--- Family Ski Trip ---

In April, we took a family vacation to Steamboat Springs, Colorado.  Chad's parents, Ronnie and Mitzi, and his brother and significant other, Travis and Megan, went with us on the trip.  It was the first time Chad and I had been skiing since college, so we were both so excited to go.

The most interesting part of the trip was getting all of our luggage on the plane.  We had four suitcases, two ski bags, my laptop bag, a diaper bag, Trace's toy/DVD bag, a stroller, and my purse; all with just two adults and our two small kids.  Needless to say, we gathered a lot of attention as we were checking in.  I am sure we were THOSE people, you know the ones you silently think to yourself, "I hope they aren't on MY flight."  Luckily it all went pretty smooth and once the luggage was checked and we made it through security it was pretty much smooth sailing.  The boys were angels on the both flights, never making a peep!



We booked the trip with a little hesitation because it was the last week of the ski season and so we were a little nervous about what the ski conditions would be like.  Well, as you can see from the picture below they were awesome.  The second day we were there we got 15" of fresh powder it was amazing.

We skied a lot, but I have to say we are not the hard-core, go all day until the lifts close, skiers that we used to be.  We had a wonderful time just relaxing in our cabin with a nice breakfast in the mornings, skiing for a little bit, enjoying a lunch on the mountain, and then skiing for the rest of the afternoon, followed up by dinner at one of the local restaurants.

Another fun thing that we were able to do on this trip was to get Trace on skis for the first time.  We debated putting him in ski school since he barely made the age limit of 2 and a half, but we decided that it was probably best just to let him play around on them this year.  We rented him a set of skis and took him out on the ski in/ski out area of our cabin to let him get used to it.  To be so young, I think we are going to have a natural on our hands, he could keep his skis in french fry position like a little champ!

I was so glad that we were able to get some great family photos while we were there.  With two kids two and under, let me tell you that is no easy task.  Here are some current Mitchell family photos, coming to a Christmas Card soon:

We had a wonderful time on our family vacation at Steamboat Springs and can't wait to go back again very soon!



--- Irish Day ---

Noal attended his first ever Irish Day festival this year.  For those of you who aren't familar with "Irish Day" it is this wonderful, only big thing in a small town, carnival/parade/flea market that occurs in Erin every year the week of St. Patrick's Day.  For those of you from Marshall County, think Tater Day.  From those of you not from Marshall County, yes Tater Day is a real event and you are reading the blog of Miss Tater Day 2000.  No joke.

"Erin - A wee bit of Ireland in Tennessee."

I can honestly say that the quote above was not quite the first impression I got when I came to Erin with Chad for the first time about 8 years ago, but hey whatever floats your boat (or billboard).  I can say that for a Tennessee version of a St. Patrick's Day celebration, Irish Day is a good time.  Well, for most -- see picture of screaming child below.

On Friday night, the Mitchell family loaded up and went to the carnival.  It was complete with plenty of fattening, delicious carnival grub, kiddy rides and rides to make you lose your carnival grub, and enough second hand smoke to put you in the grave, but we all still had a great time none-the-less.  Trace actually enjoyed most of the rides he went on.  What you see above happened to be part of a chain reaction among other kids on the ride and I think he just felt like joining in.

We really enjoyed the swinging bridge and blow up slide!  My husband got the boys ready before heading out for the adventure and I think that Noal's shirt did seem to fit the night.

The next day we continued on with our Irish Day festivities by going to the pancake breakfast at our church, Erin Church of the Nazarene, to help send our teens to NYI.  I am all up for pancakes, especially when the procedes go to a such good cause!  After the church pancake breakfast, we made our way, double stroller aka land yatch, and all to browse the flea market.  Thanks to never carrying cash, Chad managed to take me shopping and not buy a single thing.  A good day in his books.

To wrap up our Irish Day festivities we headed back to the church where we sat and watched the Irish Day parade.  Trace, with only one incident of time out for running into the street, was able to consume enough candy that we should be good until the next Irish Day rolls around.  We enjoyed some family time as most of the Mitchell clan and Nana joined us while watching the parade:

All in all we had some wonderful family time together at Irish Day and I am looking forward to Irish Day in the years to come if they are anything like this one!

--- About Us ---

Hello from the Chad Mitchell family; Chad, Megan, Trace, and Noal.  Our litte family resides in the small little town of Erin, TN.  Unless you are very close friends or family, you have probably never heard of it.  Erin is an itty-bitty town about an hour northwest of Nashville and has an overwhelming population of 1,500.  Chad works for TVA as an Assistant Unit Operator in the Cumberland City fossil plant and I (Megan) work at Austin Peay State University as the Assistant Director of Admissions. 

The best part of our life is our two little boys; Trace (2.5 years old) and Noal (7 months).  If we aren't busy working, we love spending as much time as possible together as a family.  Some of our favorite activities include boating on Kentucky Lake, eating out, movies (especially cartoons!), and cooking.  We attend Erin Church of the Nazarene and love our church family. 

I am starting this blog in hopes of capturing those special family moments that are gone in flash.  I have been horrible about recording our memories together and special moments we have shared except for my never ending collection of pictures.  I'm not the best at scrapbooking or keeping up with a baby book, but pretty darn good at computers so this seems to suit me a little better.  I hope with this I will be able to have something to look back on in 10, 20, 30, 50 years. 

Enjoy!