Family Skiing

We started taking the boys up skiing consistently starting in 2018 I believe. That was the first year they started lessons and they both were able to ski down the hill on their own by the end of the season. Since then we have committed to skiing every winter season together. We love that it gets us outside and doing something active during the winter months. And it's been important to us as parents to help the boys build skiing skills as it's a sport they can do all their lives and it's much easier to learn at a young age (I can attest to that since I learned in 8th grade and it was really hard by that point!). 

For a few years the boys did lessons--either private when they were younger or group when they got older. Starting last year we let go of forcing them to do lessons because the boys felt anxious about them and they really weren't getting a lot of ski time since the groups were so large.  Plus then COVID happened and we didn't feel comfortable putting them in lessons. So the past two seasons we've just skiied together as a family and it has been heavenly. It's one of my favorite activities to do as a family. We commit to going every weekend usually on Saturday starting the first week in January (we usually warm up with a ski day during winter break first) and go all the way through February. This season we got about 7 ski days in.

Every year it's so fun to watch the boys get better and better.  Thankfully they have their Papa as an instructor who is basically a pro. The boys' technique is looking really good and they're getting more confident all the time. In fact this year we spent a lot more time on black diamond runs. Some were very steep and I was so proud of the boys for working through their fears and just taking it one turn at a time to get down the mountain. It was a major lesson in "I can do hard things" and then once they conquered a difficult run, they wanted to do it again!  The challenging runs were more interesting and fun to them this year so they gravitated to them. I'm trying really hard to keep up--we'll see how long that lasts!  I also noticed this year that along with the skill improvement and growth in courage came a much stronger love and joy for the sport. Nathan even mentioned a couple weeks ago that skiing is one of his favorite activities! So that's exciting for us as parents. Looking forward to many more years skiing together and maybe soon starting to go on family ski trips!

Here's a look at the progression of our ski adventures through the years:

2018:

2019:

2020:

2021:

2022:

And here's just a little snippet of their progress by the end of the season.  

Holiday Season 2021

The holiday season is so fun--especially with the boys being at the ages they are. They still believe and everything is magical.  Although COVID was still present this year, it felt a little more back to normal which was nice.  I wanted to make sure to capture all the fun memories on here via photos.

We wasted no time getting into the Christmas spirit--even cheating a bit and starting it before the Thanksgiving holiday with a visit to Molbaks.  And then it was non-stop from there doing all the fun traditions with some surprises thrown in like Zoo Lanterns and the winter break snowstorm.

Annual Visit to Molbaks

Zoo Lanterns with Cousins

Getting the Christmas Tree (Keith & Scott Tree Farm)

Santa Visit and Snowflake Lane with grandparents

Nate Choir Concert & Snoqualmie Tree Lighting

Decorating Gingerbread Houses with Gramma

Christmas Cookies with Nana & Pops & Cousins

Santa Train

Nutcracker with grandparents

Christmas Eve

Christmas Morning

Christmas Day

Winter Break Snowstorm

It's been a couple months now since the holiday season and it's so fun to go through all the photos and relive it all again!  Such a special year and so many memories to be grateful for.  Can't wait for next year!

Soccer

This past fall both boys got to play soccer....finally!  After much of Nathan's season getting cancelled last year and Cameron's season being non-existent, it was so nice for both boys to have a full soccer experience this year.  And what a wonderful time for it because the skill level, coordination, and excitement for the sport grew exponentially in both boys this year!

Nathan's team was the Strikers with Coach Chad and Matt.  It was a mix of kids from all the local elementary schools so it was fun for Nathan to get to meet some new friends while also having some friends on the team he already knew.  Chad and Matt have been coaching together for a couple years so we came in to a very organized and engaged team situation.  Chad was on it as a coach and put a lot of time, effort and care into coaching the boys which we were so grateful for.  Nate played a lot of midfield, forward and defense and really enjoyed all three types of positions, but we think he's the best at midfield because he's pretty fast.  This year the boys played on a larger field and played 7 vs. 7 with a goalie.  It was the first year Nate started learning about staying in your position on the field, passing more to teammates and being strategic about how to play together rather than everyone just going for the ball at the same time.  And Nate's team was really good.  I'm not sure what their final record was, but I think they maybe lost only 1 time?  They did awesome in the finals weekend too, but heartbreakingly missed the finals by 1 point.  It was a great season though.  And more than anything Nate loved it, worked hard, learned a lot, got better, and made a lot of new, fun friends.  Crossing our fingers he ends up on the same team next year!

Cameron's team was the Striking Cobras.  It was made up of friends all from his elementary school including our next door neighbor Kellen which was fun.  He was coached by Annelle, a mom of one of the boys on the team.  Many of us parents helped her out too.  In fact I got to coach one practice this past season when Annelle was out of town which was pretty fun!  Cameron's age still plays on a smaller field and plays 4 vs 4.  Cameron was by far one of the more skilled players on the field.  It helped that he played 2 years ago and for many of the boys this was their first year. Plus Cam just kind of has natural coordination and sports skills. He's pretty competitive so he wants to always be better and improve his skills.  Cam did a great job this year though building up his teammates, giving them a chance to take the ball, and helping them to get better.  And Cam scored a lot of goals for his team!  It was really fun to watch.  He definitely loves soccer and was sad when the season ended.  At Nathan's age the season is longer and Cam was definitely jealous of that.  He was sad when the season ended!

I'm realizing that one of my greatest joys as a mom is watching my kids in their activities--their growth and skill development, learning about themselves, discovering what they love and don't love, experiencing victory and defeat, etc....I'm here for it all.  Can't wait for soccer next fall!