Twin Lakes Pass with Parents

Christmas

Honeycomb Cliffs

Here is a time lapse video I made from my drive this morning up to the Alta parking lot:

I skied up to the Honeycomb Cliffs.  It was a beautiful day.

I recently got a smart phone and made this track using the app MyTracks.

Mace won't be snoring for long

A few weeks ago, I took Cruz to the doctor for his four month well-child check up. Everything seemed to be great with him. He is still off the charts for weight!

At the end of the appointment, I asked the doctor about Mace's snoring. I have started to worry more about him lately. The reasons for my worrying, are because he snores REALLY loud, it doesn't always sound like he is breathing, he wakes up frequently (I thought he would have "out grown" this one, by now.) and he tosses and turns while he sleeps. I was suspecting a sleep apnea diagnosis and a recommendation for get his tonsils removed. I told the doctor all of this. He looked in Mace's mouth and told me Mace has "kissing tonsils." This is a term that means, the tonsils are so big, they touch in the middle. He said that based on what I had told him and the size of the tonsils, I was probably right about the sleep apnea. He gave me a list of ENT specialists and said that I should call and make an appointment soon.

I made the appointment for a few days later. While at the appointment, the doctor examined Mace's ears, nose and throat. We were told that Mace has fluid in his ears. He then wanted to do a hearing test on Mace, to see if the fluid was causing any hearing loss. I was really shocked when he said that Mace wasn't hearing on a normal level. The doctor thinks it is because of the fluid and recommended putting tubes in his ears. This will help the fluid to drain and help prevent future ear infections. So, Mace will be getting his tonsils and adenoids out and tubes put in. The surgery is next week on December 13th. Recovery takes around 10 days, so we are hoping that he will be feeling pretty good by Christmas. I am really nervous. The thought of Mace laying on a hospital bed freaks me out. I have to keep reminding myself that this will help Mace. I am really excited for it to be completely over. I have heard that recovery is pretty tough. (I, myself have had the EXACT same surgery. I don't remember much though.)

I can't wait for Mace to be able to sleep and more importantly, to breathe better.

The much loved, Cookie Monster

When Mace was born, my Grandma gave Mace a Cookie Monster stuffed animal. It has always been one of his favorite things. Recently, Cruz has started to love it, too.

Brotherly Fun

Mace has been such a good big brother to Cruz. 

At least a couple times every day, Mace will ask to hold Cruz. 

He loves to share his blanket, pat his back, hide, snuggle and wrestle with baby Cruz.

Luckily, Cruz seems to enjoy being around his older brother and being forced to play along with all the craziness!

Aren't they cute?

It has been so much fun to have two kids. I think I have forgotten what it was like to only have one. (It is really hard remembering what life was like before we even had kids! What did we do with all our time?)

We sure love this thing called parenthood!

Poor Cruz

Cruz has been super cranky lately. He has always been such an easy going baby, so we knew that something must had to be bothering him. Last week, I took him to the doctor for his 4 month check-up. I asked the doctor about the possibility of Cruz having an ear infection. He looked in both ears, and said that they looked fine. So, Tyler and I came to the conclusion that he must be starting to teeth.

Last night, as I getting ready to feed Cruz, I noticed his right ear. It was super crusty. In the ear canal, all you could see was infectious gunk! I felt so bad for him. He must have had an ear infection after all. On the plus side, he seems to be back to his normal, happy self. He doesn't seem to be in any pain. He slept better last night, than he has in the last week.

I hope, now that his eardrum has ruptured, his body can quickly get over the infection.

Patsy Marley

I had the day off so I decided to go skiing and try out my ankle. There was considerable avalanche danger on the north facing slopes, and the south facing slopes had minimal snow and were crusty.  I decided to head up to Patsy Marley because if I couldn't ski on good snow it might as well be scenic.

I believe the pictures below are Alpenglow, because the sun technically hadn't risen yet.  Pretty cool.

It was cool to see the sun start to light up the valley down below

It was an adventure.  The route finding through the rocks made it very slow, but it was fun and challenging, kind of like a corn maze.

The view of Mt. Wolverine on the left and Devil's Castle/Sugarloaf on the right from the top of Patsy Marley

A view of Little Cottonwood.

We need some more snow before anyone can ski down the Wolverine Chutes.

Mt. Wolverine

Here is my track up and down Patsy Marley.  2hrs. 28 min.  1,996 ft elevation change. 4.1 miles.  It is funny to see how many places the velocity goes to 0.  There were a lot of rocks to navigate.

Mace's Lion Noises

Mace likes to run around in his underwear and make lion noises.  His faces are pretty funny.

(Look at those eyelashes!)

Mace can't wait to go skiing.

I had my skis sitting out in our living room and Mace decided he was going to go skiing.  He found a pair of my shoes that he thought would fit in the bindings put on his new ski helmet, and pretended he was skiing.  He didn't bother to put on any clothes on besides underwear, however.

Thanksgiving 5k

Lyndsay ran a 5k with her siblings on Thanksgiving morning.

Tired!

New Skis

Last year I broke my downhill boots, my ski poles, my AT bindings and my Telemark bindings.  Sick of constantly worrying about breaking something, I decided I would try to sell my old skis and purchase something more reliable.  I ended up  purchased a used Dynafit setup this year, which will hopefully provide years of worry free skiing.  The skis, bindings and skins were $380 and the boots were $50.  I loved skiing on Lyndsay's setup last year because they were relatively light, and my new setup is even lighter than Lyndsay's. 

My new skis are on the left, and Lyndsay's are on the right.  

The new boots weigh in at 8 lbs.

The old boots, 9.6 lbs.

The new setup, 18 lbs.

Lyndsay's skis with the old boots, 20.2 lbs.

I hope I like these skis.

Scott and Katy's Engagement

The night after we stayed in Scott's cabin I went on a tour up Silver Fork with Scott, Katy and Jeff.  Scott proposed to Katy at the top of the hill, just a couple of hours after this photo was taken.

I had to turn back early for more family Thanksgiving celebrations, but I was able to try out my new skis and boots on my new ankle.  Everything felt pretty good.

Silver Fork Cabin

Scott invited us to stay at his family's cabin in Silver Fork the day after Thanksgiving with a bunch of our friends. It was fun to see everyone and fun to stay in such a beautiful place.  Cruz got some hugs from Ginger.

Our boys were crazy.  Mace kept us up until 4:00 in the morning.

Group photo attempt #1

Group photo attempt #2

Cruz's first bite of peaches

On Thanksgiving we fed Cruz his first bite of real food. He seemed pretty excited to try the peaches.

He didn't like them very much.

Mace eating Cereal

Tyler made this video of Mace eating a bowl of cereal.

I think he did a great job!

It makes me laugh, hope it will make you laugh too!