Snow Days!

With extra hands on deck we couldn't resist a sledding trip!  The kiddos got a chance to test out their new hats from Teta Sharon and Catherine's new jacket from Mas and Pas!  Catherine's still struggling with the whole hating mittens vs. hating cold hands dilemma, but she had fun for a bit:

 Especially sledding with Papa:

And even just watching with her new word "Whoa":

And hanging out with Uncle Matt:

Matthew also had fun sledding with Uncle Matt:

 And Papa:

But mostly he enjoyed attacking and being attacked by Uncle Matt:

And then after Catherine got tired of her internal mitten dilemma and retreated to the van, it was time for someone to find the snowballs:

 The next day, Uncle Matt, Dad and I headed down to Big Sky to play in the snow.  Dad had the clear advantage as he skis about 7 or 8 days a year, and Matt and I have only made it out to ski probably once in the last 7 or 8 years.

 We stopped at the top so I could snap a picture with Lone Peak in the background as it made a brief morning appearance.  However, some overexposure and giant heads prevented this:

 Here's a glimpse of it Dad got from the lift.  On the next run we schemed our attack.  The terrain on all sides is black, but we could see one of the sides that might be plausible considering my current skills:

 Sometime between the scheming and making it up to get on the tram, the wind kicked up, the visibility dropped and it got bitter cold at the bottom of the tram.  I knew I'd be in over my head so I chickened out and took on some of the lower terrain.  It was apparently a good choice as dad described it something like skiing blindly over rocks.   I skiied over to the otherside and took a picture of the cloud dad was skiing in:

Which though it wasn't as extreme as being up at 11,150 feet, I enjoyed skiing the same path we had hiked the past two years.  Everything looks a little different in the summer:

Kudos to Dad for making it to the top and now I have a new goal for my next visit, which will hopefully be sooner rather than later.  I think we're going to focus on cross country skiing for the next few seasons while the kids are little but I can't wait to get back to downhill.  Logistically and financially we probably won't get a lot of downhill skiing in until the kiddos are on the slopes on their own . . . or the grandparents start taking really long winter visits :-)

Christmas Day Fun

After Santa had looked at the rock and enjoyed his treats it took someone a long time to get to sleep.  Matthew had a lot of questions and concerns about Santa keeping him awake.  Apparently he had some temporary amnesia because he woke up, wandered out of his room and announced/asked "Someone left a box in my room?  Who left a box in my room?"  Santa continued our tradition of "A Book in Every Bed" with a box full of fun books, including a new adventure featuring Harold and his Purple Crayon - a new favorite.  

 Matthew then headed downstairs to find his new car track from Amma and Papa, which let immediately to lots of whooshing and crashing of cars:

The instructions specifically tell adults to step back and let the kids explore with the track, but it was really hard for all of us not to offer suggestions for new track ideas, like down the stairs:

Catherine slept a little while longer and then it was time for her books:

 She was excited to come downstairs and climb in and out of her new camp chair from Mas and Pas:

and test out her new four-wheeler:

And shopping cart from Amma and Papa:

 She's very particular about what goes in the cart and Skippy Jon Jones doesn't make the cut:

Catherine then dug around to the bottom of her stocking:

But really enjoyed the challenge of lifting the bubble bath:

 We then got serious with lots of gift unwrapping (Catherine's favorite part):

 Though Matthew was pretty excited too:

The kids got new pillows for traveling and camping:

 Which Catherine decided she needed to test out immediately:
 Speaking of testing things out, I got a remote shutter which has been a lot of fun, though no one was too keen on taking a break from the festivities to test out my toys :-)

 After a breakfast break to recharge we were back at it and the kids were as helpful as ever:

 Matthew modeled his "dragon" hat from Teta Sharon:

 And more books:

And more helping:

 And a leg lamp thrown in:

And bath toys from siblings:

 And chaos and chaos and chaos:

There was Skyping and phone calls with Mas and Pas and aunts and uncles with new toys and sweaters and more.  Of course, there was a bit of silliness:

 And some more playing with the remote:

 And some picture time with Amma with new sweaters and jewelry:

 We think Catherine might be teething, but she's also been a pretty big fan of showing off recently too:

And Uncle Matt:

 And Papa, though unfortunately they were about done with pictures at this point:

We ended the evening with a nice dinner.  It was a wonderful day.  We all got a lot of nice and thoughtful gifts, all of which have been put to good use already and it was wonderful to have all the Pozuns together for Christmas for the first time in a while.