January Part 3: Ski-Board-ing

Seeing as how it has been at least ... two hours (most likely more) ... since I wrote a post, combined with the fact that Devri can't ski, she insisted that I, Brian, write this post. She wanted me to do it mostly because it involves my favorite sport: table tennis. Just kidding, it's skiing/snowboarding. Or, Ski-Board-ing. Board-skiing? Snowboarding, with a skiing friend.

This winter season holds the rare distinction of being the year that never was for skiing (whatever, it's quicker to type than snowboarding... you know what I really mean). I know, I'm complaining about skiing in Utah, where even our worst resorts get more snow than most of the states. But really, it was more about how we hit record warmth in February and March like never before. We had some snow, but it was so warm that it melted almost right away. Anyways, enough about the disappointing season, and onto our actual ski trips.

Gabe and I went up to Brighton on January 14th to finally check it out. Don't be fooled by Gabe being in full SWAT mode here, my jacket is unzipped and it was pretty darn warm!

Gabe, with a mask. I think.

I'm much more confident this is Gabe.

We had a great time up at Brighton and spent a few hours up there.

We can never seem to resist burgers after skiing. I don't know it is exactly that makes this such a great combo, but it's a match made in heaven for sure.

I ended up having so much fun that a few days later I took both Michael and Gabe up to Snowbasin.

Like me, you may wonder why there is a nondescript picture of a ski lift. But if you look closely, you'll see Gabe riding up by himself like a boss. Why he went by himself? No one remembers. I also didn't ask anyone else. But they probably don't remember. If I'm being completely honest, I don't remember and I'm too lazy to ask anyone else.

Michael and I, however, we forced to ride with other people like the peasants we are.

Gabe is improving every year at skiing. I think I finally convinced him this year that some black runs are not too bad and he can do them.

As it turns out, I was faster than Michael this ENTIRE SEASON. This is one for the history books, folks. I did it, I finally was faster than Michael in something. I don't know why it was this way, but he was a little more timid this year than normal. Maybe it's because he rode down most of the runs penguin style as pictured above. We may never know.

Michael and I went over to the porcupine side of the mountain and had a ton of fun there. It was pretty icy in some patches and I remember distinctly watching Michael totally biff it going over a ridge and laughing at him, until then I hit the EXACT SAME patch of ice and biffed it in exactly the same way. Guess I probably needed to learn a lesson or something, like don't ride directly behind Michael. It is really fun to ride with Michael now that I can keep up with him somewhat. There weren't many people over there so we just had a blast.

Sadly, due to early season terrible skiing conditions, there wasn't great coverage in some spots, and I just happened to hit something (maybe a root? a rock? buried gold? I may never know). I knew it wasn't great, but it wasn't until I was trying to scoot myself onto another lift that I realized something was really wrong with the bottom of my board.

I think it was a root, and the picture really doesn't do it justice, but it's a gash that goes all the way down to the base and was about the size of my thumbnail. It kept catching on EVERYTHING the rest of the day. That and the suddenly icy conditions as it was another warm day and then froze as the sun went down made the last ride down with Michael pretty treacherous.

After (poorly) attempting a patch on my board myself, I decided to give it another go on the last day of January up at Snowbasin again. I heard Strawberry was open and even convinced Gabe to go over to that section of the mountain with me.

This boy really does love skiing. I think we'll be doing this a lot together in the future.

This guy really does love snowboarding. Skiing is just the worst. Ugh.

Ignore my glove on the right side. It's not my fault that I didn't know I was a terrible picture taker.

And there he is: the one who reliably wants to go with me. I love this kid.

On top of Strawberry there is an awesome view of the valley. Which valley is it? I have no idea. Ogden? Utah? Could be Colorado for all I know. So Gabe and I decided to grab a picture up there.

It was a great day. Once again, WARM, as all ski days were in January. And February. And March. Here's hoping for a better time next year. But it was still fun, and I miss it already.

 

January Part 2: Dates & Plays

In December, we got vouchers to go see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at the Ruth, but we didn't get a chance to go until the first part of January. Michael didn't want to go, and we didn't want to make him. Rachel and Gabe were really excited to be there. It was a lot of fun to see. They flew these paper airplanes towards the end of the show, which was a really fun effect and went along with the action.

We decided that we don't like sitting on the side because we can't see the entire stage, so we'll spring for better seats in the future. 

Rachel greatly misses her Elf, Jr days spent rehearsing and performing in this theater. At that time, she got to go in the door behind her, so I took a picture for her with the door. 

On January 10, Michael went to Preference. I made the corsage for his date. It was a bit of a mess finding flowers since the first place I went had a terrible selection, and I definitely ended up spending more on the flowers and supplies than if I had just bought the corsage from the florist. The arrangement got a little away from me, and by the time I finished, it wouldn't fit in the box! Oops! 

Ellie didn't seem to mind though, and Michael said it was a big flex that her corsage was the biggest in the group. 

Right after Preference, Michael made a poster to secure his prom date (prom wouldn't be until April). He bought some Chick-fil-A and dropped the poster and food on her doorstep. 

We finally made a double date happen with our friends and neighbors, the Riddles. We went to play miniature crochet at Provo Beach Resort. 

We even got ice cream. 

Rachel wanted to do an escape room for her activity one week in January, so we all went. This was my first time at an escape room, and Gabe's first time too. I can't remember if Brian went before or not. 

The escape room was candy themed, which seemed appropriate right after we watched "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory."

I think we were supposed to discover the secret recipe in order to win the deed to the candy factory. There was smelling, feeling candy shapes, and other things to unlock all of the clues. 

It was a lot of fun, and we made it out with time to spare. And yes, we are the proud owners of a fake Candy Factory. Come enjoy all the fake candy you want anytime! 

We gave Rachel tickets to go see Frozen for her birthday. Since Rachel and I decided to Disney Bound as Anna and Elsa, we decided to try out our outfits at the show. 

The show was amazing! Even with a few technical difficulties in the middle. 

We hung around to say try to see Elsa, played by our friend Jessica Hudson. While we were waiting, we also got to see Kelley Coombs, who played Anna. Rachel knows Kelley from the Ruth Academy. This is the third show we've seen her in. 

We also were delighted to see Kristoff, who we had seen in Lehi City's Production of "Bright Star" a year or so ago. He did an incredible job! I actually did an out-of-character thing by kind of running him down to tell him how impressed we were with his Bright Star performance, it was that good. He did great as Kristoff as well, but he made me cry in Bright Star. 

January Part 1: Our 17th Anniversary

In January, Brian and I celebrated our 17th wedding anniversary. The traditional wedding gift for this particular anniversary is furniture. We usually try to each come up with something creative and not to expensive with the anniversary gifts, but I couldn't think of anything creative or clever for furniture, other than to buy a doll couch or something, which seemed a bit too ridiculous for me. So, a week before our anniversary, I broached the subject with Brian. Not because we are bound by traditional gifts, but because we've been doing them for so long, I didn't want to stop now. And also because furniture isn't something you just go out and buy without consulting the other. We talked about how we don't really need any furniture, except maybe a new table since ours has been disaster since we bought it almost 6 years ago. It had been on our big purchase list for a while, and we decided to go ahead and go order the one we actually wanted, the one we should have just sprung for back in 2020 when we were searching for a new dining table, the one from C.F. Home that lets you customize the build. 

So, the week before our anniversary, we headed to Gardiner Village, and I spotted an antique shop on the way and made Brian stop. The stuff was cute, but overpriced, and this painting caught our eye. We had a good laugh over it, snapped a picture to share with our children, and left the store. Now this painting will haunt our family history forever. 

We wandered around C.F. Home trying to find their custom furniture displays and options. We double checked their double pedestal table to make sure it was still what we wanted and hadn't changed since we first scoped it out in 2020. Still looked good. 

Next, we looked at finish samples. They let us check some out so we could take them home and test them against our current furnishings. This is the one we decided on: 

A day or two before our anniversary, we officially ordered our table. We learned it would be built by the Amish, and it would take about 12 weeks to be finished and shipped to us. It's the same size as our Rachel Ray internet table with the terrible top, same amount of leaves, but made of actual, nice maple wood. 

On our actual anniversary, we headed to the temple in the morning for a sealing session. We always love the reminders from our own wedding day. 

Brian got me these beautiful flowers. 

We got free tickets to the home show from C.F. Home, so we decided to drop in and check it out. Everyone wondered why we were so dressed up for a home show. I wore the same cardigan and skirt I wore to the temple and luncheon on our wedding day, and Brian wore the tie that he also wore to the temple and the luncheon. 

We ate dinner at The Tuscany, and it was fantastic once again. 

They gave us this cheesecake for free for our anniversary, and when they packed it up for us, they didn't include any of the sauce. It was very sad. Don't they know we ordered it for the raspberry sauce?! It was almost as bad as MSC's raspberry sauce stinginess. 

I made our traditional rainbow chip cake earlier that day, but I didn't have a chance to frost it, so I asked our sweet Rachel if she wouldn't mind frosting it for us. She not only frosted it, but she even decorated it a touch. 

 I thought I loved Brian when we got married, and I for sure did, but each year, some how, our love is deeper. We have more inside jokes. We depend on each other more. We've cried together more, laughed together more. We've walked through fire together, and we've been refined in the process. Recently, I was once again reminded that Brian is one of the few people that I allow myself to be silly around. My natural shyness keeps me from completely being myself around most people. I can usually only be completely relaxed with my siblings, my mom, occasionally my kids, and Brian. Those who know our story know that I reached out to Brian after my mission because he was "safe;" I wasn't interested in him, so I didn't need to worry about trying to impress him or anything. 18 years later, he's still safe, and that's why he's the best husband I could ever ask for, and I'm so grateful everyday the God gave me Brian Saville.