Happy holidays from Hayden!Just wanted to take a few minutes to post a quick Merry Christmas message and share a photo of my nephew Hayden that I took last weekend as my mother's side of the family got together to celebrate Christmas.

Tonight I'm heading to dinner at Cheryl's grandmother's, and will spend Christmas morning at Cheryl's parent's house before heading down to Bellefontaine. Dad and I are leaving early in the morning of the 26th (but not before Starbucks is open!) to start our journey eastward towards Vermont and Stratton Mountain!

More holiday photos are posted here.

Originally uploaded by nateut

This past weekend brought the beginning of the snowboard season to Ohio with Mad River Mountain opening on Friday. I was able to get a few hours on the snow Saturday and, once again, was amazed at just how natural it felt once my bindings were locked and I was ready to go over the edge. Unfortunately mother nature didn't cooperate for us to be able to head out Sunday morning, but I fully expect to get a few sessions in the weekend as Midnight Madness starts up and colder weather returns to the region.

Over the week between Christmas and New Years, dad and I will be driving northeast into Vermont to check out two resorts -- Stratton Mountain and Mount Snow -- for the first time. The weather looks pretty good for our trip, with both places enjoying cool temperatures and plenty of natural and man-made snowfall. So far, I haven't had much luck finding any microbreweries in the area, but will be willing to travel some distance in order to get to sample the brews from at least one new one on this trip.

It's that time of year... Mad River Mountain has been making snow as much as possible this week and are ready to open for the season this afternoon at 1pm! I'd be down there already, but Cheryl's work Christmas party is tonight at the Navy Bistro. That said, we are leaving directly from there and heading south to my parent's house so I can hit the slopes first thing tomorrow morning. The Thompson family is getting together for Thanksgiving/Christmas in the afternoon, but I plan on getting back out to the snow Sunday morning before we have to head back north.

Over the weekend, we signed the paperwork so I can now announce that Cheryl and I have booked our honeymoon and will be spending six nights at the Sandals Grande Ocho Rios resort in Jamaica! It'll be my first trip outside of the United States (not counting Windsor, Canada of course) and I'm really looking forward to relaxing on the beach and drinking some Red Stripe and Appleton Rum.

We decided to go through Central Travel since the price was virtually identical to what Sandals offers online and they offer an option to have a Honeymoon Registry where guests can contribute towards the cost of the trip as a substitute for a gift. Personally, I'm hoping at least a few people take this option as I'm not looking forward to paying all of the balance myself. =)