Family in Jackson

First, I enjoyed a week with my parents and then my sisters came for a long weekend. Having my family here is so incredible that I wish they would never leave! This was my parent's third visit and my mom's fourth visit! I was thrilled to have them here again and we had a truly amazing time. We enjoyed a little skiing, snowmobiling, eating, eating, some more eating, and a little spa action too :) My sister's made their first trip out here since I moved to Jackson. This was very special for me to have them here...ALL to myself :) We had a nice and relaxing long weekend of girl time, shopping, eating, drinking and a little spa as well! I am truly blessed to have my family come visit me and to be able to spend some time with them. Let's just say, their timing couldn't have been better. Below are some pictures from both of their visits...ENJOY :)


Dad and I at the Grannery for dinner

Mom and I getting ready to go out to dinner

Mom and Dad at Burke's Chop House

Mom, Dad, and I snowmobiling

It was snowing so much and such a wonderful day!

In the Aspen's

Hand feeding the little deer they rescued

Joe the deer that the people at the Box Y Ranch rescued

Throwing snowballs into the river

Grey's River...so beautiful!


Dad and Mom took a day to drive around...entering Idaho



Coming back to Wyoming

Playing in the snow

A great view from the top of Teton Pass


Beautiful day to explore :)

The Tram

The antler shot with Mom and Dad

Jenny and Mary at the top of the mountain at Corbet's Cabin

Jenny and Mary at the top of Rendezvous Bowl

Tram ride down

Jenny, Me, and Mary outside the Snake River Lodge and Spa where they stayed

Jenny and Mary outside of Dornan's inside the Grand Teton National Park

I don't think there are enough words to describe how wonderful the time I had with my family was. I am so blessed they all took the time to break away from their lives at home to come visit me in Jackson. I really, really, really, loved seeing them and the great times and adventures we shared. I love and miss them more than anyone will ever know. Thanks for such a grand time!!! I love you :) I think that is all for now...hope all is well with everyone!

Our Beloved Dot

Last Thursday evening my family's dog, Dot, passed away. She had not been feeling well for the past couple weeks and then suddenly on the night of March 5th, she became very ill. Mom and Dad took her to the emergency animal hospital and they discovered she had a cancerous tumor the size of a football in her abdomen. The tumor was bleeding out...and Dot was dying. They had to put her down. Dot was 11 years old and had been a part of our family since she was a puppy. She was the second addition to the family after Syd who is 15 years old. Dot was so very sweet, modest, loving, and protective. She let Syd be "top dog" and rule the house. She was the spry, younger dog who we didn't imagine would be the first to go. This is something we didn't see coming and for my Mom and Dad...they have lost a best friend. The dogs are such a part of their lives and getting use to things without Dot around are very hard for them. Dot will be missed greatly by our entire family. We loved her dearly. The video below is something my Mom put together to honor our sweet Dot.

Rescued Koala Bear

My Mom shared this article and picture with me so I thought I would share it as well. It is a precious story amidst all of the tragedy occurring in Australia right now.

Koala Rescued From Australia Wildfires
By ROHAN SULLIVAN, AP

SYDNEY (Feb. 10) - It was a chance encounter in the charred landscape of Australia's deadly wildfires: A koala sips water from a bottle offered by a firefighter. David Tree noticed the koala moving gingerly on scorched paws as his fire patrol passed. Clearly in pain, the animal stopped when it saw Tree.

"It was amazing, he turned around, sat on his bum and sort of looked at me with (a look) like, put me out of my misery," Tree told The Associated Press on Tuesday. "I yelled out for a bottle of water. I unscrewed the bottle, tipped it up on his lips and he just took it naturally.

Firefighter David Trees shares his water with a female koala whose habitat was scorched by raging wildfires in Australia on Monday.

"He kept reaching for the bottle, almost like a baby."

The team called animal welfare officers to pick up the koala Sunday, the day after deadly firestorms swept southern Victoria state.

"I love nature, and I've handled koalas before. They're not the friendliest things, but I wanted to help him," Tree said.

Often mistakenly called koala bears because they resemble a child's teddy bear, the marsupial is actually a rather grumpy creature with a loud growl and sharp claws. It rarely comes down from the trees and doesn't like walking.

Koalas are especially vulnerable to wildfires because they move slowly on the ground.

The wildfires cut through parks and forests and sent countless wombats and other native species fleeing. One resident reported seeing kangaroos bouncing down the road with flames at their backs.

5-5-5

So I was tagged by my friend Michele in this epidemic in the blogger world called a "meme". Once tagged, you are supposed to explain the 5th picture in your 5th folder in your pictures and then tag 5 people to do the same. It is pretty fun to see every ones pictures. See below for my 5th picture in my 5th folder. Enjoy :)

So this picture is of my niece Ella at the 2007 Buddy Walk wearing the shirt I designed for Travis' team :) The Buddy Walk is hosted by the Down Syndrome Association of Atlanta and helps raise money and awareness. This was the 6th consecutive year our family has attended and they were there again this past year. I love this picture this day :)

So, now I tag Jenny, Jamie, Tori, and Gilly. I think these are the only people left of my blogger buddies who haven't been tagged. Or if they have been tagged, they haven't posted. So here ya go...your turn!

I hope everyone is happy and well! Love and miss you bunches and bunches.

Bluebird Day

This past Monday, Jay, his friend Andy (visiting from Chicago), and I went skiing. It was another Bluebird Day in Jackson and a great opportunity to take the Tram up for stunning views of the valley. See below for a couple pictures :)

Jay and I at the top of the Tram with a beautiful view of the valley below. These pictures were taken with my phone so they are not stellar but they give a good idea of the amazing scenery.

Andy and Jay and the top of the Tram with a nice view of the Grand Teton in the back ground.

The funny part of the story is this picture. I took this with my phone and sent the picture to my Mom with the text: "Skiing another Bluebird Day...thinking about you and miss you bunches. Love, Rachael" Well, my Mom thought I was literally talking about a Blue Bird and she was looking so hard in the picture for an actual Blue Bird. The definition of a Bluebird Day is: A beautiful sunny day after an overnight snowfall. It's a perfect skiing day with a clear blue sky, bright sun, and fresh snow. So she had to call me to figure out what the heck I was talking about. Needless to say, she knows the definition now :) And then on top of that, she was worried that I was by myself (hence my shadow on the snow) and she didn't like that. But I was only on an access lift (which I took from right outside my front door) to meet Jay and Andy. This conversation really made me smile so I thought I would share it with you. I thought it was pretty funny and really cute :)

I hope all is well with everyone! LOVE and MISS you BUNCHES!

Megan and Jennifer's Visit

Megan and Jennifer came to visit right after Christmas and into the New Year! It was so fun having them back like old times...skiing, hanging out, dinners, and happy hour :) I miss having these girls around all the time...they are so much fun and always up for anything. They were mach 10 the entire time they were here...going and doing and going and doing as much as they could. Below are some pictures from their time here...ENJOY :)


Tori, Jennifer, me, and Megan at the top of Thunder...the wind was wicked up there and brrr cold but it was great getting out with the girls.

Tori, Megan, me, and Jennifer at the top of Sublet. It was a blue bird day...we don't get many of those around here so it was so nice to be able to see the beautiful mountains that surround us everyday!

Being silly on the Sublet chair lift :)

Jennifer, me, Jenny, and Megan at The Wort for Blue Grass Tuesday and the Miller Sister Band! SO much fun :)

At the Cowboy Bar for their first night in town. Lots of shots and dancing occurred this evening...we had a blast!!!

Being silly :)

Megan, Jenny, me, and Jennifer pre Jagger bomb!

That is all for now. A side note...my parent's are coming out at the end of February and my sister's are coming out the first weekend in March...I couldn't be HAPPIER :)

LOVE YOU GUYS!!! XOXO

A Lighter Note

This post is a little late but here are some pictures from New Year's Eve. We had a wonderful time at the Mangy Moose and brought in the New Year of 2009 with lots of good friends, cheer, and booze :) Hope all is well with everyone! Enjoy the pictures :)


Jay and I before heading out


Being silly :)

The infamous New Year's Hat! Nice look Megan!

And the so fashionable 2009 glasses :)

Happy New Year everyone! LOVE and MISS you bunches. XOXO :)

Careful what you wish for...

So after my last post you would think all of this snow is a good thing...well not so much. We have seen record snow fall in a very short amount of time. Over 5 feet in less than a week. All of this snow fell on a very weak base layer which is recipe for disaster. Since Saturday the 27th, we have had 2 in-bounds slides (this means 2 avalanches within our resort boundaries). This is extremely rare but with the conditions the way they have been...it was only time before we would see something like this occur. I am very sad to report that on Saturday, December 27th, a man was killed in an in-bounds avalanche. He was a local from Wilson, WY and skied the resort frequently. We are saddened greatly by this loss and our ski patrol is doing everything in their power to prevent something like this from happening again. Unfortunately when you are fighting Mother Nature...she is going to win. We have some of the best ski patrollers working our mountain and they risk their lives every day so that we can ski safely. But with these conditions...it is very difficult to make skiing 100% safe...no matter what you do. Yesterday December 29th, we had another slide. The Headwall slid and ran into the Bridger Restaurant at the top of the Gondola lift. There are 3 restaurants and 1 store in this building. Fortunately no one was hurt...which is a miracle...and there was no structural damage to the building...just busted out windows and scattered tables and chairs all over. This part of the mountain wasn't open yet so there were minimal amounts of people up there. Below are 2 links to articles about these 2 incidents.

http://www.jacksonholenews.com/article.php?art_id=4064

http://www.jacksonholenews.com/article.php?art_id=4070

The incidents have been quite devastating to our company, my co-workers, our guests, and my friends. We are all trying to be as positive as possible and looking forward and not to the past. There is no blame to be placed for these incidents. We are all very thankful for the people working to make our mountain safe and we look forward to getting back on the hill as soon as possible. I just wanted to provide you all with an update to the events happening here in Jackson. Please keep the families and friends affected by these events in your prayers. Thank you for all of your support and comments. I love and miss you all bunches and bunches.

XOXO :)

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Merry Christmas! I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and I hope all of your wishes come true this holiday season! For me here in Jackson, Christmas isn't quite the same as home but I am so fortunate and blessed to have the friends here who are like my family to make Christmas so wonderful. I miss home terribly this time of year and I miss all of the precious comforts home provides.

The past couple of weeks, everyone here in Jackson has been praying for snow. The season started off a little scary with not much snow. With the new Tram and with the state of the economy, snow is our only chance at survival being that it is the main reason people travel to Jackson in the winter. Well it looks like our prayers have been answered and the snow has come and is still "dumping"! Last night we received 18" of new snow and since 6:00 a.m. it has probably snowed another 8"...and it is still dumping! Unfortunately I am at work instead of out skiing but I am hopefully going to get a break at lunch to go take a few turns on the hill.

So...LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW! Here are some pictures I took with my phone this morning of the snow covered village. ENJOY :)

The view out the front door of our main office in the village.

The mountain is back there somewhere but is covered by all of the snow!

This is just outside my office in the village...Lucy is the one in the middle...she was a champ this morning getting me to work. I cruised right past a van stuck in the snow and she kept trekking along with just a few squirrely moments ;)

This is my place! I have the upstaires unit. Finally a picture for you all to see...there will be more of the inside to come later :)

The view from my driveway. This is looking toward the mountain but you can't see it because of all of the snow falling!

Standing in my driveway looking toward the mountain.

Jay and my neighbor's trucks.

My other neighbors SUV...crazy amounts of snow!

I miss and love you all bunches and bunches! Merry Christmas XOXO :)