tubing at Soldier Hollow

Marc's parents took us tubing at Soldier Hollow on Monday.

Eva and I were together most of the day. The first time we went down, she yelled, "This is the most fun of my entire life!" I love that she is still wearing her size 3 snowsuit (it's just a bit short)/

Eva tagged along with Max and Nicole a time or two. It was such a warm, sunny day that we all started shedding our hats, gloves, and scarves.

I was teasing Max about using a tiny tube, and Eva said, "Well, he does have a really small bottom." Which is true.

Lucas was being a crazy man, dragging his head in the snow, and generally getting as wet and snowy as possible.

After a run like that, he was completely covered in a fine mist of shimmering snow. I tried to capture it, but it didn't translate. Suffice it to say that now we have more fodder for teasing him about being told he looks like Edward from Twilight.

A view while going up the hill.

This is the mechanism that pulls everyone up the hill. I just thought it looked cool.

Eva gave the hair-dragging a try.

Apparently I didn't get any pictures of Michelle, Kristen, or Bob and Mim! Good grief.

After our two hours of tubing were up, we went for a late lunch to the Spin Cafe (where we have gone after tubing a couple of times before). They have great sandwiches, salads, onion rings, and gelato for dessert.

This is a picture from our post-tubing lunch last year.

1. Lucas is wearing the same sweater!
2. He looks like a completely different boy. What a difference a year makes.

Thanks to Bob and Mim, our holiday really felt like a holiday! (Except that Marc had to work.)

soldier hollow

Today Marc's parents generously took us tubing at Soldier Hollow for the third time (but it was the first time Marc joined us!).

They even brought snacks and hand warmers for everyone – here Nicole was trying to warm up her face with them.

I wasn't sure how Eva was going to fare, as this was her first time actually tubing with us. (The first time we took Lucas, I had to force him to go on one run and then he loved it.) She was a bit dubious at the beginning but didn't require much convincing at all. I think it helped that Marc was there and we put her between the two of us.

It wasn't all that cold (about 40º, I think) and snowing lightly. We were all in good form.

I ate the tasty dried fruit and nuts that Mim & Bob brought during one of the times I was on the tow rope up the hill.

Because Eva was participating this year, Grandma & Grandpa were able to go tubing as well!

Lucas in his ski mask.

By this time, the snow was really coming down, and we were all getting quite wet. Also, the tow rope stopped at one point when we were being pulled up the hill and Eva's tube slipped off. Marc jumped off and re-attached her, but she was apparently irretrievably traumatized, because that was her last run.

It actually ended up being the last run for everyone. The heavy snow was preventing the runs from getting packed and sleek; with the constant fresh powder, the tubes were going slow and even coming to a stop on the hill. That combined with everyone being soaked and chilled led us back to the lodge to warm up.

Eva recovered quickly once she stripped off her snow clothes and warmed herself by the fire. (My camera lens was wet and foggy!)

After some warming up time, we went to a restaurant in Heber for lunch. Holy moly, look at those onion rings! Bob & Mim treated us all to lunch. Going out with the grandparents is especially exciting for the kids, as they are encouraged to order specialty drinks, and basically whatever else they want. (Incidentally, this restaurant had what they called "Utahn cream soda," which is an Italian cream soda made sweeter with Sprite. Ew. Nobody ordered one.)

Lucas and Eva were both in heaven, as they ordered pasta with butter, fries, and gelato for dessert.

Visibility was low coming down from the mountains. We were all wearing wet clothes (except for Lucas, the only smart one who brought a dry change of clothing). This was an adventure for my home-loving clan. It was a fun outing, and it felt oh so good to come home and take a hot shower!

Spring snow

I had to run to the grocery store last night and snapped this photo of a teeny tiny snowman that someone made in the flats of pansies for sale out front. We got about 4 inches of snow yesterday and I was feeling badly for all the flowers and birds.

Then we woke up to this today! A foot of new snow. During Spring break.

The branches on our flowering plum are weighted all the way down to the deck! I hope they don't break.

Good grief.

in my neighborhood

This one's for you, Mom!

yesterday and today

Yesterday, I snapped these pictures of Fall beauty when I dropped Eva off at preschool.


Yesterday I witnessed -- and participated in -- this history-making election. I am profoundly struck by his vision, his optimism, and his willingness to tackle the huge problems we are facing right now. I am thrilled and so moved that America has elected an African-American to its highest office. I am so proud to be an American today.

Today we woke up to this. I knew a change was in the air.

Monday miscellany

Is it possible to fall into a hormonal funk just after getting your period? Because it's happened to me twice in a row now. Post-MS. I think I hate it even more than PMS. It was exacerbated today because I had a headache and decided to lie down while Eva was napping. I fell asleep and didn't pick Lucas up (damn early out day!). He waited for me for almost half an hour (!) then walked home in the snow. He was very wet, he was very cold, and he was mad at me. I apologized profusely, but he was determined to make me suffer. He sat in his room for about an hour, doing nothing, just being mad that his early out day was wasted and he no longer had time to play with a friend (never mind that he would have had time had he not wasted that hour by sulking). I really think he wanted to make me feel bad, and I'll tell you it worked. Nothing like feeling like a bad mother to ruin your day.

I took many photos, trying to capture the amazing depth of snow on our deck. None of them seemed to really show what I see, so I decided on this -- fluffy, unmarred, and oh so plentiful. I'd say we have about 18 inches out there now (due to several storms with minimal melting in-between). This is by far the most snow we've had in the 10 years we've lived in Utah. I saw our mail carrier today on a different street and I really felt for him. The roads have so much snow on them that only the center area is clear, which means that he has to park several feet from the curb and then trudge through the deep snow to get to the mailboxes. Repeat all day long.

Recently I was wondering if I was done with quilting. I wondered how I could be so passionate about something, and then... not so much. But then I saw a book at Costco today with this quilt:

and now I know: I'm not done with quilting! I love this!

My kids have proven once again that a giant cardboard box is the best toy ever. (Now I don't know how I will ever get rid of it...) I may have to corral more giant boxes and have them make a whole town, because I just found out that Marc is going on a week-long research trip two weeks from today.

Also, I forgot to take pictures of my new hair after I got it done on Saturday. I took some self-portraits yesterday, with second-day hair, and they turned out pretty scary. Then I took some more today, with freshly-washed curly hair, and they were even scarier. Suffice it to say that I went brown, I got bangs (!) and I'm not sure that I like it...

snowy holiday retreat

We returned yesterday afternoon from our holiday weekend in Midway. It's kind of funny that Marc didn't end up joining us for a vacation with his family, but he got passes to the Sundance Film Festival for the first time, thus fulfilling a (nearly) lifelong dream.


Marc's parents are wonderful to vacation with -- their only goal is for everyone to have a great time. They enabled me to enjoy myself by spending a lot of time playing with Eva, which meant that I could play board games, go tubing with my boys, and even get some much-needed sleep after Eva woke up at 4:45 (!@**!) on Saturday morning.

We stayed in this cute little Swiss-style chalet.

It had the craziest icicles any of us have ever seen!

There are many photos I wish I could have taken.

We went tubing on Saturday at Soldier Hollow, and it was so fun! My natural instinct was to avoid it -- I offered to stay behind with Eva, but Marc's parents insisted that they would do that so I could participate -- and I'm glad I did, it made me feel like a kid again. Lucas was feeling really nervous at first and didn't think he wanted to try it, but I forced him to go down one run before deciding. We linked our tubes and careened down the hill together. As I suspected, he loved it and was totally on board. In fact, when our two hours were over, he was wishing we could stay longer! I was afraid I was going to be freezing, since I didn't have snow pants or boots, but we were all totally comfortable. I was shocked to find out later that it was only 18 degrees... apparently we're getting used to the cold or something.

We also went swimming several times, which involved bundling up over our bathing suits and braving the snow to get to the clubhouse. It felt so strange to be going out in the snow in our swimsuits! Grandma was a great sport to come with us.

Other than that, we stayed inside and played lots of games and watched many movies. The kids all loved being able to go next door to Grandma & Grandpa's or across the hall to see their cousins. (Lucas even slept over with his grandparents.)

Max & Grandpa kibbutzing about the game (Scotland Yard).

Max and Lucas demonstrating the depth of the snow.

This was the view from my bedroom window early Monday morning.
We woke up to a foot of fresh snow!

Eva discovered the beauty of fry sauce.
(It was a good thing she had her own cup, as she was triple dipping.)

Lucas and Kristen at the Dairy Keen. Aren't cousins great?

It was a bit of a white-knuckle drive coming home -- visibility was not great because of the snow, and my Odyssey's defroster wasn't working well, either. I had to keep wiping the windshield with my hand and crouch down to see out of the bottom 1/4 of the window. I was so relieved to get home safely!

{Just for laughs: this is Marc's sister Michelle, doing an imitation of one of the little boys who comes to her Little Gym. (He flutters around on his tiptoes, saying that he's a little girl with ponytails. He won't respond unless the teachers preface his name with "little girl"!) She cracked us all up -- and had everyone doing it, too.}