Well, we had our first big snowfall a couple days ago and the kids have been loving it! School has been delayed for the past two days. The first day the kids got all their snow gear on right after breakfast and attempted to make a snowman (I love having a backyard they can go out in and I can watch while standing over a warm heating vent). Unfortunately the snow was too light and would not stick together. It was, however, perfect for sledding, which we did later in the day. I wasn't sure how Annie would like it, but she was laughing and smiling the entire way down. She began doing this hilarious "happy screaming" as she went down. I think she heard 
her sisters doing it and started imitating it. Anyway, she is not afraid of anything and loves adventure! This is the first year I have all 3 kids loving sledding and doing it on their own (Ella was still pretty timid last year).Ella and Olivia have been getting a lot of snow time, however. They have been up skiing 3 or 4 times so far and are loving it (they either love it or the multiple hot chocolate bribes we use every time it looks like they are going to melt down). They make their dad very proud every time they profess their undying devotion to a sport that he thinks about all year round.
Speaking of Mark and skiing, we went skiing at Schweitzer in Northern Idaho last weekend with our good friends who live over there. We had a great time until Mark decided to take one last run in the terrain park. Mark attempted a jump and, unfortunately, he didn't quite clear it and came down really hard. He ended up tearing his ACL, his meniscus, and badly bruised the bones in his left knee. He could barely get down the mountain and we ended up getting some crutches for him. He is recovering and can now walk almost normally. It does look like he will end up getting surgery, unless he has no pain and his knee is stable when the swelling goes down. The orthopedic surgeon thinks that will probably be unlikely. We have heard that the recovery from that surgery is about 8 months long and can be pretty painful. Mark is really praying that he won't need surgery, obviously. He is also really sad that his skiing is over for the season. So am I as this means I get to take the kids to their ski lessons for the next 7 weeks, something I wouldn't normally mind except that I'm getting bigger by the day.
4 comments:
What fun! But no fun for Mark! Nathan's Dad had the same injury, falling straight down off their roof a few years ago around Thanksgiving. He did have to have surgery but recovered with physical therapy and climbed Mt. Rainier the following summer (he was due to lead some Scouts up and was determined to not let them down - he's a mountain climber, kayaker, etc.). I'm sure Mark, being so much younger, will recover a lot faster!
Yuck! The same thing happened to by ski crazy brother Jason and he had surgery when we were at BYU together. Not much fun for recovery either. Here's hoping that he'll recover okay. And...I totally laughed at your kiddos comments about your baby boy! The things they say! Love it!
The sledding pictures bring back fond memories of the last 2 winters of sledding with you guys. I can't tell you how upset Emily was when she heard you guys have had snow and got to go sledding. She was sobbing saying Seattle is so much better because they get snow. I guess we're going to have to drive to Mt. Hood to get some sledding in. I can't believe the picture of Annie! I did a double take because I thought it was Ella 2 years ago when we first met you guys. What a cutie!
Snow is always so fun!! Kids never seem to feel the cold the way adults do. I'm glad they had fun. Did they ever get to make their snowman?
I hope Mark is able to recover. He's active enough that a surgery like that will probably not be fun no matter how fast he recovers.
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