It's Ski Season

Buying passes for all of us at Brighton is the most affordable but still expensive and since the Pratts moved here and only ski Alta, this year we decided to do "Ski Free After 3" at Alta--it's $29 a person for the season and you can only ski Sunnyside and go from 3:00-4:30. This will be the only year we do it because they are good enough skiers that I think they'll be sick of the one lift halfway through, but it's so cheap and a good fit this year.

I didn't buy a pass for Clara and I, one because I am pregnant, but mostly so that we could try to teach Clara to ski this year. She kept asking to ski and so we decided to try it, although we don't really know what we're doing.

The first week Ryan and I headed over to the tow rope with Clara (I was trying to get comfortable again on skis even :)) and he had to come help me because it was going to be a disaster trying to figure out how to get Clara up the tow rope when I am not that confident yet. (I've only skied a handful of times the last few years even if it is like riding a bike.) Clara was still trying to get over a sickness, we didn't have anything to hold her with and she had no clue what to do and after 2 runs, Ryan and I were sitting on a bench resting our backs and Clara was asking to go home :). I don't care that much if she learns this year or not so we went and hung out at the lodge and waited till everyone else was done.

Fast forward a week and Clara keeps saying she wants to try again. I was just going to stay home with her but really wanted to all be together and wanted to be outside, so up we went. We headed back over to the bunny hill and this time she figured out how to hold on to the tow rope first time and leans back on Ryan's legs, so it doesn't hurt too much to go up. We only went 1/2 way up the first 5-6 times too which wasn't as steep. And I would hold her and Ryan would ski backwards in front of her and she'd ski between us. And she just got it. I think she remembered pizza from last time and she just did it. And within 2 runs she seemed comfortable on her own and I would ski next to her and sometimes reach out my hand to get her started after stopping and then a few more runs and she was going completely solo from the top and only stopping a few times. I think she needed to feel like she COULD stop if she needed to, but she liked the feeling of going fast. Ryan and I both were giddy.  It was SOOOO encouraging and so satisfying to watch her get it and enjoy it. The kids all came over from the other slope to watch her at the end and ski with her a few times until the tow rope area closed. She was on cloud 9. She kind of worships those siblings of hers and to have them all yelling "Clara!" and cheering for her, she was just beaming. They all started chanting "Clara! Clara!" driving down the mountain and I wish I would've videoed her face, she had this cute smile and was looking from one of them to the other kind of shy. AHHHH, it was cute.

And she woke up this morning and I said, "Good morning, ski bunny." And she replied, "What?" and I told her, "That's what I am going to call you now" and she cheerfully asked me, "Um, can I go skiing tomorrow? I just want to go down the big hill myself and you are going to be scared when I go myself. And I am going to go off a jump into powder."

Big steps from week to week.  Nothing to knowing how to stop to doing 180's into powder.

January Update (It's a New Year!)

It's 2018, and we are all feeling odd. Mom and Dad are nearing the ripe old age of forty, I'm turning 14 this year, Robbie's turning 12, Hallie's turning ten, Blake's turning seven, and Clara's turning four. And... Number Six will be turning one on July 31st... at least, according to the doctors.

   Yep, we're having a baby. 

   Mom and Dad told us kids the morning of Christmas. We all went nuts. It was a glorious day for the five of us. Leading up from that, Mom has been feeling tired and sick lately, but she's doing well, and we are all SO excited for our sixth sibling to arrive.

   More breaking news (though not as shocking): The Pratts have finally moved into their new house here! They've been leaving at our house for the past three weeks, fighting off illness and feeling incredibly claustrophobic in the one room they slept in, and they moved in just yesterday. It's about a three-minute walk to their house. They're all exhausted and sick of not feeling at home, but they've settled in, and I think we're all feeling a little happier that the thirteen of us aren't living in one house together anymore.

   Here are some updates on everyone in our family:

   Dad flew to Australia about two months ago, a week before Thanksgiving, and had a blast. He's been nudging a lot of comments into our family conversations more and more about how he must be hallucinating that his fortieth birthday is only three months ago. However, I think Dad is very active for his age, and gets out a lot. He is an excellent runner, worker, and he is very supportive of all of us kids.

   This is Mom's sixth pregnancy, so I guess when I say she's doing fine that is a good understatement of the year, but that's not saying much, considering this year so far has been about a month. Although, her attitude has not changed much at all; she's stayed positive and happy, making meals for all of us, picking us up at school, and such, despite the pain she's going through all the freaking time (excuse my language). I don't think she's quite grasped the fact that she's turning forty this year like Dad has, though.

   I can't believe I'm turning fourteen this year, myself, though, and that I am five foot seven inches. I am VERY excited to go to EFY this year in June/July/ August (the website said all thirteen-year-olds are allowed to go if they turn fourteen before September this year). Everyone's been teasing me about the dances there, about the boys that'll be there. It has been driving me CRAZY. Also, I finished my book series that I've been working on for the past few years, and I'm very happy/sad about it. I've also been working on editing the third book Water; when I'm done, Mom'll construct a cover and take it to the printers. I also started indoor soccer this year, and am working hard on Personal Progress.

   Robbie's going to be TWELVE this year. That is INSANE. He will be a PRE- TEEN. I feel like he is this close to catching up to me, and then I advance another year and he's behind me again. He started basketball this year, and is one of the top athletes in his class (or so he says). Robbie is very handsome; I love his bright green eyes and slick blonde hair. He has taken to a Rubix cube his friend gave him and plays with it all the time now. He can get one side of it solved, and through him, thus have Hallie and Blake learned. He loves to play with his friends and loves to play sports.

   Honestly speaking, it seems like only half a year ago Hallie was baptized. And now she's going to be TEN this year. And then another year, and she'll be a PRE-TEEN as well. Hallie has taken to crocheting and knitting and loves to create things for everyone (as long as they pay her). She has gotten a lot better at paying attention, but still thinks she needs a new pair of ears. Recently she got new glasses, ones just like mine, and wears them all the time. She says she is the clown of her class and loves to make everyone laugh, although sometimes this factor gets her into trouble. Hallie has earned herself a new nickname from the family (besides Window, Squeaker, Squishy Fish, and Hallie-girl), and that nickname is Drama Queen. Hallie is a very talented artist and loves to draw.

   Blake will be seven this year, and I am certain something is wrong with the world. BLAKE IS SEVEN?!!! And he's learning how to read, and write, and do all the stuff he's too cute to learn right now! He's in FIRST GRADE, he's one of the most popular in his CLASS, and he is seriously one of the cutest little boys ever. You just gotta squish his little face. One thing that Blake's started recently that we all LOVE to tease him about is his hair. Every morning, Blake gets up and spends about ten minutes in the bathroom, soaking his hair with spray and gel and brushing it so it's just right. And then repeats the process before bedtime. It is hilarious. Hair aside, Blake loves school, loves to hang out with Robbie, loves to tease Clara, and loves to play in any form.

   Clara bella, Clara bear, bear cub, cupcake, punkin, pumpkin, Claire; Clara will go by any and all nicknames. She is a lovable girl and you cannot resist her face, smile, and hair. I think she was sent down to earth to turn it upside down and make everyone realize happiness is the way to go. She is also probably the smartest three-year-old on the earth (soon to be four-year-old). I speak for the trees when I say that she knows her letters top to bottom, A to Z, and knows how to write most of them. She's Albert Einstein in female form, minus the social outcast bit. Clara is so smart and loves to play by herself, with Hallie, or with anyone. She loves to sing, dance, and is the world's sassiest three-year-old. I think in a couple years we'll be all be serving Clara in her palace, shining her prince's boots, slaving away for our youngest sibling, and wondering how the heck we got here.

   Well, there you go. The January Update. I hope you're satisfied, because it'll be a while before anything new comes your way, considering my parents' condition at the moment.