I just want everyone who reads my blog to know that our family had a beautiful ski day together with some of our friends. Holly, Greta and Maeve are currently enrolled in ski school on the weekends and the lessons have really helped them develop confidence and skills. It's been great to see. Maeve is pretty slow, but she loves going fast down the hills and she's improving so much! Maeve was in and out of the sled, sometimes on skis and sometimes riding. One time, when we insisted she ride in the trailer, she told Conor, "when I'm a mom, I'm going to say yes to everything my kids ask for." We skied around Shadow Mountain, had a snack break at the Nova Hut and then returned to the lodge. On our final trail, as the sun was setting and Maeve was happily skiing along, Conor turned to me and commented on how great it is that Maeve wants to ski. We did it. We made it.

One cute moment I don't want to forget, Ira rode on our friend, Parker's back. When I led Enoch to the sled to get in it, he stopped when he didn't see Ira and started repeating, "Ira, Ira" and tried to find him. There's a really beautiful brotherhood bond forming between those two.

Last year, Conor and the big girls learned to nordic ski while I stayed home, took care of little kids and my pregnant belly, and baked muffins (so many muffins - some sort of weird nesting). This year we all get to get out there! And it's a total circus just like we guessed it would be! My friend, Amorette, and I drove up during the work week just the two of us to initiate me into the ski crew and I'm really glad we did that before taking up the entire family. Our friend, Parker, was so generous to carry a baby or pull the sled the entire time! The weather was so wintery and it snowed the entire time we were up there. We had a great time and returned home tired. The babies were troopers and so was Maeve. We didn't end up getting Maeve on her skis because oh man, everything else was so much work! But next time, Maeve!

Things to note in the photos:

• Conor's pink boots that gave him wicked blisters
• Ira's snow encrusted hoods
• Snow in E's eyelashes
• Maeve and Ira asleep in the sled
• the sheer amount of snow on the ground and falling