Addicted to Skiing!

Kent and Caitlin did a lot of skiing last weekend! First it was 49 Degrees North in Chewelah, WA with Kent's father Bing and Caitlin's friend from high school, Bryson. The following two days they skied in a snow storm at Silver Mountain in Kellogg, Idaho. The powder was so thick as you can see from the second half of the video below.

7 Months Old

I sit her watching the snow fall and reflect on Brooke as a 7 month old! This baby has been so many places and seen so many things in her short life. She's been to Idaho, Washington, Alaska, and Mexico. She still loves to walk everywhere (assisted) and recently figured out how to turn around to walk another direction. She seems to be close to crawling, but still enjoys rolling back and forth. She can sit up very well and holds herself up well on to the bathtub or crib railing but has to be watched very closely.

When strangers hold Brooke it usually lasts about 30 seconds. It took a day or so for her to get to know April on our trip to Silver. She really knows who her mommy, daddy and Auntie Caitlin are!

Brooke loves to play peek-a-boo and laugh at funny animal noises made by her mom. When she gets excited she shows off her new trick of clapping (right hand banging on the left). One of her favorite things is being held so she can face forward. Especially when we are in a place that is new, she kicks her legs and makes all these noises in excitement.

Fun and Games

The last night we enjoyed a long game of Taboo.

Caitlin and Bryson during the game of Taboo.

I grabbed my camera and got a snapshot of the guys playing with Brooke. I thought it was so cute how they stacked all her toys in a pile (including the empty Kleenex box).

We had a great game of scrabble with Kyle and April.

We got excited when the snow stopped and the sun broke through the clouds! Three of us ended up on the porch with our cameras capturing this moment.

Kellogg, Idaho

Caitlin had a great idea. Get friends together at a luxury condo and enjoy a weekend of laughs, food, and skiing! With their downhill skiing passes from Mission Ridge they receive five free passes to Silver Mountain.

Our friend KC from Wenatchee joined us and had a good time getting to know Brooke better! Even with Brooke's new stranger anxiety she got to hold her (after three days of visiting). Brooke really liked her cool glasses and LONG hair!

Kent made two great breakfasts for the gang. Eggs, hash browns and bacon for the first morning and very tasty French toast for day two. I made spaghetti for the first night and April and I made tacos the second night. It was $11.00 each for all four meals, not bad!


April is Caitlin's friend from nursing school. She lives in Kalispell, Montanta with her husband Kyle. Late June they will be adding a boy or girl to their family! They had a great time playing with Brooke. By the end of the trip, Brooke had really warmed up to April and was full of smiles when playing with her.

I didn't ski on this trip, but we made it to the resort to check things out.

Here Kitty, Kitty!

After a drive up to the Kettle Falls Grandparents' house we walked over to the neighbors to visit the black pony named "Bugs". This beautiful horse is the same age as Brooke! At a distance Brooke seemed interested but she got pretty scared when got closer. We'll have to try again when she gets a little older.

So many animals to see at Gpa and Gma's house! Twinky the cat was curious of Brooke and continued to make passes at the baby. Brooke really wanted to follow this "little doggie" around the house!

Brooke followed the kitty all over the glass door and was curious what the glass tasted like... mmmm... glass.

All animals must nap sooner or later!

Trying out Kent's New Camera

Out to Lunch

We forgot to tell the babies to look at the camera...

Chauntel and Ian (4 months) met Brooke and me at McGlinn's Restaurant in downtown Wenatchee. I had a spicy bowl of corn chowder with their famous beer bread and Chauntel had a wonderful salad. The babies slept through the first part of lunch which was really nice. It was fun to be out of the house and chat about babies and life! Since I saw Ian at the Superbowl party he has learned how to grasp toys with his hands. He still has the most lovely smiles and cute little squeaks and snorts.

Look at that sweet smile!

Play Date

Today we visited my friend Stacy in Wenatchee. She has two boys: a four year old and an eight month old. Carter was born early so he's small like Brooke! It was fun to see him crawling around the room. He was very impressed by Brooke's rolling around and her assisted walking which he hasn't figure out yet. Brooke enjoyed watching his older brother and dad wrestle in the living room! We must have spring fever because talked a lot about going to the pools, waterslides and parks this summer!

Mission Ridge

On Saturday Kent took me skiing on Mission Ridge. Even though I grew up in Alaska, I only downhill skied once on an icy slope in Juneau. Yesterday was probably my fifth time skiing overall... and this was after I vowed to not ski again. Every time I've been up on the slopes, I end up going past my comfort zone and almost (and sometimes) end up with tears of fear and disappointment in my eyes. Through these experiences I have understood more about my myself and have come to terms with my cautious nature. My worst fear is to be going to fast and feel out-of-control and my greatest comfort is feeling the smoothness of the snow below me as I glide along never falling down.

My patient husband was willing to take me up on the slope so I could go on the easy run over and over again. As I remembered how to ski again, Kent practiced his smooth telemark ski turns and backwards skiing! On the first time I was very cautious and even was nervous about getting off the chair lift, but by the third and fourth time I was feeling great and kind of bored with chair 1. I made the right choice and left with that positive experience. Overall we had a great time, and we both laughed every time we saw the little three year olds passing us by and flying over the little jumps. Kent can't wait until the day where he can bring Brooke up there to learn... I can! ;)

Brooke at 6 1/2 Months

Caitlin and Brooke on a walk!

I can't believe how hard it is to take a photo of those teeth! Around six months old we spotted the first tooth coming through the surface. Now two little teeth are showing when she gives us a little smile.

Daddy and Brooke reading (and chewing) on little books while watching the cars drive by. I was trying to capture Brooke looking out the window, but the camera has this little "beep" that always captures her attention!