Girls in Chicago

Shortly after the return from our ski trip, a couple of my girlfriends from the east side of Cleveland, OH came to visit me! Tanya is on the left and Patti is on the right. I was so happy to see them! What a wonderful break from all the craziness of returning home from a trip. It is so nice to be with the girls and go shopping - not necessarily to buy things (although I did), but just to enjoy their fellowship and catching up on what is going on in one another's lives! Since their flight got delayed on Friday - it was to late to go downtown shopping so we grabed some lunch and I showed them around Glenview a bit, the club, and where Morgan's daycare is. Saturday was our big outting on the town, specifically Michigan Ave! We enjoyed searching for the best deals, eating cookies, and taking a carriage ride around downtown. We topped the night off by eating dinner on Rush St at Carmine's. I was sad to see them go, but I look forward to a future summer visit!!!

Ski Trip #2: Steamboat Springs/Vail, Colorado

As you have read by now we are very thankful to be home! Ski Trip number 2 started off great! We landed in Denver airport on Monday the 5th to wonderfully warm temps. It was hoovering somewhere in the 50's. Talk about a heat wave in comparison to what we had been experiencing here in Chicago, -25! I called my mom to tell her I was ready to get out my bathing suit and spreadout in some snow! She thought that I was kidding regarding how warm it was but I had to assure her that I was not! So from the airport we went to get our rental car and begin our 4 hour journey to Steamboat Springs. It took about 45 min to an hour just to reach to the base of the mountains! I loved driving through the mountains - it is so beautiful, especially when you realize how small and insignificant you are in the world. On our way, I quickly realized that Colorado is not just all mountains in the mountains! Their are countrysides and many, many ranches! I have never seen so many ranches! Who knew?? I just had always thought that once you reached the mountains all it was, was well, mountains! It was beautiful and very enjoying!

When we finally reached Steamboat Springs, I was a little shocked at how different it looked than Snowbird, UT. Completely different! The mountains looked more like huge hills! The community was very different. And the skiing was different too. We stayed in Steamboat for 6 days, in a condo and Kyle's assistant from Sand Ridge and his wife joined us for 4 of those days! We very much enjoyed their company and it was a nice lift of spirits after someone had stole Kyle's skis after just a day and half!

We also met up with Kyle's Titlest rep that had been in town for already a week plus. He had us over for some drinks, and to look at his timeshare at the Christy Club, which was very nice. It would be a great set up for any family as Steamboat is very family friendly year round. Kids ski free up to 12 years of age! That is huge savings! Plus they have all kinds of things to do in the summer, that makes it more appealing.

We left Steamboat Sunday, the 11th and traveled about 2 hours to Vail. We also took a different route to Vail so we got to see more of the countryside - how beautiful it was! I just wonder if the people who live among the mountains ever take them for granted??? Their massiveness and beauty are just breathtaking. Vail was gorgeous! Needless to say I fell in love with Vail in like 3 hours! The mountains are steeper and closer together making it feel as though you are nestled between God's creation. Vail is just massive in terrain. My favorite places were the back bowls, which just took my breath away and the openness and vastness of this giant! So much so that people looked like ants on the hill. One on the 5 bowls had to be a 1/2 mile to a mile long - and you could see all the way to the end of it! Just to lay out some stats on the 3 places we have been - it is amazing:

Because I can't get this to post the way I would like the stats go in this order:

Snowbird, UT. Alta, UT. Steamboat Srings, CO. Vail, CO. Next Trip: Whistler, Canada
Average Snow fall: 500" 500" 334" 348" 396"
Vertical Drop: 3,240' 2,020' 3,668' 3,450' 5,280'
Base Elevation: 7,760' 8,530' 6,900' 8,120' 2,140'
Top Elevation: 11,000' 10,550' 10,568' 11,570' 7,494'
Skiable Acres: 2,500 2,200 2,965 5,289 8,171
Number of Runs: 89 116 164 193 200+
Number of Lifts: 11 11 ~21 ~24 38
Longest Run: ~2 miles ? 3 miles 4 miles ?

I am so thankful that we have been able to go and enjoy these trips. I am sure next year will not be the same! I guess this was Kyle's year to really get into skiing. I am thankful to be his wife!!! God has revealed so much to me during these trips and it has been a great spiritual journey as well. Thank you Lord!

Finally Home...Stolen Skis...Missing Skis...

Oh, I am so happy to be home! More on the actually trip later, but here is what is going on now...we have had a whirl wind of a ride home. We skied all day yesterday until 4 pm and got in the car and on the road by 4:25 pm. Of course the conditions were a lot worse than we expected as it started snowing about noon yesterday. But I figured it was because we were in the mountains. So last night we drove 2 1/2 hours in a blizzard to get to the airport. We had plenty of time but had issues with finding the check in place, then we had to move clothes around 3 times until we got the weight right in all our bags. After that we searched for security for 20 mins -ugh! Our flight was a little late because the plane arrived late from California, then we had to de-ice. Finally we got in the air! Fortunately, it was a smooth ride and nice landing, so praise the Lord for that! Especially considering the conditions. So once we got off the plane, we went to baggage claim and waited another 45 mins for the bags to get there. Not fun when you are dead tired and just want to go home, but also not the end of the world. Because Kyle's were stolen the 2nd day of our trip (yeah, can you believe someone would have the nerve and we were mid-mountain too! Unbelievable), we only had my skis, boots, and his boots to pick up after we got our luggage and guess what??? No skis! I found out that they were left in Denver and that they are supposed to deliver them today. So, okay, not a huge deal....we didn't get home until 2 am and finally to bed at 3. I called this morning to find out what the status on my skis were and they don't know where they are! Can you believe that???? It is not like it is the end of the world, but such headaches! And to make matters worse - guess what else happened? We got a call from the General Manager and the golf shop was flooded last night too! So, we have a bit of a mess today and besides we are supposed to pick up Morgan and the dogs. But God is good and he will work everything out, so I am not really worried, but we could use some prayers! How boring would life be if we didn't have these little hiccups! Praise God for excitement! Nonetheless, we are just happy to be home and to get back to a normal life again - at least for awhile!

Who Knew...

that potty training would be so easy? It has been 3 weeks since I pulled the diapers and Morgan has taken to potty training like an all-star! Over the course of 3 days when we started we had 1 full blown accident when she was with dad at McDonald's and created a puddle big enough for the mop to be brought out and just a few mini accidents where she started and stopped before she made more than a teaspoon full of pee in her underwear, but then proceeded to the bathroom to finish. Even #2 has gone smoothly - only two accident with that as well one of which was at daycare! It is so hard to know when the time is right to start potty training your child as a first time mom. I'm just thankful that everything went so smoothly and hardly any hiccups!