My mom had the genius idea to spend President's Day weekend at the cabin. We didn't know who would be able to come, but we hoped to see as many cousins as possible. About a month ago we heard that there was a record amount of snow up there. I assumed that since it had been a wet winter that most of the snow would be gone when we arrived. Nope! I had a hard time finding the cabin because the snow bank was five feet tall and there wasn't even a path trudged up to the cabin yet. Limbs had broken off trees and were crossing the driveway which made it that much more difficult to get up there. We were all ecstatic! The last time I saw that much snow up at the cabin was probably about twenty years ago when I was just a kid. I was giddy thinking of the snow forts my kids could make, and the traditional tubing run down the property we could build. Not to mention the skiing at Nordic Valley. We were in for a fantastic weekend.
The sun was shining the next morning and it looked like a perfect day for the slopes. After a couple of practice runs on the magic carpet, Kelton wanted to ride on the chair with the girls. I knew I'd be basically carrying him to whole way down, but I didn't mind. 
Up at the top we somehow managed to entangle all of our skis so we could snap a family photo of us on the mountain: proof we all made it!
The girls found a trail through the trees that they loved. It was windy, bumpy, and perfect for little skiers. As a bonus there was a jump at the end that they liked catching air off of too.
Lunch was incredibly simple as we all just hopped in the cars and drove the short 1/2 mile back to the cabin. Now the kids really wanted to play in the snow. They got started on their fort and tubing run. They were having so much fun I couldn't get them back on the slopes. However, after the sun went down we decided that the chance to go night skiing was too good of an opportunity to pass up. My kids (especially Cambrie) were soaked from playing outside. The snow had started to melt and it was wet. On top of that, it was so warm that it was raining. I thought that even if we could only get two runs in under the lights it would be worth it. Cambrie made it just one run-she was freezing. 
Kelton made it two-but he thought it was awesome. The snow was slush and so it was a lot slower than it had been that morning. I would let him go and he zipped down the hill like a speeding crazy monkey until I caught him or he crashed.
McKenzie made it three runs before we had to make her call it a night. I just hoped that our gear dried that night since it was so wet!
Breakfast the next morning waiting for Sam and Faye to arrive. 
Jeremy and I went on a run, and even though the hills were killer, it was a great two hour date! When the Johnson's arrived we thought everyone would be ready to go skiing. However, Jeremy had fallen pretty hard the day before and decided to stay back to watch the babies, as well as help Cambrie finish her fort and his tubing run. Alan chose to hang out with Sam and Faye. But Hannah decided to come so we made it a girls' day out.
McKenzie has grown so confident in her skiing that we had a ball! One of Nordic's black diamond runs was pretty smooth and not very steep. McKenzie wanted to do it. She cruised down that run with no problem at all. She just made her turns back and forth like a pro. She went on three black diamond runs that day before her legs told her she was done for the day.
Back at the cabin we marveled at Jeremy's run. Grandma Stratford came up that day too, and was convinced it was the longest run she had ever seen at the cabin. She tore a rag into strips and marked the trees so we would know how long it was for future record-holding runs. Jeremy had banked the turns to perfection. Everyone squealed as they sped down the run, only sometimes squealing as they banked too far and flew into the trees.
Kelton was a trooper and didn't complain once about lugging his tube up the run each time. I know I complained as a kid.
Daxton did not like it at all. Too much speed and risk according to him.
We pulled out so many tubes from the attic trying to find those with the smallest leaks.
Cambrie eating lunch outside so she can get back to work!
Cambrie finished her snow cave just as the sun went down.
She wanted to sleep in it and we couldn't say no. She worked so hard on that! My mom had brought a bunch of her waterproof, cold weather, mountaineering supplies so Cambrie and Jeremy were well supplied that night. They took out some glowsticks and hunkered down for a long winter nap. The next morning Jeremy said that they were plenty warm, but because of the rain they were really, really wet. The cave dripped on them all night long. Cambrie didn't notice as Jeremy sacrificed his socks, pants, shirt, and shoes to keep her dry. She had a dream come true that night-sleeping in a snow cave.
We all brought our church stuff to attend sacrament meeting. Geesh, we always time these wrong. It was stake conference again! We went anyway but trying to hike up and down from the road in high heels was a joke. Poor Hannah lost her red pumps nearly three feet down and Alan had to go shovel them free.
Cabin church duds.
Unfortunately we had to head back to Colorado after church. But I'm so glad the weekend was such a hit.
