The PDX girls were invited up to Colorado for a ski trip with a cozy hacienda on the hills overlooking Vail and Breckenridge.  We would like to thank Adam, Amy, and of course your Uncle!  It was such a great opportunity for you guys to share this trip with us.  I know Melody and I, as well as Kristen, Sarah, and Jason really appreciated your generosity.  I really hope we can do this again.  We ended up heading to Denver after work, and a quick hour or so drive through some pretty thick snow and icy roads.  But we ended up making it there safely, to a very dark and mysterious place.  In the morning, to our delight, we found some fresh POW and this beautiful sunrise.

We headed up to Vail for a day of skiing after a good breakfast.  The weather was gorgeous this day, and luckily the storms would be rolling in the following day.  Up the ski lifts and down, the motto of any ski trip.

Melody, scared or just prepared for her first snowboarding session in a real long time.

Kristen, in her oversized jacket that just swallowed her up and popped her out like a toddler!

We started it off easy, going through some pretty neat aspens.  Here is Sarah and Melody.

And they passed me by.

The lifts up, we ended up going through some pretty flat terrain to try to get to the top of the mountain.

The trees were still covered from the snow the previous day, which gave us some pretty fresh snow and beautiful views.

Down and down we go.

Melody, during a break, or just a flat section that really sucks for snowboarders.

And we headed down during one of our runs that day.

The view up, as the snow began to fall off the pines that lined the runs.

Kristen and Melody, after our first runs.

Kristen’s snow angel, one she made after waiting for the others to get down the slow section.  There was a particular section that you really need to catch speed down, or you’ll get stuck.  Of course these sections are a lot harder for snowboarders, since you don’t have any sticks to assist you.  So Kristen and I had a little break waiting for the others.

Melody enjoying a quick snack.

Melody, with an eye on Kristen.

So I ended up leaving the other group to join Adam for a little bit of bowl riding.  Melody and the other girls were done for the day, and I wanted to get one last ride in before we headed back home.  We saw the sun start to drop in the horizon and had an amazing run through some of the backcountry.

The next day, was a completely different experience.  The snows came rolling in and gave us white out conditions.  We were deciding if we would take this day in as another mountain day, but good thing we opted to stay in.  Here is Melody shortly after waking up.

We ended up enjoying a bit of hot tub time outside in the snow.  Making a few shot glasses out of snow and drinking up Fireball.  Here were the first two brave enough to go out.

Melody, frosted.

Kristen, frosted.

And the two girls.

Later that day, we have to make a snowman.  This was such a rare opportunity coming from Southern California, so why not.

Kristen, keeping warm instead.

And Jason, playing legos with the kids.

Amy, the Eskimo.

And progress.  A little lopsided, with a fat belly, but no body shaming here!

And I leave you with this snow family.  Hopefully we can go out again, and hopefully we are lucky enough to get some beautiful weather like this weekend.