Deer Valley / Canyons - March 12, 2011

My Dad was in town for the weekend, so we celebrated his birthday a little early with cheap skiing. 

My Visit Teacher works at Deer Valley Resort and for Christmas she gave us some vouchers to use.  Most of the time, they're free.  But on busy weekends, like today, they're $10.  Not bad for a regular $90 lift ticket!  Thank you Melina!  James was planning to ski with us, but last minute got invited to ski at Canyons Resort with a bunch of managers and guys from Backcountry.com.  And that was another free lift ticket, so he decided to ski with the guys and use his Deer Valley voucher another day.

We dropped James off in the Canyons parking lot and drove just a few miles up the road to Deer Valley.  Dad & I spent the rest of the day trying to ride every single lift.  (Deer Valley Trail Map)  It takes all day because there are 20+ lifts accessing six "mountains" and some of them are really tricky to get to!  After lunch it started to rain a bit on the lowest mountains, so we did get a little soggy, but by the end of the day it was just overcast again.  And we'd done it!  Dad and I skied all the lifts and got oriented (mostly) to Deer Valley.  We mostly skied groomers, every time I tried an off-piste run it turned out to be pretty poor conditions - more work than fun.  I didn't get any pictures, but I did have a great day.

At the end of the ski day, we picked up James (who had a fun day and learned who has similar skiing skills and who tends to ditch out after lunch!) and headed to Hires Big H for a hamburger dinner.  Yum!  Happy Birthday Dad!

It's a baby! - March 11, 2011

Quick timeline of events for the Litte Bandito thus far...

Jan 4, 2011 - positive home pregnancy test
Jan 26, 2011 - 7 weeks pregnant - first Dr. appt - "officially pregnant"
Feb 1, 2011 - announced pregnancy to the family

Mar 11, 2011  - 13 weeks pregnant - 2nd Dr. Appt.  Today we got to see our baby!  Dr. K brought in a little portable ultrasound machine and the first thing she did was confirm that there is only one baby.  Then she took some quick measurements.  Baby is measuring right in the 13 week range.  I had a hard time viewing the screen from the exam table, but James had a great view.  She printed a few pictures, but they're really grainy and the only one that even looks like a baby is just an outline of the head!  But she was able to show us the baby's heart beating and that was exciting.  Then she brought out a different 'wand' and we got to hear that little heart beat at about 150 beats per minute!  James says it sounds like a steam engine. 

Official due date: 9/10/11 !!

Eagle Point - February 19, 2011

Brian and Tiffany decided to spend their President's Day weekend in Utah - skiing with us!  And they let James and I decide where we were going to go skiing.  So we picked Eagle Point Ski Resort just outside of Beaver.  Up until 2002 it was called Elk Meadows.  Then it was sold to the Mt.Holly Club, who planned to remodel the lodges and rename the runs and make it a private resort.  That failed and the resort sat idle for a quite a few years.  This season it re-opened as Eagle Point.  We were really, really interested in skiing there while the lifts were running, because in March 2010, we only got in 2-3 runs by hiking it!

BandT drove in late on Friday night.  We loaded into the Outlaw and drove to American Fork. My cousins, Jordan and Michael, were in town from California and Michael LOVES to ski with James.  So we stopped in American Fork, traded all our gear into their big truck - big enough for 5 people and all their ski gear - and hit the road with Michael.  We got into Beaver pretty late, but I'd reserved a hotel room (it came with 2 lift tickets)- and with a roll-away bed, everybody got a fairly comfortable night sleep. 

Saturday morning, we headed up the canyon to Eagle Point.  It was raining down in Beaver and part-way up the canyon.  Then it was snowing pretty heavily and it got fairly steep the last few miles to the resort.  And we discovered that the big truck was 2-wheel-drive.  We pulled off the road, said a prayer, and then headed back down the canyon.  After a couple miles, we passed a snowplow.  So we turned around again, and followed the plow back up to the resort without any problems.

Lift tickets are $45 for adults and $32 for children - children are ages 7-17.  Michael actually scored a $32 lift ticket - he's never been so happy to be a 'child'!

The snow was incredible.  It was sooooo deep and it kept snowing all day long.  Every run was fresh turns.  If you got onto a easier run, with a flatter slope, it was actually hard to keep moving because the snow was so deep.  We spent most of our time looking for steep runs and gaps through the trees for tree skiing.  Michael was disappointed in the lack of cliffs, but I know he still had a good time.  I had jell-o legs by the end of the day, so fun.

My only photo of the whole weekend - Michael, Tiffany, Brian, James & Jessi

Then it was time to get the truck out of the parking lot and back down the canyon.  The snow in the parking lot was so deep that we didn't change out of our boots while we brushed off the truck and loaded gear and made sure we had a path with a large turning radius.  BandT and I rode on the tail gate for rear-axle weight while James drove us out of the parking lot and onto the road again.  Then we all piled into the truck, still in ski boots (except for James, who was driving), for the drive down.  I had to jump out a few times to clear the windshield wipers because the snow/slush/rain was still coming down pretty heavy all the way back to Beaver.  And finally, finally, finally we got to change out of our ski boots. 

Then a long, long drive back to American Fork - even in the comfortable truck it was a long drive after a full day of skiing.  Switch back into the Outlaw and home again to sleep.  Church on Sunday and then BandT left for Idaho Falls through stormy weather.

Why do such fun weekends go by so quickly?

Snow Basin Ski Demo Days - February 16-17, 2011

While we lived in Eagle, we made some good friends in our ward.  One of them is part-owner of a new business - Ridgeline Specialty Sports - which mainly focuses on skis and bikes.  Last year was the first year that our friend, Mark, came down to Utah for ski demo days at Snow Basin.  James was able to ski with him one day last year and test out some pretty fun skis.

This year, Mark asked if we both could help, and for both days.  James got gold passes through Backcountry.com, so we didn't have to buy lift tickets for Snow Basin, and Mark paid for our registration fees.  James' job was to test 'boutique' skis.  My job was to test women's specific skis.  Demo days were on Wed/Thurs, so we also got to take the days off work and ski!

It was very, very, very strange to leave the house to go skiing, without any skis in the car.  We parked at the main lodge at the base of the resort and then rode a little beginner lift (without skis) up to where all the demo tents were set up.  About 25% of the tents were snowboarding stuff.  70% were for skiing.  The last 5% were goggles or sunglasses or helmets or boots or whatever.  James said he was a 'kid in a candy store' as he wandered down the row of tents to decide which to visit. 

Here is a pretty good picture of the row of tents (& James).  As I was taking the picture, a huge gust of wind blew through and you can see some of the destruction in the background.  Tents and skis down! 

A close up of my James.

This is a helmet that advertises that you'll never need goggles again!  Reminds me of the helmets our helicopter pilots wear - with the huge eye sheilds!

Wednesday was SOOOOOO WINDY!  Most of the lifts were closed.  The beginner lift that we used to get up to the demo tents was open, one lift right next to the demo tents, and one other lift that was only open half of the day.  Both gondolas, the tram, and all the rest of the lifts were closed due to high winds.  Luckily, we didn't pay to ski those conditions and most of the people on the mountain were demo-ing skis or boards, so being crammed onto the same lifts was mostly tolerable.

Then it SNOWED like crazy on Wednesday night.  And on Thursday, the entire mountain was open with fresh snow!  Of course, while testing skis, you can only get about two runs in before swapping out for another pair.  So we didn't get to ski much of the mountain anyway. 

I bailed out at lunch time on Thursday.  I guess I'm not in shape for skiing two full days in a row.  And skiing with James is very energetic skiing.  He took me off the groomers for most of our runs on both days.  On Wednesday, we found a couple runs that had some fairly fresh snow and really fun turns.  But the run out took us across a flat little meadow, so you had to really keep some speed to get across.  The first time, James tried to skirt the meadow by staying on the hillside and following a little 'bump' trail.  I followed.   One of the 'bumps' was jump enough that I was kicked completely up in the air, off balance, and landed in the soft snow off trail.  Baby caught air!  Do you think he liked it?

(Almost) First Baby Gift - February 12, 2011

Kristen and Clay came to SLC for the weekend for a work conference.  I saw them for a couple hours on Thursday night (James was in class) before they headed off to the hotel nearer to all the action.  They still arranged to spend Saturday night with us and hit the road back to Eagle early, early, early on Sunday morning.  So glad they did, I love company.

On Saturday night, they knocked on our door... And when I opened it.... Kristen and Clay and a CRIB came waltzing into our apartment.  A crib from Ikea complete with mattress, baby bumper, sheet, pillow case and a really cute striped blanket and even some extra striped fabric (for curtains? or to cover the plain white bumper? or something else fun and creative?).  So cute with bright orange and baby blue and lime green and red and bright yellow.  (Kristen said it was hard to resist all the cute, pink, girly stuff - but they liked the bright cheery stripes - and I love it too!)  Then we spent a couple hours on the Ikea website looking at all the cute baby stuff - changing tables and cribs and bedding and high chairs and STUFF.

I wanted to put the new crib together right that minute, but we haven't rearranged our space for a nursery(!) yet.  We'll have to hide it under our bed for a few months until I get the guest bedroom decluttered.  Although, Clay's suggestion to put it together and to use it to store all the baby stuff that we're going to be collecting over the next few months is a very good idea.

This picture will have to do until I get to put the actual crib together...

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU Kristen and Clay (and Emma and Aspen) - what a generous, fantastic surprise.  We still have to remind ourselves that we're having a baby.  It is easy to forget that we're pregnant, even though the home pregnancy test said we're pregnant.  My doctor says we're pregnant.  Even my body gives random reminders, but maybe a crib is just what we needed to make this more real.  Yay!  THANK YOU!



P.S.  It is ALMOST the first baby gift.  My mom gave us some cute baby clothes awhile ago - like a couple of years ago.  Thanks Mom!

February Date - Skiing - February 12, 2011

One of the reasons I love Valentine's Day is that it happens in winter! My Visit Teacher and her husband both work at Deer Valley and for Christmas she gave us two vouchers to ski at Deer Valley.  (I just looked at the Deer Valley website and day lift tickets for an adult are $90 EACH.  Wow!  That was a generous gift!)

So we celebrated Valentine's Day a little bit early at Deer Valley.  We shared a bowl of chili for lunch at one of the lodges and looked for untracked snow.  It was warm enough that the sunny slopes had some interesting sun crust action, but mostly the trees were skiable and fun.

I just had to take a picture of James in the one-piece with his new skis.  Of course, I made him show the bottom of his skis because they match the one-piece!  We got stopped on one lift, where I could see the bottoms of the 4 pairs of skis on the chair in front of us - every single pair was a plain black base.  Boring.  James' set-up is definitely not boring!

At the very, very end of the day, on our way back to the car, we skied "Kimberly".  There you go Kim, proof that you are "More Difficult".  Ha ha!  Love you!

After skiing, we stopped at a little chocolate shop in the Avenues called Hatch Family Chocolates - where James had pre-ordered some chocolate covered strawberries for his Valentine.  Yum!  James doesn't know that there will be some CJ Sweets and Treats in his lunch on Monday - Carmel Pretzels and Truffles.  We also shared a Carmel Apple this weekend - special delivery by Clay and Kristen.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Wanted! - February 7, 2011