Christmas 2015

What an amazing Christmas Break we had!  It started off with our dear friends Stacy Trejbal and Gen Wimberley hosting their annual Raclette party.  Raclette is a specific cheese that comes from Switzerland and is melted over various meats and vegetables on a special grill right on the table.  It's similar to fondue but it's more like grilling - delicious and so fun to do as a group.  There were about 14 of us and after the food and festivities, including a white elephant gift exchange, we played Cards Against Humanity.  Wow is all I've got to say about that.

The following day we packed up all our presents, food, clothes and dogs for the journey up to the condo at Schweitzer.  It took car loads, but we did it.  Balin had to head back down to Spokane on Monday morning to work until Tuesday while the kids and I settled into a blustery, yummy snow storm.  

It started snowing on Sunday night and I swear it was 6-9" every 24 hours for the next couple of days.  It was cold outside so the snow was light and fluffy - like nothing I had ever skied in before.  We met up with some friends from the kids' school and skied with them most of the days before Christmas, which was super fun.  One of the great things about the mountain is the kids can ski back to the condo by themselves from pretty much anywhere.  Which is so, very, nice.  Perrin gets cold and hungry after 3-4 hours so if we're not ready to go back then we ship her home to fix herself a little something to eat.  Sam wanted to sleep in one morning, so Perrin and I headed out and told him to call us when he wanted to come out.  90 minutes later he said he was headed to the back side to meet us and to my joy, he did meet us.  

 Balin showed up to snowboard on Wednesday and he agreed, it was pretty epic.  We got first runs on so many runs, with snow up to our knees.  Ridiculous.  One of the down sides of so much snow is that it's a ton of work, especially when you get stuck.  We lasted through Christmas but by then we were ready to have a "do nothing" day, which was glorious.

So much snow but no one around.  

 We met up with my cousin Krista & Todd Rodriguez, who let their kids Jada and Joe spend the night at our house Wednesday.  The next day we got ready and met Krista and Todd on the back side and skied all morning.  It was a delightful day.

Krista and Todd

The snow was so deep it went all the way up Yogi's legs. It was really easy to wear him out!

 The kids not only skied a ton but they also spent a good amount of time with their friends building snow forts in the trees.  We generally met with friends for a couple of hours of turns together and then the kids would go out for another couple of hours on their forts and sledding hills.

That powder is sic - and the red blob coming is Sam.

It was really hard to get up and out if you fell.

 Christmas day was pretty much my favorite day of the whole time we had as a family.  We let the kids open a chunk of presents on Christmas eve and then we hid the rest of the presents from them for the morning.  They had to go and find their present, bring it back to the living room and then they could open it one at a time.

 By 10 we were done with presents, had eaten breakfast and were ready to settle in for the day.  We played some Mario Kart and then watched An American in Paris, which was so good.  We seriously did as little as possible that day.

On the 26th Balin took Balin down to Spokane to celebrate her 10th birthday with her.  He got a suite at the Davenport, Spokane's fancy hotel, took her to the mall and out to dinner and then to see the new Star Wars Movie.  She was in 7th Heaven to say the least.  Balin said it was really a good time to love on her and connect with her on that special day.

Meanwhile Sam and I went skiing with friends, played video games, went snowshoeing in Sandpoint and went to see the Star Wars movie ourselves.  (It's pretty good)  Sam and I also had a great time together.

 One of the dangers of having a condo and a season pass is that you come back for lunch and you never go out again. It happens to me all the time.  "Just a little nap" I say, which is absolutely my favorite time with my little lap dog.


Balin and Perrin picked up Sue, Peter, Jack and Sophie from the airport after their stay in Spokane.  The Lewis Family joined the Stricklers for a couple of nights at the condo.  Everyone had a great time skiing, snowboarding and just hanging out.  One night we met up with Krista Rodriguez, her husband and kids to do some inner tubing down the hill and eat pizza together.

Nothing like a pre dinner appetizer of roasted marshmallows.  

When Sam opened his present of the Hunger Games trilogy, he looked at me like, "really Mom".  Guess who couldn't stop reading them?  

Love Sophie's thank you note.  

After dropping the Lewis family off at the airport, the Stricklers decided to hang out at home for a night or two and take a break from the lovely, yet small, condo.  We were invited to join a few other families from the Oaks for ice skating down at Riverfront Park.  Even our neighbors the Emmels came.

We headed back up the mountain for some more fun in the snow and beautiful weather.  We had the Harken's family come and spend the night which was really fun.  They have 1 girl and 5 boys in their family along with one super cute Bichon named Sawyer.  Sawyer got renamed during their stay to "Sir Hump-a-lot" as he really like Yogi.

A couple of other families were also on the mountain from the Oaks and it was really fun to ski with them.  

Yogi got new shoes for Christmas so he could come out and play in the snow with me.  The really work well until he goes off roading.  

Hiking with Yogi in the snow in Liberty Lake.  It was absolutely gorgeous out and I think I was able to even get my snow shoes out.   It was cold enough for the lake to freeze and I was able to get Balin out on the ice for an hour or so.  I got talking on the phone to my girlfriend and ended up going over 4.5 miles on the ice - it was so awesome to skate on the lake.  Unfortunately I think the skating season was brief this year so we'll have to wait till next year. 

Somehow the cat ended up getting inside the house, which made me go crazy with allergies.  I had a rash that made me so uncomfortable in my skin, I was scratching endlessly.  So we kicked the cat out, to which he responded by getting friendly with the raccoons that decided our garage was a warm and inviting hang out.  Needless to say $450 was spent at the vet for a massive infection the cat got from an interaction from the raccoon.  Sigh.  When I asked the vet if there was any cheaper way, she laughed and said, "No, the expense comes from the anesthetic cause we have to put him under."  I thought and was tempted to say, "Isn't it cheaper to put him permanently under?"  This all happened on a Friday so I made the assumption out loud that the cat could be left home for the weekend, outside, while we all went skiing.  The vet tech looked at me like I was crazy and inhumane.  I made a comment about getting the neighbor to look in on the cat, to which she said, "it's so gross no neighbor is going to do that for you."  No sympathy.  I had none for the cat and the vet tech had none for my "ski plans".  So I stayed home even though we were hosting company at the condo that weekend.  Turns out the cat was fine after a night and I put him in the garage with a heated sleeping pad and went my merry way.

Perrin was so thankful that I stayed with Mr. K and that I spend the money on her cat.  She had overheard me tell the story to a couple of people and was horrified when almost everyone said I should have put the cat down.  I reassured Perrin that I love her and she loves the cat, which makes it worth loving the cat.  From a distance.