2013 Holiday Trip

This year we began our holiday festivities by driving from Boulder to Utah to see Jerry and Keren's new place! My parents also flew out from Michigan so we could all spend a few days together.

We started out with a day of skiing at Snowbasin. I cannot believe how many resorts are within 15 minutes from their house. It's absolutely gorgeous in their little valley and they have the perfect place for what they love to do.

Mom and dad enjoyed the area tons and loved hanging out with their adorable golden retriever, Reilly.

We visited many of their favorite local restaurants, did lots of relaxing, and had lots of good laughs.

 We even made GF/DF waffles in Jerry's Red Wings waffle maker. It was pretty sweet.

Bryce had been itching to wear his new snowboard jacket for months, but I was adamant about him waiting until Christmas since it was a gift from our parents. However, we agreed he could open it Xmas Eve morning so he could wear it while we rode at Powder Mountain. He was pumped!

The skiing conditions were much better on Tuesday and we had a blast playing in the fresh pow pow at Powder Mountain. The resort only has four lifts, but there is plenty of acreage to create your own runs. We had a total blast.

Later that night, we made chicken fried rice for dinner and opened gifts with the fam. Mom and dad were stoked with their headphones and Jerry and Keren loved their Cuisinart breadmaker. I got some flannel lined jeans with bath salts for my new tub and Bryce got his Volcom snowboarding jacket. It was fun and low key evening, just how we like it.

Christmas day began with a chill breakfast at Jerry's place, then a long drive from Utah to Vail. We arrived around 5pm, just in time for another epic Barbara Bingham holiday feast. It was also great to see Brittany since she stayed in Cali for Thanksgiving this year.

Thursday couldn't have been a more beautiful day to be on the mountain. Although the snow wasn't as fluffy as it was in Utah, it was still fun to be back at Vail Mountain. I hadn't been to that resort since 2008! We relaxed another day in Vail then headed back to Boulder to work on the bathroom. Overall, it was a great week away from the bubble and a super fun time with both of our wonderful families!

Our favorite Georgians are in town!

That's right, Russ and Katie are back in Colorado! This time, one of Russ' sponsors put them up at the Ritz in Beaver Creek for the week...yep, baller! We met them up there for a day of riding on Friday then rescued them from the upscale world and brought them back to the bubble for a more normal environment!

We did lots of catching up, made some delicious food, put up the Christmas tree, and walked everywhere. We even got in a bit of shopping on Pearl Street. It was a quick visit, but a great one. It's always so nice to spend some time with those two!

The remodel is also coming around too. We're almost there! The vanity is complete with mirrors, cabinets and lights. Although we still have some minor detail work and touching up, it's fully functional which is all that matters right now.

We have also finished building our massive wall to wall wardrobes. This is what the inside kind of looks like. The left side is still missing lots of drawers, but you get the idea!

 This is how the doors look. At this point we had only hung the left side but the right looks identical. Again, still some minor tweaks, but it's functional and we're completely moved out of the downstairs guest room :)

Getting Closer

It's funny how the coldest week of the year is when our garage looks like an IKEA shipping department and I can't put my car inside...oh well, the remodel is a little more important than a frozen vehicle :)

We've been super busy putting in floor tile, vanities, tubs and toilets!

There's always a slight issue with every little part of the process but we're working through them slowly and finally starting to see the bathroom come together!

The toilet and vanity are fully functional which has been great. Now we just need to get the plumbing squared away for the tub drain and install the shower doors.

It really has been frigid here. Last week was 54 degrees on Monday then we never got over 5 degrees for the rest of the week. We even had a pipe freeze making the second of 3 showers unusable. Since paint doesn't dry well in colder temps, we decided to make our own trim painting station in the living room! Classy, huh?

Thankgiving Weekend 2013

This year we drove up to Vail on Wednesday evening to hang with Bryce's family for Thanksgiving. We hadn't seen Bruno (the dog) in a few months and needed a change in scenery for a few days.

Thursday was filled with walking the dog a few times, helping Momma Bingham with a few dinner items and lots of relaxing. Just what we needed. We couldn't believe how big Bruno had gotten...he's only 8 months. Although he looks like a full grown boy, he's definitely still a puppy at heart :)

Bryce's family was vegetarian for 20+ years and their normal Thanksgiving tradition is making a ''nut loaf'' instead of turkey. They have recently began eating meat so Barb decided to test out her turkey making skill this year! It was AWESOME!

She also prepared the most delicious gluten and dairy free meal ever, which included a pumpkin and apple pie. We are too spoiled.

 

We had planned on skiing on Friday but it was so warm and the snow wasn't that great. Instead, we came back down to Boulder and did a few bicycle rides and got the tile laid in the shower. It's all starting to come together!