Snowbird

It had been six long years since we had ventured to Snowbird. It seemed like it had turned into a place that we used to go to and that the chances of going again were getting ever slimmer. The trouble you see, is that the week of Snowbird happens to be the week of Spring break. It seems like being the new guy means that you work on Spring break whilst everyone else gets to go party it up. I know, I need a little tiny box and a little tiny violin so that I can play my little tiny sad song so everyone around me can feel sorry for me too. But, the stars aligned and the heaven's smiled down on us and we were able to go this year! B wasn't able to get the whole week off, but we took what we could get and made our little pilgrimage to the mountains of Utah! M's teacher has told me that I must not value education because we take our kids out of school so much. I tell her that I do indeed value education but, where our littles are still little, we think that having them miss a couple days here and there is totally worth it so that we can do fun things like, go to Snowbird! Spring break didn't actually start for the offspring until Monday but, Friday was only a half day. So, when we checked them out early on Wednesday, they were only missing a day and a half of school. If you ask me, that's not too bad. We drove and drove and drove and drove and got to Utah at almost midnight on Wednesday. The plan had been to stop half way and finish the drive on Thursday, but we didn't want to pay for a hotel and the kids said to keep going, so keep going we did! Once we had gotten some sleep, we were so happy that we had gone the whole way. Since we were there earlier than we had planned on being, we went to see my cute daddy. We hadn't told them that we were coming to see them, we wanted it to be a surprise. It was a pretty great surprise too! We wanted to go see my sweet dad because his cancer is raging and we don't know how much longer we get to have him. He has decided to stop all kinds of cancer fighting treatments so he can have some quality of life before he goes. It's so hard to write stuff like that. We've lived out of state for five years and my dad has been sick for 11 years. He's been sick for a long time and has just fought cancer and come out victorious, so it's really hard for me to wrap my brain and my heart around the fact that he's not going to win this battle and that it's only a matter of time before he's gone. I am so happy that we went to see him and I hope that the memories our kids have will be of grandpa showing them how he can make his arm grow and can take his finger off his hand. I hope they remember that he laughed with them and at the funny things they did and said.

We love our grandpa and pray that he and grandma will have the courage and the strength to face what's coming. Now, let's wipe our eyes and go skiing!

If you don't think this picture is cute, there's something seriously wrong with you. Look at little B's skis! Those are awesome! They were all so excited to go skiing. M and K were signed up to do ski school and when B went to walk them over, little B burst into tears. I picked him up and asked what was wrong. With tears streaming down his face he said, "I want to go skiing too!" I told him that B was just taking M and K over to where their class was and then he was going to come back and get him. He calmed down a little but, still cried silent tears until he saw B walking back towards us. We got little B all ready to go and off we went. Now, I don't ski. I tried it once and after taking out a ski instructor that was helping a little tiny kid and then on the next run not being able to stop until I slid into the line of people waiting to get onto the chairlift, I decided that the best place for me to be is next to the pole that holds up the chairlift, taking pictures. 

They were so happy to be going up! B even taught little B the awesome trick of hitting your skis together so that the snow falls off. He was all too excited to have him practice his newly acquired skill right as they went over my head. As the snow fell towards me, I heard a lot of laughter. Punks!

Little B loved it! We didn't think that he would last very long but, he wanted to go again and again. Even after lunch he wanted to go again. B was so happy to be teaching little B to ski and loved that he lasted all day!

 M and K did great! I am so happy that we got a picture of K skiing since we didn't get one last time they went. I love that all three of the littles love skiing. I need to put on my big girl panties and try it again, but I am truly terrified and know that I would feel so stupid as I fall on my face over and over again.

Skiing- day 2. These two loved it and really wanted to do it a second day. They did awesome and B was so happy they loved it that he almost wept tears of joy!

Day 2 was not as much fun for this one. He did do it for about 45 minutes but, then he was done. B wanted to get a really cool picture of them, but little B was not having it! He was really done. He wanted to go in and so there was no convincing him to look at the camera.

At least M and K wanted to ski with B. They had a great time and were out there almost all day. I am truly amazed at how much these two improved in the two days that we were there. We can't wait to take them skiing again next year!