And some more photos from this fall.

Liz and I quickly got thrown back into "real life" here in CB.  Liz has been working full-time for the Orthopedic Surgeon and she's loving it.  She's learning a ton and putting her medical skills to the test every day.  I worked all summer on Bike Patrol - we built some ridiculous trails this summer - and helped a lot of injured bikers.  We finished the most extreme trail CB has ever seen just in time for the end of the bike season - it can be seen here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=85528&id=1528307561&l=5ce9459107

We went to a bunch of beautiful weddings - Liz's cousin in Vail and our good friend's Heidi and Daniel in Santa Fe.  We flew back East to the Outer Banks to meet our new niece Eliza Grace.  She's adorable.

We've been skiing a few times out in the backcountry while we wait for the ski area to open (which happens soon... the 24th).  Ski Patrol training starts on Monday! 
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=90571&id=1528307561&l=154059890b
and again today: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=92485&id=1528307561&l=aca194a372

We're excited to show CB to the new Frenchie that is here - Claude, his wife Delphine, and daughter Eugenie!

We're heading to Grand Rapids for Thanksgiving.  Hopefully we get to see you all sometime soon!

Some photos...

Since June eh?  Well - if anyone even appreciates getting these updates let us know... the world of facebook has definitely hurt the blog...
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=60982&id=1528307561&l=b04e8c91d5
So here are the final set of photos from our trip to France.  This album starts in the SW of France in Moliets where we surfed - or tried to surf with our friends from Courchevel from the Olympic Hotel...

We then headed back East to Canadel where our good friend Victor has a house - it's on the French riviera just West of St. Tropez.  We had a great time there with Victor and Aurthur.  After spending some quality time in the South of France we headed further East into Italy where we met up with our good friends Andrew, Rich, and Jo. 

Andrew restored an old water mill in the hills of Tuscany.  It is absolutely amazing.  While we were there we earned our keep by helping to install a new golf green.  We hiked the hillsides, traveled around Tuscany, met amazing people, made brickoven pizza - and, in general, loved Italy. 

We stopped briefly in Pisa and Cinque Terra before heading back to Courchevel for our last few days there. Charley had her way with the Leaning Tower of Pisa and left it in a pile of debris

I got to fly around Courchevel and then land on the runway there - it was insane... here's a pretty good video of the whole experience - obviously not us - but still impressive. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNFNFZq2BFY

Mitch took great care of us the entire time we were in France - we miss him!  We went to Annecy for our last two days in France.  It was the best season of our lives by far... an experience of a lifetime.  Nous sommes très chanceux... We are very lucky.

More Photos

If you haven't seen them - here are some photos from when Mom and Dad Ewing came to visit and we did a whirlwind tour of France:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=56804&id=1528307561&l=3baf913014

And some from the end of the ski season:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=56795&id=1528307561&l=71b925b81f

 And some more from after my parents left and we went back to the South of France to surf:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=56789&id=1528307561&l=139c7ffbf6

Let me know if any of these links don't work for people that aren't facebook members.

Update

Surfing in Moliets France.

We've made it home!  Life is slowly returning to normal after the most amazing winter season of our lives.  Charley is readjusting to not being allowed to go absolutely everywhere with us - but she does have her dog door back.  We're slowly getting reacquainted with America and her wonderful system of Tort laws and no personal accountability.  Land of the free and home of the frivolous lawsuits... oh and the ridiculously expensive healthcare... culture shock.

If we could, I think we'd move to Europe...

Here are some photos that help to show why:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=60982&id=1528307561&l=b04e8c91d5

These should be viewable be everyone - even if you're not a facebooker...

Liz and I are both back to work - I just finished our busiest weekend with the Wildflower Rush Downhill mountain biking races.  Not too much carnage - 12 documented injuries out of almost 1000 starts - not too shabby.

Liz's work was incredibly happy to have her back - apparently they went through 3 "Lizs" while we were gone.  Nice to know how great she is and how grateful they are to have her come back.

Life in CB is in full swing - with the two busiest weekends happening as we speak.  Fourth of July is always fun!  Alpenglow concerts started tonight - definitely a fun reminder why we love this tiny little town.

Charley pushing over the tower of Pisa in Italy.

Landing on the Courchevel runway on our last day in the Valley.

All of March in France

You can find pictures from March on our picasa page - here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/mhewing/France0310#

and some more here - including Shawn and Meghan's visit:
http://picasaweb.google.com/mhewing/MayerVisit0310#

Things have been going well - my hand is almost back to normal - I'll have two nice scars to always remind me of our incredible time here in France. We've been living our lives to the fullest here the last few weeks.

We have obviously been skiing a ton... going to the world's second and third largest ski resorts (Courchevel and the three valleys is the biggest). We saw the European X-games in Tignes, France. We cheered our friend and co-Crested Butte Patroller Susan Mol on at the Freeride World Tour in Verbier Switzerland - and we've met incredible people along the way as well - mostly due to them falling in love with Charley. Helps to have an adorable dog!

The ski patrol party here was ridiculous - the Americaine's table definitely got rowdy.

The weather got super warm in the middle of March - with multiple wet snow avalanches and super heavy and slushy snow. Just when we thought all was lost it got cold again and has been dumping snow ever since. We've had powder day after powder day - it's been a breath of fresh air into what was seeming that a dreary end!

Shawn and Meghan came to visit which was an amazing time. We enjoyed the French cuisine of frog legs, snails, cheese, sausage, and of course lots of wine - not a bad way to re-energize after some long days of skiing.

Life has been good - enjoy the pictures as they tell a much better story than my tired mind does right now. Speaking French is tough ;)

The last few months

So - the big news is that I hurt myself while working - I fell after helping with two rescues on a very steep section of slope (both were knee injuries and the second one happened right next to us as we were finishing the first). It was a jour blanc as foggy days are called here and I couldn't see anything. I ran into a mogul/bump and both of my skis stopped while I continued downhill - landing hand/fist/pole first into the snow. I dislocated two of my fingers (middle and ring) and reduced them myself on the hill. I soon discovered that the extensor tendons (the big one on top of your big knuckle on all of your fingers) were not stable and would flop to the side if I let go of my hand. So I skied to the base - and found out I'd have to have surgery the next day. Bummer.

The surgery went well and we've been trying to make the best of the "break" and are hoping to see a bit of France. I am able to go back to work on the 17th of March and I'm quite anxious to get back at it. The hand is coming along nicely - I can move it and use it for the most part.

We've been treated to many nice dinners and everyone has been exceedingly helpful, kind, and caring since (and before) the injury. It's quite a nice group here!

Liz and I are doing well and Liz is learning more and more french everyday - I just have to keep practicing mine since I'm not working at the moment... guess that means we must go out on the town (sounds rough eh?)

These links should work even if you're not a facebooker:

Post-op trip to Val Morel - just down the road from us but an entirely different world!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=48927&id=1528307561&l=5797c5256d

Some photos of the past few weeks:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=48660&id=1528307561&l=8a11a2e1ca

Conge - means days off - while Liz was off traveling Austria and Switzerland
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=46552&id=1528307561&l=d3612c7a2c

Control Morning - French style:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=45082&id=1528307561&l=92aaaf5925

Out of Contact

We STILL don't have internet the house.....we're sorry we've been out of contact! We have tons of photos to post of all the fun things we've been up to these first few months in Courchevel.


My family was here to celebrate x-mas and New Years with us. We even went to the forest and cut down a x-mas tree for the American Cave. (It's called that b/c two windows open into a parking garage but it is nicer then we had expected) We skied a ton and ate lots of great food. Loads of Cheese!! It was a great time! My mom and Katie and I checked out all the shopping and skied too! Katie was an amazing skier for it being one of her first few times!! We all "apres skied" with a drink at the base area and took in the sights. My Dad perfected his powder skiing and the boys skied across all 3 valleys with Mark on the last day and had amazing powder turns! We all went to a huge New Years bash out on the piste/snow with fireworks and all! They even tried Mark's crepes!! (It's a skill he is still perfecting!)




The Frenchies have been taking good care of us and showing us around. Mark's french is coming a long well because he speaks it all day while I speak to Charley most of the day. I want him to practice with me when he comes home but he just wants to "speak normal" after the long day. I like go up to the top shack and hang out with the patrollers to practice my french. Last time I was there one of the frenchmen, Cyrille, was my french to french translator.....he translated my poor 3rd grade french to actual french for the other patrollers to understand!



Mark has been busy at work "testing all of the slopes", making sure the poles on the sides are lined up and straight and doing rescues too. He called his first helicopter last week for a serious head injury. He has also been introducing the patrol to new music! He's been speaking french on the radio too!! I have yet to babysit again since the first experience....I'm still recovering and the skiing is getting better......



We've found a great bar with cheap beer that lets us bring Chubbly Hambone (we've renamed Charley) with us to the bar. I think they are more excited to see Chubbly then us! The bar is full of British workers which is nice for us to come and speak english to. We've instilled weekly family dinners with everyone there. I've found ski partners too for when Mark actually has to work.



So Chubbly/Charley is having a great time. The name stems from the many times I've returned from a walk or a ski with her and a very nice frenchman gives her his leftover ham sandwich. This happens often!! Charley gets to ride around in the gondolas with me to the ski du fond (x-country skiing) pistes.



We've been skiing a ton and even went ice climbing with a few of the patrollers (check out the photos!). One of the patrollers took me on a long ski tour in the national park on his day off. This past weekend we went with two other couples to a back country refuge. Think hotel that you have to ski 3 hours to. Nothing like the huts in Colorado. There was a chef and a sauna and plenty of wine!! We couldn't bring Charley to this hut unfortunately so a friend stayed at our place and hung out with her, but we did find Tommy the St. Bernard when we arrived at the hut. It couldn't have been more fitting...a huge St. Bernard in the Alps....I don't think he would be up to wearing the barrel around his neck and tromping through the snow....he really like to sleep more then anything! We had a great time! The weather was very foggy on the day we left so we were unable to ski anything steep before we left for the tour out.






We're heading to a friends for raclette dinner, which is this great combination of cheese and potatoes and ham and cornchons (small wonderful pickles). These are the staples of Savoie (the region we are in) meals and we're not complaining!

We'll be in touch and posting more....we promise!

Here's a link to more photos!
http://picasaweb.google.com/mhewing/France120902#

**FINALLY WE HAVE INTERNET FROM HERE ON OUT!!**YAY!!