We got to Brian Head right after the sun went down and let the kids get out and see the snow. It was Livy's first time, minus the ten minutes of snow we got in Houston. She is not a fan at all, but Johnny loves it!
What a gorgeous day! The skies were clear and the sun was out and it was 12 degrees. Perfect.
The local fire department had a big bonfire with s'mores and hot chocolate on Christmas Eve. I'm pretty sure I've never felt such freezing cold in my life but that fire sure felt good. The highlight of the night was seeing a lady melt her pants from standing too close to the fire. The material just melted right off and the cotton fuzz was hanging out all over her bum. It was hilarious. And we learned a good lesson.
After the bonfire we came back to the lodge and opened presents since we would be hittin' the slopes on Christmas. The kids each got to open one present from mom and dad and one present from Grams and Pops. We had their "big" presents waiting at home. It's always fun seeing kids open presents. Livy still didn't quite get that they were for HER. She really liked the ribbon we put on her head though!
I forgot to wrap John's parent's present so they got it wrapped in a blanket! I made them a Blurb book of our trip to Europe and it was fun to see everyone go through it.
Greg got an iTouch, he's cool.
Here we are all snug in our bed!
After our first day in the snow with wet feet and cold hands we went to the rental shop and got serious snow clothes! Johnny boy was ready for fun in his 1992 snow suit and wool socks. It's all about the wool socks, just so you know! And check out John's gigantic lumberjack boots! his feet stayed nice and toasty in those while we tubed before we hit the slopes!
We took some stalker shots of Johnny during his "wee ski" lesson. He was kind of a grump that morning so we couldn't let him see us but he looked like he was having fun!
I was carrying the camera that day so all of our pictures are of John. And it's a good thing because I was whizzing by everybody way to fast to snap a picture of! ha! John did not have the best first day but I am so proud of him for not giving up and for agreeing to do it again someday! There probably aren't too many 6'7 olympic skiers out there and we know why! He spent most of the day on his butt and the next two days was really sore!
This was all of the kids' first time skiing/snowboarding and we had so much fun. I think I had the most fun because I am AMAZING at skiing! ha ha. No, really. I am good. I didn't fall one time and was swishing from side to side with my butt in the air holding my cool ski poles yelling, "just call me Picabooooooooo!". And I can brag about this because I am not a natural at anything but this was a first and I loved every second of it!!
We had a DE-licious dinner at the fancy restaurant in the lodge. Everyone was pretty beat after a full day of skiing and snowboarding. Poor Papa was still cold after a shower and could barely keep his eyes open. He was a champ. After 32 years of not skiing, he was up and running all day! That was the funnest Christmas Day I've EVER had!!! Thanks Allens!!
