Beautifully Snowy Thanksgiving at the Skyhouse!

Over a foot of fresh snow, and more is falling at this very moment!

It's a long-awaited winter wonderland in Tahoe this weekend, and the Skyhouse could not be more beautiful! The trees are covered in thick sugar-coating, and the cold, fluffy powder could not be more fun to play in!

A tribute to arctic dog with his igloo - just upon completion

After our night of extra fluffy snow!

Some foreboding weather - looks like a funnel cloud over the lake!

But, all's well that ends well with a beautiful clear day with a fresh foot of snow. 

It couldn't be more perfect for a day skiing on the mountain!

Winter Returns to Tahoe Early (and it's about time!)

After a few years of sad snow the weather gods have sent an early storm!

With ~10 inches of fresh snow on November 1 & 2 we already have more snow from one storm that we had all of last year, and it isn't even el niño yet.

Wax up the snowboard and strap on the snowshoes, here's to a great ski season, we've been waiting :).

White Christmas at the Skyhouse

All my life I've been dreaming of a white christmas and just as I was getting worried like the old General in the movie, Santa sent us the best Christmas gift of all: 6 inches of thick, soft gorgeous powder on Christmas eve!

From 50F in the morning to 25F in the afternoon, I finally understood those frightening scenes in the "Little House on the Prairie" books when unsuspecting travelers were caught by sudden blizzards, left to dig holes in snowbanks in the hopes of not perishing in their summer clothing. We were far from a South Dakota blizzard here, and instead experienced that kind of big fluffy crystalline snowflake movie snow perfect for catching in our mouths and dancing around in as the fluff accumulated around us.

Another surprise the snow left for us - bear prints in the backyard! With that evidence and some research we discovered to our surprise that the Tahoe bears don't hibernate! We'll have to keep that in mind.

With that storm and the New Year's Eve snow the California base of Heavenly opened, providing the final christmas gift of the year. Here's hoping the snow queen is here to stay!

Fresh snow on the skyhouse driveway

The nature path just up Saddle road, a popular place for snow hiking, sledding & scenery

I love it when everything looks like it's covered in frosting!

Christmas family portrait

Coco enjoys a snow walk

The snow-covered Heavenly Starlight gates are open

Coco enjoys playing in the snow, letting her pomeranian side out

A lot to be thankful for on Thanksgiving at the Skyhouse

An amazing sunset and some unbelievable brined & grilled turkey brought in this year's 2014 Thanksgiving at the skyhouse!

Brined turkey on the grill gave us extra room for our many side dishes in the oven, and provided an unbelievable view for the chef!

Another amazing Skyhouse sunset reflecting off of the living room windows from the upper deck. 

The incoming snow storm provided fantastic cloud formations for our HDR photography. Can't believe we actually saw this in person. Almost burned the yams with the 25 minute-long sunset dream! 

All in a day's work! Stuffing, garlic mashed potatoes, homemade gravy, brussels sprouts with pancetta, green bean casserole, buttermilk biscuits, apples n' onions, yams with marshmallows and five pies! 

A bird as tasty as it was beautiful! 

Finally family and dinner come together in front of the roaring fire.

Follow that up with some snow so beautiful it on Saturday and Sunday and we don't know much else that we could have asked for! Stay tuned for our first christmas tree photos!

Sunrise Sunset at the Skyhouse

This last weekend we had a magical combo of a full moon and beautiful skies. Conditions were perfect for extreme photography at both ends of the day, from dawn until dusk.

Sunrise

Sunset

Snowy Alpine Halloween

In September, my husband and I bought a lovely mountain house in Lake Tahoe. Since then, we've been spending a lot of time setting it up and making it a home. It's amazing what some heart and soul (and furniture) can do to a place!

We've been working hard to transform an empty 3,800 square foot behemoth into the ultimate mountain vacation paradise - full of everything we've ever wanted when we've rented houses, and ripe with some ideas we brought from spending time in the unbelievable cuteness and sophistication of the Swiss Alps during the last few Decembers.

This weekend we got the first snow of the season! After last year's bad snow, excitement was in the chilly air everywhere as locals geared up for what everyone hoped might be up to a foot of fresh snow.

On Halloween night at about 11pm the snow began and by morning we had a fresh layer of powder, coating everything like sugar. Coco, our beloved fluffy small rescue mutt, had her first encounter with snow, and after some adorably awkward attempts at numbers one and two, she got the hang of it and was ready for action (at least until her ears got too cold)!

In honor of the occasion, we all dressed up in our Alpine best. Eric and I donned some fashionable Bavarian outfits we got for Oktoberfest on our honeymoon in Tegernsee, a beautiful lake town in the Bavarian Alps about an hour from Munich, and Coco brought the magical tinkle of a Swiss cowbell along for our walk to Himmel Haus, a German bar and restaurant across from Heavenly, just a quarter mile from our house. Even in the crisp cold of pre-snow Halloween, the walk was refreshing and fun, and even Coco, with the help of some mushers paw wax and her stylish red dog parka, was able to make it to and from without too much trouble.

By the end of Saturday the snow had mostly melted, and with it the ambiance returned to fall with its yellow aspens glistening in the cold wind. With any luck, the snow queen will find her way back to Tahoe this winter for many more feet of fluffy powder to come.

The upper deck offers a beautiful view over Lake Tahoe as the winter storm approaches on Halloween Day 

Sugar coating snow on the upper deck, what a difference a day makes!

All Saints' Morning brings us a new fantastic view of Mt. Tallac covered in snow, all without getting out of the comfort of the king bed in the "fire and ice" gaming guest suite. 

Fall meets winter at the Heavenly Starlight driveway. The ski lift swing on the guest house looks right at home!

Eric cleans the gutters in preparation for the storm, alpine style!

Coco tests out this mystery substance that has invaded her favorite grass! 

A bit bewildered (and cold), Coco is ready to go inside. 

Our newly furnished living room is a cozy place to wait out the snow by the fire.

Back to warmth, Coco enjoys her doggie bone doughnut on the fire rug in the "fire and ice" gaming guest house

By Sunday we were back to a beautiful sunny autumn, but snow across the lake (and on the Heavenly slopes) remains as an exciting preview of this coming winter.