SKIING!

We've been skiing!  Have you missed me?  There was a laptop in Breckenridge with us, but there were two things that kept me from blogging.  First, should I really hide behind a laptop and blog when I have the ability to have face-to-face conversations with the very people I blog to keep in touch with?  And, secondly, I'm pretty convinced that blogging about skiing while you're away skiing is the very best way to get your house burglarized.  Yeah, I've watched too much Criminal Minds.  Who wants to say it?  It's very complicated in my head.

But, as I said, we went to Breckenridge over the kids' Winter Break with Shawn's mom (Marie/Toodie); his Aunt Reda & Uncle Bill; their kids Amy & David; and David's wife Anna & baby Cora.  We had a fabulous time.  Anna found us an unbelievable house to rent.  And, except for some exhausting travel on the part of the Arlington family (did you hear about the 11 inches of snow in the Metroplex?!), and some altitude sickness for sweet baby Cora (complete with oxygen treatment), and altitude headaches for the rest of us (complete with whining ;), it could not have been more perfect.

And, coincidentally, Breckenridge is where my sister's kids learned to ski so she was able to give us the name of an unbelievable ski instructor to give lessons to Spencer and Elizabeth.  Honestly, I can not say enough about this beautiful soul.  Her name is Marian Brown (that's Miss Monkey to you), and she has a gift!  If you are in Breckenridge with small kids, you must, must, must get her to teach them - it is worth every penny.  Spencer skied down the mountain six times on the last day we were there, three times during his morning lesson with Miss Monkey and three times with G'Ma, Aunt Reda and me.

Spencer has a very real fear of heights.  He even buckles on steep staircases.  This did not leave us optimistic about the ski lift.  But, Marian had him jumping on and off of that thing like it was a ride at Disney Land.  Did you know that when the ski lift stops it's just because they need to feed peanuts to the elephants that run it?  I did not know that either!

If I could have folded Marian up and taken her home in my pocket, I would have.  (David's classic response to that was, "Remember that when you tip her." :D )

Even Elizabeth skied down the mountain.  But, our sweet wool gatherer was just as interested in playing with her Mardi Gras beads as she was at paying attention to where she was going, so it might be another season or two before she's ready to tackle more than one slope a day...

Beautiful memories.  Beautiful family.  Beautiful blessings.

Spence, Miss Monkey & Lulu

Chairlift - ain't no thang.

A little lift down the mountain

Princess Wave

Tuck!

David, Anna, Toodie, Amy & Reda

aka Fun, Awesome, Amazing Family