Happy New Year to everyone from the Yates family! We are currently celebrating our new year at our timeshare at the Marriott Mountainside in beautiful Park City, Utah, where we have been skiing in two feet of fresh Utah snow since Saturday.

This year we have Melissa, Jon, his girlfriend Alli, and my nephew Jason with us. Unfortunately, Jamie and Cynthy were unable to make the trip this year and it just doesn’t seem the same without them.

Like I said, we have been skiing non-stop since Saturday, and the conditions have been awesome. All of the slopes are open as well as the “bowls” and we have been enjoying every inch of them. (Melissa, Jon and Jason have probably enjoyed them a little more than Toni and I, but they don’t have to race in four weeks.)

Since we put in a long hard day yesterday, we decided to take today to stay in to catch up on e-mails, phone calls, and blogs. Melissa is working in one room, I am working in another room, and Toni is in the family room. Jason and Alli are skiing and Jon is working on his college resume. What a productive little family we are today. We all have cell phones and computers going and the only thing we are lacking is a printer/fax machine, which I am sure they have in the business center.

The view from my makeshift office is awesome. I can look down from the fifth floor and keep track of the lift lines at the Payday lift, check out the skiers/boarders on the slopes, monitor how crowded the seven hot tubs are getting, and admire the beautiful mountains in the background. This is my kind of an office! I figure if we work really hard today and get a lot done, we will be able to enjoy another full day of skiing tomorrow where the forecast promises that there is much more snow on the way.

Well, I am going to get back to my phone calls and get this blog on the way. I want to get everything done so that we can all go to the hot tub tonight when everyone gets finished with what they are doing. I just really enjoy the fun times I have with my family while we are here and want to take advantage of every minute I can get with them.

By this time next week, Jon and Alli will be back at Clemson, Jason will be back at UVA, Melissa will be busy working in her new job as Director of Sports Marketing for Wiley X, Jamie will be flying to Jerry Haas to finish up our new Pontiac G6, and Toni and I will be pulling things together to start the new 2008 racing season. Fun times!