Sking at Ski Sawmill

My father and I took Nadia and Ian skiing for the very first time at Ski Sawmill in February 2017. Paul took them skiing at the same location in February 2018; Oliver and I stayed at home that time because he had recently fractured his skull. All five of us skied at Ski Sawmill in February 2019. Last month I took the kids skiing at Elk Mountain for the first time. We can receive four lift tickets and four ski rentals for free from WVIA (PBS station) twice a year. We had *planned* to visit Elk Mountain the past three years, but this year was the first time the kids went skiing more than once in a year. All five of us skied at Ski Sawmill yesterday. Thankfully this ski resort is only one hour from our house. They have a t-bar lift for the bunny slope, which was a big problem last year for Oliver. The first attempts to use the lift this year also didn't go well, but thankfully yesterday he learned several important skills including how to ride a T-bar lift, how to get off the T-bar lift without falling off, and how to stop. They didn't have any T-bar lifts at Elk Mountain, and his method of stopping last month

was to sit on his bottom. Once he mastered the T-bar lift, he then began going up farther on the bunny slope. Once he could do that without falling, I agreed to let him go to the top of the mountain on the chair lift. Nadia did that slope more than ten times yesterday. All five of us did it together twice. I stayed in the rear so I could help Oliver get up if needed. I videotaped parts of his second trip down with my cell phone. I had forgotten to bring the camcorder. We skied for five hours. None of us were injured although some of us have some sore muscles today. Last year Paul had a bad fall; he was particularly relieved that this trip went better than the last one. The weather was incredibly nice. It was unseasonably warm; it got up to almost 60 degrees! Today is a rainy day, but Saturday through Monday were warm and sunny days.

Today I am giving thanks....

1. That the kids and I had an enjoyable Valentine's Day together. We had brownie batter donuts for  breakfast that morning that we had purchased

at Dunkin Donuts after ice skating lessons the previous night. They received gifts and cards from me and also from Grandma. We had a little bit shorter school day than usual so the kids would have time to assemble their new Lego sets. We had pizza for dinner and that was the only time we left the house that day, as Oliver's basketball practice was cancelled because it was Valentine's Day.

2. That we're healthy again. The kids had a respiratory bug. They got over it much faster than Paul and I did, but we're all healthy again. It had been seven months since the last time I was sick. Here's to hoping I can have a nice long stretch like that before I succumb to another bug!

3. Paul and I were both sick on February 16. We only attended church that day because the boys were singing in the kids' choir, and the choir is now only singing on Sunday mornings twice a year. The choir is small so their absence would definitely  have been noticed. Paul attended the first service, and I attended the second

service. Oliver REALLY sang out!!!

4. Nadia enjoyed the nerf war at the Mennonite church in the afternoon on February 16. It was an event planned for two youth groups. She is really enjoying being a part of the youth group at the Baptist church on Sunday nights.

5. On February 20 Ian scored a basket! It was his first time scoring this season. This is his first year playing full court basketball with the hoop at the full height. The WHOLE gym burst into applause when he scored!!!

6. We didn't go on any field trips in January, but we went to Wilkes Barre and Scranton last Friday. First we saw an outstanding show called "Turning 15 on the road to freedom" which was about the civil rights movement so that blacks would be allowed to vote in the 1960's. The actors had AMAZING voices. Then we visited the Electric City Aquarium in Scranton for the first time as well as spent some time at Bee's Backyard. All of

the shows we attend at the FM Kirby Center are free (aside from feeding the parking meter for an hour). The kids got in free at the Aquarium (thanks to WVIA), and we all got in free to Bee's Backyard (again thanks to WVIA). The aquarium was nothing compared to the ones in Baltimore or Camden (our two favorites), but we attended an interesting program about animals who live in the rainforest (tortoise, python, cockroach, and gecko), and the kids always enjoy touching sting rays. Ian was disappointed that their octopus had passed away. Nadia was thrilled that we used one of the gift cards from Aunt Millie and Uncle Al (Christmas gift) and had an early dinner at Red Robin before taking Oliver to his basketball practice. One unfortunate part of the day was a boy accidentally broke Ian's glasses while we were at Bee's Backyard, but considering he's worn glasses for more than four years, I guess I can't complain as this is the first time he's had a broken pair of eyeglasses.

7. That the five of us had a great day of skiing yesterday. Paul worked ALL day on Sunday so

he could join us at Ski Sawmill yesterday (he didn't get home from the plant until after 8:30pm on Sunday). I haven't been taking many pictures lately, but I took a LOT of pictures and videos yesterday. I'm including some of the photos and some of the videos in this post. WVIA used a picture of our family at Ski Sawmill last year on an email they sent out and also on the page on their website about this year's event. I was very surprised to see my face in an email from WVIA! In the afternoon as Oliver and I were in line for the T-bar, a man looked at me and said - you were on the WVIA website! I said he was right. He said he kept trying to figure out where he knew me from and then remembered it was the photo on the WVIA website. We're famous, ha ha! I pasted the picture from the email here (at left).

8. Coal and Cocoa turned three months old on February 11. Jenna (our guinea pig) seems to be doing fine so we aren't planning to adopt a second guinea pig. The bunnies are definitely getting used to us. We have all been licked by Cocoa. It feels very similar to being licked by a cat. Cocoa was very confused on Sunday when she licked my leg when I was wearing nylons. They almost always pee on their litter boxes, but they poop on their litter boxes less than half of the time. We are also teaching them not to bite the wood around our house. They want to eat our windowsills, baseboards, etc.

9. The kitchen table pad, which I ordered the end of December, finally arrived. I bought a new vinyl fitted tablecloth which has worked MUCH better than the linen tablecloths we had been using because #1 it stays in place (the kids were constantly pulling it), #2 it's easy to wipe up spills, and #3 it fits better as my other tablecloths were much too big for our new kitchen table. Having a vinyl tablecloth is not my first choice aesthetically, but practicality has won out to be sure as I didn't enjoy frequently laundering the linen tablecloths. I think between the table pads and the vinyl tablecloth our table should stay in good condition for many years to come. That's the goal anyhow! Paul drilled in glides to the bottoms of the chairs to protect our floor.

10. Nadia continues to make good progress in memorizing Hebrews and 1 Peter. She has been memorizing 21 verses per week so that she will memorize Hebrews, 1 Peter, and 2 Peter by June. She's already decided that next year she will start working on memorizing the book of Matthews in the middle of July because that book has more verses than these three books combined.

11. We've been doing some Junior ranger badges online and also by mail. Yesterday Nadia received a large envelope filled with goodies from a national park in Ohio about the Buffalo Soldiers. That had been an easy one to complete, and we only had to email something to show she had completed the quiz. She received a boatload of freebies for earning that Junior Ranger badge!