Saturday, February 09, 2008

Welcome Home, Emma - and A Week-end Away

It is Saturday afternoon and I am up in Copper Mountain. We came on Thursday morning, early, just missing a big storm which closed the interstate, and a huge water main break, causing a gigantic sink hole, causing a closure at the intersection of two major interstates. More than 2 million gallons of water gushed out, causing the highway roadbed to develop a sink hole estimated at 40 feet by 40 feet and as much as 16 feet deep.



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Here they are trying to get the road fixed enough that people can get to work on Monday.




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We were safely tucked away up here in our cozy little apartment before all of this happened. We are trusting we'll get back okay tomorrow morning. Kev has been sick with the stomach flu most of the time, able to ski yesterday only, poor kid! Sema has amazed me with her drive to perfect her skiing technique - the girl who was raised on the Indian Ocean in Mombasa, Kenya, Africa. This girl, who was raised in Northern Minnesota, has no desire to be cold all day long, but rather to sit by the fire and do gpa computations for approximately 100 applicants, read some good books, and fix some good meals. I discovered that the wireless access in our room was not free, but learned that I could go over to the building where the young employees live in dorm-like conditions to use their access, or their "computer lab."

There are young people here from all over the world, experiencing the world of skiing for a 3 month period. We met two young girls from Peru and Brazil as we ate terribly overpriced bratwursts the first afternoon (the reason we brought our own food!).



But - back to Miss Emma! Emma was released around 5:00 Wednesday afternoon. I did not get as many, nor as good, pictures as I did for Kate's release. By the time we got her home, both girls were asleep, and Kristen was most anxious to keep them that way! I've missed some great photo ops since I've been up here, but I know there will be many more. For instance, Kristen called me to tell me that both girls were sitting on the couch, holding her "own" baby, and feeding them their bottles. One even attempted the burping duty. Care Bear decided she was big enough to bring Kate up to her bed, while Kristen was getting Emma settled upstairs. Kristen had to hold her breath, then try to kindly explain to Care Bear that she wasn't QUITE big enough for that. They are going to be such tremendous little helpers.



Today they had a tremendous bout of Cabin Fever, so they were going to go to the park with both double strollers full of cute big and little girls. Wish I could have had a shot of that!



I love this picture of Kristen beginning the preparations to bring Emma home.





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Kate slept through most of the process - I did end up feeding her just before we headed home.






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Emma just chilled out as she was dressed in her going home outfit, waiting for all of the paper work to be completed.






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This is one of the fabulous nurses in the NICU (whom we will miss!), who happens to be a good friend of Diane's - it is indeed small world!)






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One of the nurses "encouraged" the big sisters to be out of the way by giving them the dinosaurs they had played with while they were visiting. They were trying to be a bit TOO helpful!






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Almost ready to go!






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I think she's going to be a conductor!






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Daddy holds her and helps get her ready.






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I don't really know how the nights have gone, since we left very early Thursday morning for our mountain get-away. This has been planned and reservations have been made for weeks. We are blessed that Emma made it home before we left.


This is our second annual ski trip to celebrate Kev's birthday. The snow was coming down in buckets the first afternoon, amounting to 11 inches before it ended. Kev wasn't feeling well that afternoon, but DC and Sema said they could hardly see where they were going as they made their way down the slopes. We settled in for chili and caramel rolls that first night, glad to have such a cozy place to stay.


The view from our 6th floor place - note the HUGE icicles.



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We took a little jaunt to the shops, and to the market for a few overpriced items we needed - such as chicken noodle soup for poor Kev ($1.75!), and shot these.



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I love this shot of the stream we cross to get into the village.



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The sun came out today and here is DC ready to face the day and not get burned! He assures me that it melts into his skin soon and he doesn't look like a goth.



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They had the slopes pretty much to themselves until today, which is why we came up on Thursday. The difference between week-day and week-end crowds is phenomenal! Sema wants to to stay another day, and for Kev's sake I wish we could, but we need to head back down the mountain to beat the crowds home tomorrow morning, and hope and pray all the trauma on the highway is taken care of so we can get home without lots of sitting in traffic!

26 comments:

Linda said...

What a wonderful, cheerful post (well except for Kev being sick - I'm so sorry about that). Kristen looks wonderful and those babies are just precious (big sisters are awfully sweet too). What a blessing to have them home.
I'm so glad you got this time away. I think it will do you all a lot of good.
Have a blessed time and take care going home.

nancygrayce said...

Oh, it is beautiful there....looks so cold! And I'm so thankful Emma got to join the family at home! That should make things easier/harder...:) I'm just filled with hope every time you talk about Kevin! Safe trip home!

Diane@Diane's Place said...

Congrats on getting all the chicks in the nest at the same time now. ;o)

Love the snow pics, especially the one of the stream. And I'm with you, I wouldn't be voluntarily launching myself down a mountain on a couple of sticks either! I wouldn't mind being out in the snow, but on level ground, please.

I saw the sinkhole on CNN and wondered if y'all were affected by it. Hope you get home safely and don't have to detour out of your way.

Love and hugs,

Diane

Sharon Lynne said...

Such a lot going on in your life. It sounds nice to be able to stay in the apartment and read...but not the part about calculating grades.

I am a snow skiier...but my husband is not. So I don't ski anymore. My ski partner was my dad...but he's slowing down a bit.

I enjoyed all the pictures. It was fun to see the pictures of Emma!

Linds said...

The snow looks wonderful, Dawn, and it is so beautiful in the mountains! Great news re the homecoming, and I am sure you can't wait to get home to cuddle the wee ones. Have a safe trip back.

PS One week and I will be in the Alps! I can't wait.

Mimi said...

what a wonderful homecoming for little Emma...
and what a great get a way for you...
I am not a skier...but the ice skating looked fun...and the view from your room looked great (from the inside looking out!)
glad you could get away and have a great time!!

Laura Paxton said...

SO glad little Emma is home now...and that you guys had the chance to get away for the weekend! Thanks for sharing the pictures..it looks like it was fun!

Andrea said...

great pictures! so glad both girls are now home where they belong.

emma looks SO tiny in that car seat, but it's amazing how quickly they will outgrow them!

Deb said...

Oh I'm so glad that both of the babies are home now and doing so well! Emma is just precious in the photos - and I love the one of the 'big girls' holding their dinosaurs.

Your mountain photos are gorgeous! :)

Karen H. said...

Good Afternoon Dawn,
"PRAISE GOD" that Emma got to come home Wednesday. It does sound like Kristen has her hands full tho. I know that Fiesty and Care Bear are so eager to be such BIG Sisters and helpers. Emma is such a doll with her hands. She does look like she is conducting something. I bet Kristen was scared out of her wits when Care Bear was trying to carry Kate upstairs. Bless her little heart, I know she means well and wanting to be such a Big Helper. Ohmygosh Dawn, that is one huge icicle there in that first picture. I would hate to be under that one when it started falling. It looks as tho it is touching the Snow. I do hope they are trying to get some of that Snow off of the roofs so they don't collapse. I would have to say the 3rd picture of the Ice Pond with the stores around it is my favorite picture. It looks like it is out of a Christmas Village. The pond is beautiful too. Those Snow covered rocks really sets it off. That sinkhole is just terrible. I do hope they have it fixed or at least passable before yall leave to come home. I'm sorry that Kev was sick but hope he is feeling much better today. It's always a good thing to carry your own foods when you go somewhere like that. Everything is just so high these days and especially at a Ski Resort and other Tourist places. I have never been skiing, but would so love to one of these days. I don't even know how to, but it sounds like fun. I remember when I was in Junior High School, one of my friends, her Dad was President of the local Bank in the town where I'm from, they would always go skiing in Aspen, CO each year. I was so envious of her because she got to miss School. LOL. When she would come back to School, you could always tell where her goggles had been on her face. I have finally put up a new post this morning. Hopefully things will get back to normal around here since my DH has gone back to work. Take care my friend and have a great day. May God Bless You and Yours. I am praying for safety travels for yall on the way home.

Hugs,
Karen H.

Nancy said...

Dawn- You lead such an exciting life... it makes me feel like an old granny. It is great that you get to spend time with son and dil on this special ski trip. I am with you- I would be by the fire reading and relaxing.

Emma is so cute and looks so much bigger now. The sisters are lucky to each have one to feed and what special helpers they are going to be.

Good luck on that return trip and thanks for sharing the beautiful photos.

Barb said...

Grocery shopping at Copper Mountain wouldn't be in my budget, for sure Dawn. LOL But...look at what you get for all that over priced-ness. It really is beautiful there.

I can't believe that sinkhole. Is that I-25? Good grief, what a huge problem that's going to be for coming down out of the mountains traffice this afternoon. On a good day, traffic comes to a standstill. This is really going to create problems.

Hooray for the whole little family being reunited. Kristen looks great. She looks rested and ready to take on going from two to four children. And yes, big sisters will be a big, big help to her.

What a sweet post this is. Great news about the baby and great photos.

Midlife Mom said...

Oh Dawn, what a wonderful post! We just got home from evening service and I thought I would log on for a few minutes and am sure glad I did!! The babies look so wonderful and Kristen does too! What a blessing to have them all home under one roof. Those two big sisters are going to be such a huge help to Mom!

That sink hole is amazing!! I've never seen anything like that before!! Yikes!

Love your pictures of the ski resort. Looks just like here with all the snow and ice hanging off the roofs. We used to ski every weekend when we were much younger but now I would take a good book and sit by the fire.

Poor Kev! I hope he gets a few good runs down the slopes!

Great post and thanks for stopping by my place, come again soon!! xox

Chris said...

Beautiful and exciting pictures of Emma going home. The joy is so evident mom & dads faces and the other little ones. What a blessing. God is good.
Hope you get home safe and sound. That is one nasty sink hole! I saw something on the news the other night about a sink hole but wasn't paying much attention.

Unknown said...

I've skied Copper Mountain ... in 1975 or '76. I ran into President Gerald Ford that same year while at Vale. He had his daughter Susan with him. They were avid skiers.

Your sink hole looks like here in Florida ... except for the snow.

Myrna said...

I'm so happy for your family that both girls are home. How sweet!

Your ski trip looks COLD but pretty! I've never been skiing, but I'm sure I would be the sit-in-the-lodge-with-a-cup-pf-hot-chocolate type of skier! :-)

Nadine said...

That is a huge hole. It's amazing.

I'm so glad Emma is finally home. What a blessing to have both of them home where they belong.

Boy those are big icicles. What a pretty place you stayed. Looks like fun.

groovyoldlady said...

Huzzah! The babies are home!!!!

Hmmm. I think that skiing this year is VERY dangerous. You guys went and Kev got ill. My friend's church's youth group went and 35 of 50 people got a virulaent stomach flu and had to have extra drivers come out to drive the whole group back home.

Groovy will NOT go skiing now!

Robin said...

I saw that sink hole on the news! My goodness - you do have your share of excitement!
I'm so happy both sweet babies are home and your little family is all together!
Happy skiing!

Needled Mom said...

The news about both girls being home is wonderful. It has to be easier than running back and forth to the hospital each day.

We, too, were up in the snow this weekend. I love your pictures of Copper Mountain. It looks like the snow was perfect for skiing. Glad they were able to get some in before the crowds arrived for the weekend.

Having driven that I-25 many times, I can only imagine what a disaster that sinkhole must be. I'm sure it will be a long time before things are back to normal.

Sherry said...

j.e.a.l.o.u.s. Looks like a great time. Those babies are seriously so pretty. I stopped by for sec the other night-but they were fast asleep so I didn't get to see them.

We had to drive through Denver Friday and I was dreading the traffic, because of the sink hole but it was surprisingly decent.

nannykim said...

Beautiful pictures. I am so glad the babies are home; but that means, more fun begins!! Hope Kevin is feeling well!

Gran said...

Good Evening Dawn,

I am so glad that both girls are home with Kristen and the rest of the family. What beautiful little helpers. I love the photo with the dinosaurs...it is so precious. :)

It is so good for you to get away for a little while. What a awesome place...the beauty that is in every direction. I love the ice skating on the pond and the huge icicles.

It would be the perfect palce to curl up with a good book and glance from time to time out the window at the beautiful view.

Rest up Dawn...It will soon be Grandma time non-stop again. :)
It is so wonderful and such a miracle too!

Love to you,
Angela

Maine Mom said...

I'm glad you were able to get away for Kevin's birthday...that's a bummer though that he was sick for some of it. I hope you didn't have any problems getting home.

Yay, both babies are home now! I'm sure it is quite the adventure for Kristen. I'm impressed that she was getting out with everyone so soon. I bet seeing the two big sisters feeding their "own" babies was a cute sight to see. I'm glad they love their baby sisters so much and like to help. Thanks for the update!

Ms. Kathleen said...

Wow! Where do I start... Emma is just adorable and Kristen looks fabulous. Who would have thought she had twins! Wonderful photos and it is just gorgeous where you are visiting and what a sink hole! That is so scary.

My, you have been so BUSY! God Bless!

Mary said...

Dawn,

I enjoyed your post. Emma is adorable. I enjoy seeing photos of the girlies.

Sorry that Kevin was sick. What a way to spend a few days away. It doesn't really seem fair that he missed everything.

I love the photos of the place where you stayed. The ice rink takes me back in time to childhood days on the pond across the road. We had a lot of fun there. So many kids gathered there to skate and play crack-the-whip. I also love the one of the little stream. The area is very picturesque.

Take care, Dawn. Thanks for brightening my evening with all your beautiful photos.

Blessings,
Mary