 348 more days until we get to do it again. Maybe we should make a paper chain. At least 2009 is not a leap year...one day closer to skiing in Park City.

Joan and I basking in the sun

Basically, a Park City ski vacation goes something like this.

• 6am: Wake up with the kids and try and keep them quiet until 7am
• 7am: Let Daniel jump on Tim and Joan's bed with his glass of milk
• 8am: Breakfast
• 9am: Walk down to the ski valet, pick up your skis, ski like a mad dog
  
• 1pm: Nice warm lunch and a little r&r before the afternoon ski session
• 2pm: Ski
• 4:30pm: Hot tub...Daniel's favorite
  
• Evening: Dinner, night out on the town, shopping, talking, or movie watching
• 10:30pm: Sleep
  

On our last ski day, we decided to mix things up a little and try boarding instead. I'm so glad we did. It was so fun. Although we did spend a lot of time on our patooties, as everyone warned us we would, we were doing decently by the end of the day. I however never completed an "S" curve successfully. The only two times I did, I was so excited I had done it I promptly biffed it. Oh well, something to learn next time. It turned out to be a perfect day to learn how to board. Most of the runs we would have skied on were closed due to weather and we had fresh powder on the bunny hills to learn on.

Joan and I before boarding

On Christmas Eve all the ski instructors (probably about 100) skied down with red flares on their poles and made a lighted path which Santa skied down the middle of. It was fun to see...just another one of those magical things about Park City.

The Hahn Visit

Vacationing with both families got a lot easier this year. My parents and sister moved back to the "motherland" this last year. It is so nice to only have to travel to one place...especially since our family is growing and we are moving further away.

We spent the first week of our Utah vacation with the Hahns. It was so pleasant. While we visited, I was instructed in some of the finer things of life such as snow fort building, bathroom framing, and sushi eating (well, I didn't eat the sushi, but we had enough sushi to feed a small country).
I most enjoyed Tasha's birthday lunch with all the adults. Later, I asked my husband if he ever thought life for him and his siblings would have unfolded the way it has. I think things have unfolded rather nicely.

James in his Christmas Present

For Christmas, we gave James a toy Daniel wanted. Daniel is very motivated to share to have shared with now. Gifting James with a cool 3 year old toy was an ingenious parenting moment... those moments seem to come so rarely.

We're Back

We've been off skiing and visiting family. Check back soon for all the fun details!