Christmas Album

We had an extra special Christmas yesterday. I'm always a little sad we don't have family close to share holidays with, but we've found our own tradition in getting outside on Christmas Day. This year we rented, borrowed, and pieced together all of the gear we needed for a ski trip up Tumalo Mountain.  It was our families first foray into "back country skiing". We were gifted big mountain sunshine and a soft layer of powder over blue ice. We sweated and laughed our way to the top, fully aware that just across the street we could be riding a modern chair lift. 

At the top, the Cascade mountains and the valley below rewarded us for our efforts. Another jolly Christmas ski group had opened a bottle of bubbly and we took it upon ourselves to share in their Chistmas gifts. Teddy and I did a heart racing, adrenaline surging drop into the back bowl and then climbed out together on an icy staircase. The ski down the front through the trees, was better than I could have imagined. I started to think about the early Bend ski pioneers who took their long wooden skis and wore their leather boots to climb up Pilot Butte, Skyliner, and maybe Tumaolo 100 years before us.  I can imagine that their smiles and the thrill of being away from crowds in the beauty of the  mountains with friends and family, despite fancy gear was just as great as ours. We have a pair of wooden skis in our family room that were my grandpas. He and his friends strapped these monstrous things on and had their horse pull them across the fields in Idaho. I thought of my relatives and I savored the time with my family celebrating Chistmas. So thankful.

Here are a few shots from the Charlton Christmas album 2014.