Monday, December 27, 2010

White Christmas














We've enjoyed a nice Christmas Holiday so far. We had a bit of sledding at a friends on Christmas Eve. It was a quiet, happy Christmas morning, with the excitement of Santa's arrival and gift-opening. Thank-you letters are on their way for the great and generous presents! Then after gift-opening and before the prime rib, we took the kids ice skating at the local park. It was a first for the kids, and Brian, too. Then on Sunday, we took the kids for the second time skiing, and it was another success, most especially for Jake. I think it is fair to say we are embracing winter and winter activities! That's good, since winter is bound to stick around for a while.

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Family Skiing








It was the first day of skiing for the whole crew -- and it was fun! Jake took to skiing, and kept going up the tow rope without taking a break. We had to drag him off of the little hill. When he returned his skis, he told the guy, "I had so much fun on those!" Annie didn't take to it as easily as her brother, but she still did well. She's bold, but unable to stop when she needs to. More lessons and practice are needed, but hopefully they'll both be strong, confident skiers soon enough. Certainly, it has been a great start. I had a fantastic time skiing, but forgot about some of the leg muscles necessary. The day ended with some wood-fired pizza and a bloody mary. Not too bad!

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Christmas Tree Cutting




We got a Christmas tree from the Lolo National Forest this year. It was a much different experience than cutting a tree from Coconino National Forest/North Rim. First, there were so many places to go nearby, which was convenient. In Arizona, there was only one road up to Jacob Lake, and it was 90 minutes away. The forest in Jacob Lake also had many tall pine trees, so we had to search for the smaller trees that tried to grow in the shade. Here, there were trees everywhere - different types and all sizes. It was easy to find a tree! In Arizona, we also had the distinction of driving from a wamer climate to a considerably different winter climate and back again. A last difference was that in Montana there were loads of other people doing the same thing, instead of us being one of a few. It was different, but just as enjoyable and memorable. We ended up with a nice douglas fir and have it decorated already.