Wolf Creek Resort

Well it's been a while since we last updated our blog (thanks for the reminder Dustin and Gina), we've been busy at work and all the other stuff we've been doing that I can't remember, but we just got back from our AEF Retreat up at Wolf Creek Resort. It was a pretty good deal...we paid $50 and they put a bunch of us who are deploying in their lodges/condos/and homes for the weekend; we had breakfast, lunch and dinner each day and we were able to go snowmobiling, snowshoeing and skiing at no extra cost...

Melanie and I had never snowmobiled before, so that was what we were really looking forward too and it was a lot of fun. We drove out about 30 minutes further into the mountains where it opens up into rolling hills with hardly any trees around, so you can pretty much just take off in any direction...you just need to watch out for the barbed-wire fencing that was starting to show now that the snow is melting a little bit.

On Saturday, I took melanie snowshoeing...this was the first time she has ever been. I took her up to a place I've taken roxie a couple times (up Wheeler Creek trail in Ogden Canyon) and I think she had fun eventhough it wasn't as relaxing as the rest of the weekend had been. It was really nice weather though...a little snowy, but pretty warm and no wind so we had a good time. We only snowshoed for about an hour or so...I took here on a trail that's pretty much up-hill the whole way, so I think she got wore out a little faster than we planned on. But, we still had a great time and she say's that she likes snowshoeing.

I think next weekend, we may try to go down to Moab and do some hiking and I need to get my mountain bike out on the trails since it's finally built up...plus, as much as we've enjoyed the winter this year we are defintitely ready for the warm weather and hot sun. Other than that, we're just getting ready for our trip back to Arkansas in about a week and an half (April 10th) and are looking forward to seeing everyone there...especially Drew.

Melanie's Birthday Party

Here's a picture of Mel's wild and crazy birthday party. We did have a little get-together with some of our friends this past weekend but nothing on the 19th since she had to work a 12 hour day, but atleast Roxy showed up to wish her a happy birthday.

It Won't Stop!

Some pictures I took today after shoveling the driveway...again! You can see that the snow we've got piled up on the driveway and on the street is getting up to about 5 feet now. This is definitely a little different than last years winter. We'll probably still be able to ski into June and maybe even July this year if it keeps coming down the same. I think the storm today is number 4 or 5 in a line up of 6 storms. We're looking forward to having the fam come out in March - see you soon.

Snowshoeing with Roxie

On Saturday, I took Roxie snowshoeing up in Ogden Canyon. I think she likes this better than hiking. She spent about 2 hours running up and down the trail in front of me and ocassionally making her own trails in snow up to her back in some areas. We went about 3.5 miles on this trip and I think Mel wants to start going too, so we'll have to see if she likes it as much as I. About half-way into the trail we came around a corner and had a pretty good view of Mt. Ogden (in the bottom picture) which is the predominant Mountain at Snowbasin, were we go skiing. I had no idea we were that close to it until we came up on the view. In the picture, the tallest peak (in the center of the picture) is Mt. Ogden. If you follow the ridge to the right, there is another peak; this is Mt. Allen, there is a tiny shack that sits up there and that was the start of the Men's Downhill course in the '02 Winter Olympics. I think the mid-mountain snowpack up there is 90 inches right now (250" so far this year), the skiing and snowshoeing have been great this year. We'll keep you posted on what else is going on!

Busy in Utah.

Last week, I started my new job. I'm in the same Squadron but I am responsible for the accountability and storage sides of our mission now. This is a job I requested because it is exactly what I'll be doing in Iraq this summer and I don't know much about it right now. It's a bigger flight, so I will be managing a few more people and learning a completely different job. I'm excited about it b/c I was ready for a change in what I've been doing the past year or so.

Mel is still working at the Family Support Center of Ogden whenever she can make it out of our driveway and up the hill (the ice doesn't make it too easy for her driving). She still loves her job and the people she's working with also. She's a pretty good skier this year and it's much more fun for both of us now that I'm not trying to teach her.

I'm trying out a new sport this winter...snoeshoeing! I got some snoeshoe's for christmas and have been going out on the weekends whenever possible. It's a blast but a pretty tough workout...especially when you're up to your knees in powder! This is a picture of me last weekend on the green pond trail right outside of Snowbasin (looking east behind me). We had about 7 feet or so of snow at this point. I really like being able to go out and make my own trail and go literally wherever I want to...I'm gonna take Roxie out next weekend and see how she likes it. Laura came and stayed with us this past week also. It was great to have her again and we had fun showing her what life in Utah is like in the Winter. She went skiing for the first time ever and did pretty good. She feel on her first or second run (I can't remember which one it was) then didn't fall at all...until her last run or two. We learned from Daddy and decided to keep her on the bunny slopes though. We went up to the top (needles lodge) for lunch, but couldn't see anything because of clouds/snow, but it was still a great day to go skiing. Laura made a pretty good friend while she was out here too - I think Roxie is going into depression now that she doesn't have Laura to cuddle up to on the couch.

Snow! Snow! Snow!

Here's some pictures from the storm we got last week. I think we're supposed to get another storm or 2 this week to help keep the ground covered. Mel and I went skiing today and had a lot of fun. You pretty much get the gondola to yourself for the most part and there are no lines to wait in. Laura's coming out here the first week or so of January, so we'll see if she braves the mountain and goes skiing...I have a feeling we'll probably just be sledding though!

Winter Wonderland.

We don't have any pictures yet, but we'll post some this week sometime. We had a big winter storm come through here over the past 3 days and dumped a bunch of snow on us. The mountains got about 2 to 3 feet and we got about 6 inches down in the valleys. I went skiing down around SLC on Saturday and they had so much snow you couldn't see any cars of the people who lived up there...you could just make out the shape of cars and trucks in the snow. We're getting ready to head to charlotte in about 2 weeks and also make a quick trip to the farm and charleston while we're out there.

Keepin you Posted

Not too much is going on out here lately. Just workin' and trying to do school work. Mel is starting a different position at her work - she's going to be doing a receptionist job along with what she's been doing already. It's been pretty warm for the most part, most of the snow melted, although they are still planning on opening up the ski resorts on Thanksgiving day. We're staying here for thanksgiving, but taking off the East Coast (Charlotte and Charleston) over Christmas. I think we are going to have a Utah Christmas next year based on the price of plane tickets. Roxie has finally got out of her puppy stage and is relaxing a lot more - as you can tell from the picture, she likes to be close to people as much as possible. We haven't had any visitors in a while, but we're ready for you whenever you decide to come out. We'll keep you updated on what's going on...

Let it Snow!

We got a pretty good snow storm here today. So far this year has been more snowy than last year - I think this is about the 5th or 6th storm this month, but the first strong enough to put snow on the ground at our house. We drove up to Snowbasin today also and they were supposed to get about 12" - 16" today. People have already been skiing down at Alta (about an hour from here). Hopefully the snow keeps coming and we have a good ski season for when y'all come out. We'll keep you updated and keep the pictures coming. Other than that, not a whole lot is going on.

Marathon

Here's the only picture they got of me at the marathon in Victoria. This is me in the midst of more pain than I ever felt in my muscles and joints. I'm right on the harbor looking out on the Puget sound...unfortunately as you can tell from the picture it's raining too hard (and it was too cold) to enjoy the view. I think this is about mile 20 or so...I'm not really sure where I was because it was all marked in kilometers instead of miles.