James has been 'whining' about not getting enough skiing. But really he has been whining about the quality of the snow. So far, there hasn't been any powder and he keeps checking out big, fat skis from the backcountry.com Gear Room. Today he checked out a pair of Black Diamond Megawatts - for those of you who care, they're an ultra-fat ski with 125 mm underfoot for 188 cm length, rocker tip and zero camber.
We took them to Brighton (thanks for the tickets Jen!) and prepared to ski on two-week-old-Salt-Lake's-in-an-inversion-with-High-Pressure-and-no-end-in-sight snow. But James must have been doing some snow dance or weather prayers in between mild whining because it began to rain on Friday in the valley and of course that means snow. Saturday was a beautiful snowy ski day and James LOVES the Megawatts. He says that if all the runs (especially the groomers) had two to ten inches of fluff, he'd be happy to ski on that pair forever.
James also had one of his ALL-TIME FAVORITE EVER ski runs today. He'd be thrilled to tell you about going out-of-bounds past Milli Bowl and poking around some cliffs and chutes and ending up in the Hourglass Chute where he had to point these big, fat skis straight down and then into the fluff for some beautiful turns.
He really tried to 'submarine' the tips of these in the snow. He COULD NOT get the tips to dig in, no matter how far forward he skied - at one point he was leaned over with his hands almost down to the skis. I need to try some super fats in the powder sometime!
Tree skiing between Thunder Road and Doyle's Dive.
Following James through the trees - "Where are you Jess?" "Taking your picture with my phone!"
Actual snowflakes in my hair - that High Pressure system stayed WAAAAAY too long.
Snowflakes twinkling in the light. We started skiing about 12:30 and stayed until 8:00 p.m. I haven't night skied in a snow storm in a long time. It was fun!
Cleaning the storm off the car!
The view through the windshield of James' cleaning off the glass. (Isn't it wonderful to sit in the car all cozy while my wonderful husband puts the skis in the rack and clears all the windows - it is good to be spoiled!)
The website said 11:00 a.m. So we went - ON TIME - and arrived to find the local singles ward greeting people at the door. Not our ward.
It is a cute little 2-bedroom 1-bath apartment in a 4-plex. Ours is the upper left apartment (without the bicycle on the porch). The upstairs units have higher ceilings. It has a fireplace in the livingroom and a laundry room and a back porch. It is small, but clean and in good condition and I LOVE the fireplace, having laundry inside the apartment, and it is only 7 miles to work! About 14 miles to James' work - beats a 45 mile commute!
This is the view from our back porch - spare lot for the apartments nearby, the freeway, and an oil refinery. Thank goodness for good windows that keep out the noise! Actually, at night the view is really pretty. Just lights in the darkness.
Christy, Oma & Jake preparing for a quiet afternoon.
McKayla (Kim's)
Hallie (Jed's)
Hannah (Jed's)
Aunt Suzie & Uncle Doug, Shelby and Michael
The whole gang - Suzie, Doug, James, Jessi, Shelby & Michael
The lake in the background is Lake Tahoe. Mt. Rose has two-for-one on Tuesdays and some really, really fun runs. There is a section of the mountain called "The Chutes!" This means I skied the chutes and James skied the ridgelines and hopped over rocks. We visited James' Uncle Rod & Aunt Laura & cousin Jonathan. We stayed in a casino in downtown Reno - I think James won $2 at a machine and then lost it again! We spent a day in Virginia City and saw wild horses and toured an old mine. We spent our last day driving along the shore of Lake Tahoe.
James got his private pilot license in January, and we finally got to fly together in May. We rented the plane from his flight school, Jetstream Aviation, and made arrangements for Uncle Neil to pick us up at the Cascade Airport. We flew over Bogus Basin to see the melting snow and then did a 'touch & go' at the McCall Airport before landing in Cascade. We had lunch with U.Neil, Oma, U.Norm & A.Marlene before flying home again. Of course, James scouted West Mountain and the snow available as we climbed up above Cascade.
We spent almost a month in Alaska for a wonderful vacation / high school graduation (Congratulations Kathleen!) / job interview (Alaska Troopers, try again another year) / family reunion / mission homecoming (Congratulations Brian!)... I have a whole scrapbook full of pictures, but this is one of my favorites. I also saw an actual, living ice worm at this glacier!
The Alaska Highway was constructed during World War II and connects the lower 48 to Alaska through Canada. It runs from Dawson Creek, British Columbia to Delta Junction (about 100 miles southeast of Fairbanks). Completed in 1943, it is 1,522 miles long. This is the only bit of the highway I've been on - but we have plans to drive the highway together sometime! We drove past these incredible mosquitos & I had James turn around and go back for some pictures!
During the Price Family Reunion, a small group of us (Mom & Dad, Cody, Aunt Lynn & Chelsea) hiked from the trailhead at the top of 29th street to the base of this waterfall. Then we went to Lagoon!
Jessi, James, Kathleen & Kathy. Not pictured: Gil, Jed, Hannah, Hallie, and Stella. We had a great trip - there were minor injuries and fishing lures in the tree branches and perfect pan-sized trout and mountains to climb and snow!
James & I hiked to the top of the highest ridge above the lakes - We had a beautiful view of all the lakes we fished, the next valley & even a few deer.
Gil, Hannah, Kathy, Jessi, James & Kathleen - James was excited to get 'first tracks' all the way to the car. We stopped at Kirkham Hot Springs on the way home to finish thawing our toes!
We got to drive with James' sister Kathleen to BYU-Idaho. She had freshman orientation, so we left her to get settled in Rexburg and explored Yellowstone.
This was our first time out the North East Entrance of the park - it is so pretty! We found an inexpensive campsite a few miles outside the park and even saw wolves (from a very very very long distance through a borrowed scope - never forget your binoculars while visiting Yellowstone) along that stretch. 
Kurt & Carlee, Tyler, Christy & Jake invited us to spend a Saturday on the Greenbelt with them We had a wonderful time & I'm embarrassed that this is James' first adventure on the greenbelt and we've lived in Eagle for 2 years!
Simpson Family photo. Left side: James & Jessi /Kurt, Christy, Tyler, Carlee & Jake. Center Left: Clay & Kristen, Emma & Aspen. Center: Gil & Kathy Simpson Center Right: Jed & Maria, Tucker, Hannah, Hallie, Stella & Zoe Right: Deven, Ellie, Kim, Bree, McKayla & Carter
This year we have a new nephew - Jake Wendell - born July 1st and an new niece - Ellie Jane - born September 19th. This (obviously) is Ellie - just over a month old & so, so sweet.
Now that we live in Utah, James' sister Kathleen came to Ogden for Thanksgiving. We really enjoyed her visit and made the most of it - a Utah Jazz NBA basketball game, turkey dinner, skiing at Brighton Ski Resort, and a visit to Temple Square to see the Christmas lights.
Seems like skiing has been part of Christmas for ... forever. We enjoyed having Christmas with Grandma & Granddad Price and then skied for the first time at Wolf Mountain Ski Area - the closest one to G&G's house.