Snowmass 2008

We left the day after Christmas to head up to Colorado for our somewhat annual ski trip with KG's family. We weren't able to have a family trip last year, and the year before neither of my sister-in-law's where there, so it's been a while since we were all up there together. And this year we had little Caden with us also!

I skied with KG 2 days while we were there. I have a good time with him, but I'm just not fearless enough to ski with the rest of the family. Physically, I know how to ski, but mentally, I'm just too scared to point my skis downhill and go.... maybe some day.... maybe not. But I am getting better...

This picture is just for one of our friends that went skiing with us last year. Since we were there last, they have built a whole new lower village in Snowmass with new shops and restaurants and the Treehouse for kids. So, I had to get a picture of Kyle outside the Treehouse just for Drew.

These are my lovely sister-in-laws. It is fun going on trips with them and getting to know them better. We are bound for life, and I love having memories with them.

Crystal (on my left), married to Shane and Kristen (on my right), married to Adam.
My mom went to Aspen with us this year. Since my dad is gone right now, it worked out great that she could get away and spend some time getting to know my new family better. On Wednesday (New Year's Eve), my mom, KG and I went into Aspen for the day. We walked around the town, went in some fun little shops and had a great lunch together (by the way, if you are ever in Aspen, I HIGHLY recommend eating at Brunelleschi's Pizza). YUM!

A pic of the slopes in Aspen...

And me and my mom in Aspen...

We saw these chairs made out of old ski's while we were walking around Aspen... I thought they were throne-ish. My SIL said we looked like turkeys... I prefer thrones.

After we left Aspen (we made it out of town before the big bomb scare), we headed back to Snowmass and went into the village. We rode the mini gondola down to the new lower village, which is really nice.

Here we are at a new restaurant/bar that is not completely finished, but will be awesome when it is. They serve everything from breakfast to dinner and have a patio that looks right out on the slopes. They also have a lot of "fire features."

And now, the most important part of the trip... THE FORT.

KG and his brothers started working on this thing in the afternoons/evenings after skiing. There were two tables on the deck and the boys dug a tunnel between the two to make a fort. Then they dug out trenches between the kitchen door, the fort, the tree look out post, and the stairs/sled getaway. I was told the fort would provide a safe hiding place from the pirates...

They eventually put windows in the side of the fort. To escape you went out the back door to the fort, sled down the stairs and then all the way down the back yard to the walking path at the bottom by way of the sled trail also made by the Spencer boys.

This probably makes no sense, but it was a massive undertaking and I have to say, it may have been the coolest fort I've ever seen...