Shake, Rattle, and Snow

Day 4: Snowmobiling!!!!!!!!!!!! It was one of the most exciting things we have ever done!!! The most majestic views. We were in awe of God's creation. Mom said "there has to be somewhere in heaven that looks like this". It was that beautiful! Nothing like using ALL of your body weight to turn the machine. Cutting in the snow was so much fun! We went all the way up to the top of the Continental Divide. Along the way we lost Dad and Drew because they liked to lag behind then rip the engine and flor it! So, in doing that they got lost and STUCK. Yes, that is right Dad got stuck in 4 ft. of snow with a 500lb. machine. So Drew happened to get this on the flip video. So funny! Our guide went back and found them, Praise God! :) Halfway through the trip we stopped at this little cabin to have Hot Chocolate. The cabin was owned by the Indians and, it was built in the early 1800's. The snowmobile company pays them $80,000 a yr. to use the cabin and the land around it. We did not get cold one bit. It did warm up today to a mere 27 degrees so we felt like we were in Hawaii. OK not really. :) We did have on these super warm suits and the machines had hand warming handles and feet warmers. Very Toasty! What a day it was. Such a great adventure. After that we came back and had some adventures in the hot tub. After dinner Mom and I made Tea Cakes which are a Christmas Tradition (recipe from My Grandma Betty). Then Scrabble then bed. :)

Syd the Pro

We woke up Day 3 and guess what...it was -10 degrees!!!!! Yes! That is right, and it was Freezing!!!! But, we were NOT going to let that stop us! Sydnie had been in ski school the day before and she was ready to go out with us. We went ALL over the Breck mountains, starting on greens then off to blues. Syd hung tough we were soooooooo impressed! She had NO FEAR! It was the BEST day of skiing so far. We did one run that was 3 miles long, talk about a blast!!! The cool thing is we have not yet begun to do all the slopes yet. The double black diamonds are insane and I would NEVER do those!!!! There is a lift called Imperial that carries you 12,998 ft. up! WOW! Then it was back for sandwiches, soup and a nap. After naps we went into town which was sooooo cute and, we ate at a local favorite called FATTY's. We had a full day and were pooped, so off to bed we went because we had to get up at 6:30 am for our snowmobiling adventure.

A blizzard of fun!

It's kinda fun we are actually on "normal people's" schedule being out here on the west coast time. funny huh! We woke up with it snowing like crazy today. Yes! of course we had our KAHVE coffee and suited up in all our gear to hit the slopes at 6 degrees with a wind storm. Sydnie was off to ski school (which she LOVED). It was a learning curve for sure today Andrew and I had not skied in 5 years, so we were a little rusty. Stacie gave us about 2 runs before making us head off to the blue runs (which are like black diamonds in WV)!!!! No mercy from her! I did only fall twice so I was proud. Dad was a champ, we got to this one slope and it was very steep so he veered off to the left where he "thought" it was flatter...well it was FULL of moguls in which case he fell and it took him like 15 min. to get the skies back on. It was quite funny from our view (they would all probably say the same about my falls :) . Mom tried skiing and decided after going down one little slope that she DID NOT like it, So she headed back to the house for a good book in front of the fire (she was in heaven). By the end of the day (4 o'clock) we were FROZEN and called it a day. We couldn't wait to get back for homemade spaghetti!!! Now I am really looking forward to BED!!!!!! Sweet Dreams!

Our 1st White Christmas

This year we have been counting down the days to Christmas Day because we have had a trip to Breckenridge, Co planned. The morning started off early 6 AM! Never have I ever been up this early on a Christmas morning, but it is funny how in the anticipation of the day how you pop right up out of bed. I do not think I slept a wink last night because I was SO excited!!!!! It has been months of planning this trip with lots of fun activities. We had our Christmas breakfast of hot rolls with kielbasa stuffed inside on the way to the airport. It was quite fun traveling today everyone seemed to have the holiday cheer and were all smiles (a nice change to the usual hustle and bustle of the airport) We got to Breckenridge around 4:30 pm. It is BREATHTAKING here. They have LOTS of snow and it is snowing tonight and all week. Our 1st WHITE CHRISTMAS!!!!! The chalet we are staying in is right off the 4 o'clock run with ski in/ski out access and is Beautiful! We enjoyed a Christmas dinner of Chinese food, and then watched the famous Christmas Vacation by the fire. Now it is time for some shut eye and it is off to the SLOPES bright and early in the morning!!!!!!! Happy Birthday Jesus and Thank you for ALL your many blessings!!!!!

Christmas Eve at Mimi's

Ah one of my favorite evenings of the year! Walking in the door to Mimi's is so exciting! All the homemade Christmas decorations that I've seen since I was a kid and the yummy smells just warms my heart. Lots of love in that house! We enjoyed a dinner of beef tenderloin, baked potatoes and salads (and of course LOTS of sweets). What would a Christmas be without Grandmas homemade candy and cookies. :) One of my other absolute favorite's of the holiday is Andrew's mom's Corn Casserole and his sister's potato casserole it is just Delicious. Although this year sadly I have not had it yet. :( We have really missed Andrew's family this year as they are in Atlanta with all the grand kids celebrating. But, all is well we will have a 2ND Christmas with them soon and celebrate all over again!!! Hope you and your family had a wonderful Christmas Eve and made many memories to last a lifetime.

On a side note...Andrew got the Duke jersey from Dad and I could NOT get it off of him!!

Christmas Festivites

With the Holiday Season comes fun dinners with family friends! We had a delicious dinner, and dessert with the Juengel family the weekend before Christmas. So much food, talking, and catching up.

Kahve Holiday Blend and The Lake

This past weekend we were at the Lake with our friends...What a great treat! Philip and Karen are the BEST hostess and hoster (hehe)! The Lake house that Karen's parents own is such a COZY place! And of course the weekend was filled with all the essentials....Bon fires, Roasting Hot dogs, Beautiful views, Holiday blend coffee, Breakfast Casseroles, Danish Casseroles, Football, Basketball, Games, Friends, Sittin on the dock, and Diamond Campfire talks! :) Good times had by all! So much fun...Looking forward to the next!!!!