Ski Party

Last weekend was the traditional, last Friday in January, ski party. We did the math and figure that my mom has had that party for about 25 years. She was going to give it up this year with Connie, her baby, leaving on her mission. She did it for her kids and they are all gone. I was just a couple of years older than Caleb when she started so I insisted that she not give it up because it is the fact that she has been doing it for so many years that gets her such a great night. If she gave it up we may never get a Friday night again. So I decided to take it over. It was interesting to see her perspective of the stress of having enough people. I tried to presale tickets so I could get a better count, but people have a really hard time committing which makes getting a good count stressful. In the last three days we went from 81 people (if there were less than 80 I would have to pay the difference) to 146 that night, but had the weather or snow been bad we may have gone in the other direction. I hope that in the years to come the stress will be worth it. My moms stress was sure worth it for me. I do have to ask myself why do it for my kids.



Caleb is SO NOT A SKIER. He was so excited for the party and counted down for it all month. All month he talked about doing jumps and what a great skier he is. After spending $27 to get his pass, his rentals, and his lesson he didn't even ski - again! He was excited for the lesson right up to the part where you put on the skis and go down the hill. He is such a chicken! He did enjoy playing on the snow in his ski boots. He called that skiing.



Cara on the other hand did a great job. She is a good sport and was willing to give skiing a good shot. I was proud of her.



The party in the lodge was fun. There was lots of great food, fun people and games. I tried skiing (which I did when I was this far along with Caleb and with Cara). I know some people would object, but I feel like a few careful runs wont hurt. I just have a hard time resisting the fresh air and the beautiful white snow. This time I only did a couple of runs because I was getting terrible charlie-horses in my feet and toes. I must be getting old. Darn!

The day after the ski party we took a little trip down to Temple Square. Connie finished up her visitors center training at the MTC with a trip to Temple Square. Every time she has written from the MTC she reminded mom of the hours she would be at Temple Square. We weren't going to go until on Saturday morning Connie's companion called from the call center to "get a referral." Mom could hear Connie in the background asking why she wasn't on her way to SLC. (Some people may frown on this so if it upsets you please keep your comments to yourself because what is done is done.) We did see her and visited for just 2-3 minutes. It was great! She was so happy to see us and we were happy to see her as a missionary too. We spent almost two hours on Temple Square even though we saw her within the first 30 minutes. We spent the entire time at the North and South Visitors Centers. It has all changed so much, and we did stuff with the kids that we have never done before. I think regular trips to Temple Square can be such a blessing for a family.



The kids just eat it all up and the sisters are so cute with them. Especially this time of year it seems that there are more missionaries on the temple grounds than visitors so we got a lot of attention. The highlight of the trip for me, besides seeing Connie, was when one of the missionaries asked Cara if she was going to be a missionary. She said that she was and the sister put her nametag on Cara. Cara stood so straight and tall with that nametag on. She was really glowing!



Usually we are at Temple Square at Christmas time when there are big crowds. It was fun to be there practically by ourselves and feel like we could take time to take classic pictures like this.