Ski Day with Dad

Sadly, I'd already written this post before it mysteriously disappeared!! =(

I shall now pick up my poor dejected self by my bootstraps and attempt to recount the events of yesterday.

The day was all planned out. Cam was going sledding with his youth group. Me and mom were going thriftiness after we dropped him off and then- me and dad would head up the mountain for some ultra special ski time!!

But it didn't work out that way. The mountain was closed at the base because it had snowed the night before! So Cam's trip was canceled.

But at 11:30, when we called to see if the road had opened, we got the same message that had been running for three hours! So we decided to take a chance. We went up anyway.

And guess what? The road was open!! (don't you love how the risk takers were rewarded? It makes me want to steal a popular line from debate, "should we penalize those America has rewarded for taking risks? America was built by risk takers.. Etc." I must sound like a super nerd about now..)

As we climbed up the twisty road, Dad remarked about the bad conditions. It was raining. And we were driving through heavy fog. Dad thought the whole trip would be a bust.

But miraculously! When we reached the top, it wasn't raining! And there was no fog! So we decided to ski after all! =)

Cam wanted to try snowboarding this time. He was actually pretty good! But once his lesson was over, he was done. So he built a small snowman outside the lodge while Dad and I did a few more runs.

It really was the perfect day, despite the bitter cold and the wind. I love the thrill of the snow slipping under my skis and the wind whistling past my ears. There's just this aura of excitement that billows up inside me. I love skiing!

Mac the Ninja Snowman

This is Mac, the ninja snowman. See his snowball. Fear his wrath! He is a blackbelt in snowman karate and to complete the ensemble, he has a carrot nun-chuck. His squinty eyes will strike fear into your heart. Just by looking at this picture, hope and pray you will never come across such as the likes of THIS.

Posing with Mac.

Close up.

Snowman in progress.

Mac receives his ski mask. We had to...modify his head a little bit so the ski mask would fit properly.

Jarret's alien snowman, which he eventually turned into a dead snowman. In order to protect the public and uphold our agreement with Blogger that we shall not post inappropriate material on this blog, we cannot post pictures of the dead snowman, nor do we possess said pictures.

After we finished our snowmen, we invited the neighbor kids out for a snowball fight!! My first real snowman (that was taller than 2 feet) and my first snowball fight in the same day! Yeehaw!

Tomorrow, we are going to the rocket museum (?) after church. And on Monday, Matt and I are goin' to the movies. We haven't decided what we're going to see yet but it should be fun!

Snow Gear 101

First, you put on socks.

Then you put plastic grocery bag over the socks.

Then you put another pair of socks over the plastic bag.
And finally, you put on your boots!

Isn't that amazing? I have never thought to use plastic bags to insulate your feet! Genius!

"I can't put my arms down!" Me all bundled up

Giant snowman!! There's a ton of snow here and it is so beautiful!! It's a little slushy now that the sun has come out. But it's all good. Later, we are planning to have a snowball fight with all the neighborhood kids. Should be fun!

Hitting Houses with Song!

Christmas Caroling!!!

A new tradition for us is to go Christmas caroling! We've done it every year since we moved to Tucson and it is so much fun! I love it!! I even went twice last year!! (Because I had other friends who were doing it as well.)

We usually do our whole street and maybe one or two other streets as well. It feels a bit awkward at first but once you get the hang of it, it is really really fun!

Every year it really blesses people and this year was no exception! I think a lot more people answered their doors, compared to previous years. In fact, we got goodies from three houses! It was like they were expecting us!!

One woman gave all of us candy canes. Another older couple was so blessed that they gave us a whole bag of the most delicious cherry chocolate chip cookies ever!! They said they'd been caroling through the neighborhood but we were the first to ever carol to them. There were a couple families that said that. There was another older couple that gave us snickerdoodles.

We made a point of visiting Carl, a man we sort know. And I freaked him out by running up and hugging him! It was dark so he wasn't sure who I was but after I identified myself (which, in my excitement, my dad had to help..) we all had a great laugh!!

Then there was the cute three and a half foot little lady with the foreign accent. We caroled at her house last year and she was so thrilled that she gave all of us hugs! Well, she came out again this year with more hugs!

And there was another elderly gentleman. We met him and his wife the first year we did it but they were sick last year. He told us he was so sick he almost died!!

After we were done caroling, we all came back to the house for hot drinks and cookies and we visited with each other and it was great fun!

We didn't take any pictures but here are some from the first year:

Freeze

It's that time of year again. The cold is setting in and we have to put blankets and towels over our plants. Or else they turn brown like this. ^ *cue Jaws music*

Yes, our lovely basil plants went to the dust last night. They froze to death. Amazing how one day, the plant can be green and healthy, and the next day, you wake up to find if brown and ugly. Frozen in the night! But you gotta do what you gotta do to keep the plants alive, I suppose.

Good Bye Basil plants. Please, let us have a moment of silence in honor of these brave volunteer plants, who grew so healthily.Until next year, rest in peace. And compost, compost, compost.