Weekend Getaway in Pagosa Springs

Britt has been wanting to take a weekend trip with his snowmobiling buddies and their wives all winter.  But it is not the kind of thing you can really plan, when it is all contingent on the weather (especially since for the first part of this winter, the chances of him getting to hit the snow with his buddies wasn't looking good at all).  Well, after Britt discovered that Wolf Creek Pass near Pagosa Springs, Colorado was getting hit with the most snow, he decided they needed to check it out.  He went out a couple times, and decided it was definitely a place worth taking the wives to.  I think he was feeling a little guilty about enjoying the natural hot springs without us.

So, the second weekend in January, Britt and I headed over to Pagosa Springs with Kyle and Melissa Fullmer, and Bruce and Patty Lyman.  We stayed in a timeshare condo there courtesy of Joe and Carol (Britt's parents).  We arrived in plenty of time to find a great place to eat and then we enjoyed a few card games.

Kyle and Melissa have never spent a weekend away together without the kids.  It was a new experience for them, but I think they had a good time.

The place we stayed was lovely, and it was fun to discover our own personal snowman out our back patio:

The guys took off early in the morning to play on the mountain, and the girls hit the town.  We decided we really like Pagosa Springs, with or without the guys ;)  We enjoyed yummy breakfast burritos at a place we happened upon on the old town Main street, after we drove around taking pictures.  There was snow everywhere and it was really cold, but we didn't mind the cold too much there in town.

We loved discovering this cool old church 

and taking pictures of the steam rising off the hot springs 

We also did a lot of shopping.  We discovered a couple really cool antique places and some other fun shops there.  We went to the Spa at the Hot Springs Resort and got massages.  That was the best!  And we decided to save the complimentary passes for the hot springs until our men got off the mountain.  We found a cool little place to eat lunch, and it was packed, as everyone around was watching the playoff game between the Denver Broncos and the Baltimore Ravens.  We didn't really care about the game, but we decided we made the perfect choice for lunch.  It was absolutely tasty.  All of us loved the food we selected.  (I shouldn't have waited to write this; now I can't remember the name of the place or anything).

Around 5:00, the guys called and said they were on their way back into town and we met them at a little cafe, so they could get burgers.  They had been so cold on their snowmobiles, it had been nearly impossible to eat lunch up there.  They like to keep fried or roasted chicken in these compartments they have attached to their pipes (keeps the food warm when they ride, or something), but with the temperatures in the negatives, their fingers were too frozen to handle the food, which also obviously didn't stay warm for long.  Anyway, they were really looking forward to a soak in the hot springs after a cold day of riding.

The hot springs were really enjoyable, but we could hardly see each other (not such a bad thing, I guess) with the steam rising off the springs.  The guys had icicles hanging from their wet hair, but the hot water felt absolutely wonderful after being out in the cold all day.  We told the guys they should have booked one more night at the condo.  Then we could have gone back and relaxed, then drove home in the morning.  We will have to remember that next time.

We changed into dry clothes, turned up the heaters in our vehicles, and headed to Durango for a late dinner.  The Durango Steamworks ended up being the perfect choice.  Thank you, Facebook friends.   Anyway, it ended up being a late night getting home, but it had been such a fun little trip.  We definitely should go again some day.  Thanks, Melissa and Patty for joining me for a little girls day out.  I know I need more of that in my life.

Britt's First GoPro Videos on the snowmobile

This was Britt yesterday, "sledding" as he and his friends call it, over by Mancos, Colorado.  It was so cold when they were playing up Wolf Creek Pass last weekend, he couldn't get the video to work.  I have some pictures from that which I might post later. Let see what happens here when I hit publish first.

Overwhelmingly Overdue

I have a thousand and one posts to catch up on, but until I do, here is a {somewhat} brief summary of what we have been up to these past several months:

 In July, we went to Lagoon with our cousins and Grandma Carol and Papa Joe.  Jennilyn and her kids joined us, as well as Shondell and her kids.  Kimberlee came down and played with us, too.  We spent three nights at the Lagoon campground and two days in the park, and we enjoyed every minute of it.

Abbey joined us too at Lagoon on Saturday.  The girls were THRILLED to have her there!  Lagoon was a blast.  Everyone had a marvelous time.  I promise I will post more details later. 

We shopped, and shopped and shopped for new school clothes.  And everyone looked very stylish on their first day of school.

But the only pictures I got were of Olivia and Rachel

We made it to Lake Powell on Labor Day and WE LOVED IT!  Thanks to our good friends the Berretts for taking us with them

It was a lovely day in the sun and on the water

Tyler and Garrett competed in Cross Country

Cole played his first year of high school football.  He played on the C team and on the JV team.  Some of his best plays happened later in the year on the JV team, but I didn't get any decent pictures.  Cole worked out and improved throughout the season.  He is proving that you don't have to be big in size to play big.

We moved.  We found someone to rent our house in the Fifth Ward, and another family hoping to buy our home once they sell theirs.  We now live in the Second Ward, close to the middle school and high school and the Stake Center, where we now attend church.  It is a beautiful home, in a really nice neighborhood, with a great yard with mature landscaping.  FYI, moving sucks.  But I do believe our family can be really happy in this home, for several years to come.

Garrett competed in the Mr. San Juan Pageant.  This was the evening wear portion.  Hmm.

Olivia had a birthday.  She is eight.

She was so excited to be baptized by her dad

I got to see Wicked in Las Vegas with my mother-in-law and sisters.  Thanks again, Charlene!  It was the best time!

Garrett competed with a scene from Romeo and Juliet with his girlfriend Jessie McDaniel.  My girls were amazed to see them kiss on stage.  (They are not together anymore, though)

The girls and I traveled to Logan for the blessing of Chrislynn's baby, Josie.

Chrislynn sewed the dress herself, including gorgeous smocking on the front.  It was really beautiful!

I got caught speeding on the way home (outside of Ogden), and received a warning and a seat belt  violation (Rachel).  Ugh!  It only happens to me when I am driving alone with the girls.

Britt has been teaching the Missionary Prep class for a few years now.  They have seen a great deal of success in the class, and since the announcement by the prophet that young men can serve at age 18, and young women at 19, the class went from averaging about ten students to thirty plus.  It is exciting and overwhelming for Britt.  He does a great job with these young men and women!

You may know Halloween happened, and crazy hair day and other events, and I did not get any pictures, so there will be no posts about that this year.  Sorry.

And of course, I have several posts as well from last year and earlier this year.

But hey, I blogged.  {pats self on back}  And you know what else?  Since we got better high speed internet here, it didn't take nearly as long to upload those pictures, so really I have no excuse.  I promise I will try to post more, if not today, soon.  Thanks for reading.

Playtime in Winter

In the wintertime, I become something of a snow widow.  My husband spends every day anxiously waiting for a snow storm and then when it finally snows, he spends every moment anxiously waiting to get out to play in it.  Then, after he gets his snow playtime, he spends several days being sore, tired, and  sometimes a little bit grumpy before he starts the cycle of waiting and hoping again.  It is good that we actually had a few decent snowstorms at the end of the season this year, since it wasn't looking very promising at first.  He loves to play; it's good for him.  And once in a while, he lets Cole (who is also addicted to the fun) join him.

The following pictures are from three different occasions.  The first two sets of pictures were taken on two separate occasions on the Blue Mountain, our mountain, and the last set were taken when he played in a spot near Mancos with some friends last week.  Britt has had a wonderful time breaking in his new snowmobile, discovering all the crazy things he can do.  We have some video also, but I wasn't able to load it onto this computer, so I won't be sharing that today.  Sorry.

If you are Facebook friends with Britt, you may have seen some of the other pictures friends have taken of him playing on his snowmobile.  Some of those pictures are quite impressive, but again, I do not have access to those pictures, so these will have to do.

A friend of Britt's recently sent an email out to several of the guys who often "sled" together around these parts.  He referred to the 18 year old snowmobile rider from Colorado who was buried and killed in an avalanche in the La Sal Mountains (near Moab).  He reminded the riders that they should be using safety gear when they ride, and that there are only two guys around here who use the proper gear and one of them is my husband.  I hope and pray all the time that no accidents befall them while they are out there, and I do believe there is safety in numbers--Britt usually rides with a decent sized group--but I can't help but worry sometimes.  Hey, at least he is prepared.  I recently read this article about one of the safety tools those who sled or ski in the back country can use and although it is not a 100 % guarantee, at least it is better than having no hope at all if there were an incident.

I hope I have not given the impression that I hate the fact that my husband goes out and rides his snowmobile as often as he can.  Because I don't.  I love that he has something that he loves to do and that he has friends he play with, too.  If you know my husband, you know he works hard.  He deserves to get to play hard, too.

My guys like to play

Over Thanksgiving break, we were visiting family in St. George.  Britt and Jennilyn made plans to hike Angel's Landing in Zion National Park.  But wimp that I am, I refused to go with them.

Actually my fear of heights had nothing to do with my choice not to go with them.  That whole visit, I barely managed to get out of bed longer than one or two hours at a time.  At the end of the trip, I finally went to a doctor and discovered that I had Strep Throat.  I wasn't just being unsocial; I was feeling lousy.

But I think these guys (and girl) had a fun hike:

Um, yeah.  Some of those pictures make me think maybe it wasn't such a bad thing I didn't make it out for that hike.  Living on the edge is not my favorite kind of thrill.

Well at least they had a good time.