Winter Wonderland

For Christmas this year, we took our girls to Winter Park, Colorado to go skiing. I haven't been to Colorado in 21 years. My parents used to take us every year skiing and I never liked it because 1) I always got altitude sickness and 2)my feet got so cold, I couldn't enjoy it. I have always loved God's beautiful creation, though, and have always wanted to go back and enjoy the gorgeousness of the moutains. When I read that there is now medication for altitude sickness, I was ALL ABOUT IT!! :) Also, Toati-toes have been invented since the 80's so cold feet haven't been a problem in awhile for me. We had such a wonderful vacation. The beauty was just amazing!!! I will never let 21 years go by again without taking this site in:

WOW! Just look at that! This was on our drive from Denver to Winter Park. It was the most gorgoeus drive. I kept saying, "I feel like I'm in the Sound of Music". You know that last scene where they're escaping over the mountains? This is what this looked like to me. Just awesome!!!

We stayed in a condo with amazing views. Every window had a view of the mountain.

Here is the view from our bedroom window. How can you see this and not think of God? I could never ever ever get tired of this view. I couldn't wait to open the window every morning when we got up. Just beautiful!

Here we all are before our first day on the slopes.

Again, the view. I'm from Arkansas and we hardly ever see snow and when we do, it's not like this. I could seriously live here.

We went to Fraser to rent our ski equipment thinking it would save us money. It didn't but that's okay..you live and learn.

The girls looked so cute in their red, white, and blue.

The next day, we didn't ski...instead we went snowmobiling. It was BEAUTIFUL!!! Speaking of beautiful, look at our girls eyes...aren't they all so pretty?!

:) Here we are at our first stop on our snowmobile adventure. The snow was SO deep. I walked in and fell to my thighs...it felt like quicksand. I loved all that snow!

Mar and I drove together, Kat and Elle drove together, and Macy had her own snowmobile. Here we are waiting on the rest of our group. They got behind somehow.

One of my favorite sites is lots of snow on trees. I love this picture of Ellie. :)

After we snowmobiled, we went to Hernando's Pizza (great pizza!). We were there by 4:00 when they opened because we tried to go to the day before and there was a 2 hour wait. After Hernando's, we went tubing. I thought I would love it but it felt like a roller coaster! I only went down twice. The second time, I almost fell out of my tube twice, got whiplash, and bit my tongue. I called it a night after that. :) I think I would have loved it if the hill was a little less steep. Macy only went twice, too...it wasn't her favorite. I think this is such a cute picture with the snow falling down, the bright tubes, and the tubing lights.

3rd day...headed back to the slopes. May May had to stay home because she had such bad shin bruises. I felt so sorry for her. I had them really bad, too, but Kathryn and I wear the same size shoe so we traded skis and boots that day, which really helped. Macy and I ended up exchanging our boots for the old fashioned rear entry boot and they were much much better.

On our way back. Kathryn and Ellie are waving to Macy...she was waiting for us. If you look closely, you can see her waving on the top floor.

I love skiing..it was a whole new experience for me. It was just so beautiful and I learned to do something other than snow plow. :)

Mar had an idea to get all of us in stairsteps and take a picture...the girls thought it was so funny. :)

We went to Hideaway Park for New Year's Eve. They had free sledding and fireworks. They also had marshmallows for us to roast.

Sledding was so much fun!

Last day on the slopes. :( Love this picture of Kat and May, though. So cute!

We walked to our shuttle everyday which was really close by. The short walk was so beautiful.

Everyone at Winter Park was so nice. There were ski hosts who walked around just skiing and being nice to people. What a great job! A man saw me taking a picture and took the camera from me where we could all get in. This happened twice on the slopes. I love how nice everyone was.

Macy waited on me because she knew I would love this view and want to get a picture. She knows me well! :)

That night, we went on a sleigh ride with Dashing through the Snow. These horses are named Mike and Barney. They are brothers and 11 years old. Their lifespan is about 30 years old. According to our sleigh driver, Mike likes people and Barney is moody. Macy liked Barney because she said he was misunderstood. The horses were HUGE!

In the middle of the sleigh ride, we stopped and sat by a fire pit and roasted marshmallows.

Last day...Mar and I went to the base of the mountain and just looked around...they had lots of cute shops and restaurants...and an ice skating rink.

I took a ton of pictures...like 743. I'm a picture fanatic and don't like to forget any memories. Everyday, I'd upload them to my Mac and write what happened in every picture...that way I won't forget. :)

It was a wonderful trip.....probably the best vacation I've ever had. Just God's glory everywhere. I miss it and didn't want to come home. What a wonderful gift! I'm ready to go back in March! HA! :) A girl can dream, can't she?!