Mammoth

When I was growing up, I thought there was no man on earth who loved to talk skiing as much as my dad. As it turns out, I was wrong. He has met his match with Neal. I don't think I've ever seen Neal so excited about anything and when he and Dad get on the subject (which is all the time) it's like watching teenage boys talk about their brand new Ferraris. It's so fun watching him fall in love with this sport. I have a feeling he'll be outskiing me in no time.

Since life seems to revolve so much around skiing these days, we could think of no better place to spend President's Day weekend than Mammoth. They had record snow fall this season and although we knew it would be freezing, we set out for an adventure and more snow than either of us had seen in a loooong time.

Leaving at 6:30 pm for the 5-hour drive was no joke. We drove

in pouring rain the first two hours, and then had to stop in

Bishop (25 miles outside of Mammoth) to put on our snow

chains at midnight. It's a good thing there were a hundred

other people there doing the same thing. There's nothing like

a snow chain party in the middle of the night.

By the time we rolled into our hotel (around 1:30 am)

all we saw was white everywhere.

And in the morning......brrrr.

Buying his first pair of ski boots. :-)

Driving to the main lodge was beautiful - a pure

winter wonderland.

First time on the new skiis!

Sunshine can be deceiving. It was so cold that I could only

muster up enough courage to take my gloves off once for

a photo. By the time we got off the slopes at 4 it was 12 degrees.

We headed straight for the lodge to thaw out and reenergize.

Mmmm....now that's what we call an after ski snack!

Cheers.....to the mountain

The Village

For three mornings we ate breakfast at the same place -

the restaurant at our hotel. They had live music, a warm

cozy fireplace, delicious food and half price on their entire

menu for the month of February. Can't beat it.

We stayed at an apparently infamous hotel in Mammoth -

the Sierra Nevada Lodge. Back in the day, it attracted the company

of people like John Wayne, Jerry Lewis and the "rat pack."

A good find indeed.

Day two skiing

A little warmer, but not by much

Driving home

La Reina Reunion

Since we moved back, I haven't been able to spend much

time with my old friends and former colleagues from

La Reina. My good friend Joanna, who graduated a couple

of years after me and also returned to teach there, was in

town for the weekend so we planned a gathering of friends. I

had every single one of these ladies as a teacher in either

jr. high or high school, and I consider them such dear friends.

Seeing them is like seeing family you haven't seen in a

long time - you pick up right where you left off. I am so

happy and grateful to have you ladies in my life!

Brian's Visit

My cousin Brian was out in California on a business trip and we got to spend the weekend with him, which was so much fun. We don't see each other nearly enough, and this visit inspired us to change that.

Since he was visiting from Bend, Oregon (where it was snowing),

Brian asked for two things - sunshine and beach - so that's

what he got with a relaxing day trip to Santa Barbara.

These guys were just hanging out under the pier. Beautiful!

Since it's not often that we're all together, we couldn't

pass up a night of story-telling and Smores by the fire pit.

Infectious smile. :-)

"I am man, see me set marshmallow on fire."

Even though the stars were beautiful and Dad and Brian

were happily star gazing with their iphone apps, something

seemed to be missing. Neal got right on it and pulled out

the big guns - his new telescope. We were then able to

see Jupiter with its moons (SO awesome), the Orion nebula

and other great wonders of the sky.

Big Bear

It had been years since my family and I had been up to one of our favorite old skiing spots - Snow Summit at Big Bear Lake - so we hopped in the car and made the 3 hour (which turned into a 5 hour) drive. We had a beautiful sunny day on Saturday and woke up Sunday to some snow flurries.

Neal found us a little cabin on the lake

On every trip we made here in my teen and young adult

years, we always ate a hearty breakfast at the Log Cabin

before hitting the slopes. Today, we kept up that tradition.

A breath of fresh mountain air

Sunset over the lake

Night skiing

We have never done this but always admire

how pretty the mountain looks all lit up.

Disneyland!

It was 80 degrees in the middle of January so we decided to head to Disney's California Adventure, which neither of us had ever been to. We had the perfect day - great weather, no lines for the rides, and a glass of wine at the Napa Trattoria to end our adventures.

Yes, we cheated and took a picture of our picture.

The Boardwalk at sunset

It's a Bugs Life - the ride

In Da Club with Tron promo party people

Happy 2011!!

New Year's Eve at the Van Geems! Close family friends of ours, the Van Geems always seem to have a lively house with their 9 children (ranging in age from elementary school to late 20's) and now their newest grandchild. We had a lot of fun with all of them.

Neal and Mary

Lovebirds

Neal, Lira and Kelly

The winning team of Smart A**

Cousins

Balloon Hair

(she later dressed up as Lady Gaga)

Our host and hostess - Joanie and Tom.

At 11:30 pm, Tom was called away for a delivery.

He came home an hour later after having delivered

the first baby of 2011 for Ventura County.

Mom and dad lookin' good

The first day of the year was sunny and beautiful so

naturally we headed to the beach. Lunch at Duke's with a

hula pie for dessert was the perfect way to start 2011.