Skiing

Guest blogger Brad here. Jordan asked me to write about my ski trip with Eli last weekend.

It never fails that when our alternating Christmas lands in Dallas my home state always seems to get snow. This past December New Mexico was blessed with a few big snow dumping storms. Thanks to Facebook you can see it for yourself as it happens. So, not long after we returned from Christmas I was on the phone planning a ski trip to New Mexico with my family. We ended up going to Moriarty and skiing Santa Fe on New Years Eve with my brothers Brent and Kevin and their families. It was a good time and Eli once again continued to get better improving upon our last trip in March of 2011 with the youth group over spring break to Keystone.

After our day skiing I had enough. My days of always wanting more and more and back to back skiing days are over. I may do it, but if I had my preference I would at least take a day off between ski days.

Anyhow, to the point; right?

Last Thursday night I heard my phone ringing and when I picked it up I saw that my former boss from my law firm days (David Mullin) was calling and had texted numerous times inviting/begging me and Eli to go skiing with him, his wife and his granddaughter Jazzy, who is a year younger than Eli, at Taos for the weekend. I typically don't need much cajoling to go skiing but this was even a little spur of the moment and unplanned for even me. Possibly Jordan's planning genes have been finding their way across the pillows to me. I could tell that David was really, really wanting us to go and that he had already rented a ski in-and-out cabin. So, I checked the snow report, with Eli, and with Jordan and we were in.

I am glad we did it. It turned out to be a great father/son weekend with the Mullins. Even though it has almost been five years since I worked with/for David he continues to be one of my best friends. Our relationship is some weird mixture of both paternal/professional. Our age difference is big enough for David to be my father and I his son. David is a great attorney and continues to advise me and my company. He also continues to find time to have lunch with me every couple of weeks at our usual place so we can visit about important matters like the Phillies (he grew up in Philly), family, work, lots of football and religion. I think it is very important to have role models in your life and even better for them to be someone you really know.

So, we headed to NM and had a blast. Taos is a gem of New Mexico skiing. I had never really skied there before (there was one day 4 years ago with the Mullins and Eli that ended abruptly since it was Eli's first day to ever ski and it was 7 degrees for the high). The snow and the mountain were great. Eli and I skied by ourselves Saturday until about Noon when David joined us. Eli loves the moguls and jumps. I love the moguls, too, but not the jumps any more. Jazzy and Mary headed to the cabin early but we made sure David got in a few runs (about 10).

We were only planning to ski Saturday but when we were heading to the rental shop on Saturday morning the shuttle driver/inn owner (Christian Heavens -- really that was his name) was talking about how it was supposed to ski Saturday night. So, David looked at me and asked if we were okay skiing two. I am glad we did because it did end up snowing about 4 inches which is just about perfect. Also, Eli was a great little ski instructor as he taught Jazzy how to ski on Sunday on the bunny slope. Then in the afternoon we all headed to the top of the mountain. You can never underestimate the power of peer pressure. Before Eli started teaching Jazzy how to ski, she was like a runaway freight train. In about one hour Eli had her turning and stopping without falling. All in all, Jazzy did great up on the big mountain. I kidded David on our third run from the top with Jazzy that his decision to invite the McCalls was beginning to pay off. He just laughed and said, "You are not kidding."

Anyhow, enjoy these pictures and let us know if you want/need Eli to teach your 7 year old to ski this winter. We might just be in for a third ski trip of the winter soon.

** You can find a new recipe HERE over at EATING AT THE TAJ MCCALL!