Cabin in the Snow

We just got home from a fabulous weekend trip up North! Uncle Rog reserved his company cabin for the weekend and we were so excited to get away from the city and enjoy the fresh pines.  I love Arizona so much and never want to move!  On our drive out of the city we saw a lot of mountains and cacti.

Another hour up north and we were in the pines.  It was chilly, but not too cold, and we just soaked in the fresh air.

When we approached Mormon Lake, we saw snow!!! YEAH!!  This was only the second time that Kam has seen the white stuff and Owen had never seen snow before this weekend!! 

Most of my family arrived the day before, so everything was unpacked and ready for fun!  The kids bundled up in their snow gear and we headed out to play.  Owen was rockin' Livvy's pink boots until we found some in his size.

Gigi and Kam had so much fun jumping around and throwing snowballs.  They played outside the entire weekend!!

Owen stayed put in one spot until we moved him to another.  The piles of snow were way too hard for him to walk through. 

Snow also makes a great oxygen tank holder.  :)

Yeah.. daddy found boy boots in the cabin boot closet.  Owen played with four big snow balls for the longest time.  He can stay entertained so easily and had a blast!

Kamryn made snowballs for Owen because his "globes" were too big and we couldn't fit his fingers in. 

Owen wanted to jump around and play with the girls, but he kept sinking.  Daddy was trying to help him get the up on his feet.

Livvy came out to play too.  She hated to wear her mittens, but her little fingers were frozen. :)

Here's my Man.. looking all mountain man with his beard.

After about an hour of snow play, Owen had enough of the cold and went inside to read books and play. 

Carson played pool, or "bowling" as Owen called it.  Owen would line up the balls and then roll the white ball until it knocked the rest into the pockets.  He played this "bowling game" a million times this weekend!

The kids slept so good at night and it was fun for them all to wake up in their jammies together.  We made a big breakfast, then Rog and Grandpa came back from Flagstaff with Donuts and Oreos.  Nothing like sugared up kids in the morning! 

After getting dressed, the girls went with Chris down to clean the snow out of the fire pit.  They were getting the fire started for S'mores!!  The girls only made it about 30 minutes before they were back at the cabin getting warm and cozy.  I love this picture of Kam and Livvy..  I love that my kids have so many cousins to grow up with!!

After realizing there is no way I could hike up to the fire pit in the snow, carrying Owen with his snow suit on, and lug an oxygen tank behind us... I decided to take the stroller.  Thank goodness for our super baby jogger deluxe.. it cruised over most of the snow! It was also nice to keep the stroller at a far distance from the fire pit... darn oxygen. 

The kids roasted marshmallows, ate chocolate and Owen froze.  He couldn't wait to go back to the cabin and get warm again. 

Livvy was cracking us all up.  She ate a million marshmallows and kept coming back to the bench "Nanny nanny?  Where da cocolate?"  She is such a great eater.. I keep thinking it'll rub off on Owen a bit.

Kelli (my sis), Gi Monster and Kam were roasting mellows.  Well, Kam was posing as always!

Uncle Larry.. this one is for you.  My pops and his big bro (Uncle Rog) at the campfire.   My dad is known for his crazy food concoctions... he taught Kam to take two marshmallows on a stick and smash the chocolate between them before roasting... then he had her eat it right off the stick. 

We didn't last long at the fire pit before Owen and Liv were ready to get warm.  Owen said.. "lets not do that again.. I don't like the cold!"  We warmed up inside and played blocks.  These two are a year apart in age and they bicker like crazy.  99% of the time it's Owen pestering Liv because she's the only one close in age to him.  Ugh.  Someday they will be best friends I just know it!

We ate some hot soup for lunch and packed up our bags.  My mom was so tired on this trip and rested a ton, while I spent all my time behind the camera.  Gigi has some fantastic pictures on her iPod touch, so I will update those later!! 

It was late afternoon when we packed up our cars and hit the road back to the valley.  The road trip home was so beautiful and quiet. 

We had such a great time getting away and enjoying nature.  While the snow is really fun, we are glad we only visit it once every eight years!!   We are definitely desert dwellers that prefer flip flops over snow boots!