Night Skiing

Night skiing @ the Great Divide with the fam & Kandra. Only the big lift was open so Mom & the little girls braved it with everyone. It was scary but we made it!!! Glory & Mom then treated ourselves to hot cocoa & fries (& Backyard skiing) while the rest rocked the hills a few more times. Chilly but fun memories! #skiingfamily⛷

Night Skiing with the Youth

Brett was able to go on a youth trip tonight to take the kids night skiing up at the Great Divide. They didn't have a lot of youth but they had a good time!

Skiing First Timers

For our last hurrah of our Christmas Break, we decided to take everyone up to the Great Divide Ski Resort for some skiing. This was Victoria & Glory very 1st time!!! We've been collecting ski equipment from the thrift store over the last couple months. We finally got some boots and skis for all the kids. That helps tons financially when you're taking 6 people up on the slopes. We headed up as soon as we could get everyone moving in the morning. We spent some time on the Bunny Hill getting used to things. Victoria & Glory did great! Then we got all-day lift tickets for the older kids & some one hour ones for the rest of us. Everyone had a pretty good time on the slopes. Justice had one of his skis lose a spring but it happened to be about the time that my lift pass expired so we just swapped skis out so he could continue the fun. Victoria was super brave and went up the big mountain with Justice & Dad. Liberty loved that she found a friend to spend some time with. Glory & I got to enjoy some hot chocolate while everyone finished their last couple runs. Awesome times!
Adventures on the Bunny Hill:

Riding the Ski Lifts:

Lunch Break: (Liberty found her friend Aimee)

Ski Fun:

Cross Country (Yard) Skiing

Justice did a little Cross-Country Yard Skiing tonight. We found some skis at the thrift store this week and he is dying to try them out. We have tons of snow so he took them for a spin in our yard. He actually found that he could make it to a certain part of our hill and then ski all the way down the gully. He's in heaven! The only bad thing is that then he has to ski back up. Bummer! Maybe Brett could make a ski lift?

Teenager Ski Freak

This teenager of ours has fell in love with skiing!! Hannah and her spent their President's Day Holiday on the slopes. (by themselves) How is it that my kids got old enough to drop them off somewhere with their friends and pick them up in the evening? So weird!!! 

They had a great time and even braved going up the 6 1/2 minute lift after lunch. Wowzers! Are they brave or what? They even made it down a "close-to-black diamond" hill. WHAT???? Brave kids. They stayed all day and LOVED it!

8th Grade Ski Trip

Liberty went on a 8th Grade Ski Trip today. She is really taking to the slops and loves it!
The weather has been warm and they were worried there wouldn't be enough snow for them to enjoy the day.
But luckily it worked out.
At some point, we may need to become a Skiing Family! ;)

VIP SKi Night

Before the Flu hit our home, we had plans to take the whole family up for a VIP Ski Night at the Great Divide Ski Resort. The night was hosted by the Andersen's Church so it was going to be a little bit of a "Work Family" Party! Fortunately, Brett still was able to take the older kids up for the evening. They had a fabulous time!!! Liberty even got a friend to be brave enough to go up the mountain with her. No one came home injured. Sucessful, fun-filled night! Maybe next time, we can all make it.

Guymon Boating at the Lake

Our friends, the Guymons invited us out for a boat ride this evening. We had an amazing time. They are so awesome to let us join in on their fun!!!
It was a perfect night to be out on the lake.

The kids LOVED tubing!

The water was a bit cold but they also did do some swimming (or peeing as the case may be ;).

To end the night, the Dads took a turn on the tube. They were awesome!!!

Thanks so much for inviting us! We sure luv you guys!

Women Skiers

Liberty's grade had their Ski Trip to the Great Divide today. Somehow she talked me into joining her. ;) Neither of us have skied before so we were a bit freaked out!!! But we decided to brave it and add it to our list of accomplishments.
After waiting for the buses to arrive and everyone to get their equipment, we started out with instructions on the Bunny Hill or as the Great divide calls it- the "Backyard". We first learned about our skis, how to put them on and take them off. Then we put one on at a time and learned to glide across the hill. Next we put them both on and learned the "pizza". That's how you stop. Very important!!! ;) Then they taught us how to use the tow rope. We first only went up half the hill and skied to the bottom. But eventually, we were going all the way to the top and skiing through cones. It was pretty awesome!! We rocked the Backyard!!

Unfortunately, the Mountain Meadow Ski Lift was closed today. [That's the simplest ski trail and shorter ski lift] So, they told us we couldn't go up. BUT we had paid for a ski lift so we were a little irritated!
After lunch though, they decided they would take us up on the bigger Ski Lift. Are they crazy??? They said they would go with us up and all the way down the trail. They said that once we made it down one section, we would hook back up with the Meadow Meadow run.
OK- here we go!!
We don't care for the heights associated with the lift but we did a pretty good job getting on and off of it. Go us!

Regrettably, we barely survived the Good Luck run. [That's the Ski path we took] When we got up there the wind was blowing really bad and it started to snow. We could hardly see anything. Then we started down the hill. It was not good! Seriously... we did acrobats and tumbles ALL the way down on almost every turn we made!!! It was PAINFUL!!! We were lucky to make it down alive. Needless to say, we decided to head back to Bunny Hill.

Luckily, after awhile, we ran into a friend of Liberty's- Megan. Somehow Liberty got a dose of bravery and asked if she could go back up with her. I thought she was crazy but I let her go with instructions to Megan to not leave Liberty on the mountain. After a while, the girls came down with ALL smiles! Megan taught Liberty some tricks and she made it all the way down with not one spill. She said the weather was much better this time as well.
WHAT????
I decided to brave it one more time. [mostly so I wasn't shown up by my 12 year old daughter. LOL] I tumbled 4 times on the Good Luck run. Ouch! Very painful- by the way! But then I used Liberty's tricks and I made it the rest of the way down upright. It was very slowly but at least not face planted in the snow every 30 seconds. Wahoo!
I was done for the day- my old body had taken enough beating for one day- but Liberty ended going again several times. She loved it! I was way proud of her. Way to go, Sis!

It was a very fun, rewarding day- full of friends, snow, bravery and time together as Mother/Daughter! So great!

P.S. We stayed later than the buses so Liberty could go a couple more times. On the ride home, my left leg stiffened up. By the time we got back to Helena, I could barely walk. I think I over-exerted it. It took me a whole day before I didn't want to cry when I moved it. And Liberty's body is all achy and she pretty much looks like a raccoon from the sunburn on her face. LOL
Oh well- pains that will soon fade. But won't take away from the fun memories we made! ;)

The Boys went Skiing

Justice's Class had the opportunity to go skiing today at the Great Divide Montana Ski Resort.  The kids were able to bring a parent along if they'd like. Justice was so excited to take his Dad. This was Justice's first time EVER. Brett said he caught on quickly. They had such a  great time they ended up staying the whole day. We have big plans to become a skiing family. ;)