We moved our Tahoe adventure back a day due to the rain in the Bay Area. We decided to wait to see what kind of weather rolled in on Sunday. A clear morning…so we packed the cars for the drive to Tahoe. It was an easy drive with no traffic. The only slow traffic was before Donner pass due to chain laws of only 4-wheel drive or chains were enforced.

We arrived to beautiful snow covered Tahoe. We unpacked and shoveled the driveway before enjoying a nice stew dinner pre-made by Mimi. We built a fire to enjoy our smore treats after dinner.

On Monday, we had plans to meet our Shanghai friends, the Jenkins (Scott, Jennifer, Sean & Sophie), after lunch at Homewood. They were spending Christmas at Lake Tahoe. It was snowing so I figured I would get photos the next day – which was predicted to be beautiful. After one run on the bunny slope, we headed to the top. On the first run of the day, Emmy did a face dive in the powder. She was all twisted and came out crying. She said her knee was fine, but her leg hurt. She was unable to walk on it, so we called ski patrol. They took her down in the sled to the bottom. At the bottom, I saw Scott getting boots/skis as I was taking off my boots.

Jim and I drove Emmy to the medical care clinic in Tahoe City. We were able to get her first layers of clothes off, therefore, we only had to cut off her last layer of warmth. The x-ray confirmed she broke her leg. Well, I didn’t think you could break a leg in a ski boot, but I was wrong. The x-ray also told us she had a bone cyst which is why her leg broke so easy. It also explains why she has been hurting her ankle so much playing soccer. The cyst was just above her growth plate. The doctor put her in a full leg splint (no photo). We took her back to the house to rest.

Jim went back to Homewood resort to check on Elle we left skiing with Terri and Andy. Elle was having fun skiing. Jim met up with the Jenkins to take Sean to the top of Homewood. He left Elle in the care of Scott and Jennifer. I was told, Scott was trying to get Elle up the bunny lift which is a pull lift. Jennifer said she was crying watching them as they would get just a short ways and both would fall off laughing. Terri and Andy came skiing over the hill wondering who this strange man was with Elle and where was Jim? Elle had a fun day skiing. She was a much stronger skiing than the last time we took her two years ago at the age of 4.

We left Tahoe the next day to get back to the Bay Area as we need to get Emmy to the doctor to follow up on the cyst and the broken leg. We were able to get a 5pm office appointment. It was a beautiful day in Tahoe – the sun was shining along with all the fresh snow. It would have been a great ski day. We really weren’t too bummed about the great ski day. We were all disappointed we were not going to spend the day skiing with the Jenkins. There will always be more beautiful ski days – just not ski days with the Jenkins. So, no photos from our Tahoe adventure!

The doctor put Emersyn in a cast for one month. Emersyn chose the color green. She will need to wear the boot for two months once the cast is off. We purchased the boot in California to save us the time of having to search Shanghai to find the boot. The doctor wants a x-ray when the cast comes off and a month later to see how the cyst is reacting to the break. The break may force the cyst to heal. If not, we will do surgery this summer back in America.

Uncle Andy drew Emmy skiing on her cast. Who would of thought an engineer could draw so well!

Tree decorating is very important to the girls. This year, we were squeezing the tree decorating in on Friday night. We arrived on Thursday with the Nutcracker performance in the evening. Friday morning was a run to the mall to see Santa (to get Mom’s photos with Santa). Friday night was the only night to decorate the tree before headed up to Tahoe tomorrow. The only problem was our house was full of people after entertaining a dozen family members for dinner. The girls weren’t to thrilled that Mom and Dad were busy as they did most of the decorating on their own. Next year, we will have to schedule the tree decorating time with more care. They did a beautiful job on the family tree.