With Covid, the Z family really curtailed our travels in light of the uncertainty, and obviously the travel restrictions/bans. Canada may never open up for us again 😩... But after a year of not venturing out of Orlando, we decided it was time for us to start living life a little bit again and we booked a trip to Salt Lake City with friends. We normally go to Deer Valley for CFO conference, but there was no CFO conference this year with Covid, so it truly was a vacation and instead of going back to Deer Valley, we decided to spend more of our ski days at other mountains that we haven't tried before -- Solitude (which was a first for us), Brighton (which is always a fan favorite) and then Alta (which we haven't been to in probably 15 years!).
We headed out on Friday this year in order to have Sabbath to acclimate and not feel rushed on Sunday to get out to the mountains - it worked very well and we were able to land and get settled before sundown, which was nice.
We rented a house at the base of Cottonwood Canyon with the Js and Cs, so it was nice to have lots of fellowship while off the mountain as well. On Sabbath, we headed over to do some snowshoeing to Donut Falls. Karis, the week before, had kicked accidentally our ski bag and hurt his toe (likely a small fracture in hindsight or sprain), so he decided to stay at the house and rest his foot. The rest of us headed out.
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| The fearless snowshoeing group! |
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| And we were off! |
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| Snowshoeing was actually pretty easy - although slopes were a little tricky! |
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| After a while the little girls got tired, so Kent pulled Elin and Zachary pulled Addison (so thankful for a man-sized child at this point with the fact that Karis wasn't there!) |
Some of the younger kids (Elin, Erik and Addison) got tired about 75% of the way up and decided that sledding and building snowmen was going to be a lot more appealing, so Kent stayed behind while the rest of us trekked on. There were steep, icy parts (there was a rope thankfully) but for the most part the trail was very easy. We happened to see some people just as we were drawing near to Donut Falls, and they were kind enough to take a picture of the sojourners....and tell us where the entrance to the cave where we'd see the Falls was located.
Who knew that the tiny entrance to the cave was up a steep hill - it is a good thing we saw those people, otherwise we would have walked right past it. In fact, we still almost did because it was just a small hole in the ground and a guy was climbing out of the cave as we came close - otherwise we wouldn't have known what to look for!
But once we were inside the cave, it was very lovely with the light and water streaming in.
We actually just carried our snowshoes on the way back, it was just as easy to hike as we were on a well-packed trail and we could make better time. We got back to where the kids were, and found their snowmen and the fun that they had been having!
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| Addison's hair was a total rats nest - it took us quite a while to get it combed out that night!! |
At the end of our first day of skiing at Solitude, we took a family picture - always best to get it out of the way as you just never know how the rest of the week will go. The weather was quite nice while we were there - often unzipping our jackets.
Addison took 2 days of lessons, and Kaleb one day, but otherwise we all were able to ski together a lot. Addison continues to be quite enthused about skiing, and always wanted to be the leader (and with that many kids that are somewhat Type A, that didn't always go well, so we tried to encourage her to stay with the pack). they did a lot of tree runs, and had a grand time while the moms skiied on the runs beside. Unfortunately Tuesday on the last run, Addison went off a 6 foot jump and didn't land it (WHY would she think that is a good idea at 8.5 years old??), and sprained her knee slightly. Thankfully it wasn't serious, but it did mean that she wasn't able to ski for the last 2 days of our vacation which was a bummer. Karis on the other hand may have been slightly happy for an excuse (although not the injury) as he was having a VERY hard time getting his injured toe into a ski boot every day -- it took a lot of mental fortitude in his words and that is saying a lot for someone who loves skiing as much as he does. so he stayed at home the last 2 days with Addison, and Elin ended up being there as well taking some time off skiing, so the two little girls had a grand time playing
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| Eating some McD's french fries on their day off after a little walk to the nearby restaurant. |
There were 1-2 days with longer lines, but otherwise it was pretty good for the lines. You always went on the chair lift with your "group" so that you weren't going up with strangers as they tried to limit the spread of Covid. You also had to have a face mask on while in the lines.
In other news, we had lots of friends out there at the same time - with one very special friend - Al and Marilyn Deininger! They are of course Rob's parents, and they were skiing at some of the same mountains that we were, so we were able to see them and ski several mornings. They joined on at the Noodles restaurant on St. Patrick's day...which happens to also be Al's birthday so we had the pleasure of singing happy birthday to him - thanks for sharing your special day with us Al!
One of the highlights for every trip is the end when we watch the go-pro videos of all of the funny moments/jumps/crashes (only after of course we know everyone is okay!). This year was no different, with some very funny ones - such as when William "gobbled" up little Erik by tipping over on him in the soft snow by accident while they stood there - it was like a snow monster coming to get Erik! We all had a good laugh about that one.
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| Playing with hair while they watched the videos |
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| A little dark, but this was the group in the living room watching the videos |
In other pictures, on the very last day on one of the very last runs, we came across a porcupine! He was just sitting on the edge of the run happily eating some snow - a ski instructor came by with his group and called him "Cuddles" -- ha ha, not sure if that is really his nickname or if it was made up on the spot, but it was cute!
There was a beautiful sunset as we went to get groceries one night - look at those amazing colors!
A quick picture on the way back - it was a great vacation and we were so blessed - but it is always nice to come back to sleep in our own beds! :)
In other news, Amy's old secretary - Phyllis - came down to Florida for a visit with her old friends from Indiana - Amy was so happy to be able to have lunch with her twice - but it is never enough time for sure! Love this lady - she was always a work mom for Amy and we formed a fast friendship over the years.
Now that Addison is in 2nd grade, there are starting to be projects. Every parents "dream" - or nightmare. Addison though appears to approach projects with the same gusto that she does everything else - take charge and get it done! Amy usually helps the boys a lot with their projects, but Addison was well on her way as usual and with a little help from Karis this time, she "invented" a rainbow crayon/marker organizer for her desk. Nicely done sweet pea!
And this picture is really only because it is funny - Zachary and Amy went to get half off Jeremiah's Ice cream one day and it was FREEZING. Zachary was cold so he went and got Amy's long coat from the car to try and stay warm while he got his ice cream! :) Seems silly to get ice cream when one is frozen already, but it is delicious! :)
