Here's what happens...

when I leave Greg in charge.

Eliana's 9 month celebration

In honor of our little bug turning 9 months old we celebrated by a weekend up at the mountain. Saturday found us at Ski Bowl. It was my first time going there and I had a blast. Greg and I switched off with Eli in the lodge. I got to (finally) ride with Eryn. So nice to make some turns with another lady. We stayed with Eli's friend, Hazel, at a place in Government Camp on Saturday night. Hazel let her parents come, too. Eliana managed to eat a crayon while she and Hazel were playing in the living room. No kidding.

On Sunday we cruised up to Meadows so that Greg could spend the morning coaching the Lakeridge team. We worked out a plan earlier in the week for Greg to head up to the top of the race with my snowboard and his on the chairlift. I would then put Eli in the backpack and snowshoe up to the top of the race. I would then transfer Eli to Greg and get my board. If it all worked out Eli would get her first ride down the mountain on her dad's back. The long hike was worth it. My apologies to those of you who might think this is dangerous. We decided it was less dangerous than riding in a car and we do that everyday.

The hike was really physically demanding on me, but it was totally worth this:

Once we got to the bottom of the run, Greg went in with Eli. I made a couple more runs with our friends Rob and Jess. Snowboarding is so amazing. The snow was really nice and I love cruising down the hill.

I'm still riding the wave of awesomeness that surrounded the weekend. I love my husband. I love my daughter. I'm a lucky, lucky lady!

Brunch and Babies

We were lucky enough to spend this weekend eating brunch and drinking mimosas! On Saturday we spent most of the day with our friends the Youngbloods and the Moersfelders. Eliana and Parker (below) are almost birthday twins. Eliana was born on May 7th and Parker arrived on May 10th. It is really fun to see them together. I couldn't resist adding this series of photos where Eliana maintains this totally stoic look and Parker is full of fun faces. Adorable.

Here's Taylor, Parker's big sister, showing off her dance moves for Greg.

On Sunday we went out to Tanya's house for another binge of brunch. Two more of Eli's friends, Annalise and Kaya, were there. She's a very busy 8 (almost 9) month old!

Next weekend we are going to take a break from brunch and babies and focus on riding a (hopefully) very powdery mountain!

Two more from the snowshoeing adventure...

The sign...by Greg's request. We were on the Snow Bunny trail. 2.5 miles on the trail.

Apres hike Hazel let Eli ride on her sled. She dug it.

Snowshoeing

Last weekend we went up to the mountain to snowshoe with our friend Eryn and her daughter, Hazel. It was snowing a lot and it felt so good to get out and move around. We didn't bring the snowboards. That was a mistake. Our new rule is that we take the boards - always. That way we can stop and take a few runs before heading home.

We only saw two other people on the trail. It was super peaceful - except for a 15 to 20 minute screamfest from Eliana toward the end. We may have pushed our luck a little...

A view of the trail

Eryn and a tired Hazel. Both girls were asleep for the majority of the hike.

Eli and Greg

What a good sport. Getting her ready for a life full of cold weather experiences.

Such a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon!

¡Manos Arriba!

Eliana is showing us that her language skills are coming along. "Manos arriba" means "hands-up" in Spanish. She has this figured out and it cracks us up.

Salmon River Hike

On the first weekend in December we went for a short hike along the Salmon River Trail in the shadow of Mt. Hood. It was incredible. Winter hikes are great.

There was a light dusting of snow on the trail.

Big old growth Douglas-fir trees lined the trail.

Enjoying the view of the Salmon River.

Eli was thrilled to be in the woods. She was constantly looking around checking everything out. After about 45 minutes on the trail she passed out and enjoyed a nap on my back.

Working our way back to the car.

The Salmon River looked real cold.