Snowshoe Take 2

Hello faithful blog followers. Apparently nothing over the last month of our lives has merited a new blog post. Its kind of depressing to think that our daily actions have become such an endless drudgery of work and minutia. But alas, we were able to escape the confining confines of our homes to enjoy the beautiful scenery of Big Cottonwood Canyon near Guardsman Pass.

We went snowshoeing again, although this time we were accompanied by some new friends in our ward, Nate and Ashley Long. Hence, the nicer picture instead of the usual hold-the camera-as-far-as-you-can-from-our-faces-while-trying-to-take-a-decent-though-usually-skewed-headshot.

The snow was fairly deep as well due to the storm we had on Friday. It was probably four feet deep, although with the snowshoes, we probably only sunk down 1-2 feet. Even when we were on more groomed trails, however, Tiffani still struggled to stay on her feet. I wondered if she was sober at times. Anyhow, the deep snow proved to be quite a workout, but also a refreshing experience to get lost in the untouched expanse of winter beauty.

Lake Blanche

In November, Will gave me a coupon for a snowshoeing adventure and a trip to Starbucks for a caramel apple cider. Over President's Day, I finally cached in on the offer. It was Will's first time experiencing the joy of snowshoeing and of course I didn't take him on a gradual incline. After watching the Olympics the whole weekend, I was feeling fat from being a couch cucumber (I like the alliteration of cucumber as opposed to potato) and the Olympic spirit was pulsing through my veins. Therefore, Will's maiden voyage turned out to be a bit of an epic struggle. At the beginning of the hike, we spotted two moose on the side of the trail. Here is a terrible picture. The mama was laying behind a snowbank and the baby is hidden in the brush.
Because of the snow and steep incline, I seriously doubted if Will would ever consent to go snowshoeing with me again. Fortunately, a European naturalist passed us up on the trail and urged us to go a little further. The lake was just over that ridge. When we got to the lake, Will was uncertain of the actual location. I took a picture of Lake Blanche but it is not blog worthy. The fog was too dense and the snow was too blinding and the lake was too frozen, in other words, the picture is a mass of white. Here we are on the descent. We are both in better spirits because the climbing was over. Will wanted to catch me in action running down the hill. Unfortunately, I am nimble in snowshoes and I whizzed by too quickly, the camera could not capture my grace and poise, so here is a posed pictue. Hooray for fun winter activities!

Return to Snowy Idaho

After complaining about the Rexburg winters for three years, I suddenly found myself surprised and wanting to return to icy roads and freezing noses. My good friends, Elise and Pam were headed up to BYU-Idaho to recruit for their camp in Maine, so Will and I decided to tag along. We tried to get a big group of Badger buddies to meet up at our beloved home in Tetonia.

On our way to Badger, we stopped by in Rigby to visit former roommate and fellow Badger, Billie Jo and husband, Caleb. We rolled into the Badger parking lot around eleven at night. We didn't know how to find our party, but rumor had it that Sarah Bedke was holed up at the Ashton residence. After meeting the new facilities manager, and talking to Sarah, we decided to knock on cabin doors to see where our friends might be. Luckily, we ran into Elise, Pam, T-Bird, and new friend, Fuzz, on a midnight excursion to the bathroom. It was a joy seeing T-Bird again after a two-year absence.
We spent the night cramped in one of the little cabins playing "Bananagrams" and laughing loudly. Once again, we proved that two people can sleep comfortably on a twin bed. It was a small feat to fit nine of us into the cabin that sleeps six.

The next morning, Will and I set out on cross-country skis to see Badger in wintertime. We had a blast, although we were a little scared going down large hills. Will also had some trouble getting up the steep hills as well.

We joined the rest of the party later that afternoon on the sled hill. It took Will and me a little bit to figure out how to use the tow-rope comfortably, but when we got to the top, we tuckered ourselves out with excitement. Our favorite formation was linking arms in a circle and riding all the way down the hill.

Max somehow managed to fall off his sleigh almost every ride.

Here we are bursting with jubiliance and uncapped energy.

On the way back from Badger, we stopped to visit Janel, a.k.a J-mamma in Rexburg with her husband and beautiful girl, Tasia. Then we trekked down to Idaho Falls for some dinner at the Snake Bite... delicious. Saturday night we spent at Uncle Torrey's and Aunt Wendy's. All in all, it was a great trip, our nose hairs didn't even freeze.

Extreme Winter Sporting

Before the lovely winter break was over and we had to return to the hum-drum school life, we were able to get out in the great outdoors to enjoy some wild and crazy cross country skiing. We gathered up a whole crew of Badger Creek buddies to accompany us including J.P., Abby, Pam, and Megan & Jordan. We had to find somewhere free to go, so we ended up going down the Union Pacific Rail Trail in Park City. The scenery on the trail was amazing... considering we spent the majority of our time in the median of I-80.
It was my first time going, so it took a little getting used to. I was scared of tripping over myself and falling on my face, but luckily I avoided that embarrassment. Actually, by the end of our journey, I felt pretty comfortable and would recommend X-country skiing as a good cardiovascular exercise activity.

The Snow Angels... ahhhhh

We made it!

Chocolate Factory

One of my favorite Christmas traditions started with my Great-Grandma Ruby. When Grandma was younger, she used to work in a chocolate factory where she learned the great art of dipping chocolates. She has passed this skill onto her posterity. Being able to actually dip the chocolates became sort of a right-of-passage in our family. We pride ourselves in chocolates that not only taste good, but look good as well. This December, Will and I devoted two Saturdays to our chocolate-making expedition. We had to prepare the fondants, the caramels, and the cremes beforehand because dipping by itself takes a full day. This year was super-fancy because Char actually purchased a chocolate-dipping machine that supposedly keeps the chocolate at the correct temperature so you don't have to constantly scrape the marble slabs and re-melt the chocolate. Here's a gander at the final products. Our varieties include: cherries, raspberry creme, mint, lemon creme, bavarian creme, turtles, caramels, toffee, and chocolate covered nuts. This is the whole clan that participated in the chocolate-making festivities. Will is outnumbered by all the lady folk.

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