Sunday, February 24, 2008

There is NO DAY like a SNOW DAY!

For quite sometime Dan and I have talked about taking the kids up to the snow (about45min-1hour) from us, but we have dragged our feet doing it. On Saturday, 2/23 we got a phone call from our favorite Houston friends "the Other Sorensen's", who live in Wickenburg-telling us they were heading up to the snow and asked if we wanted to join them.It took us less then a minute to decide and we were IN!
After making some quick phone calls and collecting snow suits and boots for my kids (thank heavens) we were on our way!!My boots from BYU fit (the only thing that still fits from my college days...including shoes) it was a GREAT day! We went up between Flagstaff and Williams to a place called Parks, and it was BEAUTIFUL! It had snowed the day before and was super sunny while we were there, and then snowed again the day after. It was not too crowded either!
Dacie was a serious trooper and hung out under the tree in the backpack taking it all in! She LOVED it! (until right before we went home, and took her on a few sled runs)
The actual place we went to is set up for snow play and they have three 'runs' -a smaller sledding hill, a bigger one, and then a skiing/snowboarding ONLY hill. They even have little houses with the picnic tables under them. It was great. This is the view from about half way up the sledding hill!
The kids looked so DARN cute bundled up in their little snow suits and hats, gloves and boots. They were little marshmallows--I wanted to eat them up!
This is us trekking up the hill. It was a SERIOUS workout going up and down the hill. Sometimes the snow would go half way up my thigh-over Ryland!

Colton and Sterling had the time of their lives! They just kept going down time after time. I thought they would be a little bit more chicken about the whole affair, considering they were screaming about snow going down their boots about five minutes into it. This is Colton above!
Ryland went down a couple of times. He went with me and Dan, but he preferred Dan. Otherwise he hung out with Dacie and our other friends-throwing snow balls, shaking trees, and being free. It also took him quite sometime to get up the hill!
We figured out the easiest way to pull Dacie...until she tipped over!
Dacie enjoyed being stripped down, after she had a blow-out and 'smoking' her pretzel stick on the way home!
What a HoTTIe!! With such a cute baby...oh yeah, their mine!

Dan actually did not fall over on this picture. We spent the day on the smaller hill as we went plenty fast on it. It had some serious bumps to get air on as well. Dan and I enjoyed being kids again!
Dacie went down twice with Dan and I and then she was DONE!
Sterling got his hat off within the first few minutes after walking up the hill and never put it back on. He could barely keep his eyes open getting warm and cozy in the car on the way home. Sterling above was a super good sledder and NEVER fell off!
Here is some shots of our friends the Sorensen's-They have four kids as well, about the same ages. So it was great for snowball fights, companionship, picture taking, AND GREAT IDEAS!
Below is my FIRST attempt of a video on blogging! Thus the reason it is sideways (how do you flip it?) It is Colton screaming and sledding down the hill. Happy watching!

IT was such a FUN and BEAUTIFUL day for us. We made it back in time for the adult session of Stake Conference--and had time to mop the floors before we left.We got lots done--and took good naps today 2/23.
It was a SUPER FUN (and expensive babysitting fee) weekend for sure. We better take the kids again before they grow out of the borrowed snow gear! Anyone wanna come?



7 comments:

Unknown said...

that looks so fun! that's awesome that you have snow so close! Oh, and you have to orient the movie the right way when you take it. as far as I know.. there is no way to flip once the movie has been taken.

mjs ashworth said...

It's so nice that we can travel to the snow and play for a day and them come home and not have to deal with it! I love AZ!!

Celeste said...

Ha! You guys look like you had so much fun! I love to play in the snow, too and we get a lot of it here but can I just tell ya...I'm over it already! I am so ready for the sunshine and flip-flops! Spring can't come fast enough for me right now!

The Mangums said...

How fun! Wish we could come with you. Too bad we'd have to catch a plane to see any snow around here. On the flip side, I took the kids swimming yesterday - 80 degrees in February. Crazy stuff!

Princess Muhmah and The Clan: said...

What fun! If you want to drive just a few, well several, okay...about 6 more hours out on I-40, you could play with us in the snow at our house. Actually, today is a BEAUTIFUL day! Dallin was playing outside in shorts and a T-Shirt. The only snow is scattered in the shade of the trees, and on the crest of the mountain as we look across the valley.

As for the angle of the video, I've learned that it is best not to turn the camera when shooting in video mode. I know that's a bummer, since sometimes that creates the best images. But, if you do shoot it as you did, you can rotate it using either Kodak Easy Share or Picasa. Picasa is from Google, and it is free. You can download it off the internet. The problem I've found with Easy Share is that rotating a video distorts the people, making them look as if they are looking into a funhouse mirror. I've had better luck with Picasa, but, in the long run, it's still better just to film it upright with the camera. I think you can edit the length of the video with both of those programs. I love Picasa because it locates each and every photo image in my computer...even those I've filed in strange places and can't find again. Picasa also makes burning your images to disc super easy!

TexasTwinsTwice said...

That looks AWESOME!!! Wow you guys are adventurous! great job on the video too
oh, and I've had some bad experiences with some MEAN roosters growing up--so I'm sure that's why I'm not fond of them. I'm sure your kitchen looks super cute w' a country theme!

HENDERSONYAN, INC. said...

sounds like a great family activity! I am glad you guys got to enjoy snow this season. And I cannot imagine how much effort went into organizing this trip - you are a supermom!