Monday, January 28, 2013

Sundance

Dear Readers -

I start today's post with a minor housekeeping note.  You probably received an invitation from me to join my La Famille Shutterfly share site.  If you accepted this invitation you probably also received a "Weekly Digest" email from said site.  Do yourself a favor and scroll down to the bottom of that digest email and click on link that lets you "never" receive digest emails.  I update it nearly never so no one needs to be getting a weekly, monthly or even yearly digest.  Sorry for all of the extra junk in your inbox. And now, back to our regularly scheduled programming...

Tucked under the beautiful Mt. Timpanogos you will find the quirky and charming Sundance Resort. Started by Robert Redford, the resort offers skiing, art classes, authors series, theatre workshops and any other sort of thing you might associate with that handsome blue-eyed cowboy actor. Located about 45 minutes from Park City, Sundance has all of the convenience of it's bigger, more famous sister but none of the downside. Fewer people, more natural beauty,and almost no one on the slopes. The fact that it was film fest week here actually meant that fewer people skied!  God bless those beautiful, lazy people who can't be bothered!

Insert stunning photo of Mt. Timpanogos here.  
Oh wait, we had kind of crummy weather and never got a good view of it.  Oh well!

It also means that people expect to see celebrities, which equates to more and more people staring at Matt, trying to figure out if he's that guy from Homeland. (If you don't know what I am talking about, google Damian Lewis. Matt is of course better looking, but to some people all redheads look alike.  Yeesh.) One woman went so far as to ask the salesgirl at the ski rental shop to look at Matt's paperwork on the sly to confirm his name. I overheard the salesgirl whispering "it says William Kelly" much to the woman's disappointment. Tee hee!

All in all, we had a very relaxing weekend where we actually got to go skiing (a rare occurrence post-parenthood), sleep in, and eat delicious meals that we did not have to prepare.  A lovely way to reconnect and celebrate the 6th anniversary of our "real" wedding.  The one we didn't tell most people about before the "fake" (but amazing) one we had on New Year's Eve almost a year later.  And it is official - we will be fleeing the children every year from here on out to mark the occasion!

Sgt. Brody enjoying a brew by the fire. 
Happy Anniversary mon mari! 














Tuesday, January 22, 2013

The End of the Insanity

Apologies, dear readers.  This year the holidays were a doozy and I am just now coming up for air. Finding time to do anything but tend to basic needs and recover from holiday upheaval has been challenging so le pauvre blog has suffered I'm afraid.  Hopefully now that we have unpacked, put away the decorations, dealt with a multitude of home-related issues (leaking roof in kitchen, no heat, no internet service, broken alarm system, washing machine down - aaahhhh), the blogging can begin!

In spite of our full plates this Christmas we managed to enjoy ourselves on what we have fondly (?) dubbed "The 2013 Insanity Tour".  Three stops - Park City, Utah followed by Phoenix, followed by St. Louis. 2 car seats, 4  pieces of luggage, 3 carry ons, 1 stroller and about 3 nervous breakdowns.  But,  we did get to see LOTS of cousins, grandparents, aunts and uncles and that made it worthwhile.  Some photos from the road...

Hank and S. Claus on the Polar Express in Heeber Valley, UT

Oh, yeah.  Someone hearts trains.

Three little monkeys all in a row on Christmas Eve.


Gus getting spoiled by Lynn, Barb and Auntie Alice

The view from our room in Utah...can't wait to get back!


This weekend we escaped the Inaugural madness (nothing compared to 4 years ago, but still a royal pain with street closures etc.) to come up to Bryce Mountain resort in the Shenandoah Valley.  This is a great little spot with a small mountain (read: 5 runs)  for skiing in the winter and a lake, golf, tennis etc. in the summer.  And it's only 2 hours from DC.  I have a feeling that we will be spending more and more time here since it is a great place for kids to learn how to master the slopes and it provides an easy escape to the country!

Thursday sees Matt and me taking a long weekend trip to Sundance, Utah sans the children to celebrate our 6th wedding anniversary.  We are VERY much looking forward to the escape from all of the child-related chores, to spending time together just the two of us, and most of all to sleeping!!!

For some long overdue photos of our Fall activities and the entire Christmas extravaganza, please click here: Lots of Famille Photos

That's all for now but I promise to be back soon!  Adieu!