Skiing With the Brothers

In early January, my youngest brother Mark came out to Oregon to ski!  My brother Dale had convinced him that he really needed to experience skiing in the Oregon Cascades.  So Mark flew into Portland, and we got up early the next morning to drive through freezing rain to reach Bend.  Once we arrived in Bend, we picked up Dale and headed for Mt. Bachelor.

Here's the group on our second day of skiing.  From the left:  Mark, Dale and Dale's son Max.

The weather was a little disappointing.  It was the first week of January, and the temperature was 44 degrees!  Not exactly what you'd expect in the middle of winter.  Both days we skied the fog rolled in and out - visibility was tough at times.  But at least Mark did get some glimpses of the beautiful mountains around Bachelor.

But the warm weather made the snow very skiable.  Here's Mark, pondering his next run.

Bet you didn't know Dale knew ski ballet!  (Or is it a graceful recovery from a near fall?!)

I put on my tele skis for awhile on the second day.  But it didn't take long for my legs to poop out, and I was back on my alpine boards.

Later that afternoon, the fog parted and we were treated to a great view of Broken Top mtn.

Dale and Max are having a good time on the slopes!

Chairlift group photo op.  Who are those people behind the goggles?

The fog lifted and the mountains came out to play.  Here's the view of the Three Sisters and Broken Top mountain from the top of the Skyliner Chair.  What an outstanding view!

Close up of South and Middle Sister.  South Sister looks so different with snow!  Can't believe Dale and I climbed it only three months ago.

Mark is done for the day.  He looks like he had a good time!  OK Mark, you need to make this an annual event and come back next year!

Christmas '09

Christmas '09 was a different kind of a Christmas than in years past.  Cody, who is working in Montana, could not come home for Christmas this year.  We couldn't bear the thought of poor Cody up in Montana all by himself on Christmas Day, so we decided to bring Christmas to him.  On Christmas Eve day, Roger, Denise, Bear and I loaded up into my little Subaru and hit the road for Montana!

We arrived in late afternoon, with enough time to eat a little supper, and run off to Mass.  Since Cody did not have the time (or the $$) to get a Christmas tree, he improvised with some lights.  It turned out pretty good!  It gave us a place to put our presents.

Roger and Cody, all dressed up and ready for church.

Ditto for Roger and Denise.

Some people just don't like having their picture taken!

My kids, being funny for the camera.

I did end up getting one nice photo of my kids and I.

We waited until Christmas morning to unwrap our gifts.  Let the unwrapping begin!

Denise discovers she's gotten a new bag for her snowboard.

Oooh, la, la!  Roger's gift came in a Victoria's Secret bag!  However, it was just Denise being clever, and the gift inside didn't come from that store.

Cody is happy to get the dvd of one of his favorite TV shows.

Santa also managed to find Cody's apartment.  Denise is digging through her stocking.

After the festivities were over, we sat down for a game of Scrabble.  Denise and Roger ponder how to make a word with the letter "x."

Cody and Denise in deep concentration over the Scrabble board.

I don't have any outdoor scenic photos of Montana because it was too darn cold!  The low temperature got down to 2 degrees!  The high temp didn't get much higher than the teens.  With the wind blowing (it never stops) it was really, really cold.  I could stand to be outside for about 10 minutes --- long enough to walk the dog to get him to do his business.

But it was good to see Cody.  And it was good to have the family together for the Christmas holiday.  After all, Christmas is about being with your loved ones.