One of my favorite days of the year

Strangely enough the shortest day of the year is probably one of my favorites. It ushers in the official start to winter, and, it is awesome because for the next 6 months the days only get longer. What better way to celebrate the shortest day of the year than a post work skin and ski up Snow King in the dark.

You don't need a sign to tell you we need some white stuff. The town of Jackson in the background.

Last bit of light hitting the top of Saddle Butte on the way up.

Yep, I don't regularly carry a tripod with me, sorry about the blur. Town of Jackson looking toward the north with everyone settling in for yet another night of below zero temps.

Going no matter what.

The snow might not be deep, but the good times had are a given. We are pushing on through this "low tide" lack of snow as if it were deep pow....is there any other way?

Sledding shots from Togwotee last weekend.

Bean and cheese burrito cooking on the pipe....tasty, note to self, turn off the sled to avoid two stroke fumes in your melted cheese.

We rode 50 plus miles strong on Saturday.

'Tis the Season

...for gingerbread houses!

Me, Debbie and Jenna getting started on our architectural masterpieces.

Cody laying the foundation for his abode.

Some may have been making fun of my small beginnings...

But it's all in the details.

Right Stevie?

And the first collapse of the night on Debbie's 2-story mansion!

I told you to start small!

Jenna, perfecting her courtyard.

Oh ya, just putting up the mailbox.

And Cody adding his solar panels.

Our finished beauties!
Clockwise from top left: Debbie's Hurricane Katrina mansion, Cody's eco-green solar abode, my Candyland cabin in the woods, Jenna's awesome exotic sugar shack and Trev's helicopter-landing pad bunker.

Yay for the holidays!

All we want for X mas is some snow.

Chels and I went out for a groomer mission at the Village today. At least their is blue sky to wash away the "has it really not snowed in a month" blues.

Chels, trying to set an edge in what suffices as "firm" snow for Wyoming.

Skiing with Chels makes me feel lucky.

Too Damn Long....

since I last got the sled out! It had been since the middle of June actually. Even though we are lucky to have a ton more snow right now than a lot of other areas in the western U.S., things are still pretty thin. My sleddin bud Tim and I went up on Togwotee Pass on Saturday to poke around and see what the conditions were like. Hmm.....we need snow, but there was still a ton of fun pockets of good snow to tear up!

Tim, chilling with Breccia Cliffs in the background.

Tim, laying a fatty in some good ol Wyoming smoke.

A year older

And wiser, of course! Sunday was my birthday so Trev and I decided to grab the snowmobile and head up to Granite Hot Springs to soak away and get a Christmas tree. It ended up being a perfect mellow lounging day, just what I wanted!

On our way up the hot springs...go bright colors, huh?

Throwing on the galoshes and getting ready to walk across the icy creek to the hidden hot pools on the other side...this is NOT the fun part!

Almost froze the little tootsies off, but we made it...lounging and de-thawing!

The steam and heat felt so good on a chilly day.

Trying to regulate the heat was the biggest challenge of the day.

Of course we had a little Champers to help us celebrate!

Aaahhhh...never want to leave.

But we did.

And we picked out the perfect Christmas to tow back on the back of the snowmobile.

Now that was an awesome day.

Thumbs up to a great day and perfect Christmas tree and another year of awesomeness!

Beaverfest Merriment

Once again, Beaverfest has come and gone in a blur, taking us out for the count (both Trev and I got sick!) but good times nonetheless! How could there not be with this cast of characters? Here is a glimpse into the shenanigans of last weekend...

Official Beaverfest credentials.

Preparing to cheer on Marco in the morning

We have arrived...the finish of the Birds of Prey downhill.

Me and Anna.

Of course, eating like Kings...this was the night of the winning meal team with a Marco-roccan Pita Bar theme...jingle skirts and all!

The usual, stalking our favorite ski celebrity.

Cute things.

No one can say we don't get in the spirit....M...A....R...C....

......O!!!!!

Sisterly love.

Keelan and Trev ready to ring some cowbells.

And yes, we even brought our own beaver this year. Yes, maybe he was a little ghetto and not the best role model for all the children wanting to hug him, but he was cheering for Marco!

These girls gave us a run for our money in the who is Marco's #1 fan department. We won, we brought a beaver.

We came, we cheered, we conquered and no one can say they missed us. Marco rocks!

Good luck to Marco and Anna and all the rest of the US Ski Team this season!!!
We will be cheering loudly!!!