Panorama!

my girl

me and my mommy

ready to go skiing!!

my beautiful parents... love them so much!


my mommy

Danika and Emilie celebrating new years with sparkling apple juice!
family picture during new years eve fireworks.. the girls loved them!
WE feel so utterly, totally completely blessed and SPOILED!! We were able to go on holidays for an entire 5 weeks and had so many wonderful adventures. I wish I was able to blog about the fun we had and the day to day awesomeness of our days, but I didn't and so basically I have tried my best to summarize. Not only did we get to go on a hot vacation but we were also fortunate enough to be spoiled by my parents and taken on a week long snowboard trip vacation, and it was awesome! Unfortuantley we were unable to find a place for Meeko on such short notice so we weren't able to go the whole week, but Steves parents graciously took Meeko for a few nights so we could go up to the hill.
The trip was quite last minute so we didn't bring up my snowboard, but it actually turned out good, because I was able to see that soon, I need to purchase a new one! I went 2 days in a row, one day with my parents and the next with Steve. I rented gear, really nice stuff, all Burton and rode like a pro, I was so confident and didn't have any wipeouts... its amazing what new stuff ride likes compared to 10 year old gear! However I have never found it justifiable to buy new stuff as we only go 1-2 times a year, but boy did it make a difference!
The first day we got there Steve was going to be with the girls for the day and take them to the hot pools on the hill, however he put on this ear patch, called transoderm (or something similiar!) which he has used before in the past to help control his motion sickness from skiing (and has worked twice before!) however as soon as he put on the patch his one pupil grew to the size of the color of his eye! It was crazy!! So he took that off, called the hospital, who told him to come in, which he declined and had to stay in for the whole day, with the curtains drawn as the dr said any light could permanently damage his eye!! so the poor guy and girls were in the house all day while I ripped it up with my mommy and daddy! We had such a wonderful day, mind you it was freezing, around -20 or so. But still I love my parents so much and am so proud of them both that they keep up with their sports and can almost keep up to me ; ) haha. When we got in for the day we went for a nice long hot tub and just enjoyed being curled up next to the wood burning fireplace and eating our costco or m&m meals, I mean who really wants to cook when your on vacation! The next morning Steve and I went up together, adn met up with my brother. Funny story.. my brother, his gf and a bunch of their friends booked a place in panorama months ago, my mom last minute decided to book a place, joel was upset, however my mother reassured him there was no way we would ever see them at such a giant place... turns out the first night we were there we go out on our balcony to see joel and his buddies on theirs, directly across from ours!!! haha it was quite funny! But it turned out nice, Steve and I were able to meet my brothers sweet, sweet girlfriend and hang out a bunch. We even spent New Years partying it up with the youngsters (same age as me, however they don't have children, so I feel much older!!)
Steves and my ski day was perfect. We had crisp blu sky, sunshine and reasonable weather. We went right to the top of the mountain where the sight is absolutely breathtaking. I adore snowboarding adn it was so much fun to go and have fun with my best friend. Who is a skier.. a mighty good one at that!!
The whole family was supposed to be together for new years, but my poor sister and her family couldn't make it, as she is due January 15th and figured it was a little dangerous to make the trek out there. Which we were very sad about, but understood! The girls were absolutely spoiled once again, and while steve and i were skiing grandma and grandpa took them up to the hot pools and played out in the snow. The next day mom and dad went skiing and steve and i took the girls up to the pools and had a blast. Adessa is seriously a kumma kazi.. she would stand on the seat in the pool and just run into the deep end squealing.. you always had to have a hand on her, because she loves dunking herself!
New Years eve we ate our annual delicious chicken kiev, stuffed potatoes and this year Joel bbq'ed some ribs. Then we went to watch the fireworks, and the girls just loved every moment! Soooo much oooooooo'ing and ahhhhhhhh'ing it was priceless. Then we illegally tobaganned down the ski hill and I can see why they say don't do it, as you go mach 10!!! But it made Danika's night and she didn't want to stop! Both girls had a very late night, but one filled with wonderful memories!
I hope one day I am like my mother who always loves to capture the moment and create memories wherever we go. I loved that about my childhood, my parents always saved up for lake vacations in the summer and skiing vacations near Christmas, and they are the best childhood memories ever! I am so blessed to have 2 parents who are so loving and giving and I love them both soo much!
We have been so blessed this entire trip by everyone we visited and are so lucky to have such wonderful family and friends!