Solitude...

e did a little Solitude skiing in, solitude.  Mitch's parents were nice enough to let us head up the canyon early and do some skiing, just the two of us.  It was nice to ski hard and fast, and my legs were on fire.  The rest of the Duckworth crew came up after lunch, and we had fun skiing with the Kringlens that afternoon.  Dieter really improved, and was skiing down all by himself.  I had the best time riding up the lift with my little buddy, and playing "hot-lava" on the way down.  Remi hung out with Grandma and Grandpa and Harper in the Lodge.  She came out for a bit to play in the snow with D-bop.  We finished a perfect day with dinner at Porcupine Grill.  I don't think we could have planned a more perfect day.

Blue Bird Day...

efore our trip to Hawaii, we got to spend a week in Utah skiing with our families, playing with our friends, and eating at all our favorite restaurants.  I can't tell you how fulfilling it was watching our kids learn to love something that brings you so much joy.  Being on the slopes as a family is definitely my new favorite past-time.

Our first ski day was up to Alta with most of my family.  We put Dieter in a morning lesson with his cousin Hoyt, and had fun skiing all over the mountain with Miss Finn.  She got her groove back pretty fast, and was soon racing down the mountain with her cousins.

At the summit.

Besides the weather being unbelievable, the company was pretty great too.  Everything from chatting up the lift, lunch in the lodge, and speeding down the slopes was full of fun.  Man, I miss my fam.  More from our week in Utah to come.

Mom's March Madness...

When Mitch asked if he could head up to Wyoming for a boy's snowmobile weekend, I said "of course...as long as I get to go up to UT while you're there!"  Best of both worlds right!?  It just happened to be my Mom's birthday weekend which made the whole trip even better.

We had a blast in Utah, introducing Remmy to all of her aunts, uncles and cousins who hadn't met her yet.  She even got to meet her cousin Harper who is only 23 hours older.  We met up with both of our families at Cafe Rio straight from the airport and it was one, big, crazy party!  We loved it.

The next morning was my mom's birthday.  If you know my mom, you know she is a dedicated walker.  Every morning she is up and at 'em, doing her regular route.  So a girl's walk with the birthday girl was the perfect start to her day.  We met up in the Yalecrest neighborhood at Sara's house, walked around the Avenues, had breakfast at Eggs in the City, shopped at Jolly's, and headed home.  It felt like we were on a mini vacation.  Later that night, we invited the spouses to join us for a birthday dinner at Market Street.  You can always count on many laughs when you get this group together.  We were so glad we were able to be there for it.

Mitch took off to Wyoming the next morning, and it was play, play, play for the rest of the weekend. We met up with all of our cousins, friends, and wore ourselves out.  One of Finnley's favorite things when we visit UT is to go to her cousin Rex's preschool.  This particular time they learned all about St. Patrick's Day so she was super excited for the 17th. She kept hiding things around the house, blaming it on a "tricky little leprechaun".  She even had to wear green to bed on the 16th, so she wouldn't get pinched in the middle of the night or right when she woke up.

Its a tradition to have a family ski day on my mom's birthday.  Usually we get pretty good weather, but this year was cold and snowy.  At least we had some fresh snow to make tracks in.  Finnley woke up to find that the leprechauns had out-smarted us and were not in our trap.  Darn!  But, they did leave us with some green goodies and lots of green food to eat.

 Warming up in the lodge with Jovie and Rex!

Grandma Diane was kind enough to watch Dieter and Remmy so I could sneak up to the slopes for a few hours and ski with Finn.  She is getting better and better and it is so fun to have a little ski buddy.

Some of the crazy cousins - Trin (Finn really wanted to ski with Trinity all day long!), Hadley, Mya, Grace, Layne and Rye.

At the top of the lift Finnley looked like a human snowball.  You couldn't even tell her gator was black and her hood looked like a white puff ball.  Brrr!

After skiing we hung out at Grandma Diane's and make some sugar cookies.  This is one of my kids very favorite things to do with Grandma Diane, and nobody complains about having to eat her yummy cookies.

We were so glad we were able to take a quick trip up to Utah.  We know these trips will be few and far between as our flight time will soon triple.  We love our families and friends, and appreciate them always taking time out of their busy schedules to see us and show us a good time!

Sansom Ski Day...

Christmas Eve day was spent up at Alta Ski Resort with my entire family!  It was great.  The little ones went into the playroom, the kids did half or full-day lessons, and the 9+ peeps skied the day away.  I wasn't about to miss out, even being 32 weeks pregnant, so I took it easy and had fun on the slopes too.

Mitch and I caught up with Finnley on the last run of her lesson.  She was doing awesome, and we thought she'd be excited to see us.  Instead, she said, "Dad, I have to hurry and catch up to my teacher...bye!"  So cute.  We picked her up for lunch and skied the rest of the day with her.  She had a blast skiing with all her older cousins, and wanted nothing to do with mom and dad.

Mya, Jack, Rye, Finnley, Hadley, Trinity and Layne

Ski Day...

On our drive to UT, Mitch said to me, "If we don't ski at least 5 times, this trip will be a failure."  Well, we're up to four ski days already, with one more planned before Christmas.  Phew!  I'm so glad this will be a successful trip for Mr. Mitchell. ;)

We really have had a lot of fun taking advantage of being next to the canyons, and teaching our Dieter boy how to ski.  Finnley is on her own, flying down the mountain with her cousins.  We've been skiing with the Batemans, DeHarts, Kringlens, and tomorrow we'll be going up with the entire Sansom crew.  What a blast!

I had a moment going up one of the quads - all four of us on a lift - I was so happy and proud that we have something we get to do as a family that we all enjoy.  I envisioned us doing this for years and years and it made me so happy.  I'm in love with my family, and I'll admit it, I'm in love with Utah.

The Best Way to Catch Up...

One gorgeous ski day,
One beautiful friend,
One free morning,
One free babysitter,
Lot's to chat about...

I think we've found our new tradition - a day of skiing. Chatting on the lift ride up, challenging ourselves on the runs down. One of my favorite ski days yet! Thanks Court!

Ducks in the Snow...

I know all you Utahns are sick and tired of the snow already, but we couldn't get enough! I think mother nature knows when we're coming to town. She's blessed us with fresh snow each time, and we thank her for that. We relish in that fresh powder and soak in all the winter we can get. Our last trip was no different. Our first day was spent up on the ski slopes while the freshest, lightest, fluffiest, greatest snow on earth fell on us all day long.

We went up to Solitude with Mitch's family, and it was such a treat being with the whole crew. We had all the little kids (besides those under 2) on the slopes and they did great. I am one proud parent. Finnley is officially a skier. Not only did she make one heck of a pizza, but she didn't need or want my help one bit. Even on the high speed quad she did awesome, and made her quick little turns all the way down the mountain. Her legs were dead after pushing around all that fresh powder and she asked me about ten times when we were stopping for lunch. By the end of the day she was racing her mommy and daddy down the mountain, even hunching over to get more speed.
Saturday, the snow continued to fall. We were in a winter wonderland and loving it. After all-you-can-eat french toast at our must-stop place Hagerman's, we went sledding over by Mitch's parents house. After building walls, jumps, and supports, our sledding hill was ready to go. We piled the kids into the sled and sent them down. Is this not the best picture EVER?! Pure joy on all four of those kids faces.

Thanks for such a great weekend! We miss y'all already.

PS - Thanks for the pictures Dave.

Ski Bunny...

We spent our Christmas Eve Eve up on the slopes of Snowbird with the Bateman family. Even three week old Ivy made an appearance. She'll have her turn soon enough.

It was Finnley's second day skiing of the season and she did awesome. (We spent our first day up at Alta.) The weather couldn't have been more perfect. We left the inversion behind, and emerged into warmth and sunshine.

Jack and Mya were great little skiers too!

Oh, and did I mention Santa and Mrs. Clause came up for the day as well? Why not? It sure was a great way to spend our Christmas Eve, Eve (and 7th anniversary of our engagement!).


By day 3, Finn was on her own! Mitch took Finn up to Solitude and she went all over the mountain with him. She had the perfect pizza, and was making nice big turns.

See that Pepto-Bismal snow suit she's wearing? Yay, it used to be mine! I remember wearing it, so its kind of strange seeing my daughter in it.

We are so excited for our Finners, and are glad she has the same love of skiing as her mom and dad. Next year, its Dieter's turn.

Want to take your little's up to the slopes? Here's how I'd rank the resorts...

1. Take advantage of Alta's "Ski Free after Three". We took Finn up to the bunny hill around two (it's free all day) did that for about an hour, and then she was ready for the lift. We took two runs down and called it a day. The best part? We didn't spend a dime.

2. Solitude has a great beginner hill and kids are free all day with an adult pass. Mitch went up early by himself and got in a bunch of runs. I brought Finn up around one and they skied the rest of the day together.

3. Snowbird was probably the worst deal. Kids under 6 are free on Chickadee, but adults are $20 for only the one lift. The hill isn't that impressive, and it cost us $40 bucks for just a few hours.

4. We didn't make it to Brighton, but my B-I-L took his two kids up and had a great experience. He put Jack in a lesson and the kid was a pro after only two hours. You have to buy an adult pass, but you get two free kids passes with each adult. Pretty good deal.

Anyway...here's to hitting the slopes! See ya in February.