Park City Adventures

This is the first year in a long time that I have not had a season pass to one of the many resorts that surround us in this great state. Snowboarding/skiing has always been a huge part of my life, and always will, but this year it needed to be put aside as other responsibilities took it's place. However, when opportunities present themselves, you can always find me on the slopes. This month I had the opportunity of riding Park City Mountain Resort with my brother Robby and his girlfriend Amy...It was a blast!

Yes, I did survive a full day on the mountain with these two Artichokes (both attending Scottsdale Community College, home of the Artichokes)!

On January 10th a unique opportunity came my way. My little bother ran into an old family friend of ours who's son was currently working at the Utah Olympic Park in Park City. One thing led to another and the next thing I knew I was on one of 4 Olympic Bobsled tracks in North America.

This is the consent form that I signed releasing the park of all liability even if I were to suffer an injury due to their own negligence. Becky got quite nervous after this...

This is Becky being scared for my life.

Robby and I prepared to experience what was going to be one of the greatest thrills of our lifetime.

After getting situated in the sled at the top of the course I told the others that I wanted to get the best time of all the sleds in our group (5 sleds). The employees pushing us away accepted that request and pushed with all their might launching us onto the track. The first hundred feet or so the sled steadily increased speed. The first two turns were great as I was tucked in the bobsled position embracing my neck with my shoulders and grasping onto my handles. As time continued I soon found myself grasping the handles harder and harder. Turns came so quickly that my knees were thrust from side to side of the sled. The force was so powerful that every turn caused my head to be thrown down into my lap. After ten turns or so I remember wishing that the finish line was the next thing in our path. Four more turns later the driver pulled on the brake and we made it safely to the bottom...and yes, we were the fastest sled that night with 52.35 seconds. I will never forget this experience as we reached speeds of up to 80 mph. My neck mas sore for several days (from trying to resist the force) and my knees were banged up a little, but this ride was definitely worth it!

Christmas and New Years 2008

This year Brandon and I celebrated our second Christmas together as a married couple! It was great. I for some reason didn't take as many pictures but here is what I was able to get. We have a family tradition of getting matching pajamas every Christmas Eve. Here we are taking the classic pictures that we do every year since I can remember....

Those are the normal pictures. Recently we have liked to spice them up after with some tiger poses... (um what are you looking at Mera??:) This year we took it a step further... (ha ha Mera and Jason's faces are my favorite:)

Christmas morning..... No, we didn't get that dog. That would have been a fun Christmas surprise though. :) That was actually my parents Christmas surprise five years ago.

And for some reason that was all the pictures we really took Christmas day. But to recap in words..we spent our day traveling around visiting family. We enjoyed a wonderful breakfast at Uncle Sterling and Aunt Diane's place and then spent some time with Brandon's Dad, Bill, at his home. Then we headed up that evening to Park City to enjoy Christmas with Sheila, Brent and Ian. We had a great time visiting everyone. That evening, however, we had a little scare as we drove home through Parley's in the snow storm. I attempted to take a picture of the horrible roads but it does not do justice. Luckily for Brandon's amazing driving skills, Bill's 4 wheel car that he let us borrow and for answered prayers, we made it home safe!

New Years!We spent New Years this year with Crystal and Broc. It was great. For anyone that knows Crystal has to know that she does not go easy when it comes to throwing a party. She went all out on us. She made an amazing dinner and had the place all decked out. It was wonderful. Thanks Crystal and Broc for such a good night! The stroke of midnight....

Quick Update

It is possible that it is time for a new post! :) Things as always have been busy for Brandon and I. I recently quit my job with Del Sol and decided to pursure a dream that I have always had, go to Beauty School. I have enjoyed the challenge and have learned a lot. Brandon recently finished his second to last sememster at the "U" and came out shining with a 3.8. We are very excited for this next semester to be his last! Other than that we have been enjoying the holidays and spending time with family. My sister, Cathy, came in town from Seattle and I was able to spend a lot of time with her while she was here. We had a lot of fun. I am waiting for Brandon to download the pictures from the holidays so I will have to post those later. But I can't do a post with no pictures so here is one from a few months ago when Cathy came to visit. We are enjoying a Midnight feast from Del Taco and Wendy's. Pretty sure we were all pretty sick after this, actually we were all pretty sick while we were eating it. But it was fun :)

One more pic....my Del Sol family! This was my last day at work. Heather was so kind to make these yummy pumpkin cake dessert. They were so good! I miss these girls so much!