Happy New Year from The Lodge

Zac, Ben, my parents, Adam and I all returned to the mountains, and to Tommy, Luke and Josh, who had stayed behind, to ring in the New Year with our friends.  What a fun night!  We celebrated with a cheese fondue course followed by a chocolate one, which was so delicious.  We played some fun large-group party games and said goodbye to 2017 and hello to 2018 with a midnight toast.  It was the perfect place to start the year off right with so many awesome people.  I loved hearing the snippets of conversation carrying through the house as everyone relaxed and enjoyed themselves.

The first day of January was Luke's first ever ski lesson.  I really wanted the day to be perfect for him, so that he would love the sport and we could make it a family affair heading into the future.  The snow so far for our winter season had been terrible, with very little snow in the mountains and almost zero snowfall in The Springs, but the warmish day at Copper and lessons being low on the mountain, where they manufacture snow anyway, ended up being a great combination for Luke.  He had a lot of fun, was OK with the falling and took to the sport happily.  Phew!  I think learning the balance to ride a bike this summer was such a help.  He already can't wait to go again!

Josh had woken up in the middle of the night with a stomach bug (the poor kid really wanted a winter break do-over!) and it hadn't snowed at our mountain resorts in a week, but because Luke had his lesson, Adam, Zac, Ben and Micah went up to ski/board anyway.  They spent a lot of the day on the lower part of the mountain where the snow was better, strengthening their turning skills (skiers) and working on their goofy foot (boarders).  Tommy, my parents and I brought them lunch and waited to catch a glimpse of our shiny new skier with his class, before driving to Frisco for lunch at a yummy daytime eatery called Bread + Salt.  Then we hiked up into the hills above the town to a lovely snowy mountain creek scene.  It was a really nice day, and I felt so happy to hear how much fun Luke was having.  I hadn't realized how stressed out I was about his first ski experience!

We ended the day back at the lodge in the hot tub, watching the beautiful sunset behind the mountains.  It was nearly time to head home to get ready for school to start up again, but we felt rejuvenated and refreshed after this escape to one of our happy places with so many people we love!       

Our Favorite Lodge in the Days Between CD and NYE

A day after Christmas, we packed up the crew and escaped to the Simonds' lodge.  Since the snow wouldn't come to us, we went to find it!  As ever, Mountain Vista Lodge was wonderful and peaceful.  And there are few people in the world kinder than the Simonds family.

Upon arrival, our little boys didn't wait for a minute before trying out the new sledding hill.  It was great!  Over the next couple of days, mingling among much relaxation, Adam and the older boys went skiing/boarding with Josiah and Micah at Copper, and Tommy, my parents and I took a beautiful snowshoe adventure at Upper Cataract Lake (where we had hiked in the summer) with Elizabeth, one of the girls from Nigeria who is staying with Valerie and David for a year.  Luke opted to stay at the lodge and sled and hang out with Ryan, which was A-OK, because making your own choices is what vacation is all about! 

It was a lovely start to a two-part getaway!  Although we had to get home for the Saturday night New Year's Eve Eve Youth Dance for the older boys and Sunday church for Adam and I (the last/first Sundays of the year are second in craziness only to Primary Program Sunday for me as the Primary President, trying to make sure all the classes are staffed and ready for the annual changes), we only left for 48-hours before going back up to ring in the New Year!