Warming the bones

There's been lots of good skiing and lots of good winter thus far. We really can't complain. However, when I saw that the forecast for Santa Cruz was sunny with a high of 75 we packed up as quickly as possible.  It's kind of amazing to drive four hours, out of the heart of cold and snow, to then find yourself laying on the beach in your swimming apparel. There was a pretty big swell that hit Santa Cruz on our second day which certainly threw off our surfing groove but we took our boards out each day and chalked it up to a learning experience.

Instagram is really getting the better of me.  I did manage snap a few photos with the real camera one morning from the beach just below our campsite. They're so much more satisfying then the quick iphone photos.

Happy New Year!

Something tells me that 2013 is going to be a good one! We look back at 2012 feeling so blessed and so thankful that our Savior, Jesus Christ, does indeed save, making good out of bad and giving us hope for a perfect future.

Relay Peak

Ski touring and gun shooting

Beef

The freezer is full of beef once again. Somehow this happens on an annual basis. The grass-fed, home-raised, goodness piles high. So thankful for parents who so generously share the fruit of their labor.

My brother-in-law cued us in to an amazing blog and cookbook over the weekend.  Hank Shaw seems to have a simple approach to the pursuit of food; hes not a hipster agonizing about the carbon footprint of broccoli, he's just a guy who loves the idea that there are hundreds of delicious edible options in nature if you know where to look and how to harvest it. We are pretty impressed and inspired, you'll have to check it out and let us know what you think.

Sierra snow

 The Sierra crest is expected to get upwards of four feet of snow by Monday morning, which is a lot considering it didn't start snowing until last night. We went out for a little ski and enjoyed making comments about the numerous ill-fated drivers flailing in the ditches. It was snowing so hard that visibility was difficult, and by the time we skied out for an hour and came back to the truck, our skin track was completely covered. Storms like this always serve to put me in mind of the Donner Party, and I kept sizing up Denver's tasty loins in case we became stranded. Still trying to decide if this was a good idea.

Jake's Peak