Linda Rokos Watts

The 2012 International Snow Sculpting Competition came to a close this weekend. We scooted into town on Saturday night with Stella and one of her buddies to check out all the cool sculptures. It's pretty amazing what they can create with snow (one of my favorite things) some of them were truly gravity deifying....unfortunately there were one or two sculptures that didn't survive and those got an automatic disqualification. The winner this year Team Canada and my personal favorite...woo hoo!  Team China's sculpture, "Wrestle"  Team Germany's sculpture, "Dancing Screens"  Love this one... Team Switzerland's "Endless"   This one is my favorite..... Team Canada's "Throat Singers"  * L o V e *   These ice candle holders were lite up on all the paths that lead to all the sculptures.....LOVED them.  Breck was a bit busy on Saturday night. Stella was running around ...

Stella started a new blog for a school project and she needs people to follow her...... So......CHECK IT OUT,  http://skiergirllife.blogspot.com/ Please and thank you!  :) Sending love and gratitude...

Yesterday at just 27 years old, Makela passed away. My love goes to the entire Liesveld family! Counting my blessing today and everyday..... Love and gratitude!

It's been a crazy, busy few days and having a massive cold on top of it hasn't been the best but I've pushed through and here we are! After all, we're in Breck, life is GREAT!!  On to the important stuff  ;)  .....The 2012 International Snow Sculpture Challenge. They started hauling in HUGE blocks of snow into town on Monday and on Tuesday the teams started hacking away to turn the bank blocks of snow into AMAZING pieces of art.  Snow and ice EVERYWHERE!   Jim (Troy's father) came up for a visit on Tuesday and snapped this pic. Two of my favorite things, coffee and camera.    Here is a sneak peak of what's to come on Saturday. This is the top of one of the sculptures. I look at this and think "we should all just get along"  :) We picked Stella up from school this afternoon and headed over the arena to check out the progress.  Love these two. Tommy and JD came up for a visit and got to check the a...

 My mom has been a knitting mama making these awesome headbands and hats. I think everyone one at Rally Sport, along with all the Buff, ski and nordic ladies and even other NCAA ski teams in their team colors are wearing one!   All colors and sizes!   I think these are my favorites!  My mom rocks!   I have been wearing them non-stop and have been amassing quite the collection! Woo hoo!! If you want one, I know where you can get one!  ;) Love and Gratitude.

Scary how fast she's growing up right in front of our eyes. Learning, growing and loving... The faster she goes the bigger the smile. A little random but I never got around to posting these pics and I always liked them. This was a great night in Boston, exploring the town in October with Troy and Stella.   She's going to be taller then me soon! Eeek Loving this little one......Gratitude. 

Love and Gratitude..

On our way to Eldora yesterday morning we got to see another amazing Colorado sunrise. I had the camera locked and loaded and this is what i got.  Peak to Peak Highway...  Black Hawk/Central City...  The drive down into Nederland.   Troy took this shot on the way home near Rollins. What a great day of skiing. Blessed to be back home in Colorado. Love and gratitude. 

Ski racing season is in full swing! Woo hoo! Unfortunately since we moved back to Colorado we don't get to see Jordan or Taylor race but Taylor is coming out in February so at least we get to ski with her.  Jordan has been kicking some major booty and we got this picture from her the other day. This was her first race of the season and she finished 2nd but she had a MOJOR bibbo from the back of the pack! SHE IS CRUSHING IT!!!  Check out those sick angles!   Miss Stella and her sick angles. She looks up to Jordan so much, it's awesome. She wants to ski just like her. I hope they get to ski together sometime. Till then we'll keep training and working hard.  On top of skiing, Stella has really gotten into Tae-kwan-do. She goes three times a week after school and is kicking so major booty in that too. Tae-kwan-do pics coming soon.  Till then, much love and gratitude....

From SkiRacing.com Freeskiing legend Sarah Burke of Squamish, B.C. died today (Jan. 19) at the age of 29. She was a world champion halfpipe skier and four-time X-Games gold medalist. The following is a statement from her family. Groundbreaking Canadian freestyle skier Sarah Burke passed away at 9:22AM January 19, 2012 at the University of Utah Hospital from injuries sustained in an accident on the Eagle Superpipe at Park City Mountain Resort on Tuesday, January 10, 2012. She was training for upcoming winter events.   As the result of Sarah’s fall, she suffered a ruptured vertebral artery, one of the four major arteries supplying blood to the brain. The rupture of this artery led to a severe intracranial hemorrhage, which caused Sarah to go into cardiac arrest on the scene. Emergency personnel responded and CPR was administered on the scene during which time she remained without a pulse or spontaneous breathing.  Studies in the University of Utah Hospital Emergency Dep...

Another amazing, relaxing weekend at the Jolly Ranch with Bill and Becky! So blessed to be so close to not only Troy's family but mine as well.... B L E S S E D.   Talk about a relaxing place....  Stella and one of her best buddies!   Playing hide-and-seek with Ellie and Tilda!   Stella and Hickory!   She looks miserable, right?!? ;)  Mama and Stella L O V E!!!!   Papa and Stella L O V E!!!   Doin the Colorado, happy dance!   Papa and Stella in South Park.  What a great weekend so far, and tomorrow we hit the slopes of Breck to try out Stella's new race boots and to make some family turns! Woo hoo Love and Gratitude! 

Love Radiohead and love the cover by Sarah and Gianni. So much talent out there... Happy Wednesday!  Love and Gratitude.

What a weekend. Thursday night Troy and I headed to Boulder to my parents place for 3 nights so Friday morning we could load the lift at 7am at Eldora for the Spencer Nelson Memorial CU Invitational. My mama hung out with Stella Thursdays night at our new home in Breck so Stella could go to school on Friday and then come and meet us in Boulder for a weekend of skiing with her old teammates at Eldora. As always I filled the roll of starter for the three days of racing. Luckily this year I kept my voice the entire time (woo-hoo). There was a lot of great racing to watch, the weather was beautiful, Stella was having a blast with her old team training, all my family and some old friends were around, and my hubby got to be out on the race hill. I call that a GREAT weekend!  Racer in the gate, 10 seconds.....5, 4, 3, 2, 1, GO The new start house at the top of the GS, fondly called Casa de Rokos by the team.  Gratitude!  The Buffs took the lead after the fir...