Even Though She's Old . . .

Our party continued (see post below) over the weekend when we went to Sun Valley to hang out with Jared, Maren, their boys, and Mom for mine and Brent's birthdays. We ate good food and stayed up late playing a great game that involved a little of burning each other and a lot of Jared winning (some things never change). My teenagers love hanging with their uncles and aunts--they'll even stay off the phone for extended periods of time to play, talk, and watch a showing of Fletch with them. On Saturday, Brent, Jared, Dalin, Cassie, and Shaina went to Dollar Mountain to ski (Brent) and snowboard (everyone else). Shaina and Cassie had never boarded before, do not own longjohns or ski clothes of any kind, and have a mom who was unwilling to spend a bunch of money on such clothes when they might decide they hate snow activites and never don the johns again. Anyway, the girls did ok, though Shaina regaled us with stories for days of Cassie's tumbles down the hill. Cass is still unable to move without groaning, even claims she blacked out for a few seconds after one fall, but the crazy girl says it was fun and she'll do it again. Shaina, too. Guess I'll invest in ski clothes. While they were all flying--or tripping--down the slopes, Mom, Maren, and I took the little kids sledding. We had a blast hauling their sleds up the hill, kneeling in the snow and holding it still while they slowly and carefully mounted, giving them a push, then plowing down through the knee-deep drifts after them so we could repeat above activity. Actually, it was a perfect weather day and really fun. When Jensen reported her weekend to Grandma Gunnell on the phone yesterday, she said, "And my mom's mom, she rode on the sled really fast down the hill, even though she's old." Way to go, Grammy! We have photographic proof that she did indeed do a solo run on the sled. Overall, a wonderful way to spend a birthday.