Family Day!

On Saturday, Feb 19, Richard and I went skiing with my sister Megan in Fernie. I should say I skied and the other two went snowboarding. It's been many years since I've been to Fernie, over 10 years to be exact! The last time I skied there was when Richard and I were dating! So I was excited to go. Richard's parents came to our house early Saturday morning and we were off. My parents came and switched them off at 1pm and watched them till we got home. The kids had a blast with their grandparents.

We got to the ski hill around 9:45am. It was FREEZING cold out. I was beginning to doubt what I dressed in! Richard had decided on the way to Fernie that he was going to try snowboarding for the first time. So he got a two hour lesson with his ticket. We rented our stuff and Megan and I said bye to Richard and planned on meeting up with him at lunch time.

So Megan and I had a map in hand and were figuring out which chair we wanted. After looking and figuring we thought we found the right chair that would take us to many green and blue runs. We got on and it started going up and up and up. I was starting to worry that we got on the wrong chair. We got were getting to the top and I started panicking because the chair wasn't slowing down. Megan was just sitting there but she told me later that when she panics she goes silent. The chair was flying and right when I was ready to scream "STOP" (I know so grown up of me!), it slowed down at the last second so we could get off. It seriously freaked me out!

We slid over to the big map and my stomach dropped. We had gotten on the wrong chair lift. It was all black and blue runs. Megan and I looked at each other and laughed. We decided on what we thought would be the easiest run. Then away we went. We got stuck a little bit later because we should of been going fast to go through this flat spot, but we didn't realize it. So we started going again down a steep part. Megan was ahead of me. I was concentrating on the hill and looked ahead and thought it was going into a straight flat part again. So I straighten my skis so I got going fast to get through it. Well I didn't realize I was suppose to do a 90 degree turn, and Megan said all she saw was a flash of yellow fly by the corner. She screamed my name, but I didn't hear. I soon realized that I hit a dead end! I was flying we I saw the big snow wall, so I fell on my butt, to try to stop myself. I went flying up the wall and ended up going over backwards and landing on my back and sliding. It took me a bit to collect all my things and get turned around to go the right way. I found Megan who was yelling my name to see if I was ok. It was a crazy crash and we had a really good laugh about it later!

We made it down the hill and decided to go try some easier ones! We found a lift we both liked and stayed on that hill till lunch time. We saw Richard a few times and saw that he was doing awesome with the snowboarding. So after lunch he came up the hill with us. We caught on so quick and did great! We skied for a few more hours. Richard did an AWESOME crash at the bottom of the hill, where he caught an edge and did a few cart wheels. It was kind of funny!

My camera batteries died, but I found this picture and this is what I look like skiing......ha ha ha! Yeah I'm really good, eh?!



The first time Richard came on the lift was kind of interesting. I was sitting in the middle between him and Megan. Megan was explaining to him how to get off with a snowboard on. I wasn't too worried. It got to the top and Richard gripped my leg really hard (thinking it was the chair) and pushed off. Well I couldn't move, and it happened so fast. By the time I went to get off my skis were off the ground and I jumped! I didn't land very gracefully! I ended up on my back. Richard turned around and said, "What's wrong with you, can't you get off a chairlift!!" I then told him that it would of been easier to get off if he wasn't using my leg as the chair. He then realized what happened and we all had a good laugh!

Pretend that's Richard and I up on the ski lift talking about how we are going to safely get off the chair! We both had yellow coats on, so I thought the picture was perfect!

All in all it was a very fun, tiring day. After skiing in Whitefish and Fernie in the last month, it's kind of gotten me excited about skiing again. I'm hoping to go one more time before the end of the season. It's been so much fun! Richard slept most of the way back while Megan and I chatted all the way home. It was a fun Saturday! Thanks for the suggestion Megan! Oh I took my camera and tried to get some pictures but my battery died, so no pictures!

On Monday, which was Family Day, we went in to Cardston and spent time with Richard's family. We went to the Remington Carriage center where they had free admittance and lots of fun things to do for kids. We spent a few hours there and the kids had a blast playing all sorts of different games. Brianna playing the game "Plinko". They got to drop 6 discs and try to land it in the sunshine slots. The got 2 tickets for every disc in the slot.

Cadence's turn. She was very serious and tried really hard and the guy told her that she did the best yet. She landed 4 out of 6 and got 8 tickets!

Abbi's turn. Look at her face she got a butterfly painted on it!

DJ checking out the pretend horse and carriage, trying to decide if he wants to go in it!

He decided it was safe and got pretend to drive the horses with Abbi. They had a blast with it!

Walking back to the burb with their Grandma Spencer. They each got to buy something with the tickets they got, so they were all happy!

Then we went over to Great Grandma and Grandpa Spencer's house for dinner. Then we just hung out and talked and laughed. Lisa and Curtis had the bright idea of hiding in the closet and scaring the kids. It was hilarious. I got some good videos of it. We had a fun time chatting and laughing!

I had decided that day that I was going to take the kids to Kalispell with my mom and Stacey and her two girls. They were going for a night to do some shopping. So I had booked a room at the hotel they were staying at. I had cleaned the house and packed things up and was ready to go by 8:45am Tuesday morning. My mom came and away we went. I then realized that it was snowing and the weather wasn't the greatest. But we kept going. Richard called me when we were halfway to Cardston and said he got everything he needed done and he was coming with us. I was surprised and excited. So we waited in Cardston and he drove there. Then we were off. The drive down was crazy! The roads were pretty bad and visibility was horrible. But we made it. We followed Stacey and mom.

We did a bunch of shopping then went and checked into the hotel. Then we went out for supper. Stacey's girls wanted to go swimming afterwards. But by the time we got back to the hotel all my kids were done. It was about 8pm and they were ready for bed. They all went to sleep so good and we all had a good nights rest.

Brianna and Cadence having their breakfast in the hotel's breakfast room!

In the morning after breakfast we swam for quite a while. It was at this time that we were hearing about the horrible accident that happened the night before on Mariah's Pass. A bad blizzard had blown into Kalispell and the weather wasn't very good. It was because of this that we decided to stay one more night. The kids were getting restless and a little crazy. DJ needed a nap and everyone else was hungry. Oh at about this point I saw Cadence run up to one of the hotel workers and say this, "I have one question for you." After the lady said yes, Cadence stuck her hands on her hips and said, "Where you hide that candy?" It was kind of funny. The lady got tired of all my girls taking the free candy from the desk, so she hid it. She didn't know how to answer Cadence, I just laughed!

So Richard stayed at the hotel with DJ and put him down for a nap. The rest of us went to McDonalds where we ate and let the kids play on the playground for about 2 hrs. It was the perfect place to let them run off some energy.

Then we stopped at Shopco and did some shopping. I realized that my girls were getting to the end of their ropes when Cadence started crying that her mouth hurt. She wouldn't stop so I told Stacey and mom that I'd see them at the hotel. So we went to the check outs where Cadence is standing there with her tongue hanging out of her mouth and she's trying to tell me that her mouth hurts. She just proceeded to stand there the whole time with her tongue hanging out. It was kind of comical and I'm sure the check out lady was wondering about Cadence! ha ha!

We got back to the hotel where Richard and DJ were having a case of cabin fever. So we went swimming. DJ finally warmed up to the water. He was being so cautious before. But now he'd run and jump into my arms. He was having a blast. I could not take my eyes off him because he always assumed I'd be right there to catch him. At one point he kept pointing to the hot tub so I got in and he jumped into my arms. It was so funny because his eyes about popped out of his head and he kept blowing (his way of saying hot)! Needless to say he didn't do that again! After swimming we went out to pizza for dinner.

Me, DJ, Cadence and Brianna having fun swimming in the pool.

The girls with Shaylee and Mikah, playing what time is it Mrs. Shark! They had a blast doing that!

DJ telling me to stop taking pictures and get in the water so he can jump in too!

Cadence had a blast swimming around and playing with the balls we brought too!

Then next morning after breakfast and swimming again. We packed everything up and came home. The weather was clear and the drive home wasn't bad at all. So I'm glad we stayed that extra night. It was a fun little trip and the kids had a blast. Plus I had fun shopping and getting some spring clothes. Now we just need the weather to warm up, here's to hoping! I'm so glad Richard came with us. It was a fun trip! I'm glad mom and Stacey were there too, my girls have a blast with Mikah and Shaylee! We only got in trouble by the hotel staff a few times. My kids can get a little loud!

Just before we left the hotel I took this quick picture.This is in the foyer of the hotel.
The drive home was good. DJ had a really good nap. I got him that hat he is wearing and he loves it. Don't you love all the stickers on my window, sheesh, drive me crazy!

So it was a fun 3 day getaway. It was only going to be 2 but this way we didn't have to pay any duty.Yeah!