Ski School at Mt. Hood Meadows

 Jourdan is still planning on earning ALL the Boy Scout Merit Badges, so we decided to start on a few of those that we feel will take extra effort to complete.  (By the way, if you own a sail boat or water ski, or know someone who does, we need your help.)  So, over the Christmas break from school, Jonathan took the kids skiing.  Neither of the kids had ever been before, so they signed up for a beginner class.  Although Jonathan skis rather well, he took the class too because wanted to be with Jourdan and Julia and the cost of the class includes 3 days on the mountain with lessons plus gear for about the same price as one adult lift ticket and gear.  He hadn't been skiing in 20 years (almost to the day since he took me to Keystone in Colorado just before we were engaged), but he said it was just like riding a bike.

Both kids did really well on the slopes so they went again on New Year's Eve and are looking forward to another day skiing later in the season.

And things like this experience are why I love living in the Northwest.  If we want to ski or play in the snow, we can drive to the mountain and play in the powder within 90 minutes.  BUT, we don't get much snow in the valley, so I don't have to shovel, buy snow tires, or put chains on my car to get to the grocery store.  If we want to go to the beach, we can make a 2 hour drive and be at the coast.  Everything we could want to do (well, almost everything) is a short drive away. So while some complain about the rain, I'll take it!  (If we could somehow manage to order more thunderstorms in the Northwest, I'd go for that change.)

I didn't go with the kids and Jonathan because I was watching the neighbors dog and dealing with computer repairs.  I have to give props to Jonathan for managing to take pictures of the kids with the summit of Mt. Hood in the background.  I'm so proud - I've taught him everything he knows about taking pictures.  (He gets better at his shot compositions every year!)