Skiing in Seven Springs, PA

 Well folks, here's what we learned:

Skiing in Pennsylvania is most 

likely NEVER going to be a great idea...

but skiing in Pennsylvania during spring break, well we will let the pictures do the talking.

The GREAT news = Our children had a wonderful time, 

and that was really the whole point, so we were content. 

The PLAN was = For the kids to have ski lessons in the morning while the 

parents skied on their own, and then to ski all together during the afternoon.

 However, based on conditions said parents just 

skied two afternoons with the children

 allowed the children to enjoy the "mountain" during one full day and two half days of lessons!

 We were ever so grateful to have been able to ski in CO just a few weeks prior.

Growing up skiing in Utah was a blessing and a curse. 

A blessing because it was awesome!

A curse because NO WHERE anywhere close to where we now live will EVER compare!

Here is Aspen on her first morning with her teacher, she did such a great job! 

It was really cute to see her flying down the green runs with pizza slice legs 

working hard to keep up with her sisters.

 At the end of each lesson the instructors provided us with a 

detailed report of the girls progress.  

Although Brinley was initially NOT keen on the idea of lessons,

 she came around and really enjoyed learning proper techniques.

 One day after skiing we enjoyed a game of bowling right there at the ski resort.

There was supposedly six ski lifts, but we only went on two...the two with  

the MOST snow nearby.

Below is a picture I took from one of those ski lifts.

By day three the kiddos were getting a little tired...but not too tired to make silly faces.

In the evenings we made simple dinners, played family 

games and watched movies in our little condo.

The most glorious part of the trip was having down time to be together void of the countless distractions that seem to be ever present in our normal day to day. 

That aspect if the trip was sort of amazing!

A HUGE thanks to our good friends the Stewart family, namely my friend Lacey, 

who took care of Reese bug...in addition to her own five children.

(Ice cream at Dairy Queen with the Stewart family)

 Reese had a vacation of her own because she was able to spend the week with her best buddy Kylie. She had talked about this "sleepover" for quite some time, so when we left her she was actually thrilled for her long awaited sleepover vacation.

 Lacey reported that the two girls played so well together all week and that Reese enjoyed her typical three hour naps, which is really important for the sanity of all those in her midst.

St. Patricks Day Parade

 Every year our city has a wonderful St. Patrick's Day parade!

The girls get to participate in it with their Irish dance academy.

 This year is was rainy, but by the time the parade began the rain stopped, thank goodness.

The girls happily danced and marched along.

Aspen had to be bribed into participating, she was worried she would miss out on  

acquiring candy if she were IN the parade rather than standing on the sidelines. 

I agreed to walk with her in the parade which sealed the deal. 

It was her first year to participate!

Fortunately for her we were at the very beginning, 

so she was still able to get plenty of loot to take home.

We are growing to love this fun tradition filled with bagpipe bands, 

colorful costumes, candy and lot's of Irish dancers!

 

The girls also spent an entire day last week with their academy traveling to different elementary schools to do performances for St. Patrick's Day...

it's sort of a big holiday here.

Above: 
The girls early in the morning backstage before the first of the FOUR shows they did that day.

  
Above:
They also had a little performance at a Chick-Fil-A recently.

After the parade was over it was time to get ready for our spring break trip.

Aspen, CO

 Last week Cody had a conference in Aspen, CO.

We love how his conferences allow us to have wonderful and economic couples trips!

 We had been looking forward to this one for a LONG time.

We spent FIVE glorious days skiing.

Cody's meetings started so early in the morning that we were able to

 hit the slopes right after the lifts opened.

One day was beautifully blue....

and the rest looked like this for the most part, massive snowfall,  which was okay because

we skied in more powder than either of us have ever skied in before!

 

Cody figured out how to 

talk on his cell phone without taking his helmet off...

I could just see you doing the same thing Arian!

 

 

Each day after skiing we soaked in the outdoor hot tubs. 

It was pretty much awesome, albeit extremely cold getting in and out.

 Due to delays and cancellations on the way out, we ended up extending our trip by a day, 

meaning we were gone a total of SEVEN nights.

Once again this trip would not have been possible without the loving care of Auntie Yvette, who quite amazingly juggled all of the children with their competing needs and schedules coupled with her intense full time workload simultaneously.

Unfortunately I failed to get ANY pictures of her with the kiddos aside from stealing this snapshot of her reading with Aspen. 

We are so thankful to have her in our lives and look forward 

to another visit from her and Keith next month!