Winter Wonderland - hard to find but worth it!

So, we had quite a dilemma during out time in Utah. We had flown to Utah over Christmas break and promised our kids they could play in the snow. We even booked a few days at a cabin in the mountains, sure that there would be plenty of snow for every possible wintry activity. But the snowfall is truly pathetic this year.  One of the days we were in Utah there was a dusting of snow.  Very unimpressive.

We did our best to enjoy the snow at the cabin (see previous posts), but the snow quality was poor, and there wasn't a good place to sled.

We explored our options and wondered if we should give up on sledding.  And then Grandma and Grandpa had a brilliant idea.
 
They drove up to their property in the mountains by Heber and discovered lots of perfect snow for sledding. 

So a few days later - on Christmas Eve Day - we loaded up the car with enough winter gear to outfit a small army, hot chocolate, and at least three cameras, and we drove an hour to Heber.  We spent many hours sledding, and it couldn't have been more lovely. The sky was blue, the snow brilliant white, the scenery unmatched.
 

 We were in a winter wonderland.
 
 
Dan and Grandpa spent a lot of time giving the sledders a push and then towing kids back up the hill.

We had a choice of sleds.  A round coaster . . .

and a modern version of a Radio Flyer, which is supposed to be more comfortable and higher-tech. . .

But by far the favorite sled was the old fashioned Radio Flyer.  It FLEW down the hills!

 

We brought our own little port-a-potty, which we positioned in a private corner of Grandma and Grandpa's land.  It was a bit cold, but better than nothing!

We took time to play in the beautiful snow.  And apparently Bailey stuck her whole face in a snowdrift?

Even the adults had a chance to sled.

  We sledded up and down the hill until we completely wore everyone out.
 

 
Most of our sledding was on a long, fairly gradual hill. There was a much steeper hill around the corner. After the kids were done, Dan and I decided to ride together on the Radio Flyer down the steeper hill.  Grandma and Grandpa captured the photo and video of our terrifying ride.  Let's just say that I was positive that we were going to break multiple bones - I just didn't know which ones.  Dan was steering the sled, and his foot slipped off halfway down, so we were just hurtling super fast toward a bunch of trees.  Luckily, we managed to run into a snowbank, and no harm was done!
 
 After a few hours our hands and toes were numb. Some hot chocolate from the thermos in the car helped.


But Bailey was just DONE and ready to go back to Grandma and Grandpa's to get ready for Christmas Eve festivities. 


It was a magical day. What more can I say? And there was more fun in store over the next few days!