Snowmass, Colorado family ski trip January 2016

We took the kids on a very fun, yet very impromptu ski trip with the Spencer family to Snowmass, Colorado the middle of January.  The weather was perfect and it was truly a wonderful family trip.  Crystal called me Wednesday evening and asked if we wanted to try to go on a very last minute ski trip with them.  She said that Shane's family would be up there later in the week and that they were going to drive up there Monday or Tuesday, but if we wanted to go, we could leave Friday and get into the house Saturday.  Our first reaction was that we really wanted to do it, but we thought there was no way we could pull that off.  How could we get flights for all four of us with one day notice?!  How could we get ski gear for the kids and get all of ours found and packed up?!  And we would be missing work.  So we went to bed that night thinking there was no way.  Thursday at work, I called one of my favorite nurse subs (so hard to ever get anyone to sub in the clinic) and would you believe she was able to sub for me all three days in a row that we would be gone?!  Dave looked up flights and got a steal-of-a-deal on flights to Denver and found a pretty great rate for a rental vehicle.  I called my mom to make sure there was not anything big going on that we needed to be here for.  Told her about our dreaming of leaving the next day to go skiing.  I think she was anticipating me to ask her to keep the kids, but told her that they were going skiing with us.  Ok, we decided we should do this!  Within minutes of me telling Mom, she texted me a picture of a pink onesie snowsuit that I wore when I was five and a blue ski coat that Shawn wore when he was three!  Pretty amazing.  Amazing that she has kept them for almost 30 years.  Amazing that they are in good condition.  Amazing that my mom knew exactly where to find them.  Amazing that my kids wanted to wear them.  (See pic above.)  Well, we got home form work, did several loads of laundry, found out ski gear, and packed out bags.  Shane came to get them from us that night to put in their vehicle.  So nice of them to take our bags so we did not have to check them on the plane.  All we needed for the plane were backpacks and car seats for when we got the rental car.
We took a late flight, after work.  The kids were so excited to get to fly on an airplane!  The kids slept most of the ride (it was bedtime!)  We got to Denver and searched for a rental car in the snow.  We ended up with a 4x4 Ford pickup.  Perfect for us!  We drove about an hour and met the Spencers at a hotel for the night.  The kids were also very excited about the hotel, even though we fell right asleep as soon as we got there.  Would stay there and then drive the rest of the way the next morning.  One hotel room for all 8+ (Crystal is pregnant) of us!  Two Four Eight peas in a pod!
We got to Snowmass and got settled into the house.  We so love going to Snowmass!  The house is incredible too!  We spent the rest of Saturday relaxing, unpacking, going to rent our skis, getting lift tickets, and enjoying the hot tub.  The next day we would hit the slopes!
Sunday ski day...we started off by taking Andi to her ski lessons.  She looked so cute in her ski suit and boots and skis.  She was excited about lessons.  On the way there she did say that she was a little nervous.  "Mostly excited, but a little nervous."  You would not know about her being nervous, because when we got there she was ready to go.  Gave mom and dad big hugs and kisses and that was that.  Told her we would come watch her ski and see her at the end of the day.  Looking forward to skiing with her and her showing us all she learned.  Eastman stayed at the house with Crystal.  She decided she would stay in today with Sutton, Callyn, and Eastman (and since she was preggo, she wasn't sure she would want to ski).  So, Dave, Shane, and I had a great day skiing.  We went to the house for lunch to eat with Crystal and the little ones.  Eastman was having so much fun playing with Sutton.  We tried several times during the day to find Andi, but they were off skiing and eating lunch on their own.  Didn't find her until lessons were over.  We asked her about her ski lessons and she loved it.  She told us about the two friends that were there with her.  Said that the girl did not speak English, she was from France.  The boy spoke English, but it sounded different because he was from Australia.We took her up the main lift for our final ski, the way we get home s to ski down a run, down, a snow-covered road, and to the driveway of the house.  Andi did great!  At one point she was really flying, doing great, but I don't think she liked going fast.  My little snow bunny did incredibly well!  I knew she would!  Proud of her.  We got to the house and instead of undressing, we kept on our ski gear and helped the boys get dressed in their and we went and played in the backyard.  Sledding, building snowmen, having a snowball fight, and eating icicles.  What a fun way to end the day.  That evening we cooked dinner, relaxed in the hot tub, and went to bed early.
Day two was a day devoted to skiing with the kids.  Family fun day.  It was fun, maybe a little exhausting, but overall a great day.  We started by taking the kids to the slopes.  We rode the mini gondola, called Skittles, up to the bunny slope.  The most tiring part was lugging boots and skis and poles and kids to the ski area.  Once we put on our skis, we were good-to-go.  But Dave and I were hot and sweaty before we even began skiing.  Ha!  So much for needing to bundle up today!  What I envisioned to be a glorious, beautiful, carefree day of skiing with our kids, was actually more work than I wanted to admit.  Eastman had a blast skiing fast between my legs.  Wanted to do it more and more.  Andi wanted to do t on her own and show us what she learned yesterday, but it was not the same as being with her ski school.  She was tired, hesitant to go to fast, and did not want to ski for long.  After that run, we decided to take off the skis for the day and go tubing instead.  Tubing was a lot of fun.  The tubing hill is on top of Snowmass.  You ride the Elk camp Gondola up, walk a little ways, and there it is.  There is a tunnel with a "magic carpet" that you step on that moves you to the top of the hill.  The kids loved it.  Andi more so than Eastman.  I think Eastman was a little terrified at first and was getting sleepy.  Shane, Crystal, Sutton, and Callyn went tubing with us (well Callyn just watched).  We then decided to eat lunch on the mountain before taking the Gondola back down to the base.  What a fun family day.  We got back to the house.  All took naps and then woke up for more snow fun.  Lots of backyard playing in the snow.  Late that night Uncle Crazy's parents, brother, and two nieces made it to the house.
Kathy and Clark were sweet enough to say that they would stay home with all the little kids so that the big kids: Dave, Crystal, Shane, Kyle, and me could go skiing together.  Well that was the plan, at least.  While Kyle and Crystal got skis, Shane, Dave and I went up for one long run and then planned on meeting them at the bottom.  Shane met them at the bottom.  Not Dave and I.  Dave took a really bad fall and ended up being pulled down the mountain by ski patrol.  Looked like Dave got in a bad fight.  Guess he did, and the mountain won.  I called Clark and asked if he could drive to the mountain to get us because there was no way that Dave was putting skis back on.  I am thankful that he was wearing a helmet.  Probably could have been a lot worse.  When we got to the house, I made Dave a couple of snow packs and put him to bed.  The first run of the day!  He wiped out on the first run of the day.  Could he not wait until the end of the day?!  Well, at least it was our last day of skiing versus our first day there.  I enjoyed playing with the kids until lunch time.  When Shane, Crystal, and Kyle came in for lunch, Clark and I went with them for the afternoon to do some skiing.  When we came in at the end of the day, I checked on Dave.  Still in bed, but hanging in there.  Poor Dave!  I went to play with the kids in the snow in the backyard.  This time, they stayed out there forever!  Sledding.  Icicle gathering.  And they build a snow marten.  We had seen one at lunch peering at us through the back window of the house.  The snow marten quickly became a snow porcupine when they put their icicles in it.  Pretty creative kids!  Dave emerged that evening to join us for our final evening in Colorado.  Dinner and entertainment by the kids.
On the day we left, on our way out, we stopped by Krabloomik, the sled dog training facility.  We were all facinated at how many dogs were there and by their rigorous training exercises.  Neat place.  We were in no rush since we had a later flight, so we stopped in Denver to eat lunch and shop and then headed to the airport.  The security line was so long, I was worried that we would not make our flight, but luckily we did.
What a fun and memorable vacation!  The kids loved it!  We loved it!  (All except for Dave's injury.)

Andi Lynn- February 2016

Andi- February 2016

2/8: Dave usually takes Andi to school every morning.  Well today, I got to take Andi to school.  It was fun getting to talk to her in the car on the way.  Before she got out of the car, she gave me a kiss.  I kissed her and told her to have an awesome day.  What was most precious was that after she got out of the car, she stood on the sidewalk blowing kisses to me.  She did not car that there was a line of cars behind me (and neither did I).  I hope to always remember this vision of my big kindergarten girl taking the time to blow me kisses before walking into the school building.  Of course I caught all of her kisses and blew kisses back in her direction.

Andi's class gets to go to the library at school every Monday.  Without fail, each Monday when she comes home and we pull out her new library books, what do I see?  Nonfiction books about cats and/or dogs.  Andi always brings home "true books" from her school library.  They are almost always about cats, kittens, dogs, puppies, different breeds, etc.  She gets to check out two books each time they visit the library.  Andi can read these books on her own and is proud to read them to us on Monday nights before bed.

2/12: Dave said, "How'd you grow up so fast?"  Andi simply smiled and said, "Don't blink" (and batted her eyes).

2/13: After Meemaw's funeral in Lubbock, we spent the weekend in Stanton with Kris, Misty, Riley, and Madi Jo.  The kids loved being out on the farm and since the weather was so nice, we spent the majority of our time outside playing.  While exploring, Andi climbed up on back of tractor and said to Madi, "Let's look up to the sky so we can talk to God."  I melted.

Eastman Rex- February 2016

Eastman- February 2016

Nana told me that Eastman was asking to eat a taco from Taco Bueno after school one day, so she took him there.  While inside he was tapping loudly on the tables.  A couple walked over to him and with a smile asked him if he was a drummer or going to be a drummer one day.  Nana said that Eastman stopped tapping and with his head kept down, never looking up or making eye contact with them, said in a gruff voice, very matter of fact, "I play baseball."  (I think he was almost a little offended that they would even suggest such a thing.  That he was a drummer.  Couldn't they see that he is clearly a baseball player?!)

Each night when putting Eastman to bed, he asks me to lay with him for a little bit.  After several minutes, I usually tell him that it is time for me to go downstairs or that it is time for me to go check on Andi.  Most nights he says, just ten more minutes.  And after a couple minutes, he says, "Let me count: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10.  Ok, Mommy, go check on Andi and then come back and check on me."  Well one night this month, instead of this usual routine, after laying with him for a bit, he simply said, "Mom, go downstairs and go to sleep so then you can hold me in the morning."  My precious boy.  Just wants Momma to hold him!

2/8: Eastman asked for my phone and said, "I want to text Gram."  And proceeded to try to text her.

2/9: While in the car, Eastman asked me when he would be able to sit in the front seat.  Then he asked when he could drive.  My two year old is already asking me when he can drive?!  Well, I told him that when he is 16, he can drive.  He siad that he will drive and I can sit next to him.  Eastman said, "I can drive you to your work when I'm sixteen. You sit there (pointing to the passenger seat) and I will drive.  I will drive you to work and to Chuck E. Cheese and to Disney World."  He is always thinking!  Sounds like a perfect plan if you ask me!

2/29: "Momma, I need to grow bigger so I can play baseball with Uncle Shawn!  My food is not making me grow bigger."  
Oh my darling boy!  Slow down!  I need you to stay my little boy for awhile longer.  Soon enough you will be bigger and bigger and playing baseball like your Uncle Shawn.  Let me hold you now while you still fit in my arms (barely) and while you still request for me to hold you and for you to hold my neck.  :)