Winter sports and Pinewood Derby

 Kyle and Cecilia enjoyed basketball. A great 2nd season for both of them. Kyle also did an indoor soccer clinic. And then Kyle's Pinewood Derby for Cub Scouts was an exciting weekend. Grandpa Steve surprised us all by coming home for the Pinewood Derby and Grandpa Ed was not expected to be here but had an eye issue and had to cancel his trip to Phoenix so 3 generations of Eagle Scouts were there! Kyle had a great first Pinewood Derby with Eric's help to build the Magic Eight Ball express. It won 2nd place in the overall derby! He received a big trophy and it was very exciting.

Ski trips and ski racing

 We headed back to Park City to ski over the MLK holiday. It was a better experience this time since the ski patrol was working. Now the snow was another story - very little of it! We weren't sure what to expect. Park City surprisingly had better groomed trails than Deer Valley but we still enjoyed the skiing. Only one black diamond that Cecilia didn't care for and Eric was asked if he needed help a few times but they made it down. We also all enjoyed (including Steve who was on the trip with us) the new bubble chair at Deer Valley in the East Village. 

Then Eric headed to Vail with a last minute guy's trip with some Dads from Kyle's class. 

Lastly, the girls had a great ski season. They enjoyed time with friends and racing in both cold and warm races.

Maeve's birthday, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years

 Am behind on my posts for the holidays of 2025. It was all so busy yet so fun - from Maeve's birthday to Thanksgiving at home, to early December Christmas gatherings, to Christmas Eve Mass, and Christmas morning fun before heading out to Las Vegas, Death Valley and Palm Springs.

Highlights include:

• seeing the Northern lights from our house
• Maeve turned 12 - family time and friends at the Wild game
• Anne in town and seeing Pentatonix, White Christmas at Chanhassen dinner theater, and Maeve's middle school dance
• building the Home Alone Lego house
• Arboretum
• Eric's birthday dinner and time out with friends

• Christmas village and International Santas
• Christmas Eve Mass
• Christmas morning - Pop a shot, Drinkmate spritzer, and Airpods from Santa
• Hoover Dam
• Pink jeep tour in Red Rock National Conservation area
• Sunset (Dante's view) and sunrise (Zabriskie Point) and lowest point (Badwater Basin) and hiking (Artists Palette)  in Death Valley
• Hiking on rocks in Joshua Tree and seeing the Heart rock and Skull rock

It was a busy few months and we squeezed out all the great memories for the Christmas season