My sister and I have been on a mission to invest in experiences rather than material goods for our familial gifts. This year we aimed to take a trip to Flagstaff to hopefully ski, snowboard and throw snowballs at each other. We found an Air B&B just outside of Flagstaff with room for 6 and booked a weekend to bring our parents and most favorite uncle to the pines for a weekend of true winter. The weather gods blessed us with precipitation and the day we planned to drive up, it was snowing as low as 5000 feet in elevation. The kids loved looking out the window and seeing thick snow piled along the side of the highway. Though we visited the snow earlier in the year, they had yet to experience snow falling. 

On Saturday, we bundled up, and found 0 degrees fahrenheit greeting us as we drove 45 minutes north to Arizona Snowbowl. M took a day-long snowboard lesson while our son tried skis. He hated it and ended up spending time in the lodge with Nana and his great-tio. Papa got a free lift ticket for being in the 70+ crowd, and Tia G and I met up a few times, her on a snowboard, me on skis to hit the small slope. It was storming and freezing, but absolutely a blast. Even though I haven't skied since 2011, I managed to build up some speed, and made it down each run without falling. My husband is a good sport and tried skis again after his leg-break incident from our honeymoon in 2009. He soon joined his mother-in-law and son in the lodge while M, Papa, Tia G and me stayed out on the freezing mountain. 

M's class was worth every penny and she ended up having a fantastic time. I hope we can make this a yearly tradition. And hopefully CJ will change his mind about winter sports.