Snow Skiing!!!

We put it on the calander in early January that some friends of ours were going snow skiing on the 23 (a day of no school)!  So Isaac and I prepared on Saturday to go on Monday.  We rose early to get there early, they're only open from 9-5.  We got there about 9:30, signed all the waivers, got all of our equipment, and arrived for our group lesson.  Since there are 5 of us, there were only 2 people in our group that were not a Ralston! 
The lesson went well.  Jacob, Erica, and I all listened and worked hard to follow instructions.  Poor Isaac spent most of his lesson helping Mikayla who did not take to skiing very well!  I think she was the most excited about skiing before we got there.  At the end of the lesson, our instructor told Isaac and i that we should go far away from Mikayla.  To completely leave her alone on the bunny hill slopes.  He wasn't kidding either.

Mikayla during the trip --- So like i stated earlier, Mikayla struggled a bit in the beginning.  She wasn't sure she liked this at all.  I actually saw her at one point sitting and playing in the snow.  So during our lunch break, she watched a movie with a friend.  She decided that she wanted to go back out and ski.  No one went with her.  By the time I met back up with her, the place was closing in about 15 minutes and she was smiling from ear to ear and having a blast.  She was sad it was almost time to go.  She was skiing really well.  She would pop off her skiis and walk back up the mountain (using her skis as canes, of course) then ski down! 

Erica during the trip --- Erica never ceases to amaze me.  She is such a dear and never gives up on anything.  Erica started the day falling A LOT.  I think she spent more time trying to roll over and get back up, than she did on her skis.  However, we left her alone as well.  By mid day she was ready to go to the larger bunny hills, then she even made it to the green slopes (the easiest, but still had to ride the chair lift to get there)!  Amazing, right?!

Jacob during the trip --- Jacob is very quick to give up on anything and everything that might be a little difficult for him.  I guess he is afraid to fail, so would rather sit out than not try at all.  So he went through the lesson, tried a couple more bunny hills, then did the escalator lift with Isaac and fell.  he quickly decided he was done.  He went inside and Isaac was pretty sure he cried a little.  Lucky for us, one of his Young Men leaders from church came by and asked about Jacob.  Brother Harmon went to find him.  Before we knew it, it was lunch time and Jacob was having a blast.  Jacob conquered all the green slopes and even went down 2 of the blues.  LIKE WOW!!!!  Isaac and I were so incredibly proud of him.  I'm so glad he decided to go back out with his friends and Bro Harmon.

Isaac during the trip --- you probably remember that Isaac didn't get to participate much in the lesson.  He must've heard a few things, because before i knew it, Isaac was a pro!!  He was encouraging the rest of us.  Isaac seemed to have a blast.  I'm not sure if skiing was what he was most excited about, or just getting to be with us, but he was super happy all day!

Me during the trip --- you can imagine that I was excited for everyone to get to go.  The time together would be priceless, but there was a pretty big part of me that was scared.  After my year of injuries (being in the hospital in May, hurting my ankle shortly after that, breaking my knee cap shortly after that), and knowing that I blew my knee snow skiing when I was a senior in high school, i was scared!  The instructor during our lesson thought I was doing great.  Isaac was also very encouraging.  I just knew in my heart that there are no "take backs" if you get hurt!  LOL!  So i had a lot of fun playing around on the bunny slopes.  I then worked up enough gumption to go up on the escalator lift and go down that bunny slope!  I did that with Erica and Isaac!  Lots of fun.

I hope we have enough money to go back on the Feb 20 for President's Day...the next Monday that we are off work and there's no school!!!  Thank you Wisp Resort for having cheap Mondays!!!