Christmas and Skiing

We had a a fun Christmas. We stayed home again and had some family by. On Christmas Eve, Bub and Di and their kids braved the snow and came down for dinner. Mindy and Ryan came by as well. Our kids were excited to see their cousins Eva, Ella and Brock. It is funny to see how London, Summer and even Noah (though primarily London) become the baby sitters to their younger cousins. They pretty much don't let them out of their sight while they are here. Our kids were especially excited because Ryan and Mindy spent the night.

Christmas morning was fun because Ryan's parents and brother came over early to open presents with us. As always, the kids got way too much stuff but a good time was had by all. I especially enjoyed the Atari Flashback game system Tee surprised me with. It is just like the old Atari 2600 I grew up with. It was fun to play some old school video games and gratifying to see that I haven't lost my touch. London gets a kick out of playing it as well.

On New Year's Eve we rented some skis for the kids and took them to the park where they were able to practise a little on the small hill there. It was good to see London hadn't forgotten that much and Noah and Summer soon got the knack of sliding down the little hill. The next day we went up to Alta in the afternoon. The rope tows there are always free and there is one lift that is free after 3pm. It was warmer up there then down in the valley. The kids did great!! By the end of the day, London was able to go up the rope tow by herself and speed down and wonder what was taking so long for the rest of us. Noah was a little scared at first and not too excited to be there. But once we put the puppy leash on him, watch out. We have about 20 feet of climbing webbing that we wrap around a kid and then you have 2 "reins" that you can use to control them as you go down. Noah couldn't wait to be "the puppy". Summer was able to go down by herself as well by the end of the day. Our only mistake was waiting too long to use the lift. It was a little after 4pm and Tee took the littles back to the car and London and I went up the lift. By the time we got back down it was about 4:30. Once we got to the car and were ready to go, everyone was leaving. We were parked at the upper lot of Alta we didn't get out of the lot for over 1 hour. We started a movie in the car and it was over by the time we got to Snowbird. It took over 3 hours to get home!! Luckily Tee was prepared with snacks and drinks for the kids and they had the movie to entertain them. It was a holiday so we should have know better. It was a really fun way to start the year!!