Easter

Easter weekend was pretty low-key this year.  We had our usual easter egg hunt with the primary kids (with a LOT less snow than last year).  I've missed seeing all the kids and their parents and it was fun to chat with everyone.  I really loved that Sarah put together a song play list for the egg hunting.  It really put it over the top!

Easter morning we had only sacrament meeting, and then a fabulous get-together at Nora's house that afternoon.  We ate 2 hams, 3 1/2 pans of cheesy potatoes and about 500 plastic eggs full of candy.  The weather was okay and rained off and on all afternoon.  The robin eggs and other non-water-proof candy had to be consumed immediately.  We stayed way too late but had so much fun.  And of course, trying to focus on the true meaning of Easter, the sacrifice and resurrection of the savior, pulls it all together!

A winter side-hustle...

I had such a fun time this winter, working for Soldier Hollow Nordic Center.  It was a wonderful part-time job that made the winter absolutely fly by!  I mostly worked Tuesdays, Thursdays, and some Friday mornings, teaching lessons, waxing skis, sorting boots, but mostly helping with the youth programs (which meant lots and lots of kids).  Some of them were expert cross-country skiers already, some had never been on skis.  It was a wide range!  I especially loved my after-school group of beginners.  They worked so hard for 8 weeks and were able to show off their crazy skills to their parents on the last day.  We had fun climbing "snow whales", skiing to the haunted cabin, bombing down the Hollow, playing sharks & Minnows, Buddy Tag, and Red Light Green Light.  Some of them never really got the hang of it, but still worked so hard and always had a good attitude.  

As far as the skiing part goes... it wasn't really THAT cold this winter.  It was actually pretty mild!  And when you're constantly moving, you rarely get cold anyway.  It was nice the nordic center made their own snow which allowed skiing late and early season, when snow was sparse everywhere else.  Don't get me wrong, I definitely prefer back-country, but I couldn't pass up the convenience of cross-country skiing so close by!  Now I just need to think about upgrading my gear...

Random March Winter Fun!

Even with working part-time this winter, we were still able to squeeze in plenty of fun!  The nordic center really slows down towards the end of march, when all the youth programs are over.  I took advantage of my "employee tubing passes" at Soldier Hollow and took the kids (+ neighbor-kid-Krue) tubing one afternoon.  I had to see what all the hype was about.  Afterall, the tubing hill sees 10x more people than the nordic center (we share a building).  Hum...

It actually was pretty fun... and a lot less work.  It was frustrating how SLOW the surface lift/ magic carpet was.  And when you get to the top, you still have to wait 10-15 minutes to even go down.  It was a slushy day, so the runs weren't super fast.  We still had fun and it was a great way to kill a couple hours.  I looked across at the cross country ski runs and wished I was skiing instead... oh, well.  Another day.  Why does winter have to be so short?  

Tommy is really improving his skiing skills!  We met up with Mckay and Nora a couple more times this season and that was really good practice for him (and Dallin).  He can almost stay up with the rest of the family.  Where he lacks speed, he has confidence.  It was the end of a ski day when everyone else was tired and wanted to take the gondola down to the car.  Tommy opted to ski down instead.  Jordanelle run!  Double blue!  He did so good and I was super proud of him.  It was a great way to end the ski day.