Elaine and Anne Skiing at Snowbasin

Elaine and I went skiing last week a couple of days after Snowbasin (our very favortie resort) had received about 34 inches of new snow. We picked the perfect warm, sunny day. In fact, there was almost too much snow for us. By afternoon, the nicely groomed runs were pretty mogully (is that a word?) and the snow had been pushed here and there. But really, we couldn't complain - it was awesome and we were wishing our whole family had been with us.

Anne skiing down "Bear Hollow".

E on "Bear Hollow".

Elaine skiing down "School Hill".

E & A in the Middle Bowl Express gondola.

By the end of the day, Elaine was using her "best" form. Quite the snow plow - in fact, I was cracking up so bad I could hardly take these pictures!!

Nice Snow Plow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Skiing with the Pugs

I've meaning to post these pictures for a couple of weeks now. I went skiing with Mark and Preston at Deer Valley while Kate, Lindsay and Nick were in their ski lessons. It was a great ski day and it was so fun to try and keep up with my bros. Gotta be fast with these pugs!!! Then we hooked up with the "little bombers" after their lessons and tried to keep up with them. HA!!!!

Why We Love Minnesota in the Winter

Here in Minnesota it is of supreme importance to find reasons to love where we live. Here are a few winter scenes that show this.

Jones Boys

These are a few pictures of what Cole and Brock have been up to lately.

Cole in his letter jacket that was a birthday present (Dec. 4) but arrived after Christmas.

Cole and Grandpa George.

Elaine & Dad.

Brock and his buddies playing basketball in a Bountiful rec. league.

Ski Day

McKenzie and I went skiing/snowboarding at Wolf Mountain (aka Nordic Valley). Great snow, no crowds and even better price!!! Snowbasin is my all time favorite but this was perfect for McKenzie as she is still not very experienced at snowboarding. We had a ton of fun mother/daughter time!!!!

Liberty and the valley sure has changed and as we rode up the chairlift I could pick out the farm, the ponderosa pines I helped dad plant so many, many years ago, the barn, the Shaw's place and the "loop". I think had there been Barney Boy, Trixie, Smokey, Hadji or even Melodie over there I'd have given up skiing that day to go for a ride. Those were certainly great times!!! What an awesome childhood we "Six Big Handy Kids" had!!!

Anne swooshing down the mtn.

McKenzie carving down the slope.

Jones December

We had a great Christmas and really loved spending time with family and friends. The kids had a long 2 week break and now are groaning about school starting.

McKenzie finished up her Associates degree at SLCC this past semester. She's taking a couple of classes there this semester to finish up the pre-requisites for nursing school. She will apply this month at Weber State. She's still deciding - the Ogden campus or the Utah State extension campus.

Cole is playing basketball at Viewmont High School. They haven't had a great pre-season and start region next week. Hopefully they can start playing a little more consistant. He took an elbow to the forehead right before Thanksgiving that required 13 stitches. He was pretty excited to find out he made the 2nd team all-state football team in Salt Lake Tribune and honorable mention in the Deseret News.

Brock is going to play in the 8th grade Jr. Jazz basketball league with a bunch of his friends. He has grown like crazy this year - about 5 inches. Raymond always measures the kids on January 1st and he is now 5'11 3/4 ". McKenzie is now the ''shortest" in the family and it won't be long until he passes me too! Brock has a ton of friends. He gets the most phone calls at our house and is constantly being invited to some activity or to someone's house.
We're looking forward to the new year and hope NOT to visit the doctor so much this year. Hope everyone has a HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!

December's Winter

If any of you remember when you were a child and loved the thrill of sledding on a bright, blue skyed day, with the weather nippy can really relate to the thrill Braden feels being bundled up and zipping down their own sledding hill. I think Braden "wins" the genuine sledding look. Check him out!
And who doesn't remember Christmas programs for preschoolers? Braden is the star...again!

Christmas Happenings

Here in Minneapolis it is our goal to thrive and not just survive the cold, brutal weather. I love that people just bundle up in layer upon layer to enjoy the out of doors in spite of the "nip in the air." Recently we had fun at the annual Holidazzle Parade in downtown Minneapolis.
Come and visit and be sure to bring your woolies!