Skiing!

Hannah and I finally got to go skiing Saturday. Travel, rain, and college applications have kept us off the slopes until now. So never mind the gale force winds, the zero visibility, the heavy, heavy snowfall, we hit Deer Valley Saturday. Hannah was trying out her Christmas skis for the first time and let me tell you, this girl can ski! I just do my best to keep up with her. And given the white-out conditions, that was more challenging than usual this time.

There were times when we just double over laughing because it was so insane to be sliding down a mountain going who-knows-how-fast without being able to see a foot in front of you. Fortunately the trees, chair lift towers, and signs are dark enough to at least be avoided.

It cleared up enough for me to take these action shots of her skiing in all the fresh powder. Talk about a quad-burner!

Now if Blogger will let me add one more photo I will show you how amazingly beautiful it was in Utah this weekend.

Love to all!

Happy New Year and the last word

More Christmas!

Part two of our Christmas recap features photos from Quincy. It won't take you long to see who the star of this production was!

Happy Birthday Dad!!

Wish I could be there to celebrate with you all! You are in my thoughts today as always! Thank you for being such a wonderful Dad, you have given so much to our family and we are blessed to have you!! Enjoy your day, I think it might be a two highball event!!
All of my love,
Susan

Happy Birthday Grandpa

Wishing you the best on this big day. Hope you have a good one. I found this picture of you and Grandma on vacation. Enjoy your day!

Happy Birthday!

Dearest Donald,

I hope you are not one of those people who hate having to share your birthday with Christmas, because our gift to you is photos of your BEAUTIFUL family over the holiday season. I am not sure how many photos this blog will let me upload per post, so this may be a multi-parter.

First, we want to wish you a very happy 2011, continued health and happiness, and just enough excitement (and Canadian Mist) to keep things lively!

Here's a peek at Christmas 2010 in Salt Lake City.

New year

Dearest family,

It was so great to spend time with you either in Salt Lake or Illinois. What an amazing group of people you are. I will upload the photos and share our Christmas joy this weekend, but first I have to tell you that our sweet dog, Bart, passed away in his sleep last night. We actually think that he waited for us to return from Illinois. He was so bright, shiny, and happy when we got home Sunday evening. He looked better than he did when we left. He spent time with each of us, either under our feet or with his head in our lap. I think he needed to make sure that we were home safely and that we would keep him safe. (And protect his toys from small children and cats.)

I recently read a book titled, "The Art of Racing in the Rain," written from an old dog's perspective. The dog is at peace with his destiny because he is convinced that he will be reincarnated as a man. Based on Barty Boo's personality, we are convinced he will be reincarnated as a boy.

Lots of tears mixed with sweet memories and laughter in this house tonight.

*Please ignore random image of cat attacking Hannah's leg. I uploaded it by mistake and can't figure out how to remove it.