Musings of an irreverent blonde girl

Hello and welcome to Kate’s Holiday Letter 2024!  Some of you may be new to this format, though I know many of you have received my letters in the past. If you like my holiday stories, be sure to let me know and you will keep receiving them. I do enjoy my one opportunity a year to share my writing and experiences with you guys. This year, I’m excited to share something very special with you. As many of you are aware, this is the time of year when my family becomes basically unavailable because we are skiing almost every weekend. For us, ski season is the most beloved time of year. It’s a time when we clear our calendars of social obligations and devote ourselves to the worship of snow.  However, perhaps you do not understand our love of this cold, expensive, intense activity - and that is the impetus behind this year’s story. I want you to catch a glimpse of what it’s like for us, and in doing so, you will understand more of what it means to be a Sydney/Cook. Our story b...

You know how there are times or experiences in life that you look back on and think to yourself that you felt literally the happiest that you've ever felt?  I feel like we all have these. Summer Camp was one of those for me.  Another one was Ski House. When I think about Ski House now, it is with a deep sense of nostalgia, even though these experiences only happened a few years ago.  Yet, there was something about this period of about 5 years, each winter, that fulfilled every concept that I understand as true happiness.  Reminiscing about Ski House now makes me feel quite sad, because it's one of those situations that simply cannot be repeated - like anything great and worth remembering. I would like to share it with you. Let's talk about the 3 hour ride up to ski house with Greg and Danielle Stamm in the XTerra. The ride would always begin with a text message indicating at what hour I could expect the Stamms to show up outside my door in Brighton.  I'...