Snowshoeing in Iron Canyon

Our friends, Jeff and Courtney, came up to Park City this weekend. We went on an incredible snowshoe trek today. The sun was shining, our layers were light, and we may have even gotten a little tan.

Skiing in the Backcountry

Andy did some backcountry skiing on Saturday with another teacher from our school. I don't have the right gear for backcountry skiing right now, so I guess I know what I'll be buying soon. I'd also need to get all of the safety gear, too. Anyways, Andy did an awesome excursion up to Kessler Peak in Big Cottonwood Canyon. Enjoy the photos...it was a gorgeous day.

New Years in Brighton

We spent New Year's Eve at the cabin in Brighton. With hopes of doing some night skiing, we hauled our skis, boots, poles and other miscellaneous gear along with us. With our snow gear on we started walking the 200 yards to the ski resort. Hmmm...that's funny. There aren't any cars in the parking lot. The runs are not lit up. Much to our dismay, Brighton did not have night skiing last night. Bummer. It was still a fun night. Some friends drove up from SLC to bring in the new year with us.

Andy was very proud of his snow bench and cooler he made from sawing through the snow. Really, he used a saw to carve out the snow.

Sloan, Nyk and Jen watching the fireworks in the distance.




We wish everyone a very happy, healthy new year. We look forward to the many more adventures that await us.

Winter Fun

With 8 straight days of skiing under his belt, Andy decided to take the day off from the slopes. Instead, we went for a nice, long snowshoe hike. It was a nice day--partly cloudy with temps in the upper 20's.



One of Cooper's favorite things to do is try to find snowballs we throw at the snow. Of course, he never finds them, but it sure is cute to watch his head get buried in the snow.



This is called a snow wheel. It's the result of snow rolling down the side of a hill. We thought they were pretty neat.

Another Day on the Slopes

There's nothing better than waking up, drinking a nice, hot cup of coffee, and then hitting the powder for a few hours. Ahhh...


Riding the chair lift up...


There's something about our older camera that won't let me rotate the photos. :(


Would it be appropriate to say "knee high by the 4th of January?"

The Beginning of Winter Break

With about 8 inches of fresh powder today, it was the perfect time to play outdoors. We skied for about 3 hours this morning. Oh boy, was it ever windy at the top! Great snow, though. Then we took a before dinner snowshoe trek. Our plan is to ski another few hours tomorrow morning before making our way down to SLC for the beginning of our holiday festivities. Ahhh...we love living 2 minutes from the ski resort!

Making our way to the trail


With the blowing snow, Andy insisted on wearing his ski goggles.


On Sunday night, we got together with some friends for a Christmas potluck dinner. Great fun!

Sloan, lighting all of the little candles


Right before we stuffed our faces with turkey, stuffing, casserole, veggie pizza, salad, rolls, and mudpie

Our Little Christmas Tree

We got our Christmas tree over the weekend. With the lack of space in our living room, we had to opt for a smaller-than-usual tree. It's been very nice down here...too nice, in fact. We need more snow so the resorts can open up more runs.

McPolin Staff Party

Last night, we went to our first McPolin Christmas Party. It was held at Nacho Mama's, which is owned by one of our staff members at school. It was great! It's so fun to see people outside of the working environment. Drinks were ordered, shots were taken, and rapping, yes rapping, occurred. What a blast!


That's Cortney on the left, our speech pathologist, rapping with our school psychologist. Too funny!


That's my friend, Jodi, in the background.



Joanna and Jodi both teach 1st grade.


Tory (on the left) teaches 1st grade and Tina is another 2nd grade teacher. She had just gotten done dancing and this was her impression of CPR. I think those margaritas had kicked in by then.

Initiating the Season Pass...Finally!

We don't have enough snow for the whole Park City Mountain Resort to open but, with the snow they have been making, they opened one run yesterday. Andy has already gone twice (yesterday and today). We got there at about 9:30 a.m. It was really nice because the lines weren't too long. With only one run open, and everybody wanting to get on the slopes, it got pretty busy at about 11:00 a.m. Oh well...at least we got 4 runs in today. That's the beauty of having the season passes and living 1 mile from the resort. We can go back at any time. Andy has already talked about going back, again, today. No photos to post right now. I'll try to get some up soon.

A Picnic in November?

With the sun shining and temperatures in the 50's, it was a great day to venture out. We took a nice Sunday drive up to the Uinta mountains, stopping for a picnic along the way. It was beautiful! The 10 inches of snow we recently received has now all melted. Bummer! It's hard not to wish for snow when your kitchen window faces the ski slopes. Bring on the snow...we're ready for ski season!

Winter Has Arrived...For Now!

I took these photos soon after it started snowing.

Taking a walk to the public library

Ahhhh...we'll get on those slopes soon...

Well, the energy is definitely flowing around Park City! It has been snowing intermittently for the past 2 days. We must have gotten about 10 inches since yesterday. The resorts are scheduled to open around November 22nd so ski season is just around the corner...hopefully!!

I was so glad that most of my students had their snow gear today. However, one of my students had to wear his snow pants all day because he didn't have any pants on underneath. It was too cute when he told me that! Kids...you've got to love em'.

Happy Halloween (Howl-oween)!

Our day started with a fun Halloween parade at our school. There were some really great costumes! Every teacher at our school dressed up, too! Then, after school, we ventured down to Main Street for the Halloween (and Howl-oween) festivities. How fun!

My class getting ready for the Halloween parade


Andy and me at our school's Halloween parade...sorry for the awkward layout...a computer problem


The 2nd grade team at McPolin Elementary


Cooper, showing off his Halloween costume...He was, actually, posing for these photos! He wore a Utah football t-shirt and Wisconsin Badgers shorts.



Halloween on Main Street in Park City


Walking in the Howl-oween parade on Main Street



There were dogs of all sizes in the parade. Some of the costumes were absolutely hilarious!

Pumpkin Carving 2008

We got together with some friends this past weekend for some good ol' fashioned pumpkin carving. We had huge pumpkins, white pumpkins, warty pumpkins, tall pumpkins, short pumpkins and one tiny pumpkin. The tiny pumpkin was for Cooper, or course. It was some good times!

We have a Halloween parade, this Friday, at school. Andy and I are so excited to dress up because we never could at our last school. I am going to be a penguin and Andy is going to be an old fashioned baseball player. I'll be sure to post some photos of us all dressed up.

Happy Halloween everyone!

"Burnin' Down the House..."

Last night, some friends came up from Salt Lake and we all went to the David Byrne concert. Prior to the concert, the only thing I knew about David Byrne was that he was part of Talking Heads. As he sang, I started to recognize a few songs ("Burnin' Down the House"). It was a great concert! The best part--our tickets were only $9 because we get half-price for being Park City School District employees.