Embracing It

So this is our 6th year living in Park City.  Sure, we have our moments where we miss Alaska, and our amazing friends up there, but we couldn't be happier ending up here, of all places.  Come late November-early December, traffic increases due to ski season.  Soon after, Christmas comes along and the craziness about doubles.  Then there's the Sundance Film Festival, and I can't even begin to explain the amount of people and traffic during that time.  During the first few years of our time here, we became frustrated with the fact that it takes about double the time to get anywhere in town.  Now, we have learned to just embrace it and enjoy it.  As one of our local radio broadcasters has said, you can pretty much see the money falling out of their pockets (those that come to Park City for the Sundance Film Festival).  This film festival brings so much money to our city.  It is the reason we take advantage of the free busing all year long.

So today, we ventured out into "that" world.  It's pretty fun people watching, too.

While most Sundance-goers are called PIBs (people in black), Emma chose much differently.

A plethora of large tents are set up around town.  Some businesses even rent out their spaces, which are then converted into clubs, lounges, etc. for the festival.  For a lot of these places, you need to be on "the list."  

This tent is where the celebrities can get their swag, which is why many visitors tend to congregate around this area in hopes of seeing a celebrity.  

Wow!  Um...no thanks.  We don't mind walking a bit to avoid these outrageous prices.

 In addition to the Sundance Film Festival in full swing, the Grand Prix (and Olympic qualifying event) was happening at the Park City Mountain Resort.  We watched the women's half pipe (skiing) for a bit on our walk back to the car.

Who knows?  Maybe Emma will be up there some day....

going up a little higher to watch the event

What an adventurous Saturday afternoon!

    

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

May 1st!  That is the big day!  That is the day that will mark the end of my hard work (and much exhaustion) from these past 5 semesters.  May 1st--graduation day!  Yesterday marked the start of my last semester of graduate school and I am quite excited for the classes that I have this semester.  One of them is Leadership in Instructional Design and Educational Technology and the other is Advanced Projects.  The latter is focused on our culminating project, our Capstone--which is a group project, which we must present in front of a panel in late April.  It's nothing like defending a thesis, but we still need to be ready to answer some tough questions.

Now... on to our Winter Wonderland fun...

It's great living so close to a plethora of trails.

using her snowshoes for the first time

She insisted on using the poles.

along for the ride

She loves the outdoors!  There is usually always a smile on her face.

sisterly love!

 We have one determined girl!  She insisted on riding her bike at the dog park.

Andy wants to make a sledding path in our backyard.  Emma tested it out one snowy afternoon.

 After sledding, Emma got more miles on her snowshoes in the backyard.

Last Sunday, Andy and Ben took Emma skiing.  They had a fabulous time and needed to refuel with some pizza and, of course, football.

8 Months Old!

Can you believe it?  Our lil' munchkin is already 8 months old!  Time is going by way too fast.  She seems to get bigger by the day and her little personality is sprouting.  I decided I would share our entire photo session with you because we always end up taking more than just one photo.  Just a side note, these photos were taken at 6:40 a.m. and, yes, the girls are usually this happy each morning.

Christmas 2013

Our Christmas lasted about 4 days, due to the craziness/lateness of UPS deliveries.  We also have had Andy's mom (Kim), sister (Whitney), and Whitney's fiance (Jason) in town to share in our festivities.  It has been a fun-filled time!

It all started on Christmas Eve at Andy's aunt and uncle's house.

And then there was Christmas morning...

She loves her balance bike from Grandma.

Emma asked for a dress, tights, and a football from Santa.

Abigail also got a football from Santa!

Ms. JoAnne (Abigail's teacher) gave her the cutest shirt, tutu, tights, and these adorable shoes.

 That night, Jim, Robin, Grace, and Claire came over to visit.

Whitney and Jason

Jim, Claire, Grace

 Since Whitney as Jason got in late on Christmas day, we celebrated another Christmas on the morning of the 26th.

Emma got headphones and a turntable from Aunt Whitney.

using her new kitchen utensils to make guacamole...