Winter 2010-2011

Well, here's last winter's photos and video clips. We started the winter off with a ski trip to Red Lodge the day after Thanksgiving. Yes, they already had enough snow. Annisia did very well her first days back on the skis. She started skiing Spring 2010, but only got in probably 6 hours before the end of the season. So we were impressed with her skiing. We did sign her up for a group lesson right off, and she did well. In her words, "It was easy." Succinct. That's my girl.

Then, after our Special Meetings in early December, we geared up for Christmas. I had the kids buy each other something this year so they know it's not just about receiving, but also about giving. They liked the gifts they received from each other. Kayla was home and stayed with us a couple of nights which was fun. The kids enjoy having her here too. Michael bought me skis! They are beautiful. I got myself a helmet last year also. We enjoyed Christmas Day with Michael's family at the ranch.

Then Dawnita, a friend and former roommate of Leilani and I, came from CA, via ID, where she rode with Kristi, a friend she played BB with at Clark College in Vancouver, WA. (Do you think I could fit a few more abbreviations in that sentence? Let's try...), and we all met in Bozeman, MT, for some skiing and R&R for the wk between C'Mas and New Years. ;-) We met up on a Tuesday eve, skied Wednesday, it got super cold Thursday (like 0 at the base and -9 at the top of the mt!) so only the diehards, (ie. Bret, Michael and Kristi) skied, and Dawnita, the kids and I hung out at the hotel and did a little shopping and got Starbucks. Well, I got Starbucks...while I tried to recover from my accident with the snowboarder the day before. Yup. Sure glad I got a helmet last year.

Then we all parted ways Friday, New Year's Eve. We drove home where Leilani had camped out while we were gone, had some chill time,  got the kids to bed, then Michael noticed the generator wasn't kicking on in the mountain home the guys had just built. He did the solar system for the home and was keeping watch on it remotely through the winter. It was blizzarding, about 8:30pm, and he was worried because the family was up there and were using a lot of power. So he sent an email of what they needed to do hoping they'd get it before the power went out. Then he called Bret and they geared up to go up there. Now, this place is off the road, no paving through the winter kind of place. So they were prepared to hike in a mile through fairly deep snow, hauling in tools and supplies. Luckily, the man of the home got the email, they got the generator going, met Michael and Bret at the road, and all was well. But what a way to ring in the new year!! What did Leilani and I do while Michael was gone? Besides me worry because I didn't know any of the good things that were happening?! Well, Leilani said, "Do you want to play Farkle?" and I said, "We don't have it." and she said, "I wonder if there's an app for that?" and there was! So we played Farkle! on the iPod...Whee!

The pics of the kids at Gramma and Papa's are from one Saturday we decided to go sledding out there. Unfortunately, it was getting warm, so the snow was sticky. But the kids tried. Jonathan was funny, standing on the sled and riding it down like a snowboard. Michael brought his snowboard along and gave the kids a ride. Fun winter times!

April...skiing

We headed up to Red Lodge again for a little more skiing. Annisia had another lesson, this time on traversing the mountain. Yippee! No more dare devil point the skis and fly, giving Mommy an early heart attack! She did really well. The video is amateur, so forgive.

Annisia was done about mid day. So we all took a break, got the kids a burger to split, some hot chocolate, then Annisia and I cuddled by the fire. "Uppy, Mommy!", she said, as she climbed into my lap. Then, zzzzzzzzz, she was out. She slept for at least an hour in my arms while I people watched with my aching feet still in my boots. The price a mommy pays to have a happy child...

Then, after her nap, Daddy and Jonathan came into the lodge and we girls confirmed we didn't want to ski anymore. So I ran, er, ski-boot-walked, my way to the car for comfy boots. Then the sweet bunkin and I played in the snow. We built a snowman and made his body parts out of tall grasses that were poking their way through the snow. We got a couple of compliments too!!

Woman turns 40. (2nd installation)

After doing the whole Locks of Love thing, we went out of town for the weekend. Michael made arrangements to have Jonathan go to Gramma and Papa's and Annisia went to Aunty Ang and Uncle Mike's house. What a guy!! So, we left town Friday afternoon and drove to Bozeman for some good eats and some skiing. If you're ever there, try Ted's, and Montana Ale Works. Yummy food, both.
And Bridger Bowl was a fun place to ski. We are hoping to take the kids there next season. The lift lines were short, I hear they have great ski schools for the kids, the rates were good, Michael liked the powder (I don't like powder...), and they were cool! I skied 1/2 day, then got my boots on, grabbed my scrapbooking stuff, hopped on a lift and went up to the upper lodge where it was quieter and worked on a little album while Michael snowboarded for a while. The lift guys were great. They stopped the lift for me to hop on and off...kind of neat.
Here's a collage of our day...Click on it to see it larger.

Annisia's first time skiing!!

We headed off to Red Lodge the morning of the day after Christmas. We got there just in time to set Annisia up with a one hour individual ski lesson. She was SO excited! We got her outfitted and met up with Patrick. She didn't even look back! Patrick talked to her about some things then off she scooted on her skis, onto the magic carpet with her instructor, and next thing you know, Annisia, 3 1/2, is skiing! In that one hour, Patrick taught her to go and stop, basically. Usually they teach the children "french fries" for "go" (skis are parallel like french fries) and "pizza pie" for "stop" (skis turn in at the toes to make a wedge, hence, pizza). Well, that didn't work well for her for some unknown reason, so he taught her "red light" and "green light". Either way, she had a good time. After her lesson, we took her up Miami Beach ski lift and struggled our way down. More about that another time...





While Annisia had her lesson, Michael, Jonathan and I did a little skiing. We were headed up Miami Beach lift and saw Santa! He hadn't gone back to the North Pole yet! So, Jonathan skied off the lift (like a pro!) , skied right up to Santa and said, "Thank you for the toy pistol. It's just what I wanted!" It was SO cute!



Here's a pic of the little man and I on another lift. This boy of mine amazes me. He is so great on his skis. He just schusses everywhere, no fear. Well, let me rephrase that. He has a healthy respect for the mountain. He knows to traverse the slope so he's in control. But, Michael will take him on black diamond slopes and he doesn't blink. Pretty cool. Soon these kids of mine will be leaving me on the bunny slopes to ski black diamonds all day with Dad. {sniff, sniff...}

I like this background

After perusing and playing with some different blog backgrounds, I have decided on this one...for today! "Walking in a Winter Wonderland" seems appropriate, as the snow lightly falls (and melts ;-). We're hoping for more, more, more! Even though I don't like skiing in powder, Michael and Jonathan do. Annisia seems to like face planting in it. We went up to our little ski area up in the mountains here last Sunday. Annisia scares the willies out of me. She gets off the lift, gets a little push up the tiny hill to the top of the hill, points her skis and goes. No looking back! Scares the willies...I post and turn down the bunny slope, vainly attempting to catch her, yelling, "You MUST go across the hill. Push your buttons..." (That's something the ski instructor told her. That she had special buttons on the bottom of her rental skis. She needed to take turn pushing down on them. Then she'd go across the mountain, working her way down in a controlled manner.) Oh, where, Oh, where is that ski instructor again? Maybe she'd listen to him...She plowed down one time, veered off into some powder and face planted. BOOM! She landed so hard, she didn't just lose a ski, she lost the ski AND boot! Popped her little SmartWool stockinged foot right out of her boot! Joy.

Back to Red Lodge for more skiing

My husband and son, the skiing junkies! They went back up to Red Lodge again on April 4th. We had a snowstorm come through here on the 3rd. It was a doozy! The roads were nasty. As of that night, they weren't sure about going. But we got on Accuweather.com and looked all around us. Michael knew Red Lodge was getting some good snow and he was so excited! But the I-90 corridor was nasty. I reminded Michael about the alternate route thru Basin (which I have never been on, but he mentioned recently). And that's what they ended up taking. At 4:30am Saturday, April 4, Michael roused Jonathan, got him into the truck, went and picked up Uncle Bret, and they headed west over Hwy 16 up the pass and over to the other side. It was a blustery drive going up the pass...they were making fresh tracks most of the way, then hit a big snowdrift and poof! They were covered in snow. Michael slammed on the brakes and they thought they were done for...in the ditch. But, when the snow cleared, they saw they were in the middle of the road having blasted through a big drift. After that, things progressively got better and soon they were on dry roads for the rest of the drive. Once they turned north again to go up to Red Lodge, they hit the snow again, but only for about 50 miles. The road up to the mountain was packed, with snow and cars; and when they got to the parking lot there was about 4 feet of snow all around. They were salivating! Lift lines couldn't open until about 10am because of all the snow. This is what they saw riding the lifts...compare it to the last trip there and you'll see the change in snow.

Jonathan is ready!

This is the north side of the mountain...the Palisades. This side hasn't been open the past 3 years due to lack of snow. Well, this year it was open, I think, the last 3 weekends. It has all expert slopes except for one intermediate slope. Jonathan still talks about skiing in the Palisades!

Powder hound busily skiiing...

Did I happen to mention Red Lodge got a bit of snow?! This is the midway lodge...The snow is nearly up to the top of the doorway.

One excited boy at the end of a good weekend!

Red Lodge, March 27-29, 2009

On Friday, March 27, Michael and Jonathan headed off to Red Lodge around 8:30am. It's a 3 1/2 hour drive, so they stopped in Billings to get lift tickets at Costco. (a great savings trick, btw. $70 for a pair ($35 ea) full day lift tickets compared to $47 full day/$37 half-day on the mountain) They got there in time for a half day Friday. The skiing was great! This first pic is of the snow on the lift line.

Jonathan already having a great time! Isn't he cute?!

Powder hound!

Then they took a few rides on the Magic Carpet.

That evening, Uncles Bret and Jon arrived. And the next day was a blast with them...as usual! Here's a taste of the fun they had. Bret and Jon were on snowboards. Check out this great wipe out by Bret. At :10, Bret says, "Did you get it?" Haha! I think it's great he wanted to make sure Michael got the video of the fall! At :27, Jon snowboards up to Jonathan, "Braack" (like a chicken) and says, "come on, get up!"



Jonathan was ready for the next step...an intermediate (blue) slope. Here are Uncle Jon, Jonathan, and Michael at the top of the Lazy M, a fun intermediate run.

Here's the video again of Jon messing around and Jonathan giggling about it.



And this one shows again how far up the spectrum Jonathan has come. At :25, Jon says, "What?!" And Jonathan says he's going to take a rest. "Oh, come on..." And Jonathan responds, "It's OK!" So cute!

Riding up the lift with Uncle Jon.

Cruising...

Uncle Jon, in his perfect ski form, (I mean, look at his parallel skis! beautiful!) demonstrating "post and turn" to Jonathan. Jonathan says Uncle Jon is saying, "Pokey turn!" because he pokes his pole into the snow when he turns.

Middle of the Lazy M. Isn't it beautiful?

That white ridge below is Miami Beach.

3/29 Jon left the night before, but Uncle Bret stayed on. More snow was blowing and falling! Jonathan was getting used to powder. At :45, he says, "Uncle Bret, I like the powder!" He kept going over to the side of the run where it wasn't groomed.



This is a sweet pic of Jonathan resting his skis on Daddy's snowboard while riding the lift. Michael is so proud of Jonathan coming up the curve so fast. He feels comfortable snowboarding while J skis. Just need to watch out getting on and off lifts. Once we had a big pile-up.
Finally, lunch at Midway Lodge! They always knew when Jonathan was hungry. He started getting whiney and not listening on the slopes (a dangerous thing, you know!). Jonathan really likes the waffle fries there! Looks like he had a corn dog too.

Skiing at Red Lodge

Michael took Jonathan skiing to Red Lodge, MT, this past weekend. They had a blast! They left Friday morning and got some skiing in that afternoon. Uncle Jon and Uncle Bret arrived that evening and they all enjoyed a day together Saturday. Here is a video from that day, but I told Michael he needs to do a bigger post about this with some of his own stories. So maybe tomorrow evening, I'll actually get him to do that. Until then, enjoy my little man skiing!