January 2013

It seems that some of my best days of motherhood occur on the slopes with my kids.  Since my little ones had a teacher prep day this month, we journeyed to Snow Basin and enjoyed the crips mountain air and sunshine on our faces (cue the freckles).  Shera watched Amelie the first half of the day, then joined us with her boys and we all skied together.  What a great time!

A bit bright, but the boys in the chair ahead of us

Ella and I enjoying some good conversation on our rides up together.

So beautiful!

It was Amelie's first time on the hills, and she did FANTASTIC!  What a blast!  Hearing her squeals of delight as we moved down the bunny hill together was pure magic. 

Hands on your knees!

Girl Power!!

Ella was our little speed demon. She points those skis downhill and it's full bore ahead!  Let's be honest, the older 3 all give me a run for my money and ski at speeds that I'm frankly not comfortable with.  Ha ha.

 

Joshua

 

Each day as we travel in the car, I try to point out the beauty that surrounds us.  It warms my heart as they have all started to catch on to the idea, "Mom, look at the mountains!" or "Mom, look at that tree, it's beautiful!" Then they ask if they can take a picture of it with my phone.

 

Here are a few shots that Josh took this past month:

 

Sun Setting

We all love the trees as the sparkle in the morning with frozen dew.

 

Going through Provo Canyon, here is a shot of the lake with those brave ice-fisherman.

 

Daxton

 

Dax quote of the month:

Me, "Hey Dax, who did you sit on the bus with today?"

Dax: "I dont' know his name, but he was very kind."

 

Though Snow Basin was a delight, we had a less than pleasant experience skiing at Sundance a few weeks later.  I had never been to this resort before, and wasn't familiar with the lifts or runs.  Josh and Dax were about 5 chairs ahead of Ella and I, while Cam was taking Amelie down the rope-tow lift.  Turns out there were two different drop spots to get off the lift.  Josh got off on the first drop spot, but Dax stayed on and the chair continued to rise in the air.  About 20 feet up, Dax panics and jumps from the lift so he can be with his brother.  5 chairs later, I pass them both and see Dax crumpled on the ground sobbing with 2 men helping him out.  I didn't see them in time and therefore missed getting off where they were.  I had to ride all the way to the top, then quickly ski down with Ella and try to find my boys.  Talk about heart racing!!  I finally found them, and helped Dax to get to the bottom of the hill.  We took him to the hospital, and thankfully left with only a sprained thumb. 

That boy has guardian Angels watching over him! To jump from a lift 20 feet in the air and only have a sprained thumb and bloody nose.......pretty miraculous. 

 

 

 

Ella

 

Ella quote of the month:

Commenting on my outfit:

"Hey mom, I like those pants.  They're jazzy."

 

Ella was blessed with "Eggertz" hair. Those Eggertz' have straight, thick, beautiful hair! A few months back I had introduced the idea of "Locks of Love" to Ella.  Showed her the pictures, and told her who the donated hair goes to and who it helps.  I told her they needed 10", we even got out a ruler to show her how much of her hair they would need.  She was VERY reluctant to the idea and repeatedly reminded me that she was growing her hair out like Rapunzel's.  So I just let the idea alone, and moved on.

 

Fast forward two months.  One Monday morning while fixing Ella's hair she said,

 "Mom, I want to get a hair cut after school today."  I said,

"Okay, a trim? What do you want?"

and she replied,

"Let's do the 10."

 

Ella's a stud.  Didn't ever cry, or feel sad about it.  She loves her new hair cut and delights in the fact that she can shower all on her own now!

Ella eating some cheesy pizza at the Pizza Factory

Girl power on the lift before we discovered Dax had been hurt.

Ella dressing herself.  So independent!

 

 

Amelie

 

Quote of the month:

"Bye mom, see ya later.  I'm gonna go to get married in the temple."

 

Amelie continues to keep us all laughing.  She LOVES her older sister, and the two have become quite the best of friends.  Ella even uses her "sweet little girl" voice when she talks to Amelie,

"Amelie, do you want me to pick out your outfit today?" (in a high-pitched voice.)

And Amelie just eats it up!

 

After tub-time.

Devouring a breadstick.

Amelie wanted her hair cut too, so here she is smiling with her new hairdo, a cute little bob.

Ready for more skiing action!

Amelie has become quite the "pretender" lately.  Here she is "pretending" to be a puppy, eating strawberries on the floor from her "doggy dish."

 

Cameron

 

Cam has made a new friend who shares similar interests in back-country skiing (good job Cam!)  Casey has introduced him to an amazing spot only 5 minutes from here......a location that Cam has asked I keep secret.......just in case the 4 people who read this post spread the word. Ha ha.  They snowmobile into the canyon, skin up and then ski down in amazing powder.  They leave so early in the morning that the sub zero temperatures have left them both frostibtten on nose and cheeks.  Sounds fun, right?  Brrrrr!

One word:  MIDWAY

Climbing up the slope, anxious to ski down

 

 

Cindy

 

 Miracles happen and I joined the local gym in town.  It's been over two months of almost daily fit-stop classes including "Group Power" (weight lifting) "Mind and Body Yoga," Group Kick" (that causes you to leave wanting to beat the crap out of someone)  and "Sculpt and Sweat."  Although my butt doesn't seem to look any better in jeans, and I seem to have a ravenous appetite since joining, I am happy to report that I can now do several pushups and situps with ease (so I guess that's a plus, right?)  I challenged my little bro to an arm wrestle when I see him next.  Little Cam, prepare to be anihilated.

Did she seriously put a picture of her bicep in her blog?  Heck ya she did!! I want my posterity to know that their grandma was strong once.  Welcome to the gun show!