Skiing, Sledding, and Sky Lanterns

We spent the week before New Year's at Ryan's grandpa's cabin in Sun Valley.  We love it.  We have so many wonderful memories there, and it just keeps getting better and better as our family grows.

We enjoyed many of the old favorite pasttimes, such as skiing (Noah got on the hill again this year and loves it), tubing, and hot tubbing ...

Since Noah is the only kid who can ski at this point, we also found some new favorite pasttimes as a family, a favorite of which is just walking on the beautiful, wintery paths pulling the kiddos in sleds...

Sally was totally content to just lay in a sled, and she even fell asleep in there one day.  I truly cannot get over how good-natured this baby is.

We also started some new traditions, such as the moms doing crafts at the cabin while the boys skied (yes, crafts! and I even enjoyed it a little).

We had a really fun New Year's Eve featuring homemade ice cream, a raucous round of "toasts" with sparkling cider, confetti poppers, a reflective activity about the year that has passed and the year to come...and, as the grand finale, a release of sky lanterns into the night sky!

A while ago, I bought a random Groupon for sky lanterns because I think they are so romantic.  I was hoping to use them on Christmas Eve along with a devotional about how Christ is the light of the world, but it was too windy in Pocatello, and we decided we preferred not to burn down a neighbor's house, so we saved them for the cabin.  It was a pretty cool way to bring in the New Year.  It may become a tradition.

It was just such a fun week, as it always is when we are with the Nielsons.  We love Ryan's siblings and their families so much, and we are very grateful to Grandpa Art for building the cabin so many years ago to provide his posterity a place to gather and to grow closer together.  It has certainly brought us years of amazing memories.

The whole clan!