Winter Get-A-Way

Don't ever eat yellow snow!! :)

The girls and I ice-skating

I'm glad this wasn't my car!!

DeeDee and C

Mi familia es mucho frio!

Gotta love snow icecream

Shopping

Uncle Mike And The Tubers

Winter Games 2014...watch out!

Dressed for a blizzard!

Girlies outside our cabin

Last Friday, we took the girls out of school and headed to Cloudcroft, NM, for some fun and relaxation. We say we want to go skiing every year, but we never do. Well, this year was the exception. We had so much fun! Mark's sister, DeeDee, and her family joined us at the cabins. Their company is always enjoyable, so they added to our fun!

Since we live in south Texas, we rarely see snow. So, this was a new experience for my girls. They loved everything about it, but eventually concluded that they wouldn't want to live in a place that got tons of snow. I concur! It was a great place to visit, but I wouldn't want to hassle with the white stuff day in and day out. Also, I get scared driving on ice. Oh yeah, the one time I drive the Expedition, I get it stuck! A nice man helped me out. After about 15 minutes of him trying, I offered to get behind the car and push while he pressed on the gas. As I made my way to the back of the vehicle, I silently prayed that he put the car in forward rather than reverse! I hunkered down and pushed with my hands (like a school girl), trying not to slip on the ice, while he was giving it some gas...nothing...I turned to my youngest and said, "Pray!" Then I thought to myself, "Come on, you're stronger than that!" Thankful that I had just eaten a spinach salad, I leaned my body against the car and pushed with all I had (kind of like childbirth but using different muscles). Woohoo! I did it...ahem...well, I guess we did it (the helpful man, me and God)! :)

I've always said I'd never ski. Ever since I was in junior high and one of my friends came back from a skiing vacation with a broken leg (she had hit a tree), I never had wanted to ski. I had always envisioned myself hitting a tree as well. The thought of that had always haunted me. Well, I don't know what came over me. I guess I'm blaming it on the YOU CAN DO IT book I bought last summer. It gave me the encouragement I needed to step out of my comfort zone. Realizing bunny slopes don't have trees, made my decision a little easier too! I fell twice and concluded that I ski better without the poles. We just stayed on the bunny slopes. That ski lift is a whole other monster to tackle! Mark, Manna, DeeDee, my nephew and I were the skiers. Manna was a natural. She skied circles around me! I had a lot of fun though! My younger two didn't want to ski this year, so Uncle Mike took them tubing next to the bunny slopes.

The next day we went tubing a few miles outside of town. The hills were pretty high and steep and there was some room for error! One kid had to be air-lifted while we were there because of an accident. Fortunately, none of us were injured!!

All in all, we had a great time! We always do on vacations. Mark is a great vacation dad and the girls are easy to please. Now, I'm looking forward to our next adventure...I'm thinking someplace tropical where it takes about 2 minutes to get dressed!