Goodbye to 2017

Courtney found a fun new activity for New Year's -- the torchlight parade at Alta Ski resort.

At 4:30 we drove up to Alta. Michelle and I graciously allowed the snowboarders to use our skis and we could watch from the bottom.

We had flashlights for our "torches" but next year we'll get creative copying some of the other light sources we saw. Battery-operated christmas lights strung around coats and decorating their skis!

There was a fun energy (as my mom would say) as everyone gathered to head up the lift. There was even another lift open that gave skiers a chance to ski down to the meeting point. (Skiing on Sunday! Probably happens only once every seven years!) It was a good chance for Isaac and Ethan to practice skiing since they only snowboard!

Michelle and I alternated huddling around the bonfire at the base and then moving away from the sparks with our highly flammable winter coats. (Are they highly flammable? I'm not really sure, but it seemed possible.)

The moon also put on a show!

The parade seemed to have hundreds of participants so it was really something cool to watch. And the ski patrol had their own parade at a higher mountain where they lit an "A" for Alta and skied down with extra bright flashlight torches which was spectacular to watch too.

Did I mention there were fireworks?

The best part was how excited everyone was in our family when they got to the bottom. They'd had a great time and we're planning it as an annual tradition from now on!

Back home we had sloppy joes for dinner and another round of Phase 10. Chris and Isaac hung out with Chris' friends and Nick and Ethan went to late night jumping at Get Air. We watched the ball drop and counted down to the New Year. But what really topped off the night was when Chris got home and pulled out his fireworks. The boys loved an excuse to celebrate with a literal bang!