A Few Malihinis: Utah, Part 2: Skiing, Luminescence, Windy Slopes, and Professional Figure Skaters

Cory and Kristen also love their Sunday walks. Every time I walk, I remember how nice it is to just walk.

The skipping cracked me up but my kids were 100% into it.

Owen finds his way to Tanner's generous shoulders in surf or snow.

Kate mentioned for weeks how much she hoped we would find icicles and her wish was granted. I also think it's wildly convenient that the beanie I bought her matched the borrowed jacket.

I appreciated Walker's matching enthusiasm for ice and snow. He seemed genuinely thrilled for all of us as we went sledding, picked off ice chunks, licked backyard snow cones, and made snow angels.

Dinner with Ritchies and Ryan before he took off back home to his houseful of sick kids. Ryan was the life of the party at the reception and we were all grateful for Karen taking one for the team.

Tanner's girlfriend Hannah was with us quite a bit. We heard their play-by-play European romance over dinner a week later. Tanner made a convincing, written plea for himself and won the girl.

Randy and Claire, hopefully not annoyed at how many people/germs that invaded their daughter's house over the holidays.

Learning a new game. I never tried this one out but I loved glancing over to the cousins playing together.

Sunny is the most patient dog/horse. I think we brought home a pound of her hair on our clothes but that dog is the sweetest and makes me want to roll around on the rug with my black pants on.

Getting ready to ski that night was it's own adventure, and we set out every child's set of gear, double and triple checked bags, made sure faces and toes and eyes would be covered, and rented a snowboard for Zachary. I was shocked when we only had one hiccup on the mountain--we pulled the wrong ski set from the car for Kate (the right set was still in the car) which meant she raced down with Tanner, aka Hero, to the ski lodge and had them adjusted. The only other issue was the 1 hour wait for previously rented gear, but a couple weeks later and I'm over it. Ha!

We dropped the kids off at lessons and by the time Kate was all sorted out, had about 1 hour to ski.

I apprehensively joined the group, citing my disclaimers about 6 years since the last time I skied, how poor I was then and would surely be that day, blah blah. I am pretty sure no one was buying it and expected me to come out doing moguls, but unfortunately, the picture I painted regarding my abilities was optimistic. We went down a blue and I spent a very panicked 7 minutes desperately wishing I had no audience for the pitiful show I produced. I looked down and saw Rach, Tanner, Kristen, Brady, and Brett watching me expectedly as I crawled across patches of snow at the pace of a resting Honu. Thankfully, it only took those 7 minutes for them to leave me and I had a much better time without the pressure. Brett and Brady are incredibly patient, Shireen is hilarious even under stress, and I did not say a swear word on that first run down the slope which, under the circumstances, seems incredible.

With nothing to live up to, the second run was so much more fun.

We picked up the kids from lessons and it was somehow already time for lunch. Kate reported that they spent most of the lesson waiting for other kids to go to the bathroom (so many layers!). Zac said he didn't really learn anything from the lesson except for how to stop (HA!), and Owen said he loved it.

We picked up some burgers and cocoa, warmed up, and swapped stories from the slope. We also all got a moment to chat with McKay on his mission.

Cory, Ang, and Garrett sent us a picture from their lunch, too.

Magic carpet time and bunny hill time!

Owen did so well making his skis into pizzas. He started getting cold after a couple more hours and I told him if he went down real mountain (not red carpet) three more times, I'd give him $5. Money well spent.

Kate became more nervous with time, and when she went up Majestic, I think her fear level matched or even exceeded mine getting off the top of my first run. She fell many times, and it took about 45 min go get down the mountain. I was so proud of her for being willing to get on the bunny hill a few more times after that, despite her worry. Owen by then was bolting down the green, so staying somewhere between them was a challenge.

Brady took a few runs while I bunny hilled with the kids. It was the warmest and one of the prettiest ski days I've ever experienced.

Zac snowboarded with Elise, Sariah and Walker the rest of the day.

My favorite moments from the day:

1. Tanner rescuing Kate and helping her adjust skis.

2. Owen walking up the steps of the lodge in his ski gear--the most awkward adorable possible.

3. Riding the lift with the kids.

4. Watching Owen bolt down the green, pizza-style.

5. Getting pictures from the teens. I didn't see Zac on his snowboard once.

Next up: Luminescence. Cory and Kristen secured us all tickets to the spectacular lights at Thanksgiving Point. I was struck by how many people there were--Utah has grown!--but also the detailed work and variety.

Miniature villages where we ran into Kaua'i friends of 15 years, Dawn and Jeff, who relocated the Utah a year ago.

The kids' favorite were the lit up lily pads that changed color with every step.

I remembered how a few years ago, I realized reindeer were not fictional.

At the end, I mentioned the only thing missing was a yeti, and sure enough...

Looking up:

Kate's favorite part of the experience was seeing the new bronze exhibits from the Light of the World Garden. Zachary thought were walking to a cemetery at one point and I couldn't disagree that one major segment looked like Arlington Cemetery, and Owen couldn't stop talking about the lily pads.

We sang happy birthday to Sam and celebrated with Shireen's chocolate cake.

Zachary and Elise played their Carol of the Bells arrangement for us:

That night, we quickly wrapped our Let's Do This, B's Christmas pajamas, discovering that they were much too large for everyone. we hoped the kids would get a good laugh our of matching jams. They were all good sports, and most of them even willing to dance and party with Will (Elise and Sariah's friend) watched us all make fools of ourselves.

Zac gets a good sport award.

The next morning, we woke up early to say goodbye to the Olsens. So glad they came to Utah for a few days.

The next morning, our family intended to ski/snowboard but forecasts of extreme wind on the slopes scared me away. Brady and I can handle wind but certainly didn't want to pay out the nose to take the kids. Instead, Brady met up with Natalie, Steve, their kids, and Kevin for another day at Brighton. As promised, it was extremely windy and icy in sections.

I was so excited by how many family members joined us for ice skating in Provo: Anna and Janece, Tanner and Logan, and Rachel, Elise and Walker. It was an ice party. Owen shadowed Zachary and was doing tricks in no time. My sisters were uncomfortable but good sports. Kate found her rhythm and she and the girls danced away. Kate mastered a twirl and looked like a professional skater with her color coordinate beanie and checkered sweatshirt. When the two-hour period was over, Owen said, "Ok. We will go eat lunch and then come RIGHT BACK, right?" He fell hard dozens of times and had mammoth bruises, but could not get enough.

At one point, I was summoned over by Janece and Anna to say hello to a boy. I figured it was a friend of theirs and introduced myself...to my cousin Joshua.

We met Ang for lunch at Zupas, which we love but I think the C&K Edwards hate.

It was a delightful but I was feeling some FOMO until Brady sent me videos of the gusts they were fighting. Ice skating > skiing in those conditions. Brady also told me there was a mishap involving Kevin sliding down the mountain with one lost ski. It was resolved but not without banging up his back.

We closed out a perfect day with a sledding session that did not end until dark. It was my first time this trip sledding with Zac and that kid is so, so athletic.

Owen's ice skating bruises:

When Brady got home, I took off to see my parents and grandparents. It meant I abandoned Cory and Kristen to cook and I'm so grateful. It was one of those unexpectedly excellent moments from the trip to visit with my parents and grandparents one-on-one, swapping book suggestions, hearing stories about Grandma's Christmas decor, and catching up in person.

It's been three years since I saw my parents in person last and typing that out makes me want to sob.

The family at home ate and took off to see the spectacular neighborhood light show. I cannot believe there is anyone willing to host a month of that kind of preparation and traffic. What a community gift.