Ski Trip 2010

Without further ado...Ski trip 2010!! We were very happy this past year that we were able to go on one last ski trip before baby M makes his/ her debut! When we made plans to go, I wasn't pregnant but we talked to Clint's dad and he gave me the okay as long as I took it easy. I was only able to ski one day. (And it was tough even then. I almost had to call ski patrol because my lungs and legs didn't want to cooperate. But luckily I had some good friends to encourage me!) We made some great memories with some good friends!

"Oh man, that was a loooooong drive here...."

"But I'm so excited!!"
The whole gang at Keystone. There was: Andrew Sullivan, Brad and Stephanie Barham, Clint and I, Joanna and Colby Brownlee, Claire and Daniel Townsend. (Two of our group had already bailed. Kaylann and Austin. They were dealing with a broken wrist.)


It was cold. Really cold. We all ran outside in our t-shirts so we could experience below zero temperatures. (Except Clint, he grabbed his jacket. Fuddy- duddy as we say.)

At night, we just hung out and played games. This is Daniel recreating a fall that Clint had when they went to take out the trash. The parking lot was pretty icey the whole time. The poor Vibe had a hard time on it. So did Clint.

My brave husband on the last day. Bundled up!!


And this is why he was brave. He took a picture of one of the billboards warning people to be careful.

It says the high was 6. No, apparently it never made it there. The high ended up being around 4 and that was in town. Not on the mountain! Yikes!!


And we got to celebrate New Years the last night! That was a lot of fun to get to do that up in the beautiful mountains! Everyone was really tired so it was pretty subdued but fun none the less.


All the girls!



Last but not least. The reason we enjoy skiing and don't mind driving so far. God is in the mountains. What a wonderful and amazing creation He has made. For us.





It was a great trip! And now, one of these days, we get to take our kids up there and show them the majesty of God's creation.

Those Eyes...

As many of you know, our sweet dog Cherry is gone. We had to put her down January 3, 2011. I will always have a special place in my heart for her. I had totally forgotten that I had posted about her back in December. (See Dog Breath.) It turns out that bad breath was caused by something much worse than tartar or tooth decay. The vet believes she had cancer of the kidneys and probably went into full renal failure about a week or so before. It was unexpected and devastating. She was Clint and I's first dog and only animal before children. For that, she is special to us. We did everything we could with her from vacations to just strolling around the neighborhood. I thought I would post a few of my favorite memories with her.

Bath time. Cherry hated it. But it was fun for us because she would run around the house like a mad woman. She would jump all over the furniture and get her wet hair on everything. I think she did it to spite us. She was quite ornery.

We took her for lots of walks. She hated water most of the time but when it was really hot she would start looking for it. She drank a lot. When she happened on this puddle on a really hot day she just went ahead and sat in the water while she was drinking it. It was pretty funny.

Cherry also hated Duke. He was loud, high energy and playful. All things Cherry couldn't stand. If you look closely, Cherry (who weighed 48 pounds) is taking up most of the backseat while Duke (who weighs about 80 pounds) has a very small space to fit into. This was on the way home from Abilene so Cherry would go to sleep and Duke was just stuck standing there the whole trip. He tried to go to sleep but he couldn't get comfortable because of Cherry. It was pretty funny.

This was the only time Cherry ever (voluntarily) swam. Like I said, she hated water. This was on another one of our long walks on a hot day. It was probably high 90's that day and we had walked probably 2 miles or so. We were at the Trinity Trails so we decided to take the dogs down to the river so they could get a drink. Before we knew it Cherry had gotten in and was taking laps. She would swim and drink at the same time. Eventually, she got out and just sat on the shore. But that was a great memory because we had tried to get her to like the water the whole time we had her.

Well, it is the end of one chapter in our lives and the beginning of a new. I have mourned for Cherry, who she was in our lives and in our hearts and also for the life that we had with her. She represented our early, independent life together. Now, we begin a new chapter. I'm excited about it and look forward to it very much. But I will always have a special place in my heart for her and those sweet beginnings.