St. Patrick's Day

Thanks to Nana in Maine, Eliana had everything an Irish girl could need.

Amigos!

Our friends, the Youngbloods, joined us for pancakes (reoccurring theme) on Sunday morning. Eliana waited on the back of the couch looking out the window, anxiously waiting for them to arrive. When they pulled up to the house, she freaked out and commenced squealing, "Amigos! Amigos! AAMMIIGGGOOOOOOS!" It was fantastic. She was so happy for them to be here. Later, she and Parker, her almost birthday twin, posed for a quick shot. Aren't they lovely?

Pancakes

Eliana loves to make pancakes. She knows the names of the ingredients and pretends to read the recipe by pointing to the words on the canister and saying, "Eggs. Milk. Mix." This morning, I threw in some chocolate chips. I think she liked them.

Utah

The rainy weather in Oregon doesn't normally get me down. I've always been able to appreciate the rain by thinking that as long as it's raining down in the city, we're getting snow in the mountains. Sadly, that has NOT been the case this year. It's often raining at the mountain as well. Depressing.

Greg recently had a trip planned to Salt Lake City for work and we took advantage. Nana came from Maine to watch Eliana for the weekend so that we could have a getaway just for us. It was fantastic.

We rode Snowbird on Saturday and the weather was pretty bad with lots of fog and snow. The tram was closed due to high winds. We didn't care too much. At least it was soft, fluffy Utah snow and not heavy, wet Oregon snain. I'd like to go back to Snowbird on a powder day. There's no doubt that the steep bowls would be fantastic, but with the fog and our lack of familiarity with the mountain, it was too sketchy. Going off a cliff would have been a bad thing.

Dinner on Saturday night was in the "hip" (quotes intentional) section of SLC at a restaurant called Pago. It was so good. We sat at the chef's counter, which is our favorite place to sit at fancy restaurants because you can strike up a conversation with the chefs and they generally pass extra little treats for you to try. This was no exception. Greg lucked out with a special sample of pork cheeks that were so tender you needed to eat them with a spoon.

Brighton on Sunday was one of my top three snowboarding experiences EVER. Powder, sun, and riding with my favorite snowboarding buddy. We hiked into bowls, rode in the trees, searched out little powder stashes and dreamt about going out of bounds to some of the prettiest terrain I've ever seen. Someday we will get split boards and really go earn our turns.

It was an amazing weekend and I'm already looking forward to a return trip.

Sisters

Sisters last weekend was a mixed bag. The rain was disgusting. Spending time, however, with our great friends and riding at Hoodoo was awesome. Eliana was a superstar and stayed in daycare for 3 hours, - long enough for Greg and I to ride with our posse and get totally, soaking wet.

On Monday morning, the sun showed her face long enough for us to get this photo. Good times, everyone, good times.

A day in the sun at Ski Bowl

We headed to the mountain on Sunday to eek out the last bit of winter break. The sun was shining and we had a voucher for a pass (thanks, Barkers!) from last year. Greg and I rotated on staying in the lodge with Eli. It's tough not to be able to ride with Greg, but riding alone is better than not riding. Ski Bowl lodge is awesome for kids - it's small and quiet. Plus, hot dogs and fries are hot and cheap.

On the drive home, we stopped by this little cabin in the woods that we've been looking at online. We fantasize about having a cabin so that we could be closer to the mountain. When we pulled up, it looked vacant so we peeked in the windows while Eli slept in the car. To our surprise, there was somebody in there! He saw us and invited us in to take a look around. Turns out, he is the neighbor who takes care of the cabin after renters leave. What a crazy experience. Later, he took us up to his house to meet his wife and see all of his animals - including a bobcat and an ostrich. It was like being in the Twilight Zone, but I love it when a quick stop turns into a great story!

Two funny photos

On the evening of Christmas day, we went over to the Barker's house. Eli and Hazel played with baby dolls (big surprise there) and we had a fantastic dinner. The girls had fun together, except for when one or the other of them was mad about having to take turns. This was near the end of the night and Hazel was showing Eli how to but the baby to bed. Toddlers are funny little creatures.On Monday after Christmas, I got together with my girls and their kids for a gift exchange. Oh man. I don't know what we've done, but the scene was straight mayhem. From left to right: Archer Byers, Hazel and Opal Norling, Miles Rocklin (not happy to be away from mama), Eliana Stiles and Sive Mangan. Nothing but good times ahead!