Ski Update by the CFO

After several days near 70 degrees we were getting spring fever pretty bad. Then along comes several more feet of new snow at "The Basin" so away we went. We had several great blue bird days of skiing this week after the big storm. The boys had fun, O had her first 2 days on skis and the COO got in some additional "training". She'll be ready for the 2020 Winter Olympics!!! (as a spectator that is).

Remember this photo? It will be a point of reference for the next photos. The boys and I are skiing this chute in the next photos. Notice the single "Lone Tree" at the top of the shoot, thus its name, Lone Tree. There is also a rock. The next photos are taken from the top of this chute.

This is the flat part on top just before "dropping into" the chute. Another Angle before dropping in. This is me part way down looking up at the boys. They are small but there. They are laying against the mountain in the picture.

O's first day!!

Maybe I Should Have Bought This Car....

India's Tata Nano...the world's cheapest car.

Can you imagine your family of 5 heading to St. George for Spring Break in this baby?

I wonder how many car seats it will hold? And, check out those rims....SWEET.

Too bad it won't pull the boat. We will have to keep what we've got.

I Dindn't Know Obama was Running England!

Sweet Indulgences

Reading: My ski buddy, Lisa, gave me this book for my birthday. She even had the author sign it in Russian--very cool. The author is from the Bear River/Logan area and worked for the military and the CIA doing spy stuff during the Cold War. I really enjoyed the "spy" parts and his interactions with the Russian people. But, I skimmed and skipped the parts about his personal life. The part that left me completely dumbfounded was that he stated his favorite sweet indulgence was a Hershey's chocolate and almond bar. HUH? REALLY? You have traveled ALL over Europe. You have spent a good portion of your time living in Germany and your favorite is Hershey's? Huh!! Has he not tried Belgian, Swiss, or German chocolates? For that comment alone I give the book YY.

I am a little partial to the Swiss variety: I love the Lindt chocolate truffles and Toblerone chocolate bars. Next to those Hershey's is just wax.

What is your favorite sweet indulgence?

SKI TRIP # 2: Can You Feel the Burn?

SKI TRIP #2:

My hot ski instructor

deemed that I had all the skills necessary to graduate from the bunny hill to the Becker Lift. I had some GRAVE concerns about it when I went to get on and learned that this triple chair lift does not slow down. How would I get OFF? Then, I was equally terrified as it just kept going up up up. How was I going to get DOWN?

I won't lie to you. I did quite a bit of this:

especially on my first run. This caused my legs to burn and get tired very quickly.

But after 3 runs I relaxed a little. This was the result:

OK this video makes it look like I am skiing on a flat run. It was a green run for sure but it wasn't flat, I swear!

Check Out Our New Ride....

We shall call it

THE SUPER-DUPER BOAT MOVER

( it also does a fine job of moving children from one place to another )

Losing It: part II, incident #4

Apparently the CFO has had to explain to me, several times, when I should purchase a discount ski ticket at Canyon Sports and when I should just purchase a ticket at The Ski Resort. With the exception of two, I don't remember these several explanations. It is possible I went into 'football listening mode'. That is to say when football is being spoken, all I hear is "blahblahblahblah quarterback blahblahblahblah touchdown blahblahblahblah 5-minutes left in the game".
But, getting back to lift tickets: buy a $52 lift ticket at Canyon Sports when I want to ski before 12:30pm. Buy a $52 lift ticket at The Ski Resort when I am just going to ski half day starting at 12:30pm.
BY GEORGE...I THINK I'VE GOT IT!!!!

I Might Be Losing It...

I might be losing it, my mental sharpness, that is. Several incidents lately have led me to that conclusion.
Incident #1 : Happened yesterday-- I was in the car with O and my ski buddy Lisa. Lisa says, "Your hair looks cute down." I said, "Thanks." (But what I was really thinking was, 'my hair is too short to wear up; I have been wearing it down for quite some time.') TWO HOURS LATER I realise she was talking about O's hair. Maybe this has nothing to do with mental sharpness and has more to do with going deaf???

Incident #2 : I am at the Joint Doctor's office-- again with O. The doctor is making small talk. She is asking O her name. She is asking me questions about symptoms, etc. Then, the Doctor says, "how old are you?" I said, "36." The Doctor says, "I was asking your daughter!" I laughed out loud. The Doctor barely cracked a smile. Maybe this has nothing to do with mental sharpness and more about my need to talk about myself???

Incident #3 : I am going into the Wisebird Bookery to buy a book....TO READ. I try to open the door. It is stuck. It is definitely stuck on the entry rug. I keep trying hoping my brute strength will prevail. Then I heard it. A voice from inside the store yells, "P U L L ! ! !". Sure enough there is a sign on the door that reads, 'Pull'. Too bad I didn't read the door because now I want to die of embarrassment. This is how the scene looked:

Ode to My Electric Blanket

Oh, how I love thee.....

Seriously, there is nothing better when it is cold and when you don't feel so good to hop into a pre-heated bed. Pure Heaven!

Reminiscing Lake Powell '07

Last night C had a school writing assignment where he had to write about a family adventure. He naturally wrote about our frightful 2007 Lake Powell trip. You remember it? The one where every piece of major equipment we had either sank or was damaged by the devil hurricane force winds! Anyway, C had to include a photo with his story.

We came across this picture from the same trip:

It just makes me giggle. She uses goggles more like sunglasses....sunglasses that fog up in the heat. She would never use them as goggles to see underwater because she doesn't like to get her head near water let alone under it.

Hobby Tryouts: March

Skiing

Skiing has been a thorn in my side for a long long time. It shouldn't be because I come from a skiing family. My parents took us skiing as kids. My sister works at a ski resort in Park City. My mother skied when she was in her 60's. I am half Swiss so it is in my DNA to be able to ski. But, I am 36 and I still hate it. I blame the way I learned how to ski. It was like the Mascot's learning how to swim: when she was a puppy the CFO, thinking all dogs instinctively knew how to swim and loved water, tossed her into a lake. She got back to shore, but she hates water. My first lessons were like that.

The CFO loves skiing and has successfully taught our boys E & C to ski things like "Chutes" and "Black Diamonds". I am his next victim.....I mean student. To get me started, the CFO gave me all this for Christmas:

I retaliated and gave him this:

(He loves it when people ask him about the book. So when you see him, discuss the book(s) with him---OK) But, I digress....

It is with much trepidation that I take this month and do my best at learning, not only to ski, but to like it just a little bit. I promised the CFO I would go 5 times if the weather is good.


SKI TRIP #1
My friend Lisa is also a novice skier and she agreed to go with me. We spent half the day on a run called "Little Cat". True to its name, it is little, just a bunny hill, and it was perfect for me.

(We are the two ski hotties on the left):

I fell down once when a little kid came barreling down and crashed into me. For several minutes I was like a turtle on my back. I could not stand up. I will have to work on that before I go again. Yes, I will go again.

Make Some Noise

Last week my family got together to "celebrate", for lack of a better word, our surviving the past year without our Mom. This past year has been difficult, for sure, especially for Dad. But, we have been blessed with an outstanding family that has been supportive. For that I am grateful and I hope you are too. Thank you Char and family, for hosting. Dinner was awesome as always.

The CFO talking with "the bros"

We also had birthdays to celebrate. I call this photo "the 3 sisters".

What is a celebration without balloons?

Here is a picture of C giving his cousin , double D, dating advice. That's right, ladies, he is single despite what his Facebook profile says.

Jenny sharing her coke with Nala.

Mei Mei having a drink also. Not the dog's drink---BTW.

Most of our "crew" viewing a picture presentation of Mom. Thanks, Rog, for putting it together for us. I tried to take your advice and take more pictures of our "party". It's obvious I'm not a photographer, but I hope you enjoy them anyway.

The noise level seemed unusually high. Luckily, it was mostly joyful. It was great to be together, as always.