Mark & Mandy

My parents came down for Easter and we all headed up to Beaver Creek for a long ski weekend. The Grammie and Grampa were very happy to have both of their bunnies together (Elsie did not care for the rabbit ears, saffie on the other hand was quite pleased to be a bunny!)

Elsie prefers the role of jockey – Go grammie, go!

Our first ski day was at beaver creek where Mark had us skiing moguls till our legs gave out …

We met up with Josh, Amy, Saffie and Elsie for Apres Ski at the Park Hyatt – Elsie brought her pink uggs but decided to switch shoes with grammie for a bit

For the second ski day we headed to Vail with Josh! It was a perfect spring skiing day – sadly we forgot that mountain sun and reflective snow = sun burn! We all paid the price the next day. Tuesday we headed back to vail for a quick lunch/tour before we had to get back to the real world …

I am sad to see the ski season go, if anyone wants to buy me a mountain house – please send me a note!

Tonight we are off to Vegas to celebrate many things … the launch of Google Sites, Julie being cancer free for 2 years and my 30th birthday (actually I am re-turning 30 this year since I was preggers last year and pretty lame). Joining us on the trip Scott, Julie, Drew, Vivian, Josh, Amy, Heidi and Jason.

This is a adults only trip so we are leaving the chillin’s behind … we are flying grammie and grampa down to watch Elsie and Saffron and Pat Johnston is coming down to watch Niko. I am a nervous wreck – why? Because I am me – a nervous wreck about anything!

Even though it is clear that my parents have successfully (well at least with me) raised 2 children I still felt necessary to over arm them with information about Elsie.

I created the Elsie User Guide …

the user guide is complete with 8 pages of information including special “Mom says” notes. In the guide you will find information on

• A typical Day Guide – a schedule overview
• Going out checklist – What to pack in the diaper bag
• Food Guide – What food is in the freezer
• Troubleshooting – tips and tricks if you encounter a bump
• Extras – looking for a binky, bloanket or wipes…
• Fun things to practice Here are two sample pages.

Cheers to Grammie and Grampa who will be caring for my prized possession while we are out on our first adults only vegas extravaganza! I am sure they will do great!

Elsie’s first Christmas was a blast – we were lucky enough to have both families here to celebrate. Michael and Alison in from England, Chloe in from San Fran, and my parents down from Montana. On Christmas morning we were greeted by a dusting of snow – which continued throughout the day – perfect white Christmas. The Sladden’s are notoriously late so Elsie and I headed down to Josh and Amy’s ahead of the crew leaving mark behind to lightly push them out the door (they arrive only 35 minutes late – not bad for a sladden arrival!).

Josh and Amy cooked up a yummy brunch of crepes, frittata  and lots of breakfast meat – YUM! They had set a beautiful table and even made a space for the bean to have her own christmas brunch – puffed wagon wheels!

Saffie greeted us in her Baby’s first Christmas Bib:

After a yummy brunch we moved to the presents. We tried to scale back this year – pleading with my parents (who didn’t listen) … but still we ended up with piles of gifts

Mostly for the new babies…

Underneath these piles were two adorable chair for the girls … elsie started her warm up exercises to get ready to open the gifts.

It was very hard, but rewarding work – although chewing and ripping paper was the most fun.

Elsie was pooped and borrowed saffie’s swing for a nap!

Eventually we finished the marathon opening and headed back home to eat some more. Chloe and Mark cooked up some Braised short ribs (from our local cow we purchased) on a bed of polenta with cranberry sauce. It was great to have the two sladden’s manning the kitchen and serving up a delicious dinner.

Success I say!