Ricktwisty

Happy President's Day Weekend!  We had a fun filled weekend in Vail with my cousins, Sarah and Jenny, and their significant others, Matt and Michael.  It's always a good time when surrounded by family and this weekend was no exception.  The highlight was definitely Saturday afternoon.  The boys decided they wanted to hike out to the golf course and build a snowboard jump.  Matt and Sarah had planned on snowboarding Sunday, so they had their gear.  This sounded like one of those "great ideas" that is born after a few beers and the next day fizzles out as you realize liquid courage is not going to save you from breaking any bones.  But no, this idea continued to grow Saturday morning as the boys chatted eagerly about their ideas for the jump.  Rick knew just the spot.  We'd snowshoed there before.  It was steep enough to gain speed and if that weren't enough, there was a huge rock at the bottom that would serve as the makeshift jump.  EXCELLENT.  So while the boys hiked out into the wild to strut their stuff, the girls headed to Vail to do some shopping.  The shopping didn't last long.  We were eager to hear from the boys and see with our own eyes exactly how this jump was taking shape.  So we headed back to the house, donned our snow pants, and trekked out to the hill.  It is important to note here that both Matt and Michael are experienced snow boarders, while my husband has NEVER.SNOWBOARDED.IN.HIS.LIFE.  So good, the father of my child had that going for him.  We reached the boys and in unison sighed in relief when we saw they were all alive and fully functioning.  Not only that but they were stoked about the jump they had created.  I immediately pulled out my camera and started snapping pictures.

Here's Matt going off the jump.  You can see the rock underneath.  Luckily we had a big storm last week, so there was plenty of powder to cushion their landings.

This jump was no joke.  That is a LOT of air!

This is Michael.  He is sporting Rick's National/Alamo snowsuit, the official sponsors of the 2011 Golf Course Rock Jumping competition.

Needless to say, after I saw Matt and Michael hit the jump I was anxious to see how this was going to work for someone who didn't snowboard.  Rick assured me that he had attempted the jump a few times.  He didn't know how to steer, so sometimes he missed the jump entirely, but it was super fun and he was psyched to do it again.  I'm happy to report he came away unharmed and is now eager to try snowboarding again.  Friday night when we were all discussing the possibility of this adventure, Rick let us all know he would be attempting the "Ricktwisty".  He couldn't put into words exactly what that would look like, but luckily I caught it on camera.  Without further adieu, the Ricktwisty...

Gearing up...

Gaining speed...

Do you see the twist??

 Yes, he has landed on top of the jump.  And THAT my friends is how you Ricktwisty.

Once Sarah saw that Rick survived with ZERO experience, she decided it was safe enough to attempt herself.  Check it out!

Matt was there to "catch" her if needed...clearly she was able to handle the jump on her own!

There were definitely a few spills!

Jealous I couldn't participate, but loved cheering on my hubby.

Boys will be boys!

Great day, great memories!

It's a...

BOY!  Apparently everyone already knew this except for me, my grandma, and Rick's grandma.  Rick's grandma and I both had dreams it was a girl.  False!  A boy it is!  The ultrasound was great.  He's a mover and a shaker so it took the tech awhile to see between his legs.  I'm going to have to take his word for it that he saw a penis, because I saw a whole lot of nothing.  Rick also seems to have seen it.  I felt like Jennifer Aniston on Friends where she pretends to see it, but really sees nada.  Alas, I'll trust the tech and assume it is indeed a boy.  At one point the tech goes, "Wait, what is that in his mouth?"  Excuse me...he has something in his mouth??  Where did he get something to put in his mouth?  "Oh, it's his finger.  It's just his finger."  Well thank goodness he wasn't turning my organs into chew toys!  Here are a few ultrasound pics.

His new nickname is "the terminator".  My brother Adam thinks it would be pretty cool if he actually was a baby terminator made of metal.  He's going to be a great uncle!

Here at least baby terminator is smiling!

I'm Still Here!

Yikes, it's been awhile since I've blogged.  For months it seemed there was so much to talk about.  More like complain about in my regular therapy sessions with myself:-)  I guess lately, I haven't felt the need to work things out through my writing.  Plus, now that I'm working 4 days a week I've been keeping pretty busy.

My first trimester is over and I'm 18 weeks pregnant.  I'm happy to be moving into what I've heard is supposed to be the easy trimester.  I'm feeling better, can actually stand the smell of meat, and am finally realizing this is all going to end in Rick and I having our very own baby!  Until that bump starts growing it all feels like you're playing dress up.  Now that I've felt the baby move (or at least I think that's what I felt...) and my clothes don't fit, things feel a bit more real.  Thursday I made an impromptu stop at my doctor's office after feeling some cramping.  There's something very unsettling about feeling period cramps when that is the last thing a pregnant person should be getting at this point!  Turns out everything was fine.  My doctor is pretty laid back and told me that pregnancy is uncomfortable.  Things are constantly growing and moving around which puts pressure on your body.  As long as the pain doesn't get worse, things are usually progressing normally.  Fine by me!  I did get to hear the heart beat, which is completely surreal and again reminds you that this isn't a really long game of dress up!  I can hardly wait for next Friday!  One, because it's Rick's 28th birthday and two because we find out the baby's sex!  I can't stop thinking about it! I just want to know what's in there!  It's really going to help me with my shopping decisions:-)  I'm fearful the baby is going to be hiding the goods from us.  The first time I told Rick about my fear his response was,  "That can happen?  Well, can't you just jump up and down for a minute and try again?!"  Hmmm I don't think so babe.  So hopefully our little one is cooperative.  I will definitely blog about that next weekend once we have news!

Vail in the winter doesn't disappoint.  We've had SNOW, SNOW AND MORE SNOW!  Personally, I could never see another snow flake again in my life and be perfectly happy.  I am no snow bunny.  But I cannot even tell you how many people we've met who are head over heels in love with the amount of snow we've had and hope and pray that it continues through June.  I'm not going to pretend to understand these people.  It's too bad we're experiencing such a different culture from what we're used to (and yes there is a definitely mountain culture) while unable to fully participate in the activities.  We have taken up snow shoeing which has been great exercise and lots of fun.  My parents gave us snow shoes for Christmas and we've been hiking around ever since!  The nice thing about our neighborhood is that it opens up to trails and a golf course.  We're able to hike for hours without having to fight traffic.  The last time we went we had a great time.  We ended up making our own trail, and hiking around in waist deep snow.  I took a pic of Rick trying to hike down the mountain.  I have to admit, snow shoeing uphill is a lot easier than going down.  They should invent snow shoe skis so you can hike up and ski down.  Rick took a few tumbles...

Enjoying a laid back weekend at home.  We've been traveling to Denver a lot lately for various events, so it will be nice to stay at home this weekend.  Enjoy the Super Bowl!