The Pile Up

This picture was taken in October little did we know what we had in store…

These pictures were taken yesterday and February has just begun…

This is our “garden spot” in the backyard. The fencing that is just peeking out is about 4 feet tall.

Finally, here is our Subaru I think that its safe to say its going to have a long winters nap sleep tight little Subi we will see you in the spring…

Winter Wonderland

I got a new camera! Yahoo it is so fun. I’m so excited now my pictures will be FABULOUS errr well lets not get ahead of ourselves. I’m no professional but they will definitely be better relative to our previous credit card reward point camera. Here is our first set of experimental shots of yesterdays fun in the snow enjoy…

Boogie Baby!

We got a new toy for Ellie this week thanks to our wonderful friends Kim and Dylan. A bouncy chair, Ellen loves it! We have been enjoying nonstop entertainment and giggles. There is something about how those little legs move and grove with pure joy.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnG8dvNn9sY[/youtube]

An Excellent Weekend

Grandma and Grandpa McKenney came up for a visit on Friday. Gary and my Dad had a good time breaking in the snowmobile. Gary dug it out in the front yard a few times and my Dad tested the speed out on the road. Mom and I had a good time catching up and playing with Ellie. It was good to see the folks. They came with special treats from Germany from their recent trip to see my sister. And they also are bailing us out this winter by letting us borrow Dad’s high powered snow blower. Whew, life will be much easier now that we can clear our driveway ourselves. Thanks Mom and Dad!

A New Toy

This week started out with me saying,” Gar, lets stop by World Market today and check out the sofas on sale.” (I have one in particular I like check it out.) By Thursday we found ourselves the new owners of a snowmobile. Wait! What just happened here? Oh ya, I said something like when in Rome do as the Romans do. That’s right somehow the conversation about a new sofa lead to a conversation about a snowmobile. We’ve been fighting the whole snowmobile scene up here in Timberlakes since we moved in, they are stinky, loud, and sometimes down right annoying (especially when you hear that crazy mosquito like noise at 2 am). Alas, it is a fight we cannot win so we are joining the slednecks instead. What’s that saying? if you can’t beat them join them. Gary says it’s like living on a beach with a perfect set of waves and not having a surfboard. We can keep justifying this decision until we are blue in the face. I’ll get my sofa someday, sigh…

Yes, those are my pajamas. Pink is hot!

Chip and Adah think we are ridiculous.

Alta at Last

We packed up the supplies and spent the weekend in Alta. Ellie got the first taste of how our weekends are going to be spent for the next few months. I think she enjoyed it. She adjusted to the lodge life pretty well even was able to take a nap amongst all the click and clangs of ski boots clambering across the floor and energetic voices of happy skiers. It was good, there was still plenty of soft snow to carve up. Saturday was a little troubling when we pulled into the Goldminer’s Daughter parking lot only to find there was no parking spot what so ever, but we persevered and Gary found a place to stash the Toyota. The crowd cleared out after lunch anyway. Gary and I skied in shifts scheduled around when Ellie would be hungry. It worked out well. We skied with our good friends Johnny B and Jesse. On Sunday we got the pleasure of skiing with Watson and the company of his lovely girl Lisa in the lodge. I definitely did not have my legs. I could only do about two runs and then my body would be crying out. So it was good we had shifts so I could have time to recover. I’m looking forward to the day Gary and I can ski together again I did miss having my partner there skiing with me, but Johnny, Jesse, and Watson took good care of me. Yep, me and the boys or me solo typical of my Alta always never enough chicks around what’s up with that (Ahem, Jodi, JJ, Julie, any of you ladies out there listening). Only in Alta could I sit for a seven minute ride and appreciate the beauty of untracked snow covering the “Backside” with two dudes or have a heart to heart about life with a dear friend on the Collins lift. It is definitely a commitment to drive about an hour over the Wasatch for Alta. Some of you may ask why not stay on the backside of the Wasatch and ski Park City or the Canyons? I can’t really explain our ridiculous devotion to Alta. It’s more than just the awesome ski terrain and snow accumulation. It’s where we met, where it all began, where we found ourselves, sowed some wild oats, where our friends are, and where we were married. There is so much emotion for me in that Little Cottonwood Canyon it’s a small piece of “heaven on earth”. I don’t go there just to ski I go there for therapy as well. It comes in the form of visiting with friends, listening to the silence in a snow storm, challenging my self through exercise and movement, or hearing the mountains ring. Hopefully we can pass this on to Ellie and she will understand and get it like we do.