This past weekend we finally made it out to Park City to look at the Olympic Park from the Winter Olympic Games that Salt Lake City hosted in 2002. We took one of Danny's workmates who was visiting from Toowoomba & made an afternoon of it.
There were some aerial skier's practicing which was lots of fun to watch. Sorry about the blurry video quality... not sure what happened there.
The boys loved playing on this replica bobsled!
Some of the toys made for the games.
Medals
Looking around...
Some of the Opening Ceremony props. They were amazing up close.
Interactive sking game downstairs.
This is why we will be snow snobs for the rest of our lives. Utah powder on the right, most other places on the left. Snowboarding just won't be the same anywhere else I don't think...
My Mum & Sister-in-law, Lara, have been exploring the raw food movement for the last couple of months & Mum has been catching me up on some of the things they are learning over her visit. If you want to get the basics have a look at the page about Raw Foodism on Wikipedia.
I am interested & open to new ways of eating & cooking but have the challenge of catering to my husband, who prefers meat & 3 vegetables, & 2 somewhat fussy eaters. Some nights all 3 of them flatly refuse to eat what I have lovingly prepared, the last recipe being a vegetarian curry. I figure if all 3 of them claim that its inedible then majority rules & they can have toast.
When a local friend found out that Mum was interested in raw food she mentioned Omar's Rawtopia, a restaurant in downtown Salt Lake City. Mum was very keen to check it out so we decided to wait till a child-free day & then venture down.
The menu was interesting. Although the meals had names that were recognisable, they looked very different when they appeared on the table. The first photo was of Raw Pasta on the left & Pizza on the right. I had a moment of feeling quite dubious when the meals appeared but pushed forward with bravery... and was well rewarded! It was on of the most amazing taste sensations that I have experienced. Different but not too different to be undeserved of being called a pasta dish.
Mum loved it!
And finally... dessert!
A chocolate, vanilla Creme Pie with raspberry sauce & blueberries.
It was amazing!
So although I cannot say that I am an instant convert to the raw food lifestyle I had a very positive experience & will piggyback on any good recipes that Mum & Lara discover along the way. If I find an especially good one I might just share it here, ok?!
I have some news for those of you following my knitting journey. The beautiful scarf has now been completed! The question is... who completed it?
Who is this mystery knitter that would allow herself to be convinced to finish yet another project that her daughter started...
Why my Mum of course!
She also knit me this cute matching headband that I have been seeing a lot around the city on other girls heads. I wanted one & my Mum is smart enough to be able to make it in one night without a pattern.
Isn't she amazing!?
So are you ready to hear the reasoning behind handing over the completion of the scarf?
We leave for Australia in 10 days & I really wanted to be able to wear my scarf before we left. At my current rate of knitting output there was no way that was going to happen. So I decided that my desire to wear & enjoy the scarf outweighed my need to finish it myself. My Mum is a super knitter & she basically had that last ball knitted up in about 2 days whereas it would have taken me much longer.
So judge me or not - here I am, a happy girl with a new pretty scarf that I intend to wear everyday for the next week & a bit!
This weekend we chose to make the most of our close proximity to one of the more famous independent film festivals. Most of you would have heard about the Sundance Film Festival which is actually held in Park City, just a short 1/2 hours drive north of Salt Lake City. The locals joke that its the one week a year where the town is overtaken by 'the people in black" i.e. New Yorkers & other very hip film makers.
We walked along the main street to take in the famous theaters, some very well dressed crowds & talented buskers before heading up to a cute cafe where we had a second delicious breakfast. The cafe had prominently placed signs on the tables stating that there was positively absolutely to be no meetings held at the tables unless the tables were rented out for that purpose. They then listed the rates as starting at $45/hour. Interesting huh? I guess these New Yorker types like to hog tables causing endless frustration to the waitstaff, business owners & other hungry patrons.
Jamin sampling the hot chocolate after braving the -8'c cold outside.
Me & my boy, who's growing up awfully quickly! He was doing the toddler walk around the tables charming all the other customers.
Oma had her work cut out for her chasing the boys around the cafe. We had a long wait for the food so the extra set of hands was so very appreciated!
A very fun morning. Too bad I wasn't able to get any tickets to the films. Maybe next year we can actually take in a film & really experience the festival...?
Our (not so) little Kael is sick again... We had a grand total of 9 days between the bad flu that he picked up somewhere & this new cold that has gone to his chest & turned into croup.
9 days!
But it was a great 9 days where we remembered what a happy, inquisitive, independent little boy he is. Lucky for that because when he is sick he turns into a cranky, clingy, impossible baby. It's not his fault but it sure does make life a lot less enjoyable & more complicated for the family.
Oma is also having a hard time charming him into loving her in his current state. But she says that she won't give up - she will win him over! Lucky for us because we are hoping to get away alone for a night up at the ski resort & it will be much easier if Kael actually likes his Oma :)
Anyone have any suggestions for keeping Kael from picking up every virus that floats by him?
After a week of extreme uncertainty about whether she could get to the airport from flood stricken Toowoomba, Oma arrived to greet an extremely excited Jamin. We are so happy & relieved that she was able to find a charter flight from Toowoomba to Brisbane airport on Friday afternoon.
We are looking forward to a few weeks of showing Mum around a snow covered Salt Lake City, so very different to the summer she experienced here 6 months ago.
Our time with Danny's parents has come to an end & they are off to hop on their plane home to Australia. We have had such a wonderful time full of adventures & memories that I'm sure we will all remember for a very long time. We are all glad that it is only going to be a short 5 weeks until we see them again for our holiday in Australia.
The boys having a last story time with Gran, wearing the new shirts she bought them yesterday.
... and there has been an awful lot of activity around our home. Having a 3 & 1 year old means that our decorations sit on the top half of the tree, the presents don't come out until after they have gone to bed on Christmas Eve & the nativity set has spent more time scattered around the house than together on the fireplace. Now that we have gone to a Christmas Eve service & wished all of our Australian families a merry Christmas it actually feels like Christmas is here, despite the snow melting on the ground outside & the very chilly weather. I cannot describe how weird it is to not feel hot & be eating salads this Christmas like so many of our past Australian Christmases.
I am keenly feeling the separation from my family who are gathered back home at my Aunty Sandies house, with a whole lot of yelling & laughing, eating & loving. They may even be eyeing each other furtively to see if anyone has the guts to start a water fight in the wet December weather.
I am so very thankful that we have Danny's parents here to share the love & the memories of our first American Christmas. Family makes everything special & meaningful.
Our tree on Christmas Eve, complete with a skirting of snow & a load of presents.
Thankyou family for sending them so very far for us!
Our gorgeous nativity set which reminds us of the very special baby behind this celebration.
Thankyou God for loving us so very much that you sent your son.
One of the things that I love about Danny is his spirit of adventure & guess who he got it from? His Mum!
When Sue arrived in Salt Lake City a few weeks ago she was keen to try snow skiing for the first time in her life. She gave her travel insurance a call the night before our trip up to the slopes & upped her insurance to include sking & off we went. The first morning she had a lesson for a few hours to get the basics down, then she was off!
Down the bottom of "Easy Street" just near the lift.
Looking pretty proud of herself for her great effort!
The next week Danny & his Mum & Dad headed back up the mountain with our friend Valerie for our normal Wednesday morning ski. Sue hit the slopes again with Valerie giving her some pointers. After a morning sking down "easy Street" Valerie thought Sue was ready to head up the Moonbeam lift to try out the next level slope "Same Street". Now I just have to say for the record here that I only headed up this slope on Sunday for the first time & my oh my it's just a little bit daunting. Nothing like the bunny slope that we had been learning on! But here is a video of Sue doing an amazing job skiing down the first part like a pro... except for the bit where she crashes at the end.
Unfortunately it wasn't this ski where she fell & tore her ACL & MCL, rather the next one. Oh dear.
Danny snowboarded down to get some help while Valerie stayed with Sue. Then these guys show up before Danny could even get back. They just patrol all of the runs looking for people who might need some help.
The tobagan looks pretty comfy & they put her leg in a lovely splint. I think they might have done this a few times before... They did comment that everyone was far too cheery for it be too bad an injury.
And down the hill she goes! Looks kinda fun hey?
They have a pretty amazing medical clinic at Solitude, complete with X-Ray machine. Although she went for an MRI later in the day, the Physician's assistant here was spot on with her diagnosis.
Sue has been recovering really well over the last week & she started having some physiotherapy yesterday. She might not be up to any sledding with the boys just yet but she is still making the most of the holiday.
This morning we ventured out of the house to This is the Place Heritage Park. It's basically an outdoor park based on the history of the Mormons coming to settle in Salt Lake City. I have been meaning to take our last 3 visitors here but never got to it. A little ironically, we finally make it in the dead of winter when not much is happening. The boys were nonetheless happy because we got to take a train tour around the park. They didn't mind the cold because we were all rugged up in our jackets, mittens & beanies
Some beautiful views of the mountains.
Brigham Youngs forest farmhouse. He didn't actually live here but housed 4 of his wives & threw a lot of parties. And this is the leader of the Mormon church?
Another beautiful view across Salt Lake City.
These trees behind Gran & the boys are Northern Oaks and are 2000 - 4000 years old. Wow!
Some of the few animals left in the Park. The rest have gone to Nevada for the winter & are apparently very happy.
Horses, in case you didn't know. Kael thought they were cows :)
Jamin & I taking a self portrait. Thanks for the hat Ainz!
The reindeer that are in the park for the special Christmas lights they have on at night. Would have been great to go but I cannot face a nighttime outing with two young boys in the dead of winter. Kael got very excited to see them but seems to be a little stuck on his cow sign for most animals he sees. I can understand that.
