The day after Christmas we packed up our gear and headed up to the mountains.
Us along with a bunch of cousins.
It seemed like a great idea since there is more snow here in the desert mountains right now than there is in Utah ski country.
Crazy, right?
What we should have known is that everyone and their dog had the same idea.
Seriously, check out that crowd:
Luckily once we got going it wasn’t so bad.
Just us and some serious gorgeous-ness. 
I kept having to remind myself we were only a few hours from home where it was close to 80 degrees.
I love that Dave’s family is chock-full of serious skiers:
Their skiing form is beautiful to behold.
And I love that all the cousins are catching that fire of skiing.
It’s sure good to have a little peer pressure.
Grace had Claire going on all the jumps.
(very slowly 🙂
Serious beauty.
I had to stop every five minutes or so to soak it all in.
Lucy stayed in the valley with her not-interested-in-skiing cousin who helped out with her so much last summer (more about her in this post).
We missed her but she sure had a fun time and we can’t complain about staying up at night with the cousins at Dave’s sister’s cabin we all gladly packed into.
Snow sure is a novelty when you live in the desert.
I love the togetherness, I love the beauty and I love the thought…I just hate the cold part. My husband and I went skiing on our honeymoon. I ski, he doesn't. I left him to the instructor and went off to ski on my own. There was a big blizzard that day and I soon realized I HATE to be cold. I would enjoy the 80 degree weather back home more. Living in Colorado during the winter isn't my happy time.
What a great trip! I am from that area of AZ – Eagar. Sunrise brings a lot of great memories from growing up.
Wow! Looks like a great trip. And how great for your kids to be learning at such a young age! Brings back lots of great memories for me too!
You always make me want to live in AZ. The best of both worlds! Do you take your big camera on outings like that or are these awesome pics taken from your phone??
That's my point-and-shoot camera except for those last couple at the cabin. I'd LOVE to take my big camera on the slopes but Dave would flip out 🙂
How fun!
How insane that there was so much snow there! Love all the aspens in the background…such a gorgeous sight to see. Thank you for all your daily, real life thoughts! Truly your blog inspires me 🙂
Such beautiful pictures and it all looks so fun! Happy New Year!
We just got back late last night from a three day ski trip in the Adirondacks…our family loves skiing too. I know what you mean about the big camera though. If only we could take it to the top, and then not have to ski down!
I have a question about family vacations. My mother in law keeps planning family vacations where we are all expected to attend – sometimes ski trips, sometimes Disneyland, etc. It is hard for us because my husband is still in school so we are tight on money, but even after he graduates we will want to save every penny so that we can hopefully buy a house. How would you handle this situation?