Winter fun - part two

Every year in the middle of the winter my family goes up to my cousin's cabin near Brighton ski resort to enjoy the outdoors and each other's company. It is usually great fun (some years have actually been very stressful) and great exercise.

On Friday night E and I left for Big Cottonwood Canyon with our car packed to the brim with warm clothes, good food, and all our snowshoe gear. We arrived at parking lot soon after dark, unloaded the car, strapped on our snowshoes, and walked the two or so blocks to the cabin with all our stuff.

Finally inside (we had some problems with parking in a snowy lot and my mom throwing the keys into the snow) we warmed up and started dinner. My mom and Chuck brought all the ingredients for fish tacos, and we enjoyed the hot meal and a very intense game of Taboo.

When we arrived there was no ice in the freezer, so my mom is having a Gin and Tonic with a snowball!

The next morning my Grandma, Chandler, and the Laytons arrived. E and I were in charge of breakfast and we whipped up a yummy breakfast of hash with eggs, onion, peppers, hash browns and cheese! After breakfast, a little rest, and another game of Taboo (where my Grandma was so funny!) we packed up lunch and headed out to the mountain. Unfortunately, it was a cold yucky day. It wasn't snowing, but the cloud cover was thick and the sky was dark. The snowshoeing was fun despite the bad weather, and E and I both felt in-shape, on one incline we both didn't loose our breath, which is a good thing!

Ethan, Kendra and Laura lead the way.

Back at the cabin I played with my dolls, colored, read, napped and pretty much relaxed for the rest of the afternoon. Then at 5:00 the Meyer family tradition started, cocktail hour! This tradition is not something to be taken lightly, oh no. Not only do you get a drink of your choice, but there are lots of pre-dinner snacks. And these are not just any snacks, they are deluxe. We had a cheese board, nachos (because the theme for the night was Mexican), margaritas, fruit, veggies, and so much more!

Cocktail hour begins!

By the time dinner rolled around nobody was hungry, but of course we had a fantastic dinner prepared. Grandma made fajitas that were so tasty! After dinner we set up a game of Cranium and had birthday brownies (happy birthday Kendra!). Of course E and I kicked butt, and won the game ;).

Later in the night E, Chuck, Mike, my mom and myself got into a debate about religion. Debates are always great fun, but are a little hard when you are talking about something so personal. E, Mike and I all said if there is no proof than don't believe, Chuck and my mom were saying there had to be something out there. The debate got heated at times, but all in all it was a good talk.

The next morning E and I woke up to the smell of baking biscuits. We wandered upstairs to find a yummy breakfast of eggs, hash, biscuits, and grapefruit being prepared. Soon all ten of us sat down to a fantastic breakfast.

Later we played a few games of Blokus and cleaned up the cabin. Before we left I decided to take a little walk with Hazel because the sun was finally out. I snapped a few cute shots of her, and enjoyed being in the woods alone.

Soon it was time to leave, and again the car got stuck in the snow, but before we knew it, we were on our way home, happy from our winter weekend.

Oh, I almost forgot! This is the view from the cabin of Big Cottonwood Canyon. E and I would live up there if we could.