Rockin' the Wedge!

My bro, Jeffy, sent me these pictures from last week's ski outing with Rory.  I was going to pick just one, but then I decided I loved them all.  Rory is just so little!!  She looks like a little dumpling with all her ski stuff on.  

Here she is, rockin' the wedge!!

Speaking of skiing...I have my on snow assessment for my Level 1 Children's Specialist tomorrow.

Wish me luck!

Our MLK day.

Yesterday afternoon marks a very monumental occasion…we got this little one (Rory) on skis!  Which means our entire family was skiing at the same time!  It was awesome!  It's a really great thing when our family hits a mile stone.  Ryan was skiing the mountain with Piper.  Haley and Morgan stayed together and skied on their own and would meet back up with Rory and me on the rope tow every now and then.

But yeah, I'm so proud of Rory!  We still have a bit of work to do as all she wants to do is zoom down the hill with straight skis…doesn't like stopping and doesn't like being helped (she's a stubborn one).  One good fall and she'll change her mind, but I opted to keep her safe and everyone around her for that matter as she was ready to plow into anything in front of her!  We'll keep working on that whole stopping thing again…she'll get it eventually!  But it was so fun to watch all the other girls cheer her on and encourage her.  Why can't they be nice like that all the time to each other?!

Hope everyone had a great weekend!
Happy Tuesday!

Everyday Life

We've been getting back into our more normal routine after the craziness of the holidays.  I worked nearly the entire two weeks the kids had off and I was pretty worn out by the end of it...especially with temps below 0 degrees!!  Yeah...with temps like that it makes teaching children how to ski quite difficult.  Our children's yurt was filled to the brim with cold crying children that needed to take breaks...(believe me, I was about to cry with them...I live in Utah, but there is still a little CA girl in me).  And we went through hot chocolate and hand warmers like there was no tomorrow.  

But we survived and now this week we are experiencing a bit of a heat wave with temps in the upper 40's!!

 40's...pretty much barefoot in the snow type of weather.

I've been trying to do more baking this month and trying out new recipes.

 Like these...Good Morning Muffins from The Pioneer Woman.

I've been watching her shows on Netflix and everything she makes looks so good!

And really, everything that I've tried of hers comes out delicious...I'm a fan.

And speaking of cooking...

 ...it's becoming more and more challenging with my limited counter space.

I'm sure this is not a new thing and kids all over the world love to sit on counters...(although, I don't ever remember doing it myself when I was little).  But my kids LOVE sitting, crawling around, standing (sometimes) on my counters!  I'll tell them to get down but then there they are again!  And Rory is like a little monkey...she can climb onto it without the use of a stool or anything.

In other news, we signed Haley and Morgan up for ski school.  It's a six week program through their elementary school.  Every week they'll get taken out of school a few hours early and head up the mountain for 2 1/2 hours of ski instruction.  It's a pretty neat program.  However, today was the first day and I was so full of anxiety!!  It's a lot of responsibility, they are in charge of everything...skis, poles, boots, helmets, goggles, gloves...also changing clothes, making it to the bus....sheesh! Yeah, I was a total stress case.  In these cases it is very hard for me to let go of being in (somewhat) control.  I need to let them spread their little wings and learn on their own...but it's so hard for me!!!  I'm a worrier...that's just what I do.

Morgan loading onto the bus on her way up the mountain.

I'm happy to report that their first day went very well, except for some technical difficulties with Haley's ski, but we'll get that taken care of before next week.  Haley (along with her bestie) and Morgan are all in the same group, which is nice!  So here's to five more weeks...hopefully I won't be a stress case for all of them!

And speaking of skiing....

....I'm going in for my Children's Specialist in PSIA (Professional Ski Instructors of America).

I have a seminar next week, a workbook to complete and then an on snow evaluation at the end of the month.

Wish me luck.

Happy New Year!

My dad took this photo of our house Christmas evening...I love it.

Another picture from Christmas...me with all my (once again) bearded brothers.  We just about have our own Duck Dynasty going on over here.  And yes...Jeff totally has a naked woman on his shirt.  And yes, I totally bought him that for Christmas.

Did I mention how much I loved having all my family together for Christmas?

It was wonderful!

We spent New Years at my folks' house and it was so much fun!

We celebrated with an authentic Dutch menu complete with Oliebollens for dessert...super yummy!

And, I might add, we all made it to midnight to ring in the new year (except for Rory who crashed around 11).

Happy New Year to you all!!