From snowshoeing in Bozeman to cyclocross in Florida

We've had a busy month of escapades, but with an added component of misfortune that turned each adventure slightly awry. Over thanksgiving, my mother, brother and friends from Billings, Sue and Paul, joined our family at our cabin amidst 2 feet of snow. The trip started off fantastically, with a group snowshoe hike up Nixon Peak, and Chloe pitching in the make Grandma Marschall's rolls. We even got a few turns in at Bridger and some strong workouts at the Nordic center. Unfortunately, events turned sour when my brother smashed our snowmobile into a tree. (This occurred after Sue and Paul got their car stuck, the plow truck went down, and our propane heater went on the blink). Luckily, no one was hurt. Unluckily, it required major repairs and will not be ready for at least another month!


For Christmas, we thought we'd throw in a couple of cyclo-cross races in Miami while visiting Jay's folks in Florida. The first race was "Tropical Cyclocross" in Key Biscayne and we both came in 3d in our respective races, male masters and women, although I weathered numerous flats due to my lack of bunny-hopping ability! We also went out to some phenomenal Cuban food, saw the holiday boat parade at Bayside and did some late night Christmas shopping after several Mojitos!

Then it was up to Stuart, FL for in-laws and kid time. Chloe rode her bike almost every single day, played with the neighbor kids, went to the Oceanography Center with her cousin Tyler, played in the surf at Jupiter, and went mountain biking in the jungle at night! Cale continued to progress - exhausting her grandparents to the hilt.


As with Thanksgiving, everything was fine until "disaster" struck - Jay came down with kidney stones and a sore throat, his mom and dad got a stomach bug - and several days were spent with Sarah being the lone survivor to manage the household. Luckily, everyone's health improved for Christmas eve, and we had a wonderful steak house night out and presents in the morning. Jay even ran me into the ground on Christmas day with a 5-mile run followed by a bike ride to Hobe Sound.