Tasha's Chat'N'Chew: Fun and Snow in Big Sky, MT

We headed out for our annual ski trip thanks to Billy's CFO conference a few weeks ago. This year, it was in Big Sky, MT. I had never been to Montana before, so I was pretty excited to see a new place in the U.S.

Ready for our trip to MT! He got his new ski goggles in the mail.

One thing I always hate to do when flying with kids is flying too early or too late. While looking for tickets into Bozeman, I realized that we could either go early or arrive late. Booooooo! We ended up opting for leaving early ... so we headed to the airport at 4 a.m. While that was miserable, we did fly into Bozeman before noon. That was really nice! Big Sky is only about an hour and a half away from the airport, so we made our trip out there. We got to rent a larger vehicle than we own, so I was pretty excited to see what it might be like to own one. Both Billy and I were pretty impressed ... can't say for sure, but I think we'll eventually get a bigger car ... road tripping up north every year has posed a necessity for more space.

Can you believe she finally has some hair!?! On the flight, I noticed a little curl or two.

Colton is spending some quality time on the DS while at the airport.

Alice enjoying some time in the airport off of Mommy's lap!

We made it!

Anyway, Montana is B.E.A.U.T.I.F.U.L! It's probably the prettiest place in the U.S. ... I mean, seriously. Big Sky is a gorgeous resort with spectacular mountain views. We were excited to get everyone skiing. That night, we took the kids out into the snow to play. It was Allie's first time ever seeing or feeling snow. She really liked the snow ... but about 10 minutes of being out in the cold air, she started fussing. She wasn't a fan of the cold ... just the snow! Cole and Koki could've played and played in the snow. They loved it! Kokes just wanted to run up and down the mounds of snow over and over. They were pretty excited to be there!

Playing on the snow banks!

Allie's first time in the snow.

Touching snow for the first time!

She seems to like the snow!

With my silly girl!

I love this girly!

Great views from our hotel.

Pretty sunlit mountain!

People ski on that peak ... not me people but people.

This large bear was in our hotel lobby. The kids thought it was pretty cool!

On Monday morning, we put Colton into ski school and Koki went to a lesson called 'Small Fry Try'. They both LOVED it! I was so happy to see how much they were enjoying it. Monday afternoon, we put the kids into daycare, and Billy and I skied together. It was gorgeous! There were so many runs, and it seemed like no one was out there with us. Billy is such a good husband ... he went on all greens with me all afternoon. We had a long afternoon of skiing! It was really great!

Khloe with her teacher, Miss Jill!

Learning how to put on her skis.

Already going down the hill!

So brave! She loved going down the hills.

Khloe-girl going down the slopes! First time skiing!

Our big boy ... ready to learn to ski!

Headed down the hill!

Small hill the first day.

Colton's first ski lesson.

Cole during his ski class.

All smiles!

Going down the big hill already by the second day. That little kid coming your way is Cole!

His second day skiing!

Ski Base Area

We headed out to ski together in the afternoon!

What a view!

There's Bill ahead of me ... like usual.

On a lift ... so much beauty all around.

Heading up to another ski run.

We stopped in the middle of a run to take a picture, because the view behind us was so gorgeous!

There's a better look at the view.

That peak looms over all of the skiers ... it's gorgeous!

Headed down my favorite run of the day!

On Tuesday, Billy had to go to his meetings in the morning. I took the kids to breakfast early, so that Colton could get to his lesson again. Meanwhile, Alice was eating the hotel out of house and home! She had four pancakes, a scoop of eggs, and some cheerios every morning. On top of that, some mornings she added a bowl of yogurt and/or a croissant. She must be in the midst of a growth spurt! By the end of Colton's second day of skiing, he was going down the large bunny hill. He had mastered pizza, and he was moved up to the next ski level. I am so proud of him! Billy spent the afternoon skiing by himself ... it was quite costly to have the kids in the daycare, so we opted out of doing that again. On Tuesday night, we had a big dinner with everyone. It is always so nice seeing our friends who work at other hospitals in other states.

Enjoying some time with my girls.

This was her first picture. I asked her to smile.

So, I had to ask her to give me a pretty smile.

She is my pretty dolly.

She was writing in the hotel room one day. She came running in to show me that she drew me a 'T' for Tasha!

Wednesday, Colton went to ski class again. That night, we went tubing/sledding down the slopes. The kids thought that was so much fun! Allie loved the snow so much. She wanted to be put down, so she could crawl around and eat it! Every time I picked her up, she would beg to be put back down.

Tubing fun!

Colton ready for some tubing action!

Colton heading down the snow hill!

Koki is ready for her turn!

There she goes!

On the slopes!

A snow angel

Alice loved that snow!

She got some on her glove ... and had to give it a little taste.

See her tongue?

It made her laugh!

So she tried it again!

And it made her laugh even harder!

This girl is so funny!

Khloe doing some snow angels.

Colton joining in on the snow angel fun.

Body Sledding with Daddy!

The kids just wanted to slide all of the way down the hill!

Three little snow bunnies.

Warming up with some roasted marshmallows and hot cocoa.

Loving her s'mores!

On Thursday, Billy had meetings in the morning, then we packed up and headed out early. We got a hotel down by the airport, and we went and spent the day in Yellowstone. It is such a beautiful park! It's like stepping back in time. We saw buffalo, big horned sheep, elk, mule deer, prong horned deer, an eagle, and a prairie dog! It was magnificent! I'm so glad the kids were able to see so many animals.

For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People.

Family shot

Colton took this picture.

Khloe took this picture.

Mommy took this picture.

Kok found a friend!

Action shot!

All of those little white dots closer up in the shot are prong-horn deer.

Closer up look at the prong-horn deer.

We had a really nice trip, and we got to see some good friends. Montana and Wyoming are two states that I had not been to before, but I sure do hope to get back to someday soon. I'm looking forward to next year, already! (And I think the kids are, too!)

Since we've been home, we've just been getting back into the swing of things. We visited with some of my cousins who came down to FL for spring break. Colton finished football, and his team won the Super Bowl! He was really excited to get a big trophy. He is enjoying his reading and is doing well. He loves school and doing his school work. I hope that never leaves him. Khloe is starting to get ready to ride a bike with no training wheels. She has asked me about doing that twice. I think we'll start to work with her balance bike now. She is loving her swimming classes, and I hope to put her into gymnastics soon. Alice has been attempting to walk. She wants to so badly, but she doesn't quite get how to do it. She took three steps last night. So, she's on her way. She is saying several words, though. She says, 'shoes', 'sis' (referring to Khloe), 'thank-you', 'more', 'done', 'down', 'yay', 'snack', 'num-num' (to eat), 'ma-ma', 'da-da', and 'ni-night' ... we're working on 'please', 'milk', 'hi', 'bye' (right now she just waves when you say 'hi and bye') ... among other words. I feel like she is growing so much! Her teeth are bothering her right now. She struggles to sleep soundly. Her bottom right canine has broken through ... that makes 9 teeth. Her molars are bulging, so I'm sure they will break through any time. I'll be glad when that happens ... it will open so many more doors at mealtimes.