We found out about a week before our trip that Dad was going to have to come home early from our Spring Break ski trip for work! We all were super bummed, especially Doug who looks so forward to this trip every year. So we did our best to move some things around and made it work!
Doug and Marlie left a little early to start skiing! They rode the funicular at the St. Regis and then Marlie was beyond excited that they found this beautiful owl on Main Street. She even got to hold it! Apparently this owl is a celebrity as it's been in several movies including Harry Potter!
I made Doug promise that he'd go slow with Marlie on their first day! This is the video I got of her going down her first run. It was a short blue but she turned well just like they teach her in ski school!
Matt and I met them for lunch and although I was tired from a really late flight, Matt was ready to ski!
The kids still had plenty of energy when they got home so they made a little fort in our backyard!
We had a really nice dinner that night at Tupelo's. They had the most amazing buttermilk biscuits, Doug had one of the best drinks I've ever had and we finished it off with s'mores biscuit bread pudding!
Marlie went to ski school the next day and Dad, Matt and I skied together. Matt's favorite part about skiing is trying to jump. It works great for me because all of the jumps he likes are off the green runs!
We all skied together on Sunday before Doug flew home. It's so fun now that the kids are such good skiers and fairly self sufficient. Matt has the funniest neck gator and so many people laugh along the way!
After 2 full days of skiing I felt like my body couldn't move! These people wear me out!
Matt went to ski school the next day and Marlie and I decided to try ice skating. It took her awhile but eventually she got it and loved it! We must have gone around that rink 100 times! The weather was absolutely gorgeous! We had lunch at the base of the Park City mountain and shared the best hamburger!
We picked Matt up and had dinner at Freshie's Lobster and had the best lobster rolls. Matt isn't the biggest eater but he had his down in a few seconds and was going back for another one! Can't wait to come back to this place with Dad!
The kids decided they wanted to go snow tubing the next day so we got to sleep in and off we went! We had SO much fun! It was a little crowded but we managed to make it down several times. The weather was gorgeous and after the first run we started shedding jackets. We saw a family try this so we decided to try it on our last run and it was awesome. We wished Dad were with us because we would have gone even faster!
Then it was off to lunch and to see a movie. Marlie really liked A Wrinkle in Time, Matt and I thought it was ok. We were supposed to ski the next day but the weather was not great. With temperatures in the 40s, we woke up to rain. Weather called for thunderstorms all day and I didn't want to risk being on the mountain in the rain. So we ended up at the bowling alley! The last game I insisted we try without bumpers and guess who was the worst...ME! LOL!
We had a really great lunch at Vessel Kitchen and then made a quick stop at the outlet mall before heading back to the condo. We had a nice relaxing evening and sadly had to head home. We look forward to coming back! Hope everyone had a great spring break!
I absolutely loved volunteering to serve at Matt's Manners Banquet last year so I couldn't wait for Marlie's. It was such a wonderful event. The kids had a wonderful lunch and got to watch a fabulous slide show that sweet Jill Worden put together. There were baby pictures and current pictures of each child and then she did a collage of pictures from Kinder to now. I'm thankful that the school puts this event together. I'm thankful for all the sweet friends Marlie has made throughout the years and for all the wonderful teachers who have entered and shaped her life!
Mr. Austin's class. This man has been a true blessing to our family. Matt thought he was the coolest and Marlie thinks he is the nicest. He's so patient and loving with her. To top it off, he's an excellent teacher and makes learning fun!
Loved that our guitar teacher, Mrs. Kristi was playing during the event. I could sit and listen to her play for hours. It's just beautiful!
I love all these girls! It will be fun to watch them grow up together.
We started the Christmas season with Marlie's Christmas program at school. Mrs. Janes always does a great job with the school programs and she didn't disappoint!
Matt had an orchestra concert and it was beautiful. Still amazed that these middle school children play so well. Matt was 1st chair on the viola!
One of our favorite moments of the season was being able to shower this family with a few surprises! Thank you to Sylvia Bolling and the Aldine Family Hope Center for matching us with this family. They flooded during hurricane Harvey and were beyond thankful!
Then it was off to the Bahamas for a week but that will have to be a separate post! We loved being in the Bahamas but it was time to come home to celebrate Christmas with our family. Grandpa came up to visit and we went to the children's Christmas Eve mass. This year instead of cooking we went to have our favorite hibachi and it was so good! The kids opened a few presents from Grandpa and Nene and then it was time to get ready for the big man to come.
Christmas morning is always so special. The kids were told Santa doesn't come until after 9:00am so they were anxiously waiting to come downstairs. Once they got the green light they were so excited. And Emma even got her own stocking with a few treats!
After spending the day in our pjs relaxing, we decided to head to San Antonio to see the rest of the family. We got to visit all the cousins! Marlie and cousin Lauren put on a show and played their ukelele's for us. It was great! They called themselves the "Red Uks"!
We also got to see the Hatters. Marlie and Hayden took lots of pictures of the 2 of them but this was my favorite! So sweet. When we left Marlie said she wished Hayden lived near us. I do too!
Then it was back home in time for Papa and Nona Lisa's visit to our house for New Year's Eve. Typically by this point in the holidays we are exhausted but we must have got our second wind because we had a wild and crazy (as wild as you can get with children) New Year's Eve! The kids started the day with their gingerbread house competition. It was a little competitive and crazy this year and I think Papa might just throw in the towel much earlier next year! Nene, Uncle Jay and his "friend" Gena also joined us and we had a wonderful dinner followed by another "Christmas" including our fun gift exchange.
The plan was to celebrate NYE on NY time but we actually celebrated NY time, Houston time and Vegas time! We had a great time and somehow found ourselves doing karaoke to Despacito! My cheeks were sore from laughing so hard!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I can't wait to see what 2018 has in store for us!
