shredding + sledding in whistler

christmas time was wonderful.

it's been years since my side of the family has been all together for christmas, and the first time all the little cousins have met each other! skiing is my family's "thing" and whistler, like a second home. we've been skiing every year at whistler for almost 20 years.

we flew into seattle in the morning, went to church all together, then hopped in multiple cars to canada.
sage proved that she still does better on long airplane flights than short road trips.

things get a little trickier with 4 kids under 4, so we took turns babysitting and skiing. one day we bundled up the kiddos and took them on the gondola to have lunch with all the skiers on the mountain. 

sage looked like a sausage in all her gear, and fell asleep for the whole experience. she woke up as we were heading back down the mountain...
we successfully trudged through the blizzardy snow with a double and single stroller AND took those strollers up the mountain. in case you wondered, it can be done.

and we rode the peak to peak tram for the incredible views.

kills me that this photo is a little out of focus. my grandmother is an amazing woman who still skis anything at 78, and sage adores her.

these buddies are exactly one month apart. i had to stifle my laughter when they would whack each other. they were both at the learning-to-be-gentle phase.

we took all the kids sledding, and brave aspen strapped on the skis. as much as i wanted her to, it was pretty clear that sage was not ready to try skiing.

sage and camden weren't quite down with sharing the sled

my dad carried baby maddie

sage loved sledding...until nate sent her down by herself, the sled diverted routes, and she got some air then landed with a face plant. parenting fail.

i think my best memories of life are at whistler.

whistler, canada

after chicago, we finally arrived in seattle...and promptly loaded up the car for a ski trip.
it's always a treat to drive up to my family's condo in whistler, british columbia. we spent christmas at the condo last year, and just did a four day trip this year. turns out sagie is more well behaved on a 14 hour flight than a 5 hour car ride. she is not friends with her car seat. that girl likes to move!

everyone took a turn watching sage so nate and i could ski and snowboard. it felt so good to be back in the snow--it had been over a year since i'd been skiing.
we went with my uncle matt's family and had a blast.

this hat kills me.
my mom is the sweetest grandma and made sure sage had warm clothes to wear in the states
since we literally all came with one jacket and that was it.

beautiful little sister

it's always a party with uncle matty

my cousin blake and i used to take ski lessons together

riding the peak to peak

sea to sky

one of my favorite parts of the drive from seattle to whistler is the sea to sky highway going up into the mountains, right along the ocean. we stopped for a breather on the way home at the perfect late afternoon time. i so could live here.

a glimpse of the baby bump

gorgeous british columbia

steph

and we also wanted to see the new vancouver canada temple, so we took a little detour...

christmas in whistler

we conveniently forgot our camera in our rush to get to the airport, but it arrived yesterday from seattle (thanks mom!). we spent christmas with my family this year in whistler, british columbia. whistler is like my second home - i grew up going there every year, but we'd never gone for christmas before.

it snowed 7 feet in 7 days! annndd...i didn't get to ski even a little bit. i had been so excited to show nate my favorite runs, and where the best powder is, and how good the steak sandwiches at crystal hut are, but obviously, i am really happy and grateful to be pregnant. i was forbidden by my doctor to even think about skiing, so instead i imagined how good that powder was. it killed me to watch the boys + my sister walk out with all their gear in the morning, and it killed me even more to not hit the hot tub with them after a long day in ski boots. but i'd do anything for this little baby of ours.

instead, we had girl's day every day! my poor mom came down with mono a few weeks before christmas and spent most of whistler in bed, and my SIL wasn't feeling too hot either. my niece, aspen, was our main form of entertainment, plus playing in the snow, walking around with aspen in her sled, reading harry potter 7 again, and watching movies. it was so relaxing!

my cute, sick mom

aspen was so nice to the snowman. she even gave him hugs and kisses

gingerbread house contest...

steph was clearly the winner with her crushed-candy-cane-snow lined roof

christmas morning was a little different. we definitely missed chandler, who is serving a mission in toronto, but it was amazing talking to him on the phone.

are you kidding me?! she is the cutest. we were/are all obsessed with her. everyone should have christmas with a two year-old. she calls nate "jungle (uncle) nate"

the preggo/sickie girls rode the gondola up the mountain to meet the boys + steph for lunch. snowy, snowy day.

we played many games of greed. one of the punishments was to eat a slice of butter smothered in guacamole and chocolate sauce. sooo glad i didn't lose that one.


this was such a memorable christmas. i absolutely loved being with my family and being back in one of my favorite places of all time.