#SkiUtah

It's no secret that the Jordans like to ski and take the skill acquisition seriously.  We've been fortunate to share the sport's love with Palmer who now skis freely on the mountain with Rick and me.  In addition, Ms. Grace was introduced to ski school for the first time this year.  We put her briefly on skis last year at Taos, but she was still too young to really do much.

This year, we skied in Utah where there are several world-class resorts within a short distance.  Grace went to Snowbird for ski school and we fell in love with an amazing instructor named Fancy Nancy.  Her creative and engaging personality ensured that we booked her for three days during the week.

"Happy New Year! Grace is back there and finally old enough for ski school!"

Simple things like telling Grace to turn towards the purple/pink balloon or to pretend like she is a mermaid/snowman/throwing a party kept Grace's interest on her first run of the winter sport.  Grace enjoyed skiing, especially when we showed up at the end of the day and promised to ride the lift with Grace.

Grace's favorite part was eating the snow, though.  For some reason, she really wouldn't stop eating the white stuff despite our pleas to stop because there was NO FRESH POWDER this trip.

Mr. Palmer is really tearing it up these days.  Rick's plan to put as many ski hours into a 6.5 year old as possible has paid off and Palmer goes pretty much anywhere we want to go.  We skied Snowbird, Alta, and Deer Valley during the week.

By "we", I really mean Rick because Rick likes to wander off the path and into trees and jumps.  So, does Palmer.

There was a time when they went off path and got waaay off of the regular run.  I waited and waited and waited for them to figure out how to get out of the trees.

I always try to ski fast so I could get ahead of the guys and take some pictures.  This year, I would ski fast and hard and then turn around only to find Palmer right behind me.  I had to start yelling, "Stop!  Let me get ahead of you!!"

 
And then there are moguls.  My knees like to avoid moguls.  Palmer's knees like them, apparently.

This year, Palmer begged us for poles.  At the end of the week, we told him, "Congratulations.  You earned your poles!"  He was so happy.

At the end of a long day, Palmer was such a proud brother and couldn't wait to go and check on Grace's progress and tell her all about the things she can do once she gets bigger.

 

If you're looking for me and can't find me on the mountain, come here.  Sometimes it's nice to just visit the heated pool and spa instead...

Also, the nordic jumping US trials for the upcoming Olympics in S Korea were going on while we were in town...

We have a few more trips planned for the ski season.  Rick will be in Denver one week for work, so Palmer is going to fly up and join him for a guys ski weekend.  And then we'll drive over to Taos for a long family weekend and grab one more run.  We need mountains in our backyard.  (Oops.  When I say that, Rick gets excited about the fact that I might be willing to move to a ski town...)

 -Bethany