Steep & Deep

 

Steep and Deep - that is what Jackson Hole is known for, and the reputation is well deserved.  The Z-family, minus Addison, headed out to Jackson Hole Wyoming for the week on Amy's annual conference.  The boys were beside themselves with excitement.  On Monday, we headed over to Grand Targhee, which was an easier mountain and very enjoyable.  We had a good time other there, although the weather was not cooperative and socked in the upper part of the mountain to the point where at times the males said that it was hard to even see their feet, and that they were struggling with vertigo.  After that, some of the party decided to join Heather and Amy on the lower part of the mountain where the visibility was better (although the runs were not as challenging as they might have liked!)

The boys took ski lessons all week, and did great in terms of having a lot of fun and gaining new skills.  We were at Jackson Hole the rest of the week, which was a very difficult mountain.  Their blues seem to be the equivalent of black runs at other mountains, and their greens are very short and limited in number.  The weather was odd - it was snowing almost every day and then the last day it was RAINING!  Who ever has heard of skiing in the rain!?  We did it though as we had taken the kids out of ski school that afternoon to actually spend the afternoon skiing with them, so we just stayed out and got drenched!

The week was full of very fun memorable moments - a few of which we wanted to share:

1.  Karis, William and Rob were skiing down the mountain when Rob stopped to wait for the other two on a relatively flat area.  A man flew past him shouting "There is a moose coming!  GET GOING!!"  Sure enough, Rob turned around and a mother moose was racing towards them.  Needless to say he got himself in gear quickly and skied about 200 yards down the mountain and turned back to see what was happening - the mother moose got tired of the chase and turned back at that point.  Karis and William were behind Rob, so they just stopped skiing and watched this all unfold below them!  On the topic of moose, we literally saw 1-2 moose every single day that we were there - we've never seen that many ever!  They were on the outskirts of town along the roads, in the rivers etc. Pretty cool.

2.  On Wednesday, Amy and Heather were picking up the kids when we noticed a mother and her son sitting on the snow playing together.  The little boy was black, and the mother was white - which caught our attention as we walked by - thinking that perhaps the little boy was adopted.  Anyway, in a moment the mother got up and walked right by Amy and spoke to her companion - Amy's mouth dropped open as she realized it was SANDRA BULLOCK!  Heather didn't believe her, so Amy followed her into the ski school to get a second verification, and yep, no doubt about it - it was Sandra Bullock!  She apparently bought a home outside of Jackson Hole.  Amy actually saw her again a 2nd time the next day.  Both times Amy was "cool" and did not gush or ask for an autograph - figuring she probably wanted her privacy - but inside Amy was screaming! :)

3.  On Wednesday, we went to a nearby tubing hill - which was super fun as there were two runs and we could race each other.  Zachary and Kaleb were racing each other one time, and the men at the top (the ones that worked there) gave each one of them a huge push to get them really going - well Kaleb wasn't situated on his very well - and he literally flew off the tube and began to slide down the hill!  The man realizing what had happened dove through the air to catch Kaleb, and managed to grab him before he got too far.  Kaleb would have been fine as the hill wasn't that long or steep, but it was certainly dramatic!

4.  That same day, Luke got hit in the face with a snowball which resulted in much crying and wailing.  As we drove home, the boys all said they wanted to play snowball fights again - Amy said "No, someone has already been hurt so we're not going to be playing that again.".  Luke turns around and says to her "Auntie Amy, it's okay, I was just being overly dramatic and a little crabby!"  Ha ha ha - that's the first confession we've ever heard of its kind! :)

Zachary, whether excitement or sheer obstinacy, got up super early every day - even earlier than he did at home even with the time zone change.  He got up at 3A (5a our time), 3:50 (Mommy, I slept in today!) and Amy in desperation came with a bribery system - $10 for sleeping in until 7A, $5 for sleeping in until 6A, and $1 if you wake up earlier than that but yet don't wake up Kaleb (who was sleeping in the same room).  It worked one day as he slept until 6:15 but the next day he could only make it until 5:20 (although I suppose that's better than 3:50!). If we had stayed longer, the incentive was then going to shift that if you didn't sleep until at least 6A, you'd have to PAY US money!  Alas we didn't make it that far!  Kaleb had no trouble time shifting, so this continues to boggle our minds with Zachary.  We're re-thinking our summer trip to San Diego, and whether this may be an adults-only trip! :)

Addison enjoyed her time home with Grandma, and sprouted 3 of her canines!  She came down with a cold, so unfortunately woke Grandma up pretty early at least one day.

Kaleb and Kieran in ski school (Kaleb at the back).  Notice the grey weather!

Following Kaleb and Kieran down the mountain run (Kaleb in front now)

Zachary in ski school (in the red, black and white jacket at the far right of picture)

The Z-family at Grand Targhee

This was a sleigh ride at the National Elk Refuge (elk in the background)...

Pretty close to this big bull....

Kieran and Kaleb - awesome skiers!

Deiningers, Cochrans and Zbaraschuks after a "train" ride down the tubing hill

 

Another family picture moment!

The boys on the trip....(except for Erik and Elin, as they were too little to join the tubing fun)

Enjoying the last few runs the last afternoon!

The boys desperately wanted poles, so we let them finish the last run with the adult Z poles.

The last night we took a group shot - the Johnsons had left to see Kent's sister, we we're missing them but otherwise it was the Deiningers (Jr and Sr), Cochrans, and Zbaraschuks

 

Phrase of the week:  Why do we have to go home?  Why don't we live here? (Kaleb) Oh good, it is only 51 degrees at home - I hate to sweat! (Zachary)