Austin's Christmas Tree

I had to put my blog on private again. Because I am a good sister and Austin didn't want everyone seeing this:

LoL. We sure got a kick out of it. With my limited video editing skills we can now enjoy it even longer ;0)

The Saturday after Thanksgiving my family went up into Idaho to cut down a Christmas tree. This has been a tradition for a number of years now. We sure enjoy it and look forward to it each year.

(If you look at this picture close - Adalyn looks like a Cabbage Patch doll.)

I really didn't realize it until now, but this trip was kinda all about Austin.
First he pulled Alisha & Annika on the sleigh:

See how happy he made them:

Then Alisha & Adalyn (and Annika creeping in the background) wait for Austin...

to pull Annika up the mountain.

But the snow was so deep it took some time,

so he stopped for a picture with his family,

and he attempted climbing a tree,

and when his shoes wouldn't grip the bark he attempted another way to climb.

Alli tried to assist him, but they both ended up on the ground laughing.

So he climbed a tree where he might have a slight advantage.

He kept getting higher and higher.

The tree was dead and kept snapping as if it would break at any minute. Through that smile are clenched teeth and frozen words saying, "hurry and take the picture Jen."

But don't worry. Popeye (er my dad) had eaten his Spinach and was able to hold up the tree and Austin with a single hand.

Austin escaped his close encounter with heaven today.

We went back to our perfect Christmas tree and Mike and Alli began sawing it down,

Austin stepped in to get the job done.

Then he and Alli hauled the tree down the mountain.

My dad stayed behind and with one quick swipe, he had the stump down to a safe level.

What a day for Austin and his Christmas tree.



Just some other fun random pictures Austin took of the day:
(Poor Ady had a cold. :0( and Annika creeping in the background...)

Annika

Little Cuties

Paragliding at the Point

The Saturday before the first snowfall, October 29, Jordan, Vanessa and I all went paragliding at the point of the mountain. I am so glad we were able to do it before winter came. It was cold when we went, but once we were up in the air of course we didn't notice. It was so much fun, but nothing like sky diving (which I think I prefer).





We went paragliding off the South Side of the Point of the Mountain. We had no instruction because we were going tandem. We simply signed a waiver, went to the edge of the mountain, strapped on all the gear with the pilot and took off. The air simply lifted us up.




My pilot said that the Point of the Mountain is the best place to go paragliding. He said that the wind is always very consistent and very smooth. So people come from all over the world to go paragliding at the point of the mountain. I love that Utah has so many amazing things to offer!

Paragliding has a larger "wing" (parachute) than skydiving and is more steady. So I took that to mean that it is safer. You can get really close to the ground and then get right back up in the air. I was really impressed by that and at some points the pilot took us so low my feet were hitting the weeds, then we went back up again.

It wasn't scary at all. It wasn't really an adrenaline rush either. It was just fun. It was fun to look out over the valley and see the beauty all around. The pilot said that for a little more dinero we can go on the North side of the mountain and go a little higher in the air. I think that next time I would like to try that.





I think that the most intense part of paragliding was the landing. We were trying to land on the top of the hill, from where we took off, but other paragliders kept getting in the way. So we ended up just landing at the bottom of the hill. We had to lean right so that the wing almost hit the hill, then left and again, the wing almost hit the dirt, then back right and back left again and again. We were going fast and feeling drastic movement - it was fantastic.

Jordan & Vanessa got to paraglide together:
Jordan:

Vanessa:

Jordan & Vanessa together in the sky:


I am glad that we were all able to go. We had a lot a lot of fun and I am glad that my mom, Mike, Alisha, Annika and Adalyn were all willing to come and bear the cold to watch us!

Thanks guys! It was fun to spend the morning/afternoon with you.