Thursday, February 20, 2014

World Cup Aerials

In honor of the Olympics in Sochi, Russia, I present you this post from our adventures last month at the World Cup Aerials and Moguls competition at Deer Valley.  As a family we have been loving following the olympics.  Tucker is convinced he want's to do aerials and freestyle slope so that he can jump like them.
As I mentioned, last month we went up to Deer Valley to catch the last stop on the world cup tour before the olympics.  We took the kids up with us.  We hadn't done this since before Lisa's tumor, so we were excited to make it back up there.
You get to ride the ski lift up to the jumps.  Sorry about the poor quality of the photos, but hey, it was night.  Lisa and Aubrey and Cole jumped on one chair lift together.

And Blake, Tucker and I took the next one.


Once you got to the top of the chair lift you had to hike a little ways to get to the action.


The moguls were set to compete the next night, but the course was all lit up and some people were practicing.



We got to watch the aerials.  It was crowded up top so I had to put the kids on my shoulders to see.  I would alternate two at a time.

Here is some video of one of the jumpers.  It's so impressive what they can do.

After the first round of jumping was over, we took off, but not before the kids found a sledding spot and had some fun.

It's so fun living so close to all of the skiing action and being able to see these kinds of competitions for free.  We love it.

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Mini Maryland Reunion

Summer of 2004 to 2008 were 4 of the greatest years of our married life. We moved across the country. Away from all family except for Cody's brother for 1 year. We went to dental school. I will probably always say "we" instead of just "Cody" because even though I wasn't getting the education to be a dentist, I was there and supported him the entire time. It helped strengthen our marriage and we met amazing friends. At the beginning of February some of our dental friends had a get together at our house. One couple and their kids traveled from Delaware to attend a conference/lecture in Park City.  I invited them over to the Midway Ice Castles Friday afternoon. I was working and thought they would enjoy them. They came with their entire families. We were slow at the time, so I was able to slip out of the ticket booth and chat for a few minutes.
Stacey, me, Jenn
I haven't seen Stacey since my Running with Lisa 5K in 2012 and it's been since dental graduation in 2008 since I've seen Jenn. The next night, after the husbands had a fun day skiing, we gathered at our house for pizza. The Wades, MacDonalds and Katie Hale came too. We were missing Katie's 3 kids, but had 17 present that evening. Only 1 was born when we started dental school almost 9.5 years ago. Here's the best I got at a group shot. Blake is bawling in the far right and my oldest is a poser right up front. I've never met 1/3 of the kids, so it was fun to meet and great and let them run wild!
 
 Dr.'s Wade, Calderwood, MacDonald, Seda and Starley. Located throughout Utah and the east coast.
 The supportive wives. Liz, Amber, Katie, Jenn, myself and Stacey.
 Aubrey had fun playing with Liz's daughter Maryann. They asked me to take a picture of them together.
 So many dear friends are missing from these pictures, but maybe its a good thing we all don't live by each other. My house is big, but probably not big enough in the winter to hold all of us and our kids that keep multiplying. This was our wives club back in Maryland. Jenn had a baby the day before graduation and wasn't able to attend.

Cole is 5!

Cole's birthday was on January 26th. He was born 5 years ago at St. Marks hospital in Salt Lake City. Our family had to quickly move from Colorado to Utah after Christmas 2008. I was a large 8 month pregnant lady moving states. Cole was supposed to be our Colorado born baby, but due to Cody's job circumstances in purchasing a dental practice, we had to move asap. We didn't have any health insurance, so I shopped around for the cheapest place to have a baby. St. Marks was the place. I met with my OBGYN once, was already dilated and was told I could be induced. Cody and I were asked to speak in church the day before. I couldn't believe I actually had to give my talk. I thought for sure that our little boy would be here by then. Nope, he waited until his induction date. He was evicted by noon. We fell in love with our red headed baby boy.  
So far he's been our most difficult child, (Blake is trying to win that spot) but his cute dimple lets him get away with some mischief!
2 years old.

Cole can drive me crazy at times, but he loves his family, the outdoors, freedom, learning, computers, tv, the Wii, playing house with his sister and riding his bike. Cody bought him a new bike for his 5th birthday. Next year he starts kindergarten and he'll be able to ride either to or from school with Tucker and Aubrey depending on which class he's in. We surprised him with it when Cody and I got back from Aruba. We picked the kids up at Cody's parents house.
 It's bigger than the 12inch bike he previously had that he learned to ride with no training wheels, so once the weather warms up, I'm sure he'll be riding all over the neighborhood.
 We typically take our kids to Chuck E Cheese for their 4th birthdays, and he did go last year for his 4th, but because I didn't have time to plan a party for him because of our trip, we took an impromptu trip to Chuck E Cheese with his grandparents. All the kids loved the pizza, tokens and prizes!
 Cutest 5 year old! "I'm five!"
 Blake getting some fun in.
 3 generations of Calderwood men. I promise Cody gets his picture taking skills from his Dad, although you wouldn't know in this shot.
 On Cole's actual birthday, I made him a cake. He was so excited to blow out his 5 candle. It's been in the family since Tucker turned 5. One more turn and we can throw it away.
Cole's birthday marks the time we've lived in Midway and we've loved all the memories we've been able to make as a family.