Angel Fire ski trip

I'm trying to go back and catch up on life lately, like always.  Over Valentines weekend we took advantage of the Presidents' day holiday from school and made a trip to the mountains.  Hunter had just been to Dallas the Monday before, and quickly decided that he could not make the car ride with his shingles.  He was really wanting to try out skiing, but was in too much pain to enjoy the trip.  We were sad to leave him behind.  Hudson also came down with a stomach bug right before we left, so Macey and Sadie stayed in Abilene too.  We missed them all.  

Benton brought his buddy Hudson, and they had so much fun.  As soon as we got there, they were headed outside.  The Hanners view sledding as a contact sport, and Mark quickly had a sledding hill course marked out for races.

The boys all went to ski school the first day.  I skied with Mark, Erin, and Michael, while Nana kept Hank.  We all had the best day!  I watched lessons from afar, and Benton and Hudson were riding the lift and snowplowing down the bunny slopes.  Caleb did a lot of drinking hot chocolate, and Clayton went up the lift and was very proud to show me how to pizza.

As you can see from our t-shirts, sweat, and lack of snow, it was fairly warm.  Which was great for little ones!

These two had the best time on the slopes!  How cute are they???

When we picked them up after ski school, the older two wanted to go back the next day.  We did the bunny slope first to make sure they could turn and stop, then headed to the top.  Benton is fairly cautious in real life, and isn't super aggressive.  However, on the ski slope he was fearless and not afraid of going fast.  We spent a lot of the day encouraging yelling at the boys to turn and slow down. They loved every minute.  We stopped for lunch and G-Daddy treated them to his traditional ski snack...kit-kats.

G-Daddy is the master ski instructor 

After a morning on the slopes, we went to Taos for an afternoon showing of Kung Fu Panda.

Sweet friends!

My valentines dates

Back at the house, there was still daylight, so the boys were outside

little heartbreaker

Morning 3 of skiing

Finally wore these boys out!

SLOW DOWN BENTON!  This phrase was on repeat all weekend.  They had so much fun on the slopes and it was a blast to get to spend time together.  I can only imagine once the twins start flying down the mountain too!  Mark said skiing with Benton and Hudson brought back memories of teaching Hunter and Chase.  They had the same speed problems.

pit stops with boys:)

Hank was the best little traveler.  He was happy as could be eating and sleeping the entire way in his seat.  Start them young!  Unfortunately for Michael, he was on the changing end of a blowout diaper. Sorry 'bout ya!

After skiing with Benton for three days, I no longer had a voice when I got home from yelling so much.  As I get older, a successful ski trip for me is not falling or getting hurt, so we were happy to all come home safely.  We spent the month between Valentines and Spring Break all with colds that we had a hard time kicking, and Hunter was hurting with his shingles.  Thankfully, all that is behind us.  We look forward to next year all skiing together, and have another fun Angel Fire memory to add!