Ski Colorado!

Finally in February Colorado got a little snow.  We were lucky once again to have timed our trip to Telluride right after one of those few storms hit, and we capitalized on all the powder for sure.  The day we got in we took a drive up to a local x country ski trail for a little fun before hitting the down hill action the next day.  It was so beautiful, as the snow started falling as we were skiing, and it came down hard and fast.  

Maren catching snowflakes as we ski.

An old railroad bridge up the canyon

Man the views at Telluride never disapoint.  As I was skiing I had to really concentrate on not hitting any trees as I could not stop looking around.  It is mesmerizing!    

But the best part of the trip was having cousins there to ski and hang out with.  Doug and his crew joined us, and we loved showing them our favorite mountain town.  And the skiing was perfect for all the kiddos!  The magic forest was their favorite, it was fun to see them all trying knew things, and having such fun doing it.

The condo we stayed at was perfect for our crew.  Room for everyone to sleep and close enough to walk to the bunny hill and our favorite lift.   And cable to watch the winter Olympics on in the evening!  And Heather wins the holding down the fort award for staying back at the condo with the little ones, and making sure we all had warm food to come home to!

The heated garage was such a great added bonus!  We loved having warm boots to put on when we went back out to ski.

And of course the gondola is always the favorite.  It was so fun to share it with more cousins, and get to explore Telluride in the winter.  Almost as great as summer, but biking wins that battle...of course!

Amanda missed out on this trip for another academic team tournament.  But before she left she got the fun of experiencing her first car accident.  We got the phone call as we were driving to Telluride, she had rear ended a truck.  Luckily she only damaged the bumber on our vehicle as she put a hole in it with his hitch mount.  He was super nice and once he determined no one was injured, and they exchanged information they were both on the road again.  We were grateful for the learning experience without too much pain.  It could have been much worse.

Because we can't just play all the time,  the rest of Februaury happened.   Amanda got to participate in All State Orchestra.  This was a huge honor for her, and she made the top orchestra as a junior.  Super proud of her and her hard work.  She loved working with these talented musicians and the director was amazing.  

Jacob had a fun field trip to our local mall for the safety fair.  He has such good buddy's in his life.

Then the flu struck.  He was out for a whole week of school due to this nasty bug.  But luckily he was the only one to get it and that was such a blessing.  

Marens Mesa club competed in a matchbox car competition.  They took a second place finish, and were so excited.  I was really proud of her, as just before the competition started they had a string break that really affected their cars performance.  She didn't panic or freak out, just got right to work fixing it, and had it back and running well in time to compete.  She thinks they would have won with the original string, but really she will never remember that.  But her determination and hardwork will take this girl places.

Jacob and Spencer used their creative powers to build every event they could think of  out of legos.  They had lots more, including lifts to get the athletes to their events.

Ski jump

Snow board cross

And I can't go without mentioning how exciting it was to see the American women win gold in cross country skiing this year.  It was a full out party at our house that night.  And what a fantastic finish to watch them go for it all out.  I may have even cried a little.  I was actually at cub scouts when it aired, and was super bummed, so the tears were not just happy.  But within a few days I figured out how I could watch it and that was the best ever!

For our spring break we had one more ski trip planned...to Aspen!  It was a beautful trip, and we loved the condo with the hot tub and a well heated pool.

Yes, this is March in the mountains of Colorado.

I love quarky mountain villages.

Jacob was so excited to plan out his ski runs.  He really got very comfortable skiing the black diamonds this year.  So he and Dave would get out early and hit them hard, and the rest of us would enjoy our blue runs.  By mid day, Dave would be tired, and convince Jacob to ski with us again, which he would do begrudgingly.  This kid! 

We skied two days at Snowmass and one at Aspen Highlands.  I really loved them both, but to see the Maroon Bells from Aspen Highlands was incredible.

We woke up the second morning to a few inches of fresh powder.  Again so lucky, as not much had fallen all season.  It was the funnest morning ever.  We loved making fresh tracks and feeling like we were floating on sugar.  It was pure bliss!

And once again Amanda found herself missing out on all the above fun.  But I don't think she minds terribly.  Prior to this trip I had driven her to the front range so she could participate in a double reed day at NCU.  She had a great time, and loved getting to know even more oboists and programs around our state.  From there we were to meet up with her academic team and I would head home.  But a storm that rolled in caused the team to have to turn around and we got a hotel for a second night so she could meet up with them the next morning.   

She got to compete in the State Quiz bowl tournament in Fort Collins CO, and they did well.  After a nailbiting finish, they took Gold and brought the trophy home for the 19th time in 20 years.  So proud of these kids.  There is so much pressure to win as they have quite a tradition to uphold, but they rose to the occasion and pushed through despite many struggles. 

The school gave them an assembly.  But the story behind it is really cool.  Because their HS wrestling team won state the school gave them an assembly.  When Acadmic team pulled it off, there was not one planned.  One of the teachers (a favorite of Amanda's) staged a lone sit in, in the principles office to show her support for an assembly to honor these kids.  What a cool teacher.  The assembly itlef was hilarious, as they had the team compete against teachers, the the teachers didn't even stand a chance.  It really is incredible how they know the answers before the question is even close to being finished.  

They deserved the attention, and even the local news station did a couple stories.  One was on the fact that three of their A team members were female and therefore a majority female team winning state is pretty awesome.  Amanda couldn't have been happier to be a part of such a great program, and she loved the thrill of winning.  Now the pressure is on again for next year.