The Weather Channel's Latest Star

So, Friday night The Weather Channel got in touch with Gregg (as in THE Weather Channel, none of that local stuff) about doing a little interview about snowmaking via Skype. Here's how it all went down:

 

Countdown to Christmas - Song Style (Dec 25) It's Here!

And . . . last the best of all the game.  Merry Christmas!

Countdown to Christmas - Song Style (Dec 24)

Happy Christmas Eve!

Building a House

Thanks to my mom for providing the gingerbread (and Grandma Elwood for the recipe and pattern) and meringue powder, we were able to have a little house-building party last night.

Notice the snowman needs a little help?  Well, this morning
he was missing his longer arm and had face-planted
in the front yard.  Poor little guy.

I'm quite pleased with the result - especially since we used things we already had in the house to decorate. (Like we really need to go buy any more candy at Christmastime!)

Countdown to Christmas - Song Style (Dec 23)

(Sorry Gregg)  I just love me a good Josh Groban song - especially at Christmas!

Countdown to Christmas - Song Style (Dec 22)

It snowed yesterday! Nice to have a fresh coating of the white stuff.

Meet Herman

He's the newest member of the Blanch Herd.  I named him Herman.

 Herman, the white-elephant betta.

Countdown to Christmas - Song Style (Dec 21)

Jon Schmidt's albums are definitely on my "must listen" list during Christmas. So many to choose from, but this is a favorite.

Countdown to Christmas - Song Style (Dec 20)

Love the forgotten carols.

Countdown to Christmas - Song Style (Dec 19)

Classic song, with a classic sound.

Countdown to Christmas - Song Style (Dec 18)

I got to see Sissel live when she performed with the Tabernacle Choir - what an awesome experience.  She has the voice of an angel!

Countdown to Christmas - Song Style (Dec 17)

We're home in Utah this weekend, and I couldn't think of a more fitting song than this (bonus that it's sung by the Carpenters!):

Countdown to Christmas - Song Style (Dec 16)

This is a version from an old Readers Digest Christmas record my mom used to play during the holidays.  When I hear it I think of her.  But I also think of my sister, Heather, the Marshmallow Queen.

Countdown to Christmas - Song Style (Dec 15)

Just a really pretty arrangement of a really pretty song:

Countdown to Christmas - Song Style (Dec 14)

Just scored this DVD at the library yesterday and watched it right away. "Maybe Christmas doesn't come from a store. Maybe Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more." One of my faves!

Countdown to Christmas - Song Style (Dec 13)

Classic . . .

For some reason I can't find the video to embed, so just click here. :)

Countdown to Christmas - Song Style (Dec 12)

I've heard a lot of versions of this one, but I have to say this flash mob really did an awesome job.  Gives me chills to watch.

Countdown to Christmas - Song Style (Dec 11)

Whenever I hear Adeste Fidelis, I remember my sister, Kylie, learning the Latin as a little elementary girl for their Christmas program. It's stuck with me and I can't hear it without automatically thinking of Ky. :)

The Great Christmas Tree Adventure

Bombarded on the trail by a Bombardier who was grooming the trail.

He was moving slowly as he passed, but it was still a rather close encounter.

Just your standard elk leg lodged in the roof of an a little info shack.

Let the sawing begin.

Sawing complete.

A tagged tree is a legal tree.

Happy new tree owners.

McKay and Jodi Jolley, our partners in Christmas time.

The Storm Trooper looking more festive than ever.

McKay gettin' er done with his victim.

A really cool pipeline/bridge from mining days gone by.

Tree before.

Kim's awesome applesauce/cinnamon/glue decorations.

Tree after.

An ornament doin' its thang.

A lovely bow atop the tree.

One of our origami ornaments left over from last year's tree.

Countdown to Christmas - Song Style (Dec 10)

Ah, gotta love the Steamroller - this one reminds me of Christmas at my Grandpa Thornley's house back in the day.

Countdown to Christmas - Song Style (Dec 9)

Love this one from his new CD (that mysteriously appeared in my mailbox a few weeks ago . . . mystery solved, though - my dear friend Christine sent it to us!).

Christmas Countdown - Song Style (Dec 8)

Last year on my facebook countdown, I actually got a request from my friend Alison for this song.  (A request!  How flattering!)  I had already scheduled out my plan for the rest of the month, so I didn't use it.  But it was definitely added to the queue for this year.  Love that classic Charlie Brown.

Countdown to Christmas - Song Style (Dec 7)

Just a fun song from a delicious voice:

Countdown to Christmas - Song Style (Dec 6)

This one isn't your typical Christmas carol, but I really love it:

Countdown to Christmas - Song Style (Dec 5)

Steve & Edydie - love 'em!  (And incidentally, it IS cold outside, baby ... 3 degrees when we woke up this morning!)

Countdown to Christmas - Song Style (Dec 4)

I love this hymn, and it's no secret that I love the MoTab.  As an added bonus today, there's a little somethin' from Lloyd Newell.  Score!

Birds [of Prey] Watching

Spent the morning at Beaver Creek watching the men's Super G races (Day 2 of the Audi Birds of Prey Men’s Alpine World Cup).  And ... it snowed! Fun day.

Just playing with the camera around Beaver Creek Village
while Gregg took a few runs.

Fresh snow! It's been a while around here ...

Hanging out at the grandstands at Red Tail Camp before the
races started.  Notice the eagle on the screen is a real, live
eagle being filmed in the bottom left corner of the photo.

Crowds starting to form. Still waiting for Gregg to show up.

USA Ski Team member Bode Miller. In the flesh. He ended up in
the 20s for this race, but yesterday he won gold on
the Men's Downhill (which we didn't get to see - bummer).

Freezing, but still smiling.

Countdown to Christmas - Song Style (Dec 3)

Today's song is dedicated to my brother, Nate, because for some reason whenever I hear it (which actually is not very often, shockingly) I think of him:

Countdown to Christmas - Song Style (Dec 2)

Day 2: Gotta love Home Alone.

Countdown to Christmas - Song Style (Dec 1)

Last year I did a little "Song-a-Day Countdown to Christmas" on Facebook.  I figured there is at least one person who reads this blog who is not my friend on Facebook and I didn't want to leave anyone out of the Christmas cheer this year.  (So, sorry if you follow both - you'll feel a little deja vu for the month.)  At any rate, I hope you enjoy!  I admit I started listening to Christmas music long before today.  I love this time of year - and I love the spirit that comes with Christmas music (whether it's technically "spiritual" or not).  Here goes, Dec 1:

We Don't Volunteer, We Pose

A couple weeks ago our branch took part in an annual tradition at Avon Elementary where the community helps fill Thanksgiving boxes for families in the valley. Not ones to simply do things out of the goodness of our hearts, we wanted some glory for all the effort we had put into driving nearly 5 miles to volunteer. Kim had been trying all morning to sneak into a photo, with no luck. Finally, as she placed a can of green beans into her box at just the right moment, she got the timing spot on and glory was hers. This shot appeared on the cover of Vail Daily the next day.

Vail Visitors

We had the great pleasure of hosting some Blanchard and some Elwood visitors on two consecutive weekends in October.  We had a great time with our families, showing them around some of our everyday sites, as well as discovering some new things.  Thanks for coming to see us Paul and Kim and Richard and Peggy and Heather and Kylie and Megan!  We love you.

P.S. People who may read both The Original Kim Blanchard blog as well as ours will probably feel a little deja vu while reading the first half of this post.  Thanks to Kim for capturing some fun memories that we could steal because we didn't have our camera out as much as we could/should have.

Gregg in the Storm Trooper - ready to give the parents a
grand tour of our new town.

A gorgeous day and a beautiful trailhead that
 we'll have to come explore another time.

Kim and Paul and the lovely, lovely mountains.

Yum!

Picking out a pumpkin at Wildflower Farm.

Guess who?

A peek of color and condos in Vail.

They've been making snow!

Steel Roots ... only Gregg guessed correctly
what these were - the rest of us thought
they were antlers.

In the Ski and Snowboard Museum - the History of Bindings display.

Dinner at Fiesta's.

So SO so yummy!

Ready for church.

The Betty Ford Alpine Gardens.

There were lots of cool benches in the gardens.

The only blooming thing we saw.

The Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater - I want to check
this out in the summer for some sweet concerts!

Exploring in the Children's Garden.

Cute fam.

More snowmaking - on the sidewalk!

Statue honoring the 10th Mountain Division soldiers.
We were lucky enough to be in the museum at the
time that one of the former soldiers, Sandy Treat,
was there telling stories of his experience
 in the 10th. So cool!

Sisters, sisters.

Pretending to warm up by the fire - it wasn't really that cold,
but the gas fire pit was pretty sweet looking,
so we couldn't resist a photo-op.

Camp Hale (or what's left of it) - where the 10th Mountain Division
trained before entering WWII in Italy in 1945,
just a few months before the war ended.

Those rocks across the way are where the soldiers trained in rock climbing.
 They also learned skiing techniques and weaponry while here, too.