It was a long time coming. Twelve years, in fact. And long overdue. This is why we decided to make the thousand mile trek to Montana when my parents resurrected the Big Sky trip.
Los Angeles is a long way from Big Sky. It took a lot of leg work to get us there. We first flew into SLC, where Ana met up with her old buddies.
And I met up with my old buddy. And her new buddy. Well, he's not new to her, just me. It was the first time I met Natalie's beau. We ate at Yellowfinn, hoping to run into Susan. She wasn't there, but Greg was a nice second.
Our time together was too short. Always too short. But very sweet.
Don't tell the Highway Patrol that we seriously had that many kids squished in Natalie's back seat.
Luckily, we were able to hitch a ride from Utah to Rexburg because Grandma & Grandpa Z were in town that weekend. Their house was demolished due to a remodel, so we all had to cram into one bathroom. I caught this very glamorous shot of Mary. This is the secret to fantastic hair....a plethora of round brushes.
We spent lots of time at RMC. Les & Mitch showed up in town on the day we were headed up to Big Sky. Here Lily & Ella are demonstrating their butt dance.
We finally hit the road for Montana and had to have our ritual stop at The Gusher in West Yellowstone for pizza. They make a mean pie.
We finally made it. And it was glorious to see it again. We used to go every winter with all our friends from Rexburg. Had many fun times and made many memories up there. It was really great to be back.
Leslie & Ana on the ski lift. It had been a while since we had been skiing, but Ana picked it right back up.
Lily picked it up too, only maybe she was a little too confident. She sufficiently endo'd on her first run and hurt her wrist. Thank goodness for that helmet because she banged her head pretty hard. She was in a lot of pain the rest of the trip (still is 3 weeks later), but she suffered through it because she couldn't bear to miss out on the fun. We had to spend a while in the first aid office getting all splintered up.
There was a lot of hopping back and forth between the hot tub and snow drifts. Can you take a moment to observe the beautiful view from our lodgings?
Les had a birthday while we were there. Of course Mother Mary had to bring back the white board. Inside joke from a decade or two ago...
Some sista time
Tod had a gnarly adventure getting to Montana. He had stayed behind to work, but was flying up just for the weekend. He had a little snag at the airport, though, and wasn't able to get up there until the following day. He had never been on a snowboard before, but enthusiastically rented one and jumped on it completely oblivious to the difficulties of learning this sport. The guys in the rental shop were onto his oblivion, though, and graciously threw in a helmet and wrist guards free of charge.
He actually did incredible. Snowboarding is pretty hard to pick up, but he did really well on his first run. So well, in fact, that I encouraged him to do what many newbies don't attempt for their first year or two...toe side edge. It was mean and cruel of me I realize now. Todd caught an edge and did a number on his leg. A massive bruise developed and it has slowly moved to basically every part of his leg. Nomadic bruises. Who knew?! He's still limping 3 weeks later. He's such a trooper, though. Complains of nothing and just smiles through everything. I've got a pretty adorable husband and kids.
We stopped in at RMC again on our way back into town. Tod couldn't resist "playing" the decorations. Turns out that vase makes a great whale noise. :)
