My two snow bunnies

The boys and I had the opportunity to go skiing this week with their school. I decided that I would be able to teach them how to ski, after all my dad had taught me (when I was 3), so it couldn't be that hard. Right??

We got up early Tuesday morning and headed up the mountain. They were both very excited, but had a lot of questions and didn't know what to expect. It's been 10 years since I've been skiing and as we approached the mountain I was getting less and less confident about my ability to teach them anything and pretty sure I would need a lesson to remember how to ski myself.(Geared up and ready to go -- Bunny Hill behind us)

Many things have changed over the last 10 years, but luckily many things have also remained the same. It was nostalgic to be teaching my sons how to ski on the exact same slope I learned on as a child. One change, when renting skis (and now helmets) it's all digital. This was not the case the last time I rented. They scanned the boot and the ski and adjusted the binding based on the computer in front of them. I was shocked to not have to take off my boot to have it fitted for the ski. I'm sure it's better and easier and more efficient this way, but it was new to me.(Excited to be headed up the mountain for our first run)

After renting we went to get on our gear and it took me half an hour to get snow pants, gloves, hats, coats and boots on the three of us, but then we were off. We decided that I would ride up the lift with one while the other waited at the bottom and then ski down to the other one and ride up with him then we would all ski down together. This plan went off without a hitch and I was pleasantly surprised to find out on my first solo run down that I did to remember how to ski!

(Josiah on the lift with Mom)

I did not, however, have any idea how to teach two young boys to ski. Our first run down was a bit of a disaster with me often yelling towards them, "Fall Down, Fall Down!!" Not knowing how else to get them to not run into the trees. By the end of the run they had each probably fallen over 25 times, although never hard, and each of them got a lot of practice on how to position your skis with the slope before standing up. It was tiring to say the least.

(Josh on the lift with Mom)

I had no idea what I was doing, so I started spying on the paid instructors trying to overhear what they were saying to their students. As a kid I remember something about one leg being peanut butter and the other being jelly, but I think that was because I was learning to ski before I knew my left from right. I tried skiing with Josh between by legs, but he was leaning on me and not balancing himself on his skis and I knew that was going to get us no where.

I saw an instructor with two kids about my kids' ages saying to hold their arms out in front of them to help balance, so that became one thing I would say. "Arms out in front" I knew from feeling how I was skiing that you had to shift pressure from one leg to another in order to turn and that you needed to ride the inner edge of your ski and that a wide "pie" helped you to slow down and stop, but I think I was trying to teach them too many things at once.

Our next run down the mountain was just a touch better and by the third time up the mountain they were wanting to ride the lift without me (even though they hadn't be able to successfully exit the lift without falling over). After our third run we were all a little tired and frazzled, so we went in and had lunch. (Riding up together in front of me)

After some nourishment we were ready to hit the slopes again, although Joshua said, "Just once more and then I'm done for the day." Wonders of wonders, miracles of miracles our first run after lunch was actually a vast improvement. By no means were they perfect, but they were actually turning a little and not falling quite as often. One more run down the bunny hill and they were asking to go up the "big" lift.

I thought, "Well, what could it hurt? They seem to be getting the hang of it. Okay let's try it."

BIGGEST MISTAKE OF THE ENTIRE DAY!!!

We only rode half way up the big lift (very glad for this in hind sight) because it was a lift where you could get off half way or ride it all the way up. The "Zig Zag" trail that was a green was not as wide open as the bunny hill and was also a little more steep. Not a good combination. Josh kept saying, "Mom, we're just beginners." I was just about ready to take off all our skis and walk down as others kept zooming past us, but we did manage to make it to the bottom eventually. We were all pretty emotionally drained at this point.

After a breather at the bottom of the hill and a pep talk from dad we decided to try one more time on the bunny hill and then we would head home. They did AWESOME! It was so good for all of our spirits to end on a high note and not with the defeated feeling Zig Zag had left us with.

They enjoyed it so much they wanted to do one more "last run" and I willingly obliged. Here is a video of the very end of the last run. As you can see they are not perfect, but made great strides in one day considering at the beginning of the day they didn't even know how to put skis on. Josiah is first in the red and white coat, then Josh in the blue and orange.

Overall I am so pleased and happy with the experience. I never really lost my cool although I wanted to several times. The weather cooperated and though it was lightly snowing at times we were warm enough to be sweating and not freezing (which can be just miserable). There were no injuries. AND they want to go again someday! Josh said, "This was waaaaaay more fun than tubing, all the kids should come do this"

(best part of the day, hot chocolate!)

Mommy is not ready for all the kids to be skiing just yet, but it was fun and I'm sure we'll get to do it again someday.

Skiing did make me realize I'm not as young or agile as I once was. All day today my knees have been a little sore and my shoulders as well. After we got home Naomi was talking with me and said, "Mom, how old are you?" I replied, "31" Naomi, "Did you say 71?" Me, "No I said '31', why do I look 71?" Her, "YES!" I'm not sure how that's supposed to make me feel :) Out of the mouth of babes . . . .

Mawwage is what bwings us togever today

Mawwiage, that blessed awangement, that dream within a dream . . . . . and they lived happily ever after . . . right?? Well at least that's how Hollywood says it's supposed to go.

(Yes I realize the date is wrong on this picture it was actually 1998)

This weekend Joel and I attended a marriage conference at Focus on the Family. It was good to hear so many good speakers give a more accurate depiction of marriage. Francis Chan, author of Crazy Love spoke about how instead of focusing on our marriage, we need to make sure our marriage has a focus. He encouraged us to find the purpose and calling for our marriages and that ultimately we were joined together to bring glory to God. It was a moving message that left us feeling challenged and then we realized it was only 8:30 in the morning and we still had 6 more sessions to go, how could it get any better?

Next up were Drs. Les and Leslie Parrot and they talked about your marital love being defined by 3 parts, 1) Passion - the biological side of love 2) Intimacy - the emotional side of love or the feeling of having someone who gets you and 3) commitment - the willful side of love. They reminisced about times in their own lives when kids or careers or life just got in the way of feeling satisfied in their marriage. They encouraged open communication about the 3 areas of love. Their book The Love List talks about small things you can do every day, week, month and year to cultivate a loving relationship with your spouse, that research has shown only gets better and better with time. It's worth hanging in there!

Dr. Gary Chapman author of the 5 Love Languages talked about his new book The 5 Languages of Apology. The thing he spoke on that impacted me the most was when he talked about what forgiveness is not. 1) It does not destroy your memory 2) It does not always end in reconciliation 3) It does not remove all negative consequences 4) It does not remove painful emotions 5) It does not immediately restore trust. I just felt like this was a good reminder that forgiveness is still important and necessary to offer, but does not automatically let someone off the hook. It really is more for your own heart and offering it can help rid yourself of guilt and bitterness.

And then we had lunch!

In the afternoon there were even more good speakers, but probably the best take-aways from the day came from the talk by Dr. Juli Slattery. She talked about power in relationships and that women have power in men's lives by answering these 2 questions that are in men's minds every day 1) Do you believe in me? and 2) Will you be there for me? Likewise the men have power in the women's lives by answering their daily questions which are 1) Do you still love me? and 2) Am I safe with you? It really resonated with both Joel and I and was just something we had never really heard before.

I've often said that because we were so young when we married (Joel was 18 and I was 19) that we kind of grew up together and that if we would have met in our late 20's we might not have connected. The person I am 11 years later is not the person he married, but our commitment to each other is as strong as it has ever been.

I do think marriage can be that "dream within a dream" but it isn't automatic, it does take effort, but it is also so worth it to have someone on this earth who is in your corner and has your back. I can't imagine trudging through life with anyone else.