Screen Savers

 I recently switched my phone screen saver to change every hour with a new photo from my library. I have loved seeing all the wonderful memories pop up! Tonight an adorable one of Luke playing tennis popped up. Good memories and pictures of my cute kids really brighten my day.

Brad and Kade went skiing today on seven inches of fresh powder! They loved it. They said the hill was even groomed this time. Our experience last time there was that much powder and the mountain wasn’t groomed at all kept me and the little boys home today. They did not enjoy all the powder at all. And Tenley had volleyball practice. But to get out of the house we went out for lunch together and had a great time!

Powder

 We woke up to a lot of snow this morning and the ski hill had 12 inches of fresh powder! We headed up for a fun family ski day. The roads were covered in snow and pretty slick in some places but we made it safely. The powder made skiing a great workout lol! My legs were very tired by the end of the day. Luke definitely didn’t love the powder that much. He got stuck a lot and we all took at least one tumble. Luke took the worst fall and twisted his knee so much that it’s swollen now and he’s limping. I hope it heals quickly! We still had a great time. The mountain and pine trees were beautiful covered in snow. I loved skiing in the trees on the fresh powder. 

We burned so many calories that we decided to go out to the pizza buffet restaurant so we could eat just as many calories! It was delicious!

Luke and Otto

We were excited to meet friends on the ski hill again. I followed Luke and Otto around all afternoon. They sped down the runs, jumped back onto the lift together, and then did it all again. They had fun finding tree runs and jumps. They probably didn’t even need me following them around all day but it was entertaining for me!

Tenley was with Ava doing the same green runs as us so we saw them several times. But Brad and the two oldest were on the other side of the mountain the whole time. They also had a great time! It was a sunny, warm ski day and we all had a blast!

Adventures on the Ski Hill

 We took the kids up to the ski hill today and had a blast! Kade spent the day with a friend so we didn’t see him very often but the rest of us stayed together. Tenley, Ryder, and Luke are all so brave! They all did tricks in the terrain park and tried to find every jump on every run we went down. Luke took it all too far, though, when he decided not to get off the lift when he should have. Ryder and I were a few chairs back and we saw him heading back toward us when he should have gotten off! It was scary. The workers stopped the lift, found a ladder, leaned it up against his chair and went up the ladder to take of his skies and help him climb down. It wasn’t fun for me to watch as his mother. But luckily he made it down safely! He told me he was thinking of jumping off in the powder and I’m so glad that he didn’t do that! It was definitely a day filled with adventure.

Kade and Tenley went to a stake Valentine’s dance tonight. They said it was a lot of fun!

Cucumber Land

 We went skiing as a family today and it was the best snow of the year! It’s still not great but it was a significant improvement. We had so much fun. We stayed together the whole time and could keep up with eachother for the most part. More often than not I was the last one to the lift. Luke is a speed demon! Luke also kept requesting to go down the Cumberland trail. He calls it cucumber land lol. He loves it because it goes through the trees and has a lot of jumps. I was impressed with the air everyone got. We stayed until close and were pretty exhausted by the end of the day! 

Ski Day with Family and Friends

 Showdown had a deal for homeschoolers at the ski hill today so a lot of our friends were up skiing today. It was fun to hang out with them and help them learn how to ski. Tenley’s friend Ava was there skiing for her first time ever and she made so much progress that she came on a few blue runs with us! She was amazing. The snow still isn’t great. We tried to avoid all the rocks that we could but it was inevitable at times. We still had such a fun time as a family and with our friends!

First Ski Day of the Season

 I decided to take the kids skiing today. Kade and Luke especially have been begging to go and we all really needed a day out of the house. It was sad not to have Brad there with us because he had to work, but we made the most of it and had a lot of fun! We didn’t even ski on the bunny hill, we just stuck to the blue runs and Luke’s favorite black diamond, James Bond. I’m glad we were able to stay away from the blue runs because it was really crowded on that part of the hill. It was nice to avoid that.

It was also really windy and cold but the sun was shining. Everyone enjoyed and we stayed until the last chair ran. We can’t wait to go again soon!

Last Ski Day

 Our ski hill closes next week so we went up today for what is probably our last day to ski for this year. It was warm, sunny, and slushy. It almost felt more like water skiing. But we still had a lot of fun on the hill. Tenley met up with her friend Olivia to ski and the rest of us stayed together all day. I don’t usually get to ski all day because Luke used to like to hang out in the lodge so my legs were definitely tired by the end. Luke was even brave enough to try a rail in the terrain park! We will miss skiing but I am definitely looking forward to Summer!

Skiing with Rocky

 We took Travis and Rocky up to Showdown to go skiing today. Rocky did such a good job! And because Luke wanted to hang out with Rocky he was willing to go on the blue runs and we didn’t have to hang out on the magic carpet at all. I was so happy about that. It was fun to be on the quieter side of the mountain on more challenging runs. And Luke did such a great job! And he had fun. I’m hoping he’ll be willing to do it again even when Rocky isn’t here.

Tenley, Luke and I had to leave the hill early to get Tenley to volleyball practice. Luke got a good nap on the way home. Cousin time has been so much fun! 

Showdown

 We went skiing today at Showdown and it was busy! They’ve gotten a lot of snow this week so we weren’t the only ones craving a ski day. We still had a lot of fun though. We completely forgot our lunch bag at home though. Everyone had packed themselves a lunch and the bag was all ready to go, we just forgot to put it in the car! Luckily the ski hill has free oatmeal which I thought was delicious. The kids all tried it as well but weren’t fans of it. I guess they weren’t that hungry! I think they thought we were mean parents for not just spending money on the food at the lodge. Brad figured it was a good lesson for us all to learn that we can live a few hours without food. Haha

Tenley had a fun birthday party tonight. They met at the goodwill and were given $20 to purchase an outfit for one of the other girls. Then they went home to have a fashion show. She looked adorable in her outfit! Her friend got her some tall boots that Tenley admitted were hard to walk in. But honestly she doesn’t ever need to wear heels. I think she’s grown three inches in the last few months! She’s taller than me even if I’m wearing heels! 

Skiing

 We finally made it up to the ski hill today for the first time this season. It was a sunny, beautiful day and the skiing was great! Luke wanted to ski on the magic carpet for a few times first so Brad, Kade and Tenley took off and my little boys and I stayed together. We did get to ride the lift too. Luke’s first time down a run was a little rough. He wasn’t thinking about turning at all and just totally bombed it. He eventually wiped out pretty hard but he didn’t cry and he got right back up and started practicing his turns. 

Visitors

The Murdocks left this morning to head back home. The visit went by so quickly! We will miss them! We headed to the ski hill after they left. Kade brought his friend Nathan with us and they skied on their own most of the day. The snow was icy! But we still enjoyed it.

St. Patrick’s Day

St. Patrick’s day is one of those holidays that to me doesn’t need to be celebrated. Maybe I don’t understand the purpose. But we did go up to the ski hill and saw very festive people which made it fun. They even had Irish music playing in the lodge. And the lift operator gave Ryder and Luke some fun ribbons for their helmets! It was fun!

Fresh Powder

It was a cold, windy, and snowy day today but the powder on the ski hill was amazing! It was definitely worth the slick roads and poor visibility driving conditions. I probably only say that because we arrived home safely. But it truly was an incredible ski day!

Black Diamonds

Rocky loved skiing so much yesterday that he asked to go again today! It was a lot sunnier today which was nice and Rocky braved some of the blue runs. He’s such a trooper! I can’t believe how much he improved over just two days! He even decided to go on a black diamond run. It wasn’t a super steep run but it was definitely bumpy! Luke and I hadn’t ever done it before but we followed along and we survived! Luke and I skied with the whole group for most of the day. It was the most he has ever skied in one day. It was my favorite family ski day yet!

Travis and Rocky had to leave tonight when we got back from the ski hill and we will miss them! My boys all had such a fun time with Rocky. He kept them busy. Hopefully we see them again soon!

Ski Day

We took Rocky up skiing for his first time today! It was a lot of fun and he caught on so quickly. He loved it so much that he wants to go tomorrow!

Ryder

We celebrated Ryder’s 8th birthday today! He wanted to have a family ski day and it was a beautiful and sunny day on the mountain. George and Judy joined and Luke spent most of the day with them in the lodge but we did get a few runs in as a family which was a blast!

We came home to see Grandpa and Grandma Woodruff and Danny. We had pizza and  cake and ice cream. And he opened presents, of course. He really loved opening presents. He said his favorite present was his new set of scriptures! 

Ryder still lives life in the fast lane and we do our best to keep up with him!