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Winter Dates



Our wedding anniversary is in December. 
This year we were lucky enough to treat ourselves to 
3 (!) dates all in one month. 
Wow. 

While the kids were still in school 
but Karl was done with classes, 
we got enough snow in Flagstaff to go cross-country skiing! 
So we dropped the kids off at (pre) school 
and went out to the Nordic Center
for some skate skiing. 

We were a little bit hesitant since the car thermometer 
read -2 degrees Fahrenheit. 
Just because it sounds even worse: 
That is -18 degrees Celsius. 
I wasn't sure if I was going to survive. 
Neither was Karl. 
He was already planning his relaxing stay in the lodge 
for at least the first hour. 


But by the time we got there 
the sun was out warming things up a bit
and my friend, Jennifer, was ready to roll. 
So off we went - all 3 of us. 
Because who says you can't invite a friend 
on your anniversary date? 
But soon it was only 2 of us because we had accidentally dropped 
Karl who has had some hip issues for a few weeks. 
Oops. No big deal. Let's keep going. 

When we ran into him again a little later 
we yelled to meet at the lodge at 11:30. 
Yep. That's how wonderful of a wife I am! 
Jennifer had to get back to work, 
so Karl and I met up 
but he had switched to classic skis
and we ended up parting ways again... 
Still counts as a date, doesn't it?

It was a beautiful in the mountains and 
I can't think of a better way to spend our anniversary
 or to cross-train than cross-country skiing! 
It's right up there with cycling!


On Christmas day we thought it would be a great idea
to leave the kids with Grandma and Grandpa after lunch 
and head up in the mountains behind their house. 

Off we went. Only problem: 
We didn't quite talk about the details of our adventure. 
I thought we were going on a 2-hour snowshoe hike. 
Karl thought that I knew that the loop we had chosen 
would take us around 4 hours... 

Well, I didn't... 
I mean: Who leaves their kids all afternoon on Christmas?

But I have two rules: 
1. If there is a loop, I refuse to just go out and back. 
2. There is no sense in worrying about the kids when I am away.


We hiked in thick fog for quite a while 
which was fun for a while but I was really hoping 
for the sun to come out. 

Once the fog lifted it was absolutely gorgeous!



My handsome date: 



While Karl was busy breaking trail... 
(the only other tracks we saw were from animals)

 


... I was lounging in the back taking self-portraits:
(Yep. That would be me wearing $2 thrift-store sunglasses 
and Christmas wreath earrings that Noah gave me...)


We then came to a beautiful clearing 
and were treated to a stunning sight: 


I love me some snowshoeing! 

After this part it got a little tricky. 
We lost the trail and bushwhacked for about an hour. 
I very much dislike bushwhacking! 
We both got (a little) grumpy...
Just when I about lost it, we found the trail! 
From there it was all downhill and we were flying! 

The boys didn't seem to mind our absence 
and we certainly had worked up quite the appetite
for the big family dinner. 


Yesterday we escaped for most of the day to Park City. 
We love this town and would move there in a heart beat!
We enjoyed great cross-country skiing, 
spent a little bit of Christmas money at the outlets, 
and then skipped lunch so we could ski some more. 
My kind of day! 

Thank you, Karl, 
for putting up with me 
and making my days awesome! 
I love my life and I love you! 



PS: Please note that my life is far from perfect. This is just a blog and I get to decide what I want to talk about... 




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