Keystone. 2015

I've done this post four times and my internet keeps messing up and not saving all of it…so, I'm over it. I'm not re-doing it again, so it's just going to be the short half…

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A couple of weeks ago, we went to Keystone, Colorado on our annual snow skiing trip. I was a little nervous about traveling with all three kiddos, one being a baby, but the trip was one of the best ones we've had yet! We flew to Denver, and my brother was such a big help with the kids at the airport. All three of the kids did AMAZING on the flight, and I was a little surprised at how smooth it all went for us. My parents drove to Denver, so we were able to load the car seats, most of our luggage, and our snow skiing gear in their car. This was a HUGE help! They met us at the airport, then we got a rental car and were on our way! Before heading up into the mountains, we stopped at a yummy little diner called Ted's for bison burgers that was just outside of Denver. We usually go on this trip before Christmas, but we thought that going after the holidays would be a little less crowded and a lot less stressful. I actually loved going in January. We had beautiful weather of sunshine and blue skies every day we were there. The temperature stayed in the 40s during the day, which is perfect when you have little ones skiing with you. 

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Rushton was so excited about his first airplane ride! 

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Seeing this view is always so refreshing! 

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Sis wasn't too sure about this strange man sizing her for her ski boots!

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Reid talked Jeb into opting out of ski school this year, but LilliAnn went for two days and LOVED it! We started taking LilliAnn skiing when she was two, but she started ski school for the first time last year when she was three. She did great, but just wasn't too enthused about learning to ski and being cold. This year, however, it was a completely different story! THE GIRL CAN SKI! She did semi-private lessons at ski school with only three only kids in her class. Her instructor told me that she was one of the best skiers in her class and that she would be ready to ski the big mountain with us by the third day! 

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Pictures on the slopes with the GoPro!

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I was pregnant with Rush last year and wasn't able to ski, so this year I was really excited about hitting the slopes!

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We decided to put Rush in the resort daycare, so that we were all able to ski together. I would have never done this with my first or second child, but with the third I was a little more relaxed about leaving him. I pumped several bottles, but he wouldn't take them for the daycare workers, so I ended up coming down at lunch to nurse him, and then heading back up the mountain. It ended up working perfectly! 

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Papa Kelbo shredding some snow!

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Selfie on the lift after skiing the blue trail, Mozart! Jeb and I had so much fun skiing with Reid the first two days. He is an excellent little skier and goes super fast, which makes this mama nervous! 

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Coming up the lift from the backside of the main mountain

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sweet little skier boy - he was ALL ABOUT IT!

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We had an absolute blast together…as a couple AND with our kids! One of the reasons that I'm glad we decided to have kids wary (and while we were young) is so that we would still be young and active when taking lots of vacations and doing family activities together. Also, my parents are still young enough and in good health to travel with us and enjoy activities with their grandkids. Now that our kids are getting a little older, vacations had gotten so much fun! I love experiencing everything through my children's eyes and watching how excited they get to try something new. I want to travel a lot with my children because the experiences and the memories we make are priceless! I want them to be cultured and well-traveled. I'm already thinking about our future vacations…the Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Atlantis, the beaches of Mexico, New York City…I can't wait to show them the world! 

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This is a picture I took of River Run village while going up the lift. We absolutely LOVE Keystone! We always stay at the condos on the left. The ski lockers are downstairs, so it's super easy to slip on your ski boots and ski down to the lift…there's no carrying equipment or walking a long way…so convenient with kids! And the heated pool, hot tub, and fire pits while watching the people come down the slopes are just heavenly! 

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our family in action!

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We always have fun with this guy! #unclekass

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This was a pretty tough blue that Reid went down one morning. He was pretty impressed with himself when he looked back up the mountain and saw what he had conquered. He said, "Mom, take a picture of that!"

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God sure did make a beautiful world for us!

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early morning gondola ride

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We were so blessed to have sunshine and clear blue skies every day that we skied! 

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F.U.N.

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wipeout! This kid goes all out and skis so hard!

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You can't have scenery like this and not kiss in front of it! 

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Baby Rush! I had this little hat made on etsy and it was just perfect for our trip! And the snow boots I found at Gymboree were adorable!!

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I absolutely love this!

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On our last day of skiing, we took LilliAnn up to the top of the mountain with us. Jeb and I were expecting it to be a slow process and thought we would have to help her a lot, but it was the exact opposite! She just took off! She had great control and could ski almost as good as her big brother! And she could not get enough! She told me that she wished she lived in Colorado so she could snow ski every day.

We ended up skiing down to the other side of Keystone to the mountain house base for lunch, then we met my parents and headed back up to ski some more. Kassidy and Saulyer met us up at the top and we  all skied together the rest of the afternoon. The kids skied right along with us and we all had the best time!!!

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our little snow bunny!

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I took this picture with my iPhone at the top of the mountain while skiing down the Schoolmarm trail. I cannot believe how gorgeous it turned out! 

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This guy really is my everything! I absolutely LOVE doing life with him!

This was a good day…a really good day. 

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Ready to crush this mountain! 

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When we finished skiing, we picked up Rush and walked around the village for a while. Keystone has these cute little wagons that you can use around the village, and Rush loved riding in them! 

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It was the most amazing vacation. The mountains have always been a special place for my family, and I hope my children cherish their snow skiing trip memories, just as I cherished mine from my childhood. We'll see you soon, Colorado…the kids are already asking when we can go back...