More Polar Express Pictures

The Polar Express

So we went on The Polar Express last night and it was the best thing we have ever done. I would highly recommend it if you are in Durango, CO around Chrismas time. Once we got on, they were given tickets and the ticket man came through and punched holes through them on each child, then they gave them a cookie and hot cocoa while we went through the snowy mountains and along the river. About halfway through, while they were reading the book over the intercom, we stopped at the North Pole. There were lights and elves and Santa. Then we picked up Santa and each child received a silver bell from him as we sang carols. We had a great time and I wanted to share pictures.

Candles

Here is Cohen blowing out his birthday candles. I know this will be a memorable birthday for him.

Happy Birthday to Cohen

So we made Cohen's birthday cake this morning and I scheduled an awesome evening for the kids. We are going on The Polar Express tonight. It is a steam engine train ride through the snowy mountains for 1 1/2 hours. During the ride, they read the book and everybody gets hot cocoa and a cookie. About half way through the ride, they pick up Santa and he hands out a silver bell to every child. I am not telling them where we are going, it is going to be a surprise:)

Snow Angels

Snow angels and Kyleigh's scarf full of snow balls frozen in the yarn.

Discing

So we just came in from discing and it was so much fun. It was more fun than anything else we have done so far. We had to first hike up the hill which was about 3 feet deep in snow so we are sinking every time we step and I think the heavier you are the deeper you sink. Once we got up the hill, we let them go and they flew down the hill. Later we went to another area on the hill and it has a small hill in the middle of the path so you would gain some air. That one was the most fun except Cohen went face first one time and when I went, I was going so fast, it blew off my hat.

Bowling

Yesterday we went to the Casino and did not even gamble, but instead we ate pizza and bowled and it was hilarious watching Cohen try to roll the ball. Instead he threw the ball and it was very loud. We worked on it and they both got pretty good. They beat us but they had bumpers, so it really doesn't count right?

It's Snowing

So we cannot sleep here since they have 14 hour nights. We are not used to this at all, so we are going to be at 6:00 and waking up at 2 am. Last night we were all in the kids Queen bed, trying to get warm since it was 5 degrees outside and the heater was just not cutting it for us. We were watching tv when the winter weather advisory came on and said we would be getting snow. When we looked out the window around 8 am, it was snowing and by 12 there was about 3 inches on the ground. We drove to the grocery store which was very nerve racking for me and fun for Shaun. We have been stuck in our condo all day so I have been playing with my blog as you can tell and the kids worked on making a snowman. It was a little harder than they thought it would be. They made a family of snowmen and even named them all. We are about to get ready to go discing, so I will post pictures of that as soon as we return. I hope everyone is loving the sunshine back at home, we are starting to miss it. Also, being stuck in the condo is not good for one that is dieting; all I want to do is eat since we have nothing else to do.

Scenery Pictures

Here are a few more scenery pictures from our drive to Wolf Creek Pass.

Driving to the Ski Pass

The drive to the ski pass was amazing. It was better than actually skiing. I decided not to ski since I did not have good luck last time I attempted, so Shaun decided to ski with the kids. We rented our ski's and bought lift tickets (which we should not have done since they did not even go on it, not even once) and then headed out to the bunny slope. We forgot our sticks so I headed back down to get them. Then we helped the kids get theirs on first and boy that was fun. They were scared and excited all at once. Cohen did not like it at all, but once Kyleigh started practicing, with my help:), she got pretty good. She could go down and stop on her own. While we were practicing, Shaun decided to head to the top of the bunny slope to come down. We never saw him start down, but we saw him land, right on his back. He was too impatient to practice and figure out how to do it before he jumped right in, imagine that. Cohen would not even stand on his, so after a long afternoon and a few frozen toes, we headed back to the condo. Believe it or not, we were only there for 1 hour and it felt like 5 hours. Skiing is not for us, but I believe Kyleigh could be pretty good.

Getting Ready for Skiing

We bundled up yesterday morning and set out for Wolf Creek Ski Pass. We packed lunch goodies so we could hang out there all day. It was also about a 40 minute drive since it was all up hill and around mountains. Here are a few pictures of us beforehand, all bundled up.

We Made It

Finally we made it to our condo. Many more pictures to come throughout the week:)