December 2010 fun

December was a pretty busy month..Jason and Hunter took a boys only hunting trip to Illinois and Kentucky..Hunter had a great time, learned a lot and even killed his first buck! When they returned, we celebrated Hunter's 14th birthday at an indoor amusement park and also managed to get in A LOT of skiing.
Hunter's first buck, killed with a muzzleloader at Ft. Knox, KY..it's head is still resting in my chest freezer..yuck.
The boys had a great time at Hunter's birthday party..pizza, video games and lots of fun rides..what could be better!

December was a great month for skiing...we ended up with 200% more snowfall than average for the season at the ski resorts...woohoo!

loved watching Jason "tow" Ashley and Hunter when we got to flat areas that their snowboards had no momentum on..Ashley was pretty good at hanging on to the back pack, Hunter went face first into the snow many times trying to latch on..too fun to watch.
One of my favorite runs at Breckenridge..it was an amazing snow day and a BLAST!

Ashley and I safe in our helmets...ready to hit the slopes!

The Tutens go skiing~ Thanksgiving 2010

Since leaving Hawaii, life has been quite a bit different..snow, cold, wind..not so much fun. We couldn't live 2 hrs from Breckenridge and not try skiing. So, we traded in our scuba gear for ski and snowboard outfitting and bought season passes to the best mountains! Thanksgiving break brought Jason and I altitude sickness our first day, but the the kids had a wonderful time learning to snowboard..all in all, no one was injured and a love for the snow was born!

Waiting patiently for the lessons to begin
day two..shuttle is coming to take us to the slopes!

Jason and Hunter taking the lift up (they are in the lowest lift)..the lift proved to be a little tricky with the four of us trying to get on at the same time and not knock eachother off with skis and snowboards attached to our feet

Jason had been skiing before, couldn't resist being a show-off...he's very good at saving himself from a fall

Hunter took to snowboarding right away...by the end of the season he was going down double black diamonds with Jason. Ashley and I stuck to the greens and blues.

Incline October 2010

Hunter and I took off one morning during fall break to tackle "The Incline", a famous and pretty tough hike in Manitou Springs. It's a 2,200 ft elevation gain in about 1.5 miles...we enjoyed the workout and the views!


This is the start..notice the false ridge..it's NOT the end and when you hike the first time and don't know this, it stinks! You think you're going to be finished and it just gets tougher.

Almost done...Hunter finished first..Go Hunter!

Two hiking buddies that conquered the mountain!

Views from the top

We took the Barr Trail back down and saw cool rock formations and beautiful views

What a fun day....we would have loved Ashley to join us, but she said there was no way she was hiking this trail..we'll see what happens next fall

Unpacking, Football, Birthdays, and Trains...Oh My!

So this move into the new house has been interesting to say the least.. we have come to the conclusion that Hawaii may have beautiful beaches, but they have TERRIBLE packers!

Seems totally normal to put the golf shoes, balls, car wash and ant killer in the same box??
Sweaters and extension cords are definitely in the same family...I think they missed the "one of these things is not like the other" segment on Sesame Street as kids

Installing the pool table light..the fun of unpacking continues...this will be the ONLY time that Hunter gets to stand on the pool table

A new school brings new sports opportunities..Hunter (#20) played tackle football for the first time in his life...many times this season I thought my heart would jump out of my chest. He did a great job catching on and bypassed the entire second string team to play on the envied gold team. We are so proud of him! We'll see what high school holds for him.

Ashley is loving her new high school. They had a real homecoming week that ended with the homecoming dance. She had fun dressing up, going to dinner with her friends and attending the dance. The mainland is quite different from Hawaii in some great ways.

Fall has arrived in Colorado...This is an Aspen.

A maple in true fall colors!

Woohoo!! Ashley is 16!! I can't believe it...She had her friends over for a bbq, pool, darts, xbox, a bon fire, and hot cocoa. They had a lot of fun...Jason and I are feeling quite old now :-)

Ashley has a love for ducks right now..so she had ducks on her cake this year. Yes, she ended up eating the entire fondant duck.

Grandma and Grandpa flew out to surprise Ashley for her birthday...quite a huge success! We did a little site seeing while they were here and enjoyed every minute. Here we are at the Garden of the Gods.

Can you see the kissing camels? Look at the little hole and you will see both camels facing eachother for a kiss
The balancing rock...totally amazing! One of our other activities was to take the cog railway to the top of Pike's Peak from Manitou Springs. It was a 3 hr ride, up to 14,110 ft elevation, and a 30 degree drop in temperature. Very cool scenery and a great family trip. America the Beautiful was inspired by this mountain and its scenery.

Grandpa and Ashley enjoying the view and a little family love! Exploring the mountain top was fun. The wind was bitter, the views were amazing, and the company was the BEST!

We were level with the clouds!

Hunter and I were watching the red fox running around...He was pretty cold..good thing our 30 min of exploring was just about up

Breckenridge for Jason's Birthday!

It was Jason's birthday, so his wish was to check out Breckenridge before the snow hits. A beautiful 2 hr ride out and a great day of family fun!

Our two comedians! The ski lodge...oh how nice!

our first ride on a ski lift...Hunter thought this was the most amazing thing he'd ever ridden on..he was giving me a heart attack as he swung his legs over the side and hollered all the way up

You can see the ski runs on peak 9 and 8...can't wait to see them covered in snow!