Christmas in Telluride

Adam and I spent Christmas with the Smiths in Telluride, Colorado this year. It was absolutely spectacular. It was about an 8 hour drive from Phoenix. We got there on Saturday evening.

On Sunday we went to church in Naturita, which was about an hour away. To get there we had to go through a little town called Sawpit. It is just one of many small po-dunk towns in the area, but for some reason I get a huge kick out of the name of this town. The Naturita branch is a very interesting bunch of people, but you won't find a friendlier group anywhere. It seams like the two different times I have been there at least half of the members came up to welcome us and find out more about us. Their smiles are always brighter then light bulbs. That Sunday was their Christmas program, which consisted of different people reading excerpts from the scriptures mixed with musical numbers. We were not particularly impressed with the musical talent; however the spirit was definitely present. It was evident that these members' hearts were so genuinely in the right place. Only Sacrament meeting was held because immediately following was their annual ward Christmas buffet. Maybe that is why there were so many people at church that morning : ) I have to say, it was very good food.

These first few pictures are of the view you get from the windows in the family room. I wanted to get some pictures of the spectacular mountain peaks, but I waited to long to pull out my camera. The day I took these the clouds were really thick and low so you really couldn't see the peaks very well.

Adam and Barry called us right before they went down this run together so we got to stand by the window and watch as they came down. I was a fan of this arrangement. The house was warm and I got to watch my studly husband ski at the same time :) Man, I should have got pictures of that. K I have been very disappointed in myself this holiday. I need to take more pictures and more of Adam and I.
I don't have any pictures of it unfortunately, but all of us were consumed by the Wii every night after coming in off the slopes. It was really funny to see the boys play it especially when they played the Raving Rabbids game. This game is completely random, but absolutely hilarious! Adam was really into tennis and golfing too.

On Monday Garnet took me out to the bunny hill to teach me how to snowboard. Garnet was a good teacher. She took me down the bunny hill a few times and then we went in for lunch. When I went back out Adam took me on a bigger hill, which was a lot easier to learn on because there were a lot fewer flat spots. It was easier to get better at turning when I could keep good momentum. Adam was a good teacher too. He was very surprised and impressed that I was doing so well. That was a victory for me : ) I had a blast snowboarding! I completely understand how people can become obsessed with it. It is one of those things that no matter how hard you fall you keep on craving more.

Christmas Eve we had the big fancy meal. Man, I could not get enough of those mashed potatoes! I think I am going to need Barry to teach me how he makes them or have him teach ADAM how to make them : ) Christmas day Adam and I snuck up to the loft to play the Wii before Barry and Julia got up to open presents. The day was wonderful except for the times when it hurt even to sit down because I was so soar. I spent the day recovering and talking to family on the phone.

We did some more snowboarding the next day. After warming up to the snowboard again with Adam I was finally ready to go out with the girls and sort of keep up with them. Ok, so I didn't keep up with them very well, but I didn't slow them down a ton either. Our good friends the Kippenburgs were up there too, so the girls consisted of Garnet, and Lisonne and Ciara Kippenburg. Mathias Kippenburg, their dad, took me down a run too and gave me a lot of pointers. The next run I went down with the girls I did a ton better at my turns. I was really proud of myself.

The Eatons (Andra's family) came up the night before we left. We hadn't seen them since they moved to Utah, so it was really good to see them again. The morning we left I took these fun pictures of the Eaton kids.

In these three pictures I told them to give me their best smiles. The results were cute!

Oh and.... I'm Pregnant!!!!