Taylor, Matthew & Brayden: Schweitzer Mountain

We just returned from a family ski trip to Schweitzer Mountain in Idaho. The kids had last week off of school for mid-winter break, so we took advantage of our new car/new ski rack/proximity to ski resorts and tried a new mountain. It was awesome - we will go back! The mountain itself is plenty big - we did not cover even half of it - and the lift lines were empty. Tommy and I skied in the mornings while the kids were in lessons, and it was amazing how many runs we could get in without having to wait in lift lines. Oh, and the ski lessons were crazy cheap too. Win!

We went to Schweitzer with the Crumpacker Family. Elise and Ryan have become good friends of ours, and they have three kids: Taylor (affectionately referred to as Taylor C. in our house) is 8.5, Quinn is 6, and Charlotte is 3. Our families got along perfectly and it was nice to have another family to hang with.

Taylor, Matty, and Brady are doing great on skis. They took lessons each morning until noon and then skied with us after lunch. I am truly amazed at how well each child handles skis - and the fact that they all truly enjoy the sport. On the last day, Brayden was a beast, skiing as fast as he could in order to get as many runs in as possible. We got on a chair lift at the base of the mountain at 3:20 that afternoon and the lift attendant reminded us that the lifts were closing for the day in 10 minutes. When we got to the top of that lift, Brayden quickly escorted our family to the next chair lift, which took us even higher. Tommy quickly confirmed with the lift attendant that there was one blue run at the top... the rest of the runs at the top of the lift were black diamonds. So, we basically arrived at the tippy top of the mountain at 3:30 when the lifts shut down. We found the one blue run, but it was a really steep blue run... I would argue that it should have been black. The kids did great. There were a few tears and several falls, but we made it down the mountain (with ski patrol behind us to make sure everyone was safely off the mountain). Phew! It was a great last day. We celebrated with hot chocolate, margaritas and nachos. The kids enjoyed playing on iPads/iPhones while the adults enjoyed some uninterrupted conversation.

On the way to Schweitzer, we stopped to meet our new puppy at the breeder. The breeder lives about 1.5 hours north of Spokane, WA in the mountains. It was a much bigger detour than Tommy and I expected, but the kids were about to combust with excitement at the prospect of meeting their future dog. We were at the breeder's home for about an hour and held each of the puppies from the litter we'll get our dog from. Obviously, we want the girl puppy, but we will not know if we get her until the families in front of us on the waiting list decide. The three little pups were soooo sweet. We also met the mom, Kennah, a miniature poodle and the dad, Baxter, a cocker spaniel.

We left the breeder on a "puppy high" and headed east for Idaho. In order to get back to the freeway, we were on some back country, snowy roads, and the sun was starting to set. Sure enough, we interrupted a pack of deer on our drive, and one of them pounced right into the side of our car. It was truly terrifying. Tommy and I both saw the deer jump out at us, but there was no time to react. I am so incredibly grateful that Tommy did not try to swerve or we could have rolled our car into a ravine. As I braced for impact (against Tommy's door), I thought I would open my eyes and find the deer's head through our driver side window. Worse, it could have impaled Tommy. Thankfully, the window was not broken (although the same could not be said about the side mirror), we were all unharmed, and our car was still driveable. We were all shaken up but praised God that we were safe.

So, with only 2,000 miles on our brand new car, we are taking it in to the car doctor for $5,000 in repairs. But who cares. This beast of a car protected us from what could have been so much worse...

Overall, we had a super mid-winter break. We will absolutely go back to Schweizter with the Crumpackers. It was a great trip!

Tommy has not been a huge fan of getting a dog, but I think holding this puppy helped him turn the corner.

Baxter, the pimp daddy

Taylor is holding the female puppy here, and momma Kennah is checking Matty out!

The kids with the female puppy (hopefully our Annie!)

Ali and Annie

After our exciting adventure driving to Schweitzer, we were happy to arrive at our condo and have spaghetti!

Gorgeous views from the mountain

Family photo - I wish we had more pictures from this trip, but the reality is that it was SO COLD (like 6 degrees) that our cell phones would freeze and power off.