Vacation Pictures!

We had a wonderful week with our friends Bryan and Karen! I don't think we could have fit in much more fun and activities than we did! They arrived Monday, February 2nd. We celebrated their arrival with a meal at a Japanese restaurant and more food than we could possibly eat! That evening and Tuesday were rest and relaxation days which gave Bryan and Karen a chance to get used to the 2 hour time difference.

On Wednesday, we took them to West Edmonton Mall, which is about 20 min. from our house. (This is the largest mall in the world.) The kids were at a friends' house so they wouldn't get worn out walking the mall. After exploring, shopping and lunch, we left to pick up the kids. We decided it would be fun to go back to the mall and play at the indoor World Waterpark. Our family had never been there (Joshua used to go as a kid), so Sara and Sky were super excited! It was tons of fun! Joshua and Bryan tried all the scary slides, Karen tried a couple of scary slides and I didn't try anything scary! :-) I spent most of my time with the kids in the wave pool or on the kiddie slides and that was just fine with me! We didn't remember cameras, but that's O.K. because we didn't want you to see us in our bathing suits anyway! :-)

Thursday we were up bright and early for the next stage of vacation. Grandpa (Joshua's Dad) came at 9 a.m. to collect the children. He took them out for a pancake breakfast, which they were pretty excited about! The 4 adults then packed up the car and we headed to Jasper, Alberta (about 4 hours away) for the next 4 days. Here are a bunch of pictures from all our adventures there!

The cozy Gingerbread Cabin where we stayed. Joshua and I have stayed here a couple of times for our anniversary, so it was fun to share the experience with friends!

Bryan and Karen at Maligne (Muh-leen) Canyon near Jasper. There is a river and waterfalls that run very deep through the canyon. In the winter everything is frozen, so it was very spectacular.

Joshua and I enjoying the view at one of the lookouts. Of course, the pathways were completely covered in snow and ice, so we had a VERY slippery hike! It was quite funny! We were all wearing running shoes, so none of us had any traction!


The guys slid down the pathway as fast as they could go. Here they are looking smug and laughing at us girls! Karen and I were just a bit more cautious and we clung to the handrails for dear life!

Here is one of the frozen waterfalls we came across. It was awesome! The picture doesn't do it justice - you can't tell how deep the canyon is.

Me and Karen taking a self portrait.

Karen getting her "ski legs" back after not skiing for many years! She did a GREAT job!

Joshua and I during lunch break on our first ski day.

At the end of a very snowy, windy ski day, the sun finally peeked out and treated us to this beautiful sight!

Jasper's downtown area with the beautiful mountains in the background.

This vacation was so needed and I'm so happy we were able to share it with special friends! Inspite of long, busy days and major sore muscles, we were refreshed. Thanks for coming, you guys! We couldn't have asked for a better time!

Snow Ice Cream

Saturday afternoon we did something I've never done before. We made ice cream with freshly fallen snow! There's over a foot on the ground now, so there's plenty to go around! I received a homeschool newsletter about a week ago and they had 4 different recipes for snow ice cream. This is the one I tried:

1 gallon of snow (I used a 5 qt. bowl to have space to mix)
1 cup sugar
1 cup cream or milk
1 tsp. vanilla
~Mix thoroughly and eat immediately!

Here we are mixing it up on the front steps! I mixed it outside to keep it from melting too quickly. Sara couldn't resist putting her fingers in for a taste!
Sky got the first official taste! Mmmm!

Sara agreed it was very yummy!

Sky decided to add a few sprinkles to his bowl of snow cream. Sara added some chocolate syrup, but let's just say that that picture didn't look nearly as appetizing!

I left the bowl out on the front porch all day and we were able to enjoy several bowls of our delicious concoction! (And yes, it actually did taste good - Joshua and I both enjoyed it!) Yesterday, it snowed ALL day long, so it's about time to whip up another bowl, I think!

Race Day!

Saturday morning the kids had their first real ski race! It was an "in-house" race and they call it the Nations Cup. Sky is on the Dream Team (the littlest racers), so they were all racing as Team Canada. Sara raced for Team Italy and apparently will race for Italy the rest of the year. (We had to do a quick study on the country of Italy for school last week!) Poor Sara was so nervous. I could tell because she kept saying she didn't want anyone to cheer for her, and her hands were cold while I was dressing her, she was cranky, and she just couldn't think straight at all. Afterwards, she finally admitted to being nervous. Sky was just plain pumped to be in a real race! They each had two runs. Here are a few pictures of the big event.

Sky (in the orange jacket), listening to his coach explain the race.

Sara (#48), doing warm-ups with her class. Notice the pink skis and pink helmet! She would have pink boots if they were available!Team Canada was the first team down the hill. Sky missed a couple of gates on the first run, but made them all on the second run! The little racers were so cute and sometimes just downright funny!All that racing makes a little boy very thirsty! Here comes Sara! She had some confusion with the gates at the top of the hill, but got it worked out. Then, she kind of stopped before the finish line and they had to wave her across the finish line so the clock would stop! By the second run she had it all figured out, with a time improvement of 20 seconds!

All the way! Yay, Sara!

Finally smiling after the first run! She was definitely relieved to have that over with!Sky, showing off his Kinder Surprise chocolate egg! All of Team Canada got a prize for racing. Team France was the winning team for the older kids, so only they got a prize. Sara was pretty disappointed. I was surprised that they didn't have second and third prizes.The weather was absolutely gorgeous on Saturday! We've had 6 or 7 weeks of extremely cold, even dangerously cold, temperatures. But, for one day (and one day only), it warmed up so that we could actually enjoy ourselves! It went up to +3 C (about 37 F) and we were so excited! It felt almost balmy outside. It was wonderful not to worry about little hands and feet getting too cold or the danger of frostbite on cheeks and noses. It was a great morning and we were very proud of our little racers! Next Nations Cup is in 2 weeks - they're gonna be flyin' down that hill!

Bunches of Pictures!

Since I haven't posted much lately, I wanted to, at least, share some pictures so you could see a little of what we've been doing.

Joshua and I on our 9th anniversary date. After a delicious dinner at The Creperie, we visited the downtown Legislature Grounds to admire the Christmas lights and ice sculptures they have there.

Sara and Sky playing outside for the last time before the deep freeze. The temperatures have been dangerously cold for 2 1/2 weeks now. (More on that later.)

My (sometimes) angel, making a snow angel!

And another snow angel...

Sky helping Mommy mix up some Pumpkin Bread, something we can't have Christmas without!

More help from Sara - she's actually got a pretty strong arm!

There's nothing better than the smell of Pumpkin Bread baking in the oven! We made little loaves for the neighbours and a big one for our Christmas dinner.With the temperatures being so extremely cold, we are not able to take leisurely walks to look at Christmas lights. Edmonton has just the thing for December evenings, such as these! Every year this park puts up huge light displays and it's drive-thru only. The kids were so excited because they got to take their seat belts off and stand up in the car! We let the kids hang out the window and take pictures too. So, we had quite a few blurry ones, but Sky took this one and it turned out great.
I took this one - it was my favourite.

Saturday evening we went to a performance of Handel's Messiah. Joshua's parents were also there (they treated!), along with his sister and former piano teacher. It was beautiful, but the kids were supremely bored. At the intermission, I asked Dad who's idea it was to bring the kids. :-) So, Grandpa took the kids for a walk and bought them ice cream during the intermission. Then, he held Sky on his lap for the second half. Let's just say that standing up for the Hallelujah Chorus was a blessed relief! Here's the only picture I got of the kids with happy faces that evening! Don't you just love Sky's little vest?!

Just a couple of days ago, we made these cute little wreaths. They were a major hit and only lasted a few hours! I'll be posting the recipe on Recipeasy later tonight.

Aloha Friday #6

It's time for Aloha Friday again! I ask a simple question and you answer it! If you want to participate, head on over to An Island Life and follow the instructions! It's a great way to make new bloggy friends!

For my regular readers, I apologize for my lack of posting this week... I know, it's really pathetic that I have NOTHING between my last two Aloha Friday posts! I promise I will post something in the next day or two.

My question for this week:

In just two days (December 21st), it will be Winter Solstice (the shortest day of the year). Being so far north in Alberta, Canada, our days have been very short! I'm turning on the outside Christmas lights at 4:30 in the afternoon! So, my question is this: What are the sunrise/sunset times in your part of the world right now? Today, the sun rose at 8:47 a.m. and the sunset will be 4:15 p.m. I am very ready for the days to begin lengthening around here!

"Oh, the Weather Outside is Frightful..."

"...but the fire (or maybe I should say, furnace) is so delightful!" It has been snowing every day now for a week! Finally! Today it was A LOT! I had to go out this afternoon to take Sky to his music class and then to the grocery store for a couple of things. It was snowing like crazy and the roads are definitely frightful right now! I'm so thankful we have a four wheel drive Toyota Highlander! It really makes a huge difference. After coming home, I poked my head out the door one more time to take a few pictures for you.

Here's what it looks like out the back door...... and what it looks like out my front door!

Brrrr! It's cold, but pretty! Joshua took the kids to ski racing lessons tonight, so I'm alone as I type this. Don't get too excited for me - I've been cleaning up and doing laundry - but at least it's quiet!

The weekend was fun, but too busy. The highlight for me was seeing the musical presentation of The Chronicles of Narnia on Saturday night. The church that did the production did an amazing job! It was truly enchanting for me. Sara and Sky absolutely loved it! Their eyes were glued to that stage from the minute the play started, till the closing scene. It was over two hours long, with only a ten minute intermission, but they couldn't get enough of it! We have been reading the book out loud in the evenings, so it was really neat to see it all come to life like that!

On Sunday evening, Sara and Sky performed in their Christmas piano recital. They both did a great job and we were very proud! Grandma and Grandpa and Auntie Shannon came to support the budding musicians as well. Afterwards, we all went out for supper together. There are no pictures because I forgot the camera! And I realized that, about 5 minutes after I realized I had forgotten to prepare a snack to take for after the recital!! (Everyone was supposed to bring a plate of something.) Yes, I have officially lost my mind with all the busyness! One of the other moms in Sky's class took some pictures for me, and she has promised to e-mail them to me. Hopefully I will get those soon and then I will post them!

First Day of Ski Racing Lessons!

Finally, the big day arrived! Sara and Sky started ski racing lessons! They've been looking forward to this day for a long time. After arriving home last night at 10:30 p.m. (we went to Calgary for one night), we drug the kids out of bed at 7:30 this morning for 3 hours of ski racing. It was a beautiful, sunny morning, with temperatures above freezing. We still have only had one snowfall this winter, so the local ski hills in Edmonton are very late in opening. In case you're wondering how they got all the snow on the hill, they made all that snow! They have huge snow-making machines that blow a fine mist of water all over the hills. They usually run them all night long when the temperatures are below freezing. It took a long time for them to get a good base of snow. It was a good first lesson. The kids had fun, so that's the most important part! There were some disorganization issues that irritated Joshua and I, but nothing we couldn't deal with. Here are a few pictures of the morning.

Sara, following her class to the ski lift.Sky, giving me a happy little wave as he waits in line at the "magic carpet." (It's a ski lift that you stand on and it takes you up the hill, like a giant conveyor belt.) Sara with her class. She's the one with the pink helmet.I really had to include this video of Sky! We're not sure why they had the kids raising their hands like that - probably something to do with balance - but it was so cute! It was amazing what they had these kids doing on the first day.

Thus begins a winter full of lessons and races. I'm hoping it will be mostly fun! Lessons are every Saturday morning, from 9 a.m.-12 p.m. for both kids. On Tuesday evenings, from 6-8 p.m., Sara has an additional lesson. Joshua will probably take Sky on those nights as well, and just ski alone with him, so he doesn't feel left out. I'm sure there will be lots more posts and pictures, as ski racing will kind of be our lives for the winter!

Snow Pictures!

I never found my camera software, so I went to Plan B. I plugged the camera into the computer to see what would happen and it found a photo program for me! Should've done that to begin with... I like it better than what I had before, too! Here are the pictures of my birthday snow! This is what it looked like before we trampled on it...
This was the view out our front, living room window.
Our little snowman!

Sara, letting everyone know she did not like the snowball Daddy nailed her with! (But, she had no problems returning the favour!)

Sky, being goofy and hiding behind the bush for protection! Those scraggly branches didn't help much!
One more thing, that doesn't have anything to do with snow. I just posted a new recipe on my other blog, Recipeasy, so be sure to check it out! It's a crock pot recipe, for all you crock pot lovers! Click on the button on my sidebar with the pumpkin on it.

Random Interesting Happenings

Well, hopefully they will be interesting to you, anyway! I realize I haven't been very "informational" in my latest posts, so some people may want to have a few more details.

1. Joshua is just finishing up a cleansing/fat burning program called Isagenix. There is a 30 day program and a 9 day. Joshua did the 30 day one. To date, he's lost 22 pounds and feels great! I'm very proud of him for sticking with it. I don't think I could have done it. Although, I'm entertaining the idea of the 9 day program (don't tell Joshua!) - I could use some more energy! I won't bore you with details - you can read about it on their website if you want more info! Mealtimes have been interesting around here. There are "cleanse days" where Joshua doesn't eat at all, so the kids I have to hurry up and eat supper before Joshua gets home so that the sight and smell of food doesn't drive him crazy! Breakfast and lunch have been really easy, though. I just have to mix up a protein shake for him and it's done!

2. We now have an alarm system in our house. There was already one installed from 15 years ago, but it was inactive. Since it was already there, we looked into getting it activated again. We also found out it would save money on our home insurance! So, we got some of the alarm components updated and added smoke alarms (monitored by the alarm company). So far, there have been no mishaps! If there ever are any, I'm sure it will be great blog material! I've already had a few minor panic attacks when the kids go barging into the house after we've been gone, forgetting that the alarm is set. Fortunately, I'm fast (I have 45 sec.) so I've been able to get it turned off in time!

3. On Tuesday morning (my birthday!), we woke up to a beautiful winter wonderland of snow! It was not forecasted, so we were a bit surprised! Finally, the first snow of the year!! I was so excited when I got up, and was out the door taking pictures within 5 minutes! It was the perfect birthday gift for me! It was one of those fluffy, sticky snowfalls that covered every little branch. After a late breakfast, we all went out to play in the snow. Joshua had the day off because it was Remembrance Day (same as Veteran's Day in the States) and it's a stat holiday. He always gets the day off for my birthday, and I quite like that! We built a little snowman (not enough snow for anything big) and had a snowball fight. The snow made great snowballs! Then we took a walk to admire the neighbourhood before lunch. I took lots of pictures, but you'll have to wait for them. Reason? That brings me to the next thing...

4. We are now the proud owners of a "real" computer! For all of our married lives (almost 9!), we've only had a laptop. It worked great for those years that Joshua needed to tote it back and forth between church and/or seminary classes. After he got the job with the bank, he didn't need to do that anymore. And I finally got to use the computer to my heart's content! That's when I joined Facebook and started my blog. I dare say I got more done before that! Anyway, last week, a new Future Shop opened in our city. Joshua works right by the new store, so he got in line the first morning they opened up. Our new computer was 1 of 25 available that day at an incredible price! Even my brother, the computer geek, said it was a really great deal and a decent computer. (We consulted him first!) So, we have this HUGE monitor now (O.K., it seems huge to me - it's a 20 in.), and I'm seeing lots of little details I've never noticed before! It's been fun, but not without it's hassles. I can't find the software that came with my camera, so I'm a little stuck right now with pictures...

5. Tonight Joshua and I get to go to an NHL hockey game to see our Edmonton Oilers play! Joshua's boss, Jeff, sometimes gets tickets from a lawyer that the bank refers clients to. It's is way of saying "thanks for the business." This time, Jeff offered the tickets to Joshua! So, we got a babysitter and will be heading out tonight! Hopefully they win! Poor Joshua - tonight is one of those nights where he has to drink a shake for supper (because he ate real food for lunch), so he'll have to watch everyone else eat at the game! He can snack on almonds...woohoo! Oh well, it's healthier and saves us money!

That's all I can think of right now that would actually be interesting to you! Hope you enjoyed the update. Now, to go figure out the photo/camera software situation around here....

Oh, I also wanted to make a disclaimer on my excitement about the snow... You WILL hear me complain about snow, winter, cold weather etc., as we go through the season. But, there is something very special about the first snow - even if we eventually get a lot of it! As my friend said the other day, it's the snowfalls between #2 and #100 that we complain about!

Science Experiment

I think it has to be stinkin' cold for this to work, so maybe Emily, Karen, or Judith can try this one! Boil some water and fill up a mug. Bundle up and take the mug of water outside. Toss the water into the air and you will be amazed! My kids loved it! I won't tell you yet what happens. If at least 5 people comment with what they think is the result, I'll post the answer! (I know you're smart enough to know the answer, but I will resort to bribery to get people to comment!) Joshua called me from work on Tuesday and told me to take the kids outside and try this. They apparently had nothing better to do at the branch yesterday, than go outside and throw boiling water up in the sky! I guess after the third go around, almost every employee was outside to watch!

In other news, this evening we drove Joshua to the airport and said good-bye for the next 3 days. He flew to B.C. for a ski trip that ends with a race on Saturday morning. His dad and uncle are also there for the big event. His Uncle Peter has been a part of this ski trip/race for a few years now and it's really just a bunch of older, retired guys. They've realized they're getting up in years and wanted to get some new, young blood in the group. So, all of the men who have sons, invited them to be a part of the group this year. I don't know how many guys accepted, but Joshua jumped at the chance! He'll do anything for a chance to ski, especially when Dad and Uncle Peter pitched in to pay his way! I hope he has fun, but I'm kind of worried he'll kill himself this time. The last two times he's been skiing he's taken some very hard falls. The first one actually gave him whiplash (a head-over-heels fall) and the second was a severely sprained tailbone from trying out a snowboard! He's still feeling the tailbone and has decided to stick with skis! I'll let you know how things go! The kids and I got tacos and nachos on the way home for supper. I didn't want taco filling all over the car, so we waited to eat them after we got home. They were pretty soggy, but still tasted good. Joshua called while I was ordering tacos to say that they had over-booked his flight and wasn't sure if he would even get a seat. Then, the flight was delayed an hour, so he had to wait that much longer to find out about his seat! Thankfully, he did make it on the flight and landed safely. A few minutes after I got the "I made it" phone call, he called to say that his luggage did NOT make it on the plane. He was not a happy camper, to say the least. His skiis were part of that luggage, but they gave him a voucher for free ski rentals. Anyway, tomorrow morning may be a little rough, but hopefully his stuff will arrive before he goes too crazy! Now I'm off to bed or I will be cranky mommy tommorrow!

COLD, COLD, COLD!

In the five and a half years that I've lived in Alberta, it's never been this cold! Just so all of you know, this is NOT normal for us! We may have long, cold, snowy winters, but this is WAY below seasonal temps! Around 4 p.m. yesterday, I just had to take a picture of my thermometer. This was the HIGH! (The Fahrenheit temps are on the inside circle for those of you who need it.) I didn't go outside to take the picture, either - I took it through my kitchen window!! There was a wind chill warning of -49 C when Joshua went to work yesterday. Thanks to our great, new garage, his truck had no problems starting in the morning. But, while he was at work, he and everyone else, had to go out about every 3 hours to start their cars to try and keep them somewhat warmed up. He said that one time, his truck barely turned over. Today is just as cold, so it will be the same drill. The kids and I haven't been anywhere since Sunday afternoon. We're enjoying our cozy, warm house along with lots of hot chocolate and tea! Yesterday we didn't do anything terribly exciting. Just normal stuff and probably too much T.V.!

Sara is hard at work preparing for her very first piano recital, which is on Sunday afternoon. Her piano teacher really wasn't thinking when she scheduled the recital right on top of the Super Bowl! Oh well! We enrolled Sara in this music class in September. It's a program called Music For Young Children and we love it so far! Sara is in Sunbeams I and goes every Saturday morning for an hour long lesson. There are about 6 kids in the class and a parent stays with each child and does everything with them. Joshua is the one who goes with Sara and then does about 80% of her practice time with her. The class covers pretty much everything related to music, so it's not just piano. Sara is really good the with rhythm - it's really quite amazing! The kids are even in the midst of learning how to compose their own songs! Now, I'm sure you're wondering why Joshua just doesn't teach Sara, because he certainly is qualified. Basically, Joshua just didn't feel like the battle of wills was worth it! Having an outside teacher and the class experience has been perfect for Sara. The method of teaching is exactly her learning style too. She has loved everything about it and is picking up things really well. For the recital, she is playing one song on the piano by herself. Then, the class, as a group are singing a song together, and also playing instruments to a rhythm beat. It's going to be pretty cute! Sky started in a music class this month as well, and he's so proud to be having lessons just like Sara! The level he's in right now just covers rhythm and singing, so it's pretty simple stuff for him. He was a bit disappointed that he wasn't playing piano, but this is a good start for him. I've done a bit with him on the piano just at home and he likes that. His class is right before Sara's, so I go with Sky and then Joshua comes with Sara right after we're done. It makes for busy Saturday mornings!

(The piano key picture above was taken by Sara with the Little Tikes digital camera she got for Christmas!)