25th Anniversary

 It is hard to believe that this year is the 25th anniversary of the Haisten family ski trip.  This tradition started when Shelley was only 6 years old.  We started at Sugar, North Carolina and the next year we went to Colorado and never went back east.  We love skiing out west.  It is a wonderful respite for all of our families to reconnect.  With the ever increasing number of children, the trip is a lot less relaxing than I remembered it being :).

This year we returned to Steamboat, CO.  It had been 3  years since my last trip and I was very anxious to get back on the slopes.  It is funny, there is so much uncomfortable about skiing - the stiff boots, the layers and layers of clothes that make you sweat but never keeps your face quite warm enough, the increased challenge of getting back up after a fall.  But we love it.  Two weeks before the trip, Steamboat got something like 26 inches of snow in a couple days time.  Then, a warm front hit and on our first day there was plenty of brown dirt to look at.  Luckily, snow came in that night and the next day and we had great conditions for the rest of the trip.  As flights worked out, it made more sense for Al and I to have our trip Saturday - Thursday when the rest of the family came Sunday - Friday.  We were able to get the grocery shopping done and have everything ready and waiting for the rest of the family to arrive.

The smartest part of the trip for us was our decision to bring our fabulous babysitter, Rachel with us.  We met Rachel almost 4 years ago when we moved Ely to Primrose Bedford.  She was one of his teachers and has been great resource for us.  Once the twins came along I was completely comfortable leaving them with her because she has been working with babies for a while at Primrose.  She knows how to take care of multiple babies better than I do!  Anyway, Rachel was a huge help on the trip.  Al and I were able to have full days on the slopes and then also have her help once we were back and exhausted!

We were so proud of Ely and how well he did on the slopes.  He was in ski school for 2 days and then skied with the adults on the 3rd day.  He did great.  He is a lot like Al and is very hesitant to try something new or a bit steep but he is getting more confident and loves skiing with his cousins.  They are going to be tearing up the mountain before we know it!  I know that Dad would have loved to see his grandbabies fly down those mountains in front of him.  There is always something missing now that he isn't with us each year.  I love this tradition that he and mom started and I love that my kids will grow up on the slopes, just like I did!

Car ride to the airport

Ready to take off :)

Rachel started working right away and it was a huge help to have an extra adult to wrangle the babies!

Ely trying on boots!

Getting the hot tub ready for his cousins!

Grocery shopping for 14 people - it was a lot to get on a shuttle back to the condo!

 Day 1 - Sunday

Father and son ready for a big day

getting signed up for ski school 

It was so warm the first day we really didn't need a coat some of the time!

Relaxing over lunch

I forgot to mention that Al is now a big time skier taking 2 trips each year  (one for work and one with family)

Meanwhile....

Once everyone got into town, we were joined by mom's cousin Steve and his family.  It was a full house for dinner but a great one!

Day 2

on shuttle ready for a full day

Steamboat has the best perks - wagons to haul all the gear!

Waiting...

Up on the mountain - much colder on day 2!

Shelley and Drew

Mike

Ashley and Mom

Al

Steve, Ashley and Andrea

We had a great lunch break at the Wherry's condo!

Brett - he reminds me of a blue spiderman!

 After ski school day 2!

Ely (left) and Hudson (right)

Anna Beth and Uncle Drew

Hudson and Ely

Haisten had a great start to skiing his first year!

Our next generation of skiers!  Hopefully Katie will be in the picture next year!

You can sort of tell in this picture that Ely got a busted up face when he fell on the mountain.
 That didn't stop his great progress!

Silly adults

 Day 3 - my favorite with Ely skiing with us!

Our first family picture on the mountains!

Lunch on the mountain with Hudson

Skiing Cousins

Relaxing with the iPad

Anna Beth joined us on the slopes as well!

The Adult Dinner

Al and Drew

Steve, mom and Ashley

Ashley and Cindy

Mike and Brett

Shelley, me, and Andrea

 Day 4 (our off day).  We spent the day making snow angels, going on nature walks (looking for bear tracks) and shopping.

We ended the trip Wednesday night at a tube park.  It was great to finally have the babies in the snow!

me, Al and Ely on the tubes

 It was another great trip - thank you Mom for making it possible!

The whole crew!