I’m writing this post from home. To be honest, it’s kind of bittersweet to be back after having such a great time together in Colorado.

One morning, Peter and Ruthie made blueberry pancakes using the ‘skeleton crew’ of kitchen utensils available to us.

They were delicious! The kids enjoyed sharing a room together, though it took a couple nights for them to get used to the snoring of a certain unnamed sibling.

Jeremy improved as a skier by leaps and bounds in just a matter of days. His new favorite run is “See Me”:  a black diamond run. Yes, he skied a black at age 9!

After taking a couple lessons, Ruthie joined the rest of us for a totally fun family skiing day.

Up the gondola…

The little tykes learn to ski without poles since the poles can be cumbersome, especially on the chair lifts. Ruthie did not like this and persistently asked for poles. We compromised by having one of us pull her on the flats with one of our poles.

She was (not surprisingly) quite competitive with her four brothers, challenging all of them to race her down one of the runs. They obliged and even let her win. Such good boys.

Jake, Peter, Ruth and I skied together down one particular run that was new to me. Jake led, not realizing that Ruthie was following his every move. For variety, he decided to ski off the path and into a little grove of trees. Unbeknownst to him, his little follower was right at his ski tips.

After realizing she had followed him and subsequently got stuck in the deep snow, he turned back to help her out.

It really was precious to watch the boys dote on their little sister.