Last Day to Ski

Since today was our last day to ski, we took a short drive up to Deer Valley and enjoyed their mountain. There were several more runs open here.Using the skills we learned yesterday, we were able to ski most of the runs. Hunter even skied a double blue. It's the run furthest to the left in the picture below. It may not look bad from this angle, but he even said it rivaled most blacks he's skied in the east. Very steep and very long. I, however, decided to go around that!

The last photos are of a run called Homeward Bound. It was at the top of one of the 6 mountains in their resort and winded around the backside of the mountain. Very windy and cold up here, but a very enjoyable run.

Through the trees, we could see Park City Resort where we skied the previous days.

Ski Day 4

Thursday morning we decided to take advantage of the experts out here and scheduled a lesson. It was very beneficial and we both feel it was well worth the time. So funny how much a few simple skills will improve your whole technique.

Last night we went to see "The Wondrous Gift of Christmas" presented by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir with special guest Natalie Cole and speaker David McCullough. It was fantastic! I was very excited to get to see this live. Here are some of the pictures of the mountains. I took these on our drive down to Salt Lake City.

Here is a picture of the tabernacle. It was so pretty to walk through their campus and see all the Christmas lights.

This is a picture of inside the conference center. The choir was still practicing when we arrived. This place is huge and was at full to capacity of 21,000 people.

The performance was wonderful and it is something I will remember forever.

Ski Day 3

On Wednesday, we decided to give our legs a rest and we headed to a shopping area in Park City. It was a whopping -3 when we woke up and was chilly as we walked around, but we had fun just hopping in and out of lots of cute little shops (I'm sure it was more fun for me than Hunter)!

It was another sunny, clear day and our view was great. Here are some of the shops...it looks like buildings in a Christmas village.

Mrs. Susan, this is for you. Just wanted to let you know you have your own gallery all the way in Utah!

One fun thing we discovered was the $1.00/night movie rentals at the grocery store that is right down the street. We thought we got them free to rent at the hotel...not the case. They wanted $6 a night per movie. So for $1.00 each, we have watched Land of the Lost, Julie and Julia, Up, and Ghosts of Girlfriends Past. All were good choices and fun to watch as we made dinner, popped popcorn, and sat by our fireplace...I could get used to this!

Also, last night we went on a sleigh ride! My idea. These poor horses had to pull us up the mountain and back down. It was so neat to hear their jingle bells as they came down the mountain to pick us up.It was about a 30 min ride, but it was cold. Luckily, they provide thick blankets! One memory I'll keep for a long time.

Picture of the Day

I submitted one of my photos from Tuesday and was chosen as Pic of the Day for today on the Park City website. Pretty cool! I'm sure they don't have many to choose from, but still neat to see my picture.

Ski Day 2

Today the sun was out and sky's were clear. Here is the same place we took a picture together yesterday and you can see how different it looks.

Wish you could see all the houses and cabins along the mountain.
You could see for miles.

A few things I learned today:

1. Falling down in the lift line on the first run of the day takes talent. Falling down twice on the same green slope takes talent. Skiing a few blues a couples time each and not falling...pure skill (or luck)!

2. Being some of the first people out on the mountain is the coolest feeling. The way the powder squeaks under your skis. The way you can look for fresh, uncarved powder and know your the first to ski over it. It's like a canvas and your the painter...very cool!

3. Staying slope-side is fantastic. You can go in and eat when you want, nap if you want, and warm up when you want. It's wonderful and we are really enjoying it!

Park City, UT

We arrived in Salt Lake City yesterday to a chilly 28 degrees. We had an authentic Mexican lunch at the Red Iguana. It was the best food since going to Mexico. Hunter showed me around downtown. He definitely knows his way around after traveling here with work. The only other plant that his company has is located here. It was kinda neat being able to see where he goes and eats whiles he's out of town. On our drive up to Park City, we saw the Olympic Ski Jump from the winter Olympics in 2002.

We woke up to snow this morning and a frigid 0 degrees! So we did what any person in their right mind would do....we headed out to play in it!

After 17 ski trips on the east coast, I now know why people travel out west to ski. The powder here is amazing! There were very few ice patches and since it's early in the season, there is hardly no one here.

Hunter's favorite part is skiing along the mountain side of the slopes where all the powder is!

We took this one as we headed in for the day.

Jessica's Christmas Shower

The kick-off to Jessica's wedding is underway. She got TONS of cute stuff! I was in charge of the gift list, so I didn't get any photos of the shower in progress. The house it was held at was beautiful and so festive with all the decorations. And the food was wonderful!

Jessica with her future mother-in-law, Mrs. Cindy (on left) and her Mom, Mrs. Susan (on right)

USC vs. Clemson

USC 34 Clemson 17

After a wonderful victory, we all celebrated on the train car.

Will and I enjoying our win!