Yippee! Good Times, Good Company

Hi Friends,

So, we went skiing today. It was wonderful. Cold, but wonderful. We headed down to Mt. Baker in Washington state and were treated to the deepest snow in a 100 mile radius. My brother Darren has been dying to try out his new snowboarding gear and has been calling us since it started snowing last week. His beautiful girlfriend, Auria would be hitting the slopes for the very first time in her life.

The morning started at 6. The snooze button was hit several times and we finally rolled out of bed at 6:50. A hearty breakfast of fried eggs, toast and coffee set us up for the hour and a half drive down across the border to the mountain. The drive up was spectacular. We were a little apprehensive about how windy it was, but Mt. Baker was protected from that chilly wind and we just had to deal with the -12 degrees celsius weather. The only mishap happened as we pulled up to the lodge. Mackendra was feeling a little nauseous from the windy drive up the mountain and proceeded to puke out the window. Yuck. At least I only had to help her wash up her face and mouth, Frank and Darren had to take care of the mess freezing on the side of the car door. Mackendra rebounded just fine from the nausea and we proceeded to get her set up with rental equipment.

Frank and Mackendra hit the bunny slopes.


Oops! This must have been early in the lessons with Dad.

Darren and Auria signed up for snowboard lessons.

Aislinn and I jumped on the closest lift up the hill.



Whee! What a view! And the snow! It was awesome. The powder was just over my knees and there was hardly anyone on the slopes. I guess that is how it is on a weekday.

Aislinn and I were a little rusty but we quickly got back in the grove. Check her out.



We caught up with Mackendra and Frank and I was stunned to see Mackendra skiing on her own. She has taken lesson up at Whistler a couple times but she had never skied like this before. The next thing I knew, I looked up and Mackendra was on the lifts!


I was so proud of that little girl. She handled it like a pro. Frank was having so much fun with her. He said that she was so optimistic, she never quit, she didn't want help and he couldn't keep up with her. By the middle of the day she was skiing down the easy, green runs all by herself. Frank even reported that she took a jump, and got air! after she watched Frank take the jump just ahead of her. She was so mature and her concentration was amazing. I took over for Frank, so he could go do a couple runs with Aislinn later in the day. It was such a hoot riding up the lift with Mackendra. She tells the bests stories.

Darren and Auria caught up with us and we got a picture taken of all of us. Auria was rockin' the slopes! Good job.


It was cold up there. Frank, Aislinn and I are going to have to get some warmer gloves. Too bad since these ones have only been worn twice now.

We even brought Tuck up with us and he was great. He spent most of the time in the back of the SUV but when he was let out he pounced through the snowdrifts with wild abandoned.

We had a wonderful time. All us girls fell asleep on the drive back down.

We finished off with a super awesome meal at "The Old Spaghetti Factory". Then crawled into bed for a couple hours of rest and warming up.

Frank was so right when he whispered in my ear: "This is one of the best days in my life. I love you."