Snow way!

Our 12th anniversary was spent in the company of our favorite people: Dawna, Lawrence, Xochitl, and Jade. Traditionally, Jon and I have ditched the kids for anniversary fun, but we were feeling generous this year. 

On Christmas, Santa left a suitcase full of new snow clothes, a little toboggan, and a giant card explaining that we'd be spending 3 days in beautiful snowy Yosemite! Day One was really just an evening tour of the valley, with one short stop to touch the snow and admire the view and the previously assembled snowman (see above...). 

Day Two dawned beautiful and icy! We even got to use the snow chains we've been storing for a decade! Nice that they felt useful! We drove up Glacier Point Road and found a little turn-off where we could get some sledding in! We were out in the snow for over four hours running up, sliding down, throwing snowballs, playing games... lots of people came and went in the time we were there, but one particularly memorable person came sliding down the hill, stood up, looked at my oldest daughter, and said, "Hey there!" in a somewhat alluring tone. I was about to punch the kid in the face for flirting with a 10-year-old... but then, to my surprise, Dawna said, "Oh, hi Jonathan!" Wait, what?? Turns out that this kid is on the climbing team at The Peak with Dawna. How incredibly random that we ran into him and his family on an unmarked turnout up Glacier Point Road in Yosemite... 

On the way out that night, we enjoyed pizza at Half Dome village (who knew you could get pizza at 8pm in the middle of a national park??) and went to bed dreaming of our next-day's adventure... 

Day Three dawned bright and early as we headed back up Glacier Point Road to the ski and snowboard area. While the downhill slopes were still closed, the cross country and snowshoeing trails were open and groomed and ready for adventure! 

I could write a book about our day out there, but I'll spare you the length and just give you the table of contents: 

The Kobersteins Go Cross Country Skiing! 

Chapter 1: In which there is much giggling and excitement in renting cool equipment! 

Chapter 2: In which it takes a REALLY long time to get ready (snow clothes and bathrooms don't mix...)

Chapter 3: In which Mom and Dad set a way-too-ambitious distance goal 

Chapter 4: In which the skis go on and it takes half an hour to get to the trail... 

Chapter 5: In which we find ruts to put the skis in and actually start moving!

Chapter 6: In which most of the snow clothes go into mom's backpack

Chapter 7: In which we stop for lunch

Chapter 8: In which we go downhill for a while... NOW it's fun!

Chapter 9: In which we have to turn around... and go back uphill

Chapter 10: In which Jade can run faster uphill than the kids skiing uphill

Chapter 11: In which is shouted "I Quit!" 

Chapter 12: In which skis are removed and carried over shoulder back to rental office. 

Chapter 13: In which mom and dad decide to come alone next time...

Epilogue: In which, on the drive home, all the kids decide it was fun after all :) 

(Total distance skied: 2 miles... )

The Handy Man Can

From down the hall, I heard a thwick, flump thump.  Oh dear. Upon entering my closet, I found that the hanging racks had suddenly decided to quit and ripped right out of the drywall. And yes, in the exciting tradition of jobs poorly done, we find yet another example in our house with closet clothes racks installed just into drywall. Studs are overrated, apparently (although I must admit I'm a little impressed that they've lasted these 7 years...).

Anyway, lucky for me, my handy husband Jon jumped into action, watching quite a few DIY YouTube videos and scheming and planning some new, sturdier shelving for our closet.

Saturday was the big day! Off he went to the "Hard Work Store" as my kids so lovingly call it, with our dainty little Crosstrek Perry, only to realize that he needed the Big Mama mini van Eva in order to get all the large pieces of wood home. So, after a little car shifting, he and the supplies were all home and he was starting the project. But any project that requires only one trip to the hardware store is hardly worth mentioning.  Saturday's portion of the project took 3 trips, ultimately finishing off with the addition of a new member of our power tool family:

Isn't she beautiful?? (Weston will be so proud...)

Once installed, Jon demonstrated his strength and the strength of my new shelf and rack by doing several manly pull-ups on them (but sadly would not repeat the feat for my camera...but trust me, it was amazing!) I'm convinced these will NOT fall off the wall :)

And now, an ode to my Handy Man:
Who can fix my closet?
Buy a saw or two?
Happily completing yet another "honey-do":
The Handy Man...
Oh, my Handy Man Can!

Thank you, Jon! I'm so ready to move our stuff back into the closet!!!

Breakfast with Santa!

 Our elementary school has an annual Breakfast with Santa. This year is the first time the Kobersteins have attended, mainly due to the fact that they asked our Leopard Choir to sing :)

Even though I was a skeptic at first, I was overwhelmed by how much fun it was and even joined in the festivities by getting pictures with Santa (something I've never done before...)

After the choir sang, I stood in line to take pictures... the line was REALLY long--and you can see why... McLoy Photography offered their services to the school and we got some really cute pictures! Sadly, Larry wasn't there (he was at his first day of basketball) so I only have my girls in the pictures with Santa.

This is my favorite picture of the bunch.  Jade's 3-year-old Christmastime has been magical for her. She lovingly embraced the idea of Santa Claus and told him exactly what she wanted: A Rainbow Dash pony... and that did indeed appear on Christmas morning!  I love the feeling of magic around Christmas!