Colorado!

As soon as the Christmas festivities were completed and cleaned up on Christmas Day we began packing right away for our big family ski trip to Colorado. We worked late into the evening and then got up at 3:00 am to load the people into the truck. Fortunately there was minimal packing of the truck since we completed it the night before. We (Mom, Dad, Casey, me, Gabe, Amy, Jerad, Bryson, Daniel, and Charlie) traveled in two full sized pick ups and we were just barely able to fit all of the luggage, equipment, and food supplies into the truckbeds. It was a snug ride in the backseat for sure.

On the way out to Colorado the weather was great. In western Kansas there was a nice sheet of ice on everything, but the roads were pretty well clear. The backseat riders slept off and on. Casey and I traded out driving about eight hours in. Which means I drove through the mountains to get to the lodge. You could say there was a little tension in the truck. Dad did his best at constructive criticism co-captaining, but all it did was make me a nervous wreck (metaphorically speaking....I did manage to make it to the lodge without incident)....through steep grades and thick traffic.

Gabe was an excellent passenger. He was entertained by watching movies on his new portable dvd player (a Christmas gift from Grandma Danel). He read a few books with Grami and did quite a bit of sleeping too. Randomly throughout the trip (on the way out and the way in) he would shout out, "Col-oh-rad-oh!" Emphasis on each syllable. I'm not sure he knew what it even meant, but for days after the trip he would shout it out.

The first evening we were there Charlie took his girlfriend out to the base of the mountain and proposed to her. They plan to marry September 24th of this year and we're very excited for them both!

It didn't take long for the oxygen-deprived alpine air to remind us just how out of shape we already knew we were. I felt sluggish most of the trip and the nose bleeds began day two and finally ended this week. Our first trip down the mountain was the only trip we made the first day. It took us forever to get around in the morning (partly from the lack of sleep the day before and partly because of the extra effort it took our bodies to accomplish anything) and then I had to switch my ski boots out. The first trail we took down had gorgeous mountain views at the top. I didn't take my camera the first time down because I wanted to make sure I remembered how to ski. I did fairly well, not falling once. Casey, not so much. He really struggled getting down the mountain, thanks to the altitude, being out of shape and a major upper respiratory infection. Uncle Daniel watched Gabe for us back at the lodge.

The second day we took off and soaked up the coziness and comfort of our condo. In the late afternoon we took Gabe sledding on the bunny hill just outside our condo building. He and Bryson had such a great time. We stayed out until dark (which came around about 4:45 each day) letting them run the sled up the hill themselves and then ride it down. It also happened to be my mom and my brother's girlfriend's dad's birthday. My brother's girlfriend and her mom, dad, and brother went with us on the trip also.

The third day we started earlier and took a bus to the smallest trails on Copper Mountain. It was a much more fun experience. The trails were not nearly as steep and Casey didn't experience any difficulties at all...well, that is until he became a little over confident in his ability to stay upright at certain speeds. I didn't see anybody wipe out on the mountain the entire time we were there as hard as I watched him wipe out. He said he was fine, but he's been nursing a jammed thumb ever since. He's nearly back to 100% flexibility. Again that afternoon we took Gabe out to the bunny hill and Mom held him while she skied down a couple of times. He was really upset when it got too dark and we had to go inside.

On the fourth day we got up and around and packed the trucks back up. Even though we had less stuff to pack, we had less room to put the it due to the fact that Jerad had to remove the exhaust pipe off his truck on the way out to Colorado. We took some fun group photos in the Center Village and then headed back east. The weather driving through Denver was treacherous to say the least. Casey was driving and although there were vehicles slid off in the ditches and accidents all along the way....our entire caravan made it through the nasty driving conditions safely.

It was a wear you out exhausting kind of trip, but it was a ton of fun too. We were very glad to be able to go and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves!

Here are some of my favorite photos from the trip.... There's a lot, so I'm going to keep them smaller than I normally do.

Gabe sleeping on the ride out.

Spruce Lodge....our not so humble abode.

Gabe and Grami...walking cautiously.

It's snow, Baby.

Oh, how he loves the snow.

In Frisco, picking up our skis.

Mountain views...beautiful!

Gabe, sleeping again.

A stranger took this awesome picture.

Amy and a view of the living room and loft.

Mom in the kitchen.

The boys testing out Bryson's skis.

Kisses for Grami.

Bryson getting lessons from Jerad.

Casey and Gabe in Center Village.

Gabe and I.

Base of Copper Mountain.

Same base.

Sledding the bunny hill!

Bryson and Gabe at the top of the bunny hill.

Running the sled up...

....so they can ride it down.

The happy, engaged couple....Kaci and Charlie.

Bryson and Gabe LOVED sledding.

Mush!

Gabe and Bryson in the gigantic deck chair in Center Village.

Grami and the boys.

The tub didn't have a stopper...

Everyone lining up to get on the lift at Kokomo.

Amy, Bryson, Jerad locking up to get on the lift.

Casey on the lift at Kokomo.

Casey and I at the top of a small green trail.

 Mom and Dad same trail.

Uncle Charlie shows Bryson a few things.

Grami takes over bringing Bryson down.

Bryson loved every minute of it.

Although Grami had to snow plow down the entire way.

Charlie.

Look at that face. You can tell he's enjoying himself.

This was our view looking out from the balcony on our room.

Gorgeous.

Gabe wishing he could ski too.

Grami gave him a few rides.

Charlie and Kaci.

The whole crew.

Charlie and Daniel

Charles....doing what he does best....messing with me.

Gabe, me and Casey Center Village, last day.

That's Dad's breath you see...

....kind of brings to mind a raging bull.

For the record, he was not raging at the time of the photo.

On an unrelated note, today we had a snow day and Gabe and I had a great day at home catching up on various things. I'll share photos from our time today with you all tomorrow. I'd promise more frequent posting, but I'm just not sure that's going to happen! Casey started back to school yesterday and he's currently enrolled in five courses. It's a very busy time for us here in the Smith household, but we can see a light at the end of the tunnel...and it's bright and inviting so we shall soldier on!