Blue Lake Hut Adventure 2023

I missed the ladies' hut adventure last year (due to traveling to Florida . . . ), so I was glad to be able to do it this year! (I did this hut two years ago with my friend, Heather, and her son and his girlfriend. Many years ago, I had done a different hut trip with a bunch of ladies.)

We planned this trip a couple of months ago . . . however, when my co-worker asked me a few weeks ago if I could work on Friday the 17th, I was all like "sure!" I didn't realize it was the same day as my trip - aiyiyi! My co-worker had a family-trip planned and so I wasn't going to back out on her. I tried calling two back-up nurses, neither of who were available. Sadness. But I was still determined to make it work. And, thanks to Melissa, it worked out! We were to leave Thursday and then ski out Friday - so Melissa agreed to get up with me real early and ski out in the dark to get me back to work. What a friend - I am a lucky gal.

So we headed out Thursday morning to the trailhead. Our bestie Sarah (I mean, she's like everyone's best friend) couldn't make it because her flight was canceled. Such sadness! (Oh, that week we had gotten about a foot of snow and had school snow days on Wednesday and Thursday - fun!) Then, another gal ended up with a daughter with strep and so she couldn't make it at the last minute. Sadness again. So we were down to six of us, but we still had a fabulous time.

Melissa and I decided to XC ski in. It's definitely the way to do it. :) The rest of the group snowshoed. With all that snow, we were making the tracks in the freshly fallen deep powder and it was a lot of work! At first Melissa and I would stop and wait for the group to catch up, but then just decided after lunch that we'd head up on our own for the rest of the way. We got there after about 4 hours (it was a lot of work making trail) and got a fire going before the rest of the ladies arrived.

Our group at lunch: Jody, Breeann, Jaymie, Melissa, me, and Heather.

It was just wintery and perfect.

Home sweet Hut.

Why are streams always so cute?

My friend and ski-buddy Melissa. :)

We had a super fun night playing Farkle and some card game. Lots of fun and laughing, which felt so good! By bedtime, our hut was burning hot! I didn't mind it too much, but Jaymie was dying from the heat haha. We opened up the windows all the way, let the fire go out, etc. We stayed cozy all night.

Melting snow to get our water for dinner.

I was a bit anxious about the next morning - I truly get scared of the dark in nature. Plus, I imagine creatures coming to attack me. :) So I didn't have the best sleep. The night before, I had decided it would be okay to be a little late to work - especially with all the coaxing from the ladies. :) (I knew the schedule for Friday and knew patients weren't coming until 9 that morning. Sure, there was a weekly Friday meeting at 8:30 that the RN heads-up. But: 1. They could certainly handle it without me. 2. They could just cancel it since the Dr. there that day didn't have any of the patients we were to discuss anyways. 3. If the oncology doctor from upstairs can literally never make it on time, then I didn't feel too badly about being late once. P.S. Option 2 happened.)

Melissa and I got up on Friday at 5:15 and were all ready to go by 5:45. We thought we could get ready in 15 minutes, which seems funny now, but it just took a bit longer. I mean, all we had to do was get dressed and pack up our sleeping bag and pillow. But it still just took awhile. Anyways, the two of us headed out in the dark and I just kept talking loudly to Melissa. That was the advice Heather gave me. :) She also told me there are no mountain lions up that high and since I couldn't check her on google, I just trusted her. (I just checked and I shouldn't have trusted her, ha, but glad I did. Mountain lions live up to 10,000 feet. We were at 9,380. We did see all sorts of tracks . . . but I don't think any of them were mountain lion ones . . . ??)

It was actually magical and serene in the early hours of the day. Darkness faded away and it was just a gorgeous sunrise and beautiful way to start our day. 

It was probably near zero-degrees on our ski out. I had been worried about that, too. Especially knowing there would definitely be no sun to warm us up! But it was totally fine and neither Melissa and I were cold. So yay!

Check out the moon on the left-side of the picture. It was so gorgeous!

Gorgeous colors as the sun woke up.

We made it down in a little under 2 hours and then as quickly as we got reception, I called work to tell them I was running late and would be there by 9:00 (I had packed a bag full of everything I would need for work - fresh clothing, deodorant, my badge, lunch, etc.) We got me to work at 8:45am - just as I saw the always-late doctor getting out of his car . . . Our business manager comes in on Fridays (he's from Junction), but he's a cool guy and I just told him all about my adventure and he was excited for me. He even told me about snowshoeing into his cabin, a friend of his that owns some ski huts, etc. I knew he'd be fine with me being late. Especially since it was my first-time ever showing up late.

Anyways, I loved the adventure so much. It was good for my soul. The end.

Fort Collins

The girls had gymnastics meets up in Fort Collins a few weeks ago. It worked out great because one of my best-friends from here has since moved up to that area and so we got to see them and stay the night at their home. I checked the girls out of school after lunch and then we drove the 6 hours up north. We met up with the Bugarins at Cafe Mexicali and had a yummy dinner. Aiden and Emmy left and checked out Scheel's for a bit - while the rest of us headed to the Bugarin home. We had a nice evening just visiting with each other. We just love all of them - Emmy especially Aiden. :) Such a great family - we miss them!

Haha, I didn't get any pictures with them, so I stole this family photo from their Facebook page. See how cute they all are?! :)

We got up early on Saturday and got ready for the meet. Jay (Sarah's husband) had bought donuts and so Emmy was in breakfast-heaven. We headed out for the gym and then our day of gymanstics began! We were there from 8am-8pm! Lucy's meet was up first at 8. The team started out on beam - which is always nice to get over with! Lucy fell once, but looked so awesome! In fact, she still scored an 8.825 - which is a great beam score without a fall! She's just so steady. Lucy did awesome on the floor, okay on the bars, and decent on the vault. :) She ended up placing on every event, including taking 5th all-around. Her highest place was 4th on the floor. Also, her all-around score qualified her for state so she got that out of the way. Go Lucy! Here's her video of the meet.

Lucy's team took 2nd - yay!

Emmy's meet started at 11:30. A lot of the older girls/her closer friends were not at this meet for some reason. Oh well, she was still competing with her Platinum teammates. Emmy began on vault and did okay. She looked good, but her score wasn't what she wanted. (She is still working on her handspring-half vault and 95% of the time doesn't stick it. So the vault that counts is just a simple handspring and starts at a 9.4 value.) She did okay on bars, but got a lot more height on her free-hip that it messed up her kip out of it and she ended up "tapping" the floor. She wasn't happy about that, but her score was pretty good nonetheless. Beam was pretty good - a stuck routine but a big wobble. Floor was pretty great - but she ended up doing a double-spin turn instead of a 1 1/2 spin. That wasn't a huge deal, except that it put her facing the opposite direction and just kind of threw her off for a bit. Emmy was a bit discouraged with her performance, but ended up placing on all events except for vault. Including a 1st on the floor and a 2nd all-around. Go Emmy! Here's her video of the meet.

The team took 1st - yay!

There was only one Diamond teammate competing and so Emmy wanted to stay with her since they are good friends. So Emmy got to be with the coach and Aby during the last meet of the day; Lucy and I stuck around to watch. Aby's meet began at 4. Lucy and I did leave for a short time to grab some dinner (love us some Panda Express!). We decided to not stay for awards so we could get going. On our way out of town, we grabbed some TCBY - frozen yogurt, my favorite.

We drove to Littleton and stayed that night with Jim and Diana. We had a good visit that evening and then went to church the next morning. After church, we headed back home to Montrose. It was a good gym weekend! :)

Well that was fast . . .

January seemed to cruise on by . . . perhaps because we were all back to our normal routines of work, school, activities, etc.

Here are some pics from our month:

We were heading up to Littleton that first weekend of January for Emmy to receive her patriarchal blessing from Grandpa Max. I had seen that Sunlight Resort (where we often go skiing) was offering  "customer appreciation" day tickets for $25. So we decided to ski on our way up to the front range. Well after one run, I was done. Ha. It's just too cold for me these days and I really just don't enjoy it all that much anymore anyways. But it all worked out because Lucy's ski boot literally broke on our first run down the mountain. A big plastic chunk fell off! Then as we were figuring out everything at the lodge area, the boot just complete fell apart. Haha, they could be 20+ years old - who knows. Anyways, Lucy used my boots and the three of them did runs I would not have wanted to do - plus it was cloudy and quite snowy and so I am pretty sure I would have been miserable. Ben, Emmy, and Lucy had a great day and I enjoyed walking around, hiking on a little trail, and meeting them up for lunch. And staying warm. :)

We got up to Littleton that evening and had a nice dinner with Jim and Diana. On Saturday morning Ben and Emmy went on a run - which included a stop inside Ben's high school to check out the day's wrestling meet. Ben even ran into his coach's son (who's also a coach) and had a good visit with him. Ben loved the nostalgic run. He loved it so much that later in the afternoon, he took Lucy to his high school and they caught some more of the wrestling tournament.

I was wanting a longer run and so I headed out on my own on the Highline Canal. I had about a mile or less to go when I came across a mountain lion! It was down in the gulch and definitely saw me. I was heading towards it and wasn't sure exactly what to do. Except to freak out inside my head - I definitely did that. I just decided to keep running - albeit a bit faster ha - and prayed, literally, for the best. I kept checking behind me to make sure the coast was clear. And it was. As I neared an intersection, a lady called out to me to warn me there was a mountain lion on the trail. It had followed her and she didn't realize it had already gone under the road to the other side of the trail - where I had just come from. She was trying to get a hold of someone to do something - but nobody did. I decided to stay off that trail for my last mile - thinking if the mountain lion came upon me, I would run inside a home. Luckily I never saw it again and now have a good tale to tell. But it was crazy! (Oh, it was a small mountain lion - like a juvenile. But it still freaked me out plenty.)

After our runs and getting all freshened up for the day, Emmy got her patriarchal blessing. It was a special and sweet experience and one I hope Emmy treasures always.

We had a great evening with Joe and Brittany (and Nicholas for a bit before he headed out to a stake dance/activity) that night. We all (including Jim and Diana) had dinner and just a good visit together. Brittany impressed us with her amazing Yoga headstands and handstands. So incredible! We had a good drive back on Sunday after church. It was a nice trip out to Littleton and, as always, so great to see family. (Jonas was working on Friday and snowboarding on Saturday and so he didn't come up with us.)

The next big adventure was California - but just for Emmy. Emmy went with her teammates (Lucy isn't in the high enough levels to go yet) and had a really great time. They flew out Thursday and spent that day and Friday at Huntington beach. Fun! Then Saturday was Disneyland and was another fun day. Sunday was the gymnastics meet at Disneyland hotel. I gave Emmy the choice to decide to compete or not - and she choose to. Which was kind of a bummer to me. But Emmy had a really great meet: she placed 3rd on vault, 2nd on bars, and 3rd all-around. Amazing. Besides being a bit wobbly on beam, she really looked great! Here's a video of all her routines. Emmy got home Monday at noon and took all week to catch up on the sleep she didn't get at California. :)

The girls all rented tandem bikes at the beach. Emmy also had the best Fish & Chips ever there. :) Fun times.

Emmy and Reese soaking up some sun.

The gymnasts and one coach - Jessi B.

Ben was gone for an Army weekend that weekend and so I took Lucy and her friend Ruby up cross-country skiing on the Mesa. There was a free ski-rental event going on and so I thought it would be fun to go. It was fun . . . but I realized kids may not love XC skiing as much as adults just because it's so much work! The girls had a good time, but I don't know if they would have called it "fun." It was beautiful up there, though, that's for sure. The girls did great and we actually spent 2 hours skiing - which is a lot for kids, I think. As the girls were taking off their skis and boots, I went to the car to get the girls' shoes. I used my key fab and opened up the trunk, grabbed their shoes, and then put my backpack with key fab back in the trunk. When we returned to the car . . . it was locked. Boohoo! Turns out that opening the trunk does not 1. Open the car or 2. Keep the trunk unlocked. Waaahhhhh. We were up where there was no service. And I had two cute girls who were tired and hungry (but awesome sports, thankfully). Lunch and drinks, of course, were in the car. 

I went up to a group that was there (the Grand Mesa Nordic Counsil) giving lessons that day and explained my situation. They were really of no help and nobody had any service (my phone, of course, was locked with everything else in the car). Anyhow, a stranger heard my plight and offered to take us home. He was an older gentleman (75) and from Grand Junction. So it was really out of his way to take us home - but I had no other choice and so accepted his offer. He was validated by several other individuals up there who knew him (he had volunteered with the counsil before, etc.). So that was a bit of an awkward drive home . . . especially as Lucy started complaining of a horrible headache and her throat hurting - tell-tale signs for Lucy of being car-sick and vomiting at any moment. No way did I want her to throw-up in this kindly stranger's car! Luckily she didn't, but it was pretty dicey . . . :) The gentleman was willing to drive me all the way back up to the Mesa for me to get my car. But I didn't want to have him do that . . . so I told him I would get a ride from a friend back up. . . My good friend Melissa, who went XC skiing that day close to Montrose and had exclaimed "I never have to go on the Mesa again!" willingly and happily drove me up to the Mesa to get my car. Haha. It was a long day! To top it off, I had agreed to clean the gym that weekend . . . I began cleaning at 7:30pm and finished up around 10:45. Long day. But Lucy and Ruby got to hang out all afternoon and night and so they ended up having a really "fun" day after all. :)

Exploring a little "off-trail." Man that was a lot of powder! They didn't get too much further . . . 

It really is gorgeous and so wintry up there!

I bought myself a second-hand XC ski set - so skis, boots, and poles. And I've managed to go out four times this month. It's been so great! Here are some pics from my outings:

Me, Molly, and Melissa at the Divide trails.

Melissa and I again at the Divide trails.

Me at Top of the Pines trails. That's Mt. Sneffels in my backdrop. Gorgeous.

Me, Melissa, Carol, and Sue. Carol and Sue, who are both RNs, are friends with Melissa. 

I can definitely handle the cold when XC skiing. A couple of those days were barely in the teens, yet I was warm. Awesome.

So long January . . . 

Hello 2023!

Well the new year started off with a bang for a few of us! We had always planned to take Miles back up to Utah (we, meaning myself and probably the girls) so he could get his car - and to visit my parents for a few days. But weather and activities here kept us from leaving until Sunday, New Year's day. The weather, again, wasn't looking super great and so we had decided that the four of us (myself, Miles, and the two girls) would take the train Sunday evening, with my dad picking us up at Provo around 10pm.

Well, my parents ended up waking up to like 18 inches of snow on New Year's! Church was canceled, etc. So we started thinking it might not be a great time to go, my dad wasn't excited about having to drive down and back up the canyon in the dark, etc. And the snow wasn't going to be letting up either . . . 

So after talking with my parents and checking out the roads with Ben, it looked decent enough to drive in the daytime. The weather was pretty mild - temperature wise - and so most roads we'd be traveling on were still clear and black. So the four of us got our things all together and headed out! And the drive was totally fine - until Provo canyon, where it became a little sketchy. I would not have wanted my dad driving it in the nighttime and so it all worked out. We made it there safely and it was truly a beautiful winter wonderland! It was incredible and I was so happy to get out of brown, ugly Montrose.

After dinner, the girls went to my parents' side yard and spent a couple hours sledding down the hill. They had a blast. Miles, my mom, and myself enjoyed a lovely walk in the winter wonderland:

This was taken at night, but Miles has some thing on his phone that lightens up the scene without using flash. Nifty. Look how deep!

They really did have "snow" much fun!!

Monday was a pretty great day, too! My mom and I probably shoveled the driveway quite a few times . . . But we also did some fun activities. After lunch, we went to see the Ice Castles. It's been a few years since we've checked them out and it was cool to see them again. Much bigger than before, for sure. 

After that, we said goodbye to Miles. So sad. But fun for him . . . He had a decent drive back up to Rexburg and has had a great start to his second semester.

At the same place as the Ice Castles (Soldier Hollow), I had gotten us (myself and the girls) tickets to go tubing. So we headed up to the lodge and sledding hill, waited just a little bit until our session's time and then spent a couple hours sledding. It was actually really fun! There is a little magic carpet ride to the top, but it was so slow that we usually (except twice) just walked up the hill. 

We connected ourselves together once and caught it on video. :) It was slower that way, however, and so we didn't do it again. Ha. We usually would race each other down the hill - and Emmy usually won.

It really was a fun time!

That evening we enjoyed dinner with my parents and the girls spent another couple of hours out sledding at my parents' place. :) We headed out early Tuesday morning so we could hit the mall in Junction and make it back in time for the girls' gym class. Which we did. It was snowing, again and of course, on our way home. Roads were a bit more wet this time, but not bad at all. Once we passed Soldier Summit, it was pretty much dry and clear. We were all so glad we went up to Midway!!