D and JT in Washington

Derek wanted to go visit his dad in White Salmon, Washington, where he has been doing consulting work.  He decided that it would be a boys trip (aka Mommy not invited), so I put my fellas on a plane and they were off.

 Thanks to my mother-in-law for all the photo so I can document the weekend.  Upon their arrival a playtime in the snow was a must.

As well as a Frosty.

Going under a bridge on the way to a scenic waterfall.

The big waterfall

The next day everyone went sledding.

Justin said he had a blast, though he clarified that he didn't feel like smiling in this photo.

The cold snow just makes me shiver looking at it.  But nothing is too cold for my boys.

The next morning Justin was signing up for his first day of skiing.  They traveled across the Columbia River to Oregon's Mount Hood.  He went to a morning's worth of ski school while Derek and his parents watched.

Going outside to learn the basics.

Apparently he had a blast, with a permanent smile to prove it.

Learning how to walk like a duck uphill.

Skiing through the obstacle course.

He said he only fell once.

Going to visit a raging river

The third day was pretty bad weather, so skiing was missed and automobile museum was visited instead.

Old fashioned TV

Three generations of dimpled Michaelis men

Justin with his grandparents

Justin made everyone do their scary face. 

The "noisy bridge" as Justin called this trek out of the city.

Kuddos to my mother-in-law washing ALL the clothes so that no laundry needed to be done when the fellas came back home.

I spent all weekend making a Blurb book for 2009.  I was at a breaking point with my photo albums and decided to make a photo album using all my blog posts for the year.  Yes, it took three days of many hours of work.  But it motivated me to stay on course with the blog (aka in order) and not worry about how far behind I was.  And the finished product is so worth it!

The other part of my weekend was spent preparing decorations for Elise's shower the following weekend.  Never knew spooling yarn could take so long!

Derek told me that if I could have seen Justin's face skiing then I would understand why he planned and booked us a last minute ski trip that we just got back from over Spring Break.  More on that at another time.

For now, a wonderful weekend for Derek & Justin with the folks as well as a relaxing weekend for momma.