Our family Christmas present last December was a Spring Break ski trip. We made a paper chain that seemed to go on for miles to help us count down the three long months. It’s amazing how quickly the time actually went!

When you are responsible for feeding seven people three meals a day, you get creative (and frugal). To feed all of us on the slopes, rather than buy lunches, we stash homemade cliff bars into our pockets. They are packed with calories, thus fueling us for the day. The night before our trip, Ruthie and I made 72 of them.

The next morning, Derek and Ruthie looked at the trail map with anticipation.

Molly knew something was up:  our luggage was sitting by the front door, and the house was cleaner than usual. She thus began her nervous panting and cuddling.

Here we are ready to hit the road in a car which, thanks to Jim, had been fully wired for PS3 fun.

We stopped approximately every four hours for gas. At the 12:30a.m. stop, Jake decided he would attempt to build an antenna in the car so that he could tap in to local weather stations.

He was successful. And we now have a wire that strings from one end of the backseat to the other.

Jim had read about a very popular diner in Steamboat called Winona’s. They are famous for their cinnamon rolls. So our Easter breakfast upon arriving at our destination was famous cinnamon rolls.

It didn’t take us long to understand why they were famous. Whoa.

We had some time before we could check in to our hotel, so the hotel allowed us to swim while we waited.

This was the perfect way to stretch the legs after a long car ride.

Since everyone else was on the mountain skiing, we literally had the place to ourselves.

After a good night of sleep, we were up bright and early for skiing. Jake got up especially early to swim some laps, only to find out that the pool doesn’t open until late morning. Boo. He opted to run instead.

Up the gondola:

And eager to go down.

The weather ended up being so warm today, we saw some guys skiing in shorts.

The three older boys were on their own for the day, skiing all sorts of runs–including black diamonds.  Meanwhile, Jeremiah stuck with Jim and me. He conquered his first blue run of the day with excellence.

Ruthie was a champ at ski school, weaving through cones.

We all met up at the base, exhausted, yet excited to go back tomorrow.