SNOW!!!

I find it so fascinating that it can be warm and sunny one day and snowing like the dickens the next! Almost all our snow was melted and now everything is covered by a thick, white blanket. It hasn't stopped snowing all day and we have at least a foot of accumulation. In light of Tuesday's tragedy, the snow is a welcome diversion. I thought I'd share these beautiful (and funny) photos...


































Turner went out to measure the snow. He is in his boxers, my boots and his dad's jacket. Rocky went out to "play" with him. In his playfulness, Rocky jumped up on Turner...















knocked him over and began to lick him. The really funny thing was that Turner had his arms inside his jacket and couldn't move. He was laughing...I was laughing. It was hilarious!!!















The lighter photo on the left was taken from my office window (you can see the reflection). There is a beautiful blue hue saturating the air...so peaceful. It's like something from a movie. The darker photo was taken outside our front door, looking out at the snow falling. It's so beautiful! :)



I

Tragedy

We lost our beloved dog Sheba today. She was on the side yard with Turner, heard the UPS truck coming and darted out to "attack" it. She lunged at the truck and was struck. Turner, unfortunately, witnessed the accident. We all immediately ran out; but, it was too late. We think she died instantly...we hope so, anyway. It is such a tragedy and she will be dearly missed. We are all in shock and it will take time to heal our broken hearts.

We respectfully ask that you do NOT personally call us to express condolences. We are all in a very fragile state and just need time to heal. We loved her so very much.

We hope you enjoy the photos below of Sheba's life with us.

Love and Blessings,
Tim, Gina, Emily and Turner



The day we chose Sheba at the dog shelter. She was about 9 months old and very malnourished.

She was an Australian Cattle Dog and had beautiful markings. You'll see her beautiful eyes in some of the photos. One of her eyes had blond eye lashes and the other had black with this distinctive black liner around the eye. She looked Egyptian.





Rocky and Sheba with Emily and Turner, shortly after we got both of them (Rocky was rescued by some neighbors in the New Mexico mountains when he was about 4 months old).












Emily with Sheba and Rocky in 2008.

She loved to be with the kids. While they were at school, she would typically be in my office with me and Rocky.










Turner with Sheba in 2009.

She was a very sweet dog; but also protective. She didn't like anyone messing around with the kids.










Rocky and Sheba loved to play. The would wrestle around all the time. She was an alpha female; so both were always trying to see who the "top dog" was.











This last one was taken just yesterday. She would sit like a cat on the top of the fence. I'm still not sure how should could balance on only a couple of inches like that.

We have so many fond memories of her and will miss her so very much.

Good bye our furry little friend. We love you!

Freak Accident

It's interesting how life's biggest "accidents" seem to come out of nowhere. Last week, after a day of skiing, I was moseying down a catwalk (a relatively flat ski run that gets you from one run to another). I wasn't going particularly fast or doing anything fancy. I was in my "happy place" simply skiing along. Out of the blue, I caught an edge and veered off the run into a tree. It happened so quickly that I barely had time to respond. I put my left arm up ( the one I hurt the week prior tumbling down a double-black run) to try and cushion the blow and luckily got my skis shifted to the right a bit before plowing into the tree (two trees, actually).

After crashing into the tree, I popped upwards and fell onto my back into an almost fetal-like position. I was now wedged between the tree and the mountain and could move nothing but my arms.

Several people rushed over to help. I could see faces peering over the side while two guys immediately hurried down the steep slope to assist me. People were shouting, "Are you okay? Do you need a medic?" All I could say was, "I don't know." Finally, I said, "Just give me a minute. I can tell my head is fine. No issues with a concussion or anything. But, my back...I feel a lot of pain and can't move. Can someone help me move?" Everyone refused to move me for fear of paralyzing me. I said, "I can feel pain. I just can't move because I'm stuck. I really need help moving from this position."

After some effort, the two guys who had climbed down to help were able to clip me out of my skis. I was then able to use the tree limbs above to pull myself upward so that I could shift my hips back. Once I got to a somewhat sitting position, I was able to move my legs. I said, "I'm in a lot of pain; but think I'm okay." They guys asked for permission to help move me and the two of them (one up hill and one down) were able to get me up the mountain slope. It was probably about an 8-foot drop; so it took some effort.

Once on the run again, I was able to clip back in my skis and gingerly get myself down the rest of the run. Tim was in Vegas, so he wasn't available to help. I had been skiing with our friend, Theresa Hoyt (a colleague of Tim's), and she was waiting for me at the bottom wondering what had happened. On the gondola ride down (and still in shock), I shared the story.

Three days later, I am still in a lot of pain and have a nasty bruise. However, I am getting better. Where I couldn't even walk the evening after the accident, I am able to get around pretty well now. The doc took xrays and it's not broken...thankfully. However, I have very deep muscle bruising that will take time to heal.

To the right, you'll see two photos. The first was taken a few hours after the accident. The second photo was taken two days after the accident. I have bruising on about half of my outer, left thigh (a little toward the back). However, there was muscle damage all over the leg, including my upper quad, making it difficult to move around.

Some of you may wonder if I will ski again after such a terrifying experience. The answer is "absolutely yes!!!" Considering I could walk out my front door, trip, fall, hit my head and die, I think I'll take my chances skiing. At least I'm having a great time!!! :)

Visit from Brinkmans

We had a wonderful 10 days with my parents! They came to visit the 10th-20th and we had a blast! Didn't want to let them go home. :(

We hung out, played games and watched the Olympics in our cozy living room. It was nice to relax a bit.

My dad and I went to yoga twice a week and Mom tried it out a couple of times, too.

My dad and I also went skiing I think the only day it was sunny outside. It was really fun!


Throughout the ten days we walked around downtown, did a little window shopping, and enjoyed the sites. We stopped in a shop that had HUGE mountain dogs. I snapped a photo of the kids sitting with two of them. There were "4" total sprawled out in a very small space.









To the left is a picture of my mom with OUR dogs...certainly dwarfed by the huge dogs to the right. Our dogs think they're "lap dogs", as you can tell by the photo. But, my mom enjoyed snuggling with them. They're just too sweet to resist. '-)


We celebrated my parents anniversary on the 13th at Bistro Toujours (a pre-Valentines' Day for Tim and I).

The restaurant was quite a ways away from our house and the snow conditions were worsening as we headed into the mountains toward Deer Valley. The snow was amazing! We made it safely and had a spectacular dinner.






We also had the pleasure of celebrating my dad's birthday on the 19th at our house. Tim made ribs, which was quite the treat for everyone but Emily and I (we don't eat ribs).

Quite the festivities!






Our last "hoorah" was a farewell at the "No Name Saloon" (my dad's favorite place). We enjoyed some drinks and appetizers (and a little snow) before taking my parents to the airport for a tearful departure back to Arizona.

My book is on Amazon!

Hello Friends and Family!

I'm excited to report that my new book "I'd Rather Scrub Toilets than Cook!" is on Amazon.com now!!! Feel free to go to Amazon and order your copy and/or pass this along to someone else. You can also write a review on the Amazon page.

This book is a simple cooking guide to help people get in and out of the kitchen quickly, while still creating delicious, healthy meals. I had a great time putting it together! You can learn more about it on my website.

Also, if your on FACEBOOK, please be sure to become a fan (even if you haven't read the book). It will really help me in promoting it!

Thank you so much for your support!!! :)

Love,
Gina

Kids and Friends!



Luckily, both Emily and Turner are pretty social. They both made friends right away at school; but it’s taken it little longer to develop “activities” for them to do with their friends after school and on weekends. Em was quicker to do this and spent the past two Fridays downtown with a group of kids trying to spot celebrities at Sundance (to no avail). Turner, however, has taken a little longer to get integrated. Fortunately, there is a neighbor boy his age that he finally was able to connect with for some weekend fun! The boy’s sister is Emily’s age and they have been friends since school started; so it’s nice to have a family in our neighborhood that has kids the same age as ours.



Today was the first day all four (Emily, Turner and their friends Maddie and Zach) went skiing together. They had chaperones (Tim and the other dad, Brian). It’s really nice to see them getting out and doing some things!



Emily is taking a babysitting class tonight (Friday) and tomorrow. Turner is checking out a Boy Scout troop next week. So, they should have even more connections to keep them busy. I’m looking forward to it! They both love having social connections, and I’m glad to finally see them getting connected here.



Tim and I are off to the Wilson’s tonight for some birthday fun. We are definitely not lacking in social activity, which is good. We’ve been keeping busy with work and finding time to relax in the evenings…a nice change from 2009.



Next week we’ll be visited by my parents. I’m so excited!!! They’ll be here for about a week and a half. The kids have winter break for a week during their visit; so we should have lots to report in a couple of weeks!



Stay tuned!



Love,
Gina

First Guest

We had our first guest this past weekend. Our good friend Blaine Mugleston from AZ came to visit. We had a great time skiing the Canyons and hanging out. It was a short visit; but we sure were glad to have him. We miss you already, Blaine!