i'm an aunt again!

Little Lizzy came just in time for me to meet her before I had to go home. I could not get enough of her i cold just hold her and look at her all day. Crazy how babies do that to you.

lots of driving.

i decided to drive home for the holidays this year, and then drive to lake Tahoe for new year's. when i made this plan i had weeks of free time without a set schedule. i even toyed with the idea of driving up to Oregon to drop Miriam off at school and then heading up to Spokane to see my nieces. Someone was kind enough to remind me that it was winter and that i was crazy. so i stuck to the Denver- SLC- Tahoe- SLC- Denver trip.
i have never been so obsessed with the weather and road conditions. Every few hours before i left Denver i was watching the storm move through Wyoming, tracking the I-80 road closures and chain requirements on I-70, wondering which way i was going to go to make it home alive. Everyone told me the problem was wind, more than snow, i didn't understand why until a few weeks ago. The wind was so strong and ti was so cold that there was a white out due to blowing snow, i col,d barley see the tail lights of the car in front of me. And then there was the snow storm i did hit in Evanston, snow packed roads and semis blowing past me! it was awesome.
the rest of the drives were uneventful, the storms that were predicted never materialized. i have never been so grateful for weathermen that were wrong! so, I'm done planning crazy road trips in the winter.

new year's in tahoe

i had another great new year's at lake tahoe this year. marvelous melissa ruggles invited us up to her cabin. i love the "cabin" we had such a great time watching movies, playing games, and hanging out, you never want to leave. We did get out for a little winter play time.

cross country skiing. the day was amazing.

so much snow- i was grateful that it snowed before we got there and that we did not get snowed in. although if you did get snowed in, this is the place you would want to be.

the lake

ice skating with chelsea at the olympic pavilion in squaw.

ice skating champ! they are poor losers.

and a little sledding next to the cabin! thanks for another great new year's everyone.

Christmas 2008

i forgot to take pictures for christmas this year- except for the trifle i made.


with the nieces in spokane, we had a quiet christmas with the adults. christmas is so much more exciting with the kids around. we just can't seem to muster the excitement that we used to as we lined up in the hall waiting to see what santa brought. instead we went to a movie, played a few games, and ate more food than one person should! it was great to spend time with everyone.