Time for bonding.

As you probably have guessed from the last couple of posts, I visited Utah a couple of weeks ago.
There were several reasons behind this trip, and depending on who asks me, the answer is always different. Before I answer that question, let me give some background.I have 2 sisters who live in Utah. One is married, has 4 kids and lives South of Salt Lake City. Below is a picture of the mountains at night that their backyard faces. More of these to come latter on in the post.The other is currently single, and lives North of Salt Lake City. Now if one of my older sister's kids were to ask why I visited Utah, I of course would answer... "To visit you guys, and play mouse trap". Notice Adam below; he takes this game very seriously.And if my younger sister were to ask, the response would be "to see you and help you fix everything that is broken". The truth actually is all of the above. I needed to get out and visit my family; it had been way to long. The other drive, however, was getting Anna introduced to my older sister and her husband/kids. Below are Ann, Adam, Adam again, Alex, and Allison with her mother, in that order.So far, we have met all the family, and my sister and her husband and kids were the last link in the chain of family that had yet to be introduced. It was a blast, Anna and I both got to see them, take them to get gifts, helped with homework, etc. It was also a good opportunity for Anna to get to know everyone before the wedding. Oops, I almost forgot to mention Midnight (kittie) depending on who you ask.I also had promised Laura that I would not let her meet the bride the day of the wedding. One unseen plus to this trip was that I got to meet Anna's grandparents, the Beals. What wonderful people! The more I get to know my in-laws, the more excited I get. Anyway, there was a lot of family bonding, the trip to Temple Square, crafts, and skiing. That was a blast. My brother in law Brick woke me up that Saturday and asked, "You coming skiing". I replied, "I don't have any of my stuff". "Oh that's ok ", he replied. "We have got plenty of spare gear". Low and behold they did, and so an unexpected ski trip came to be.(Anna and Ann in the car ride up to Snow Bird; Ann and Allison preparing to hit the slopes in the picture below. There were a lot of A-list people on this trip, A-list implying a lot of A names...)We went up to Snow Bird for a half day. I had not been skiing for 5 years. Anna "claimed" she had only skied twice see pictures below, She also proclaimed that she hadn't skied since she was 15 years old... that would be 15 years ago for those of you who are wondering. With this foreknowledge; I anticipated a beginning level skier, and purchased a lift ticket accordingly thniking she would be falling a lot.Boy was I wrong, she took to the snow like a fish to water. See Anna and Allison skiing together in the pictures below.Anna offers Allison a pole to help her up in the picture above.For most of the day, Allison, Anna, and myself skied together.Allison decided that her and Anna would ride the lift together, Allison also infomed me that I could ride by myself... I should and will mention that there was enough room on the chair for 3.(Allison lost that tooth in a previous snowboarding accident, seen in the picture above. She looks pretty attached to Anna in the picture below... that is the back side of her father Brick)Looks like I will not only be getting a wife, but I also will be getting a ski companion, Yay! Speaking of not skiing for a while, I too had been estranged from the sport and feared that I might need a refresher. Fortunately I got back into the swing of things quickly, I guess it is like riding a bike, you never forget. Oh yeah, there is one other thing I forgot to mention the new gear that Anna got. She was going to use some snow pants that didn't really work, that and she had gloves that were too big, and no jacket. Even though the day was warm, experience has taught me that being cold and trying to ski with the wrong equipment can be miserable. So we stopped by a sporting good store and picked her up some new snow pants, a new jacket and gloves. I have learned that a good skiing experience is directly related to the quality of snow gear worn; that, and how warm and dry you remain. Overall, the experience was a good one, and it felt good to ski again, especially after not doing it for so long.Above we see Alex is getting ready to ride down the hill. I guess snowboarders and Skiers can co-exist.(The picture above is Alex, heading down the hill. The picture below is Adam and his Dad Brick getting strapped in... one downside to snowboarding is that skiers wait while the boarders strap in everytime they get off the chair lift.)(Brick helps Adam strap in seen below. )
(The pictures below are Brick and Alex riding up the lift, and then heading down the slope.) "Tuff" guy Alex takes a spill and then hops up quickly proclaiming, "I ment to do that".The opportunity to go skiing was an added bonus to the trip, it also made me happy to see Anna ski so well, you always want your spouse to enjoy the same things that you do. During the visit, I was also able to use my camera a lot, hence all the pictures.I took some pictures one night from the backyard of my sister's house, seen below.Their house is in the upper photo on the right hand side.Salt Lake City is over the mountain, that is where the light is originating from, in the picture above. The one below is of the same shot, the differnece was that I left the shutter open longer and a car drove by.There is something about snow covered mountains that I just love, especially at night. Well that's it for today, as always... thanks for reading.