Never Too Old

Noah enjoyed licking one of the really long, clear, shiny icicles that formed after this weekend's snowfall. Although he is a young man, he is still not too old for some old-fashion fun. Is snow icecream next?

True Swede

Noah prefers to wear shorts and long sleeve t-shirts, even when the temperature drops down below freezing. His argument is that it is still warm inside - and he does have a point. Our indoor temperature is generally above 60. On Sunday morning, when we came home from church, the outside temperature was still in the low 20s. Noah offered to shovel our driveway and I offered to bring him a jacket, which he declined. He definitely has Swedish blood - cold does not seem to affect him much.

Breakfast and News

Lukas enjoys the news and will often grab a news magazine to read while eating breakfast. Noah is the pancake master and is practicing flipping the pancakes in the air.

Upholstery Man

When we moved to Michigan, we bought a small bench to put by the door so we would have a place to sit when putting on shoes. Bob found a suitable piece at a thrift store, and he added a shelf and padded the top. This piece then moved with us to our second home in Michigan, and it pretty much served the same purpose in that house. The bench made it on the truck to Flagstaff and is now serving a new purpose as seating in our living room. The green fabric needed to be replaced and this weekend Bob pulled out the staple gun and recovered the top. It now blends into the living room decor and is fully functional and comfortable. When Bob pulled off the fabric, we added more padding :-)

Flying

Lukas practices flying his drones at a local park. While the bigger drone is getting acclimated, rather than just sitting around, why not fly the little one?

Proof We Do Do School

Lest anyone would think we are only out and about, here are proof that the boys diligently pursue their studies.

Friday Night Pizza

We continue our tradition of Friday night pizza. Noah proclaimed this one to be the best one, yet!

Skiing

We live close to the best ski resort in Arizona - it takes us less than 30 minutes to get to the top. Now that we have snow, it is time to hit the slopes. Lukas and Noah's confidence is growing with each ski lesson they take. We are enjoying skiing together after the lesson and I am enjoying their company after skiing by myself for the two hours they are in ski school.

What a Difference a Day Make

We can see Mt Elden from our dining room window and we marvel at how it 'changes' based on the light that shines on it. This past weekend, we had a bigger snow storm. Same mountain, less than 24 hours time difference.

the snow is blowing

Hovercraft

The snow is finally falling. Lukas and Noah built a hovercraft to run on top of the snow in our backyard. A few hours of tinkering on the floor in Lukas' room and down they came with their new vehicle.

Back Packing Weekend

Bob captured some of the many memorable moments from the Superstition Hike weekend. The boys walked with their backpacks to the campsite and learned the value of carefully considering each item in the pack - is it useful, necessary, can it be made lighter? Lukas charted the course and they hiked more than 15 miles and the change in elevation was over 6,000 ft.  Three tired but content guys returned on Monday late afternoon, just in time to enjoy a family meal not cooked over a camp stove and eaten at a table, not by the fire.

sunrise 

water source

Hiking

The boys and Bob headed out for a three-day camping/hiking trip with the Boys Scouts. Since they had to hike in with all their gear, they spent a lot of time weighing everything that needed to go into the pack. In addition to camping gear, they needed to carry all their water and food, leaving very little weight for clothes :-)

World's Best Dad

Finally, Snow!

We finally got some significant snowfall - 4 inches in town and 14 on the mountain. The boys wanted to head back up to Snowbowl for one more day of skiing. However, we do need to get some school done, so we stayed home. The exercise for the day was shoveling our sidewalk and driveway. We could not see 'our' mountain for all the clouds, a little later in the day, the clouds lifted but not enough to reveal the peak.

Ski Lessons

Lukas and Noah wanted to take a ski lesson, so we headed back to Snowbowl for some afternoon skiing. While the boys were taking lessons, I had a chance to ski. It was the first time I in many years, so I did not venture out on the Black Diamond slopes but stayed on the blue ones. When I picked up the boys, they wanted to continue to ski! Next week, one more lesson, more confidence, and more technique.