Ski Bunnies (JK We're Babes Now)

There is a tradition that as taken place since I was barely able to walk that my family refers to as the Ski Bunnies.  As you might have guessed, this tradition has something to do with skiing, but I'm not totally sure how the bunnies part came about.  Anyway, the Ski Bunnies is the annual ski trip that three mother-daughter pairs make to Park City for a weekend in the winter.  On average, there is a nine females at our house during this weekend each year.  A few years there has been eleven if the younger siblings come along, too. 

When my family moved from California to Utah before I was born, they left behind many of their friends and family members.  My dad's sister's friends all had babies the same year my sister was born, 1998.  These women became good friends with my mom.  The women all had other children that were born around the time I was, but they weren't all girls and we didn't have the same relationship all the 1998 girls had.  So because of this, I tag-along with the older girls on the Ski Bunnies trip. Now all of the older girls are about eighteen years old, I'm fifteen, the other younger girl is fourteen, so we are not quite cute little bunnies anymore, but more so some serious Ski Babes....hahaha totally kidding, we don't quite possess supermodel status.

A stylish bunch...check out Claire's Crocs and my gauchos!  From L-R: Grace, Emma, Gretchen, Claire, Braden, Mac, Me

Go Hard or Go Home

A couple weeks ago, we celebrated the wonderful holiday of Easter.  My family is not religious, so this is not a day where we think about Jesus and all the wonderful other religious things other families do.  We didn't even go to church.

We did, however, have an Easter egg hunt!  Ever since my sister and I were little I remember waking up early in the morning to find a note that the Easter Bunny wrote us sitting at the top of the stairs.  On this note, he wished us a "Happy Easter" and said how many eggs were hidden (always an even number so my sister and I got the same amount).

My mom told me this year that we were not going to have an Easter egg hunt because my sister and I are too old now.  My sister had egg hunts when she was my age, so I should get one, too!  Although, in the future I will not be having egg hunts while Claire is off at college (that's just sad), I was somewhat crushed inside, but I didn't care that much.

On Easter morning, we all got ready to go to brunch at our friend's house.  During the primping, my sister walks down the stairs and tells me we weren't going to have an egg hunt. That's old news girl, old news.  She ended up talking my mom into setting up our last egg hunt ever when we got home from brunch.

Guess what we did at this brunch?  We had an egg hunt!  However, it was more for the little grandchildren and not so much for the teenagers although we were encouraged to participate.  There is just something about taking candy from a baby that is so difficult, so me and my friend would walk every ten feet and pick up an egg (they were all scattered in a field), so I didn't get that many.  On our way back inside, there were eggs still sitting in plain sight that the toddlers had walked right past.  That is just SO sad.

Me mid egg hunt on Easter.  I was determined to get that blue egg.  Photo Courtesy of: Mi Madre

Spread Your Wings and Fly, Darling!

Sometimes kids just have more fun, it really is that simple. I discovered this was the case several weeks ago when my family and I were all sitting in our living room one night.  There was nothing particularly special about this night, we were just sitting there watching TV and talking.  I am not totally sure how we started doing this strange activity but I think it went something like this...

My sister, Claire, was lying on the ground in front of our TV with her legs in the air.  I walked past her and leaned over her feet to talk to her.  With my hands on the backs of her feet, I was putting some of my weight on her legs.

This sparked a memory from my childhood, something that every kid did at least once when they were small, airplane (although the internet does not know what I am talking about).  You know, when your mom or dad would lie on the ground and heft you up into the air.  Your tummy would be resting on their feet and your hands would be in their hands.  The parent would then proceed to move you side-to-side in the air like an airplane while you squealed with glee.

Look at that form. Photo Courtesy of: Moi

The Pokey Puppy

Put simply, life can be rough.  It's definitely not always fair and sometimes it seems just plain sucky.  The worst things seem to happen suddenly, you don't expect what is to come and hope that it never does (or at least not for awhile).  These times in life leave me contemplating why things happen.  People tell me frequently, "Everything happens for a reason."  But is there really a reason for the bad things in life?  Do these things really make me a better person?  Quite personally, I don't think they do.  I think I would be just fine if my life was sunshine and roses all the time, but that's just not how it goes.

This weekend started off pretty great.  I was babysitting for this family down the street on Saturday morning and was looking forward to earning some pocket money.  A few hours after I got to their house, I was reading the two little boys books.  My phone started ringing and I asked the little boy if it was okay if I answered it.  He of course said no, but I ignored him anyway.

Love you, Henry

I wondered why my mom was calling me - she knew where I was - but I didn't think much of it.  On the other end of the phone something in my mom's voice sounded off.  I could tell that she was trying not to sound sad and keep it together.  My mom tells me that she took our dog, Henry, to the vet and his wound (he was bitten a little while ago) had become really infected.  I thought maybe she was going to tell me that he had to get surgery or something, but then she tells me that it was decided that he was going to be put down.  In just a couple hours.  Henry had some previous health issues including a heart murmur, being blind in one eye, practically deaf, and he had been losing weight and having accidents almost daily.  For these reasons, operating on him was riskier and wasn't totally worth it.

I was trying to choke back my tears but couldn't stop them from falling down my face.  She asked if I wanted to see him before he was put down.  Of course I wanted to see him and say goodbye one last time. Unfortunately after hearing this depressing news I had to continue babysitting.