Boxing Day

We had an open house on Boxing Day and Rachel and Lyden treated everyone to an impromtu performance of the Nutcracker Suite followed by a rousing game of Cranium ... Andy and Lyden ended up "performing" any charades for their respective teams ... this photo of Lyden was his demonstration of a "laz-y-boy" and Andy, believe it or not, was depicting Marge Simpson! All in all, one hilarious time.

Norman's First Christmas

Even Norman received a Christmas gift .... a new outfit compliments of Tyler & Rachel. 

Four Handed Tchaikovsky

Rachel bought "The Nutcracker Suite for Two" and she and Lyden sat down at the piano this afternoon and worked through 30 pages of music ... it was so good to see them play four handed again and even though Lyden has not played for a very long time, he did well with interpreting & playing the double bass lines.  

Christmas Tree Traditions!

Putting up the Christmas Tree Traditions:

1. Christmas carols are playing in the background;

2. Mom is in charge of lights;

3. Kids are in charge of decorating the tree with the ornaments;

4. Erin is in charge of unpacking and "throwing" the decorations to Lyden, Tyler and Rachel; and

5. Lyden and Erin are in charge of unpacking and displaying the nativity scene.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow ....

It had to happen sooner than later ... we have been so spoiled this fall with mild weather and dry roads. The snow started about 9:30 am this morning and it didn't stop until well into the early evening ... I shovelled the driveway around 11am, Erin & Lyden shovelled around 1pm. The snow was wet and heavy,  the perfect combination for making snowballs. (I took one in the arm capturing these images!). Tyler and Lyden shovelled again at 7:15pm when the snow finally stopped falling. Barring any chinooks, we will have a white Christmas!

Andy's new digs

Andy moved a couple of weeks ago from the flat he was staying in, in downtown Edinburgh to this quaint coach house located in the backyard of someone's home, just blocks from the North Sea!!  How cute is this?!

International Christmas Marketplace

Today Rachel, Tyler, Lyden, Silvana, mom and I went to the International Christmas Marketplace at Spruce Meadows.    I particularly loved the "vintage feel" belt buckle shown above - so sweet!  On stage there were some Irish dancers performing and later, a Dutch choral group singing Christmas carols which really added to the Christmas feel and atmosphere.  A good time was had by all.

Snowmen abound!

The kids helped me put out the snowmen collection today - actually, it was more like they "took over"!  

First real snowfall

And Norman is prepared!! Erin and Lyden updated Norman's look for winter.

Andy in Edinburgh

top photo:  The route Andy takes to walk to the office each day;  

middle photo:  a view of Edinburgh Castle;

bottom photo:  Andy golfing on November 1st!  View of Edinburgh with the north sea the background

Postcards from Edinburgh

Andy sent me these photos he took from his walks about Edinburgh - he's living at a flat not far from the Royal Mile.  He's there for a total of 7 weeks to work on a film, returning just in time for Christmas on Dec 22.  I miss him terribly.

Norman is ready for Hallowe'en!

Baking Baklava

Lyden and I were on our own this past Saturday.  Tyler and Andy went hunting; Lyden did not join them because he had to study but took a break in the afternoon and looking for some activity to do together, he mentioned he'd like to learn how to make Baklava, so that's what we did! Because Erin is allergic to nuts, Lyden found a "nut free" recipe - we substituted the nuts with sunflower seeds and it tasted better than I expected!

Fun!

Was playing on the computer today ... love how this photo of Andy post Gorilla Run turned out!

Gorilla Run!

Andy and Rachel ran the 16.5 km Gorilla Run today at the Calgary Zoo. I was joined by Tyler, Lyden, Erin, mom & Mody - we went to cheer the runners on.  Andy crossed the finish line at 1hr 39 min and Rachel at 2 hr 13 min, with Christine right behind her.  Christine's dad Mike also ran the race, coming in at 1hr 43 min. - it was truly a father/daughter race!  While we waited for the runners to come in we wandered about the zoo and Lyden got up close to a peacock roaming the path! 

CREW Conference in Houston, Texas

I attended my 4th annual CREW convention, this time in Houston, Texas.   The flight down to Houston was diverted to Dallas and what was intended to be a 4 hour journey ended up taking 7.5 hours, a dismal start to the convention where I was joined with 3 other women from the Calgary chapter.  We missed the trade show/marketplace Wed. night but Thursday and Friday's events did not disappoint.  The speakers and panelists for each of concurrent sessions were excellent!

Thanksgiving Dinner @ Jeff & Silvana's

Jeff and Silvana hosted Thanksgiving Dinner this year.  

Photos: 

1. Andy carved the bird; 

2. dinner served buffet style and shown in photo:  my brother Scott and his wife Mody (who immigated from Thailand in Sept) , nephew Stevan, neice Madeleine; 

3.  brother David with his daughter Madeleine;

4. David overlooking a game of Racko played by Rachel, Tyler, Erin & Lyden.

Finished results!

Ahhh... finally, the job is finished ... here's the after photo - we still do not have any furniture in the living room (since donating our couch, coffee table & chairs to Rachel & Tyler when they got married).  Next project to tackle:  new window coverings!  Not sure when but it's definitely on our "to do"/"must do" list .... 

Dust, Dust, Dust .. Everywhere!

Andy, Tyler and Lyden spent 3 hours last Saturday tearing out the carpet from our main floor in preparation to instal hardwood.  Andy as seen here, was instrumental in assigning tasks to the boys.  How would they manage without him?

After pulling up the carpet walking the house sounded like an echo chamber!  And despite sweeping up the floors, it was a little dusty but nothing compared to the installation of the hardwood!  Sawdust and fine dust was everywhere!  We'd vacuum after each day's progress but it really was a futile effort.   

Montreal

Just a few photos from the Oct 1-3 legal offsite meeting held in Montreal. Top photo: after dinner group photo at Le Locale Thursday evening;
Middle mosaic - photos taken on our city tour;
Lower mosaic - photos taken at during our tour of the Caisse de Dépôt et Placement - a highly complex in which the building was constructed on top of the Autoroute Ville-Marie spanning across the expressway.

Slapshot goes to SilverStar/Vernon

Unbeknowst to me, the kids packed my Slapshot and brought him to the wedding. I received Slapshot (the beanie bag penguin) from Lyden at Christmas ... it's a long story why. Because I am a good observer (or at least I thought I was) and have a good attention to detail, the kids thought it would be fun to display Slappy out in the open and take photos of him over the weekend. The home we stayed at was large and with all the chaos of all the family under one roof, I have to say, Slapshot went unnoticed by me! Rachel, Tyler, Lyden and Erin planted him in many locations amongst the house sometimes under my nose & I did not notice! They revealed Slapshot on our way out of the house, at which time I reclaimed him and took photos of our commute home.

Jordan & Krissy's Wedding - Sept 7

Photos taken Sunday, Sept 7 - Jordan & Krissy's special day.

From left to right:

1. the kids play a game of skip-bo;

2. group family shot before leaving Silver Star;

3. Jordan & Krissy exchanging vows;

4. Lyden and Erin at the reception;

5. Sister-in-law Ruth and nephew Tanner;

6. Brother Todd with Rachel;

7. Sister-in-law Silvana and mom;

8. Jordan & Krissy, the newlyweds

Vernon - Sept 6-08

My family (sans Andy who we had to leave behind because of work) and extended family headed out to Vernon on the evening of Friday, Sept 5 to attend my nephew's wedding on Sept 7. My brother Jeff and his wife Silvana drove me, mom and brother David. Rachel & Tyler left a bit earlier and took Lyden and Erin with them.

My brother Todd had arranged accommodation for us on Silver Star Mountain. His family Doctor generously offered us the use of his resort home which slept 17 - what an awesome and generous offer from a stranger! We met our hosts Dave and Patti Saturday night after going out for dinner to celebrate Jeff's birthday.

Radium family getaway weekend

While the weather wasn't as warm as last year's Sept long weekend, that didn't stop us from having a great long weekend Family Getaway (2nd annual). Rachel, Tyler and Lyden went ahead of us - we arrived about 9pm, after a rainy 3 hour commute from Calgary. We awoke to sunshine Sat. morning, perfect for our 9am tee off at Edgewater Hilltop golf course.

It rained all day in Radium Sunday but surpsingly, 18km away, it was dry and the boys and I enjoyed another 9 holes at Spur Valley golf course, as shown in the photo below.

Globalfest - Fireworks Finale!

Andy and I went to Globalfest last night to watch the fireworks competition finale (China won). We arrived early to ensure a prime viewing spot on the grass. It was a perfect evening for fireworks - no wind! The firework display was choreographed to music and the added bonus was the reflection of the fireworks on Elliston Lake as you can see in some of these images I captured.

and everyone's fave...s'mores!

It's a classic summertime treat .. this year with a bit of a twist. Instead of getting graham wafer biscuits and bars of milk chocolate we decided on "concerto" biscuits with 70% dark chocolate to build our s'mores and they were delicious! As you see from these photos, Rachel found the melting chocolate and warm marshmallow mixture a bit of a challenge! The solution? Tyler to her chocolately mess? Tyler hosed her down with the garden hose!

Anniversary flowers

Andy sent this beautiful boquet of flowers to the office on August 11 to mark our 29th wedding anniversary. How sweet of him!

Rachel & Christine's Sprint Triathalon

Rachel and Christine signed up for the Strathmore women's sprint triathalon on Aug 10 - we went to cheer them on. Christine wears the bright orange cap while Rachel shown here taking a stroke, sports a green cap as they swim 20 lengths of the pool 2nd photo: Rachel transitioning to the 20km bike leg of the race, and 3rd photo: Rachel finishing the 5km run Way to go girls! We are so proud of you!