Hugs and Kisses from the West

May Long Weekend 2010

2010-06-10T13:09:00.007-06:00

Our camping spot - Brady lake

Allie in bed - it was FREEZING!

Tasha concentrating on her craft

Hanging out with Teena and Pam

Scott and his favorite thing to do

And his other favorite!!

May long weekend used to be traveling to the west coast for a week but we have started a new tradition closer to home and that is going camping with friends. This was our second year and we headed out to Brady Lake about 20 min from the house (Much nicer than the 17 hour drive!). The weather this year was sketchy - was pretty chilly and we had some rain but our spirits were great and we hung out at the lake and by the campfire the entire weekend. We had a ton of fun and want to head out again this summer to do some more camping!

Mexico 2010

2010-06-10T12:53:00.006-06:00

At the end of April we took a much needed break and headed to Mexico with the girls. This was the first trip hot for the kids and they were super excited. I found a resort in the Mayan Riviera that had TONS of stuff for kids and we were booked! The resort had waterslides, pools, beaches, kids clubs and activities and wild animals wandering around. We lucked out with the weather as the week before had been rainy - we had beautiful sunny weather. Mom flew in from Toronto to join us which was great. Scott and I were able to get away for a few days to Cozumel while Mom and the girls hung at the pool. It was a great vacation and everyone is already asking when we can go back!

Winter 2010

2010-03-30T16:37:00.008-07:00

It is ridiculous that it takes me this long to post things but as usual Winter has us all hopping! Our new business BP Motorsports is open and I have been splitting my time between Toby Creek, BP and the kids. Scott has been stationed at TCA since our mechanic moved to town. I am happy to tell you that it was a good move for the mechanics side and we are busy!

Natasha is doing wonderully - she is back at school and now out for recess. She doesn't have any headaches at all and is completely back to normal. We are seeing an Osteopath who does feel some compression in her skull but is confident that after 2 or 3 treatments she will be fine.

So, we've had, Natasha's birthday, some ski racing, snowshoeing and the latest an African Savannah sleepover at the Calgary Zoo.

Birthday -

Tasha turned 6 on February 23 and since she was still in the stages of recovery the bouncy castles were not in the mix this year! Instead we had a party at home with her friends who had pizza, cake and watched a movie.... the adults had beverages and watched an olympic hockey game. Everyone had fun!

Ski Race -

Allie participated in the Linda Putnam Ski Race at Panorama. She is not really keen on racing but she had a good time and was one of the fastest in her division. She has decided skating is her thing but skiing in with friends in the warm sunny weather has it's appeal too!

Snowshoeing -

March break in these parts lasts for 2 weeks . Two very long weeks. So to break it up a bit we took a sunny day and went Snowshoeing. It was the first physical thing Tasha had done since her accident and the best part was listening to her laugh as she fell in the snow. We had a great day!

Zoo Sleepover -

My girlfriend Dee is a Cub/Scout Leader and every year she takes them to the Calgary Zoo for a sleepover. This year she was a few kids short so she called me and I brought 5! We went to the Zoo to sleep in the African Savannah exhibit which houses the Giraffe's and Hippos. It was a great experience. The Zoo keepers had the kids learning about the animals in Africa, they did a craft, and produced a small skit. Then by 10:30 it was time for bed! The cots were out (and so were the mice) and we all snuggled into our sleeping bags and lay there watching the Hippos swim around and the Giraffe's eating and staring at us. For those who have never slept with Hippos - they are VERY loud - ALL NIGHT LONG! Needless to say we didn't get much sleep but it was well worth it when Allie woke up and the first words out of her mouth were "This is soo cool!"

Hope everyone has a Happy Easter and that the Easter Bunny comes to all your homes!

Olympic Torch Celebrations!

2010-01-28T16:36:00.003-07:00

Holding the "fake " torch!

What a celebration. Last friday the Torch finally made it to BC and Invermere held one heck of a party. Scott, Tasha and I attended the event and we lasted about an hour and a half. Allie was with her school and the choir who performed on stage for the premier. All the kids in Allie's school wore fabulous Olympic hats made by many of the mothers. It was a great event and when I get a picture of Allie I will post it!

2010 so far......

2010-01-21T19:11:00.004-07:00

Happy Birthday Allie!

2 weeks into recovery - still a little bit of a black eye but it is open!

Well we have had a rough start to the year 2010 but it is only going to get better! I think everyone already knows about Natasha's accident with the lockers and the fractured skull she recieved as a result. She had some bleeding on the left side of her brain and of course swelling. We are 2 weeks into recovery and I am amazed at how quickly kids can heal from something like this. Although we are trying to be low key and keep things quiet, she is determined to do things. Puzzles, Games, movies and dress up are the usual occurances in a day. She has turned into a mean card shark and I am toying with the idea of teaching her poker (we have the time!). For now though we are taking each day one at a time with the thought of school maybe next week for the afternoons only. She has to refrain from anything physical for 6 weeks and the from any sports for 12. That is going to be tough. The Dr had a good chat with her on Monday, outlining what she could and couldn't do at school. She came out of his office unimpressed."No Swings, No Slide, No Monkeybars, No Teeter totter.......only the sandbox. How much fun is the sandbox in the winter. This sucks" No gym or recess either for a few weeks but I will cross that bridge when we come to it! Overall, she is her normal self which is great. We have been reminded however that with head/brain injuries things can manifest over time but for right now, she is herself 100% and that is more than enough for us. :)

January 16th marked Allie's 9th Birthday. She opted for a smaller party this year with just the neighbour girls Ster, Tomba and Jamba Ree. So I organized a jewelery making and a cake decorating party with 2 of my girlfriends. Both were a huge hit with Pizza and a movie to end the night. Can you believe she is 9? She has a skating competition this weekend in Cranbrook so wish her luck!

Happy Holidays

2009-12-17T13:19:00.002-07:00

Well it is December, actually 8 days prior to the big day and every year I seem to get further and further behind!! This year has been a good one. Everyone remains happy and healthy so who could ask for more really! The kids are growing and continue to amaze us in their quest for Figure Skating gold. Scott has added yet another project to the list and our new property is ready to open it's doors. Let's hope there are lots of machines that need servicing! (We have a backlog so I am already confident in this). The tours are up and running and even though we have had a cold start to the season (-29) we still have the bookings. Our favorite Dogsled Musher is back and joining Aaron this year is the owner of the Mountain Dogsled Company Jason. There is nothing like 50 sled dogs in the yard to know your season has started! Kids love it though.

Scott and I went to Mexico for a week with 17 of our close friends and had a great time. Lots of sun and fun. We all agreed though that we need to take the kids. They are all at an age where it would be a great vacation. I have branched out and joined a Synchronized Skating team this year. Got to keep up to the kids you know. It is a lot of fun but is constantly testing my skating skills. I am holding my own and never knew I could go so fast, turn and remain standing.

Dirtbiking was also a first for me this year as well (got to keep up to the husband). Scott has a passion for it so it was something that had to be tried. I like it, not a great speeds but I am good at it so that makes it easier. After 13 years of Quading, and Snowmobiling it wasn't a hard switch. Scott didn't get out to hunt this year which was a disapointment for him. He really looks forward to his outdoor adventures but this year proved to be too busy. We did get to the coast though which was great.

Loking forward to more adventures in the year to come and wishing you all the best for the Holidays (because let's be realistic - I doubt I will be posting again until 2010)

Happy Holidays from Nicole, Scott, Allison and Natasha!

Fall

2009-11-01T13:38:00.008-07:00

Jamba Rae and Tasha playing in the snow early October
Camping with dad at the Bull River - late Sept.

Tasha started Figure Skating this year (and doesn't understand why she doesn't yet have a routine or solo like Allie)

Scott - Dirtbike night

Our new property at the crossroads of Invermere. Purchased 1 acre and are currently fixing up exisiting building to house the Motorsports side and a Activity Centre for Toby Creek. We hope to be done by Dec 1 and open. Hopefully!

Halloween!

2009-11-01T13:29:00.005-07:00

Well, yesterday was a looooong wait for Trick or Treating to begin! This year Natasha decided to be a witch and Allie a Vampire. Tasha was up at 7 and kept asking for her makeup all morning long, finally at 1:30 we did the make up and by 3 it was wiped off. Oh well, she was an elegant witch by nightfall. Allie wanted the full meal deal including the fake blood (until we discovered it didn't come off !). We hit a few close friends starting at 6pm and we home by 7:45. The girls had enough candy and they decided they were done. I had to laugh - it was the first year it was truly warm enough to walk for hours and we were done by 7:30! Go figure. Hope everyone had a good Halloween!

Coast in August

2009-09-15T13:19:00.012-06:00

Cabin!

Hanging with Dad

Kari and I

Allie - loving Creepy Island

Catching Starfish

Grey whale

Big Slug

Swimming in the ocean

What you rent for a day when the truck breaks down!

We got home from the coast a few weeks ago and had the best Family Vacation (next to Disneyland of course)!! The weather on the coast was spectacular, with Whale sightings (Grey and a Pod of Orca's) seals sightings and plenty of starfish hunting! We had friends with us from Invermere with their 4 children so everyone had a good time. We hit Creepy Island twice for some white sand beach days and then went to a new one called Brady's beach in Bamfield for another afternoon. Not a lot of fish got caught, and we know Allie gets seas sick in big rollers but we had such a good time we can't wait till next year!

Summer!!

2009-09-15T13:09:00.005-06:00

Summer got away from me again! We spent most of it at the beach and hanging out at home during our kitchen renovations! The girls had a good time in swimming lessons, some day camps and having sleepovers with friends. It went way to fast!

Dirtbike Night

2009-07-06T14:44:00.002-06:00

I am slowly getting the hang of this new sport I have taken up. (Only an idiot decides to start riding dirtbikes this late in life). But I am good at snowmobiling and quading so really how hard can it be! Not terribly hard it turns out. So far my most difficult challenge has been remembering the clutch is not the brake as it is on a Quad and Snowmobile. Last Monday a group of us ladies decided to try out the bikes on our own, leaving from my house and navigating the numerous trails around this area. We did pretty good. One wheelie, two stalls and only one fall over. Not bad. We rode around Lake Enid and then back to my place for late appies. Scott helped load and unload the bikes and field any phone calls from nervous husbands wondering how we were making out. We had fun and already there are a few more looking to go out for an evening!

Preschool Graduation

2009-07-06T14:29:00.004-06:00

I can't beleive I am officially DONE WITH PRESCHOOL. This is a real milestone for our family as we now will have both girls in one school for a whole year (then Allie goes to a different one of course because staying in one school would be far to easy!)

Tasha was pretty excited to be done as well as it meant going to the big school in the fall. The preschool had a ceremony with caps and gowns and the teacher spoke about each child as they received their "World's Best Student" certificate. Then they sang a song and picked up their birds they had made so they could "fly away" to kindergarden. WHOO HOO! And we were done. A couple of quick pictures with her friend Hannah and Zack and we were finished. A picture was later published in the the local newspaper of Tasha and Zack which was very cute. So now we are enjoying summer and waiting to see what kindergarden class Tash will be in. It would make my life way easier if she was in the K/Grade 1 split so hopefully that will be what we get. If not it will mean more driving ...but I' m used to that!

A Visit Home

2009-07-06T13:58:00.008-06:00

Posing with Oma and Poppa
Karen and RJ

Cousin Talia!

Mom and Allie on the Ghoster Coaster

Auntie Dayna and Tasha

Canada's Wonderland

Visit with Great Grandma

Fort Steele

2009-05-27T21:22:00.003-06:00

In her outfit for Fort Steele!

Allie and her friend Lily

The Grade 2 Class

Every year for the last 14 years Allie's school has participated in a program at Fort Steele, a heritage centre near Cranbrook. They take the grade 2 class to this old village for 2 days and an overnight to participate in all things olden. Allie has been excited about this trip for weeks and finally it was here! We dropped her off at school with her overnight and sleeping bag and said "see you tomorrow!". Once they got to Fort Steele they would be participating in chores (making butter - which they ate on their buns at dinner), doing laundry (in a bucket no less), going to school in the one room school house (they make you wear a dunce cap and get whipped if you are bad - only they pretend) and of course a talent show in the theatre where the kids could perform. Allie and her 2 friends sang "Hot Cross Buns". The kids were split up at night sleeping inthe cookhouse and the barracks - a long barn with hay bales for beds. Allie and her friend Tomba paired up and dragged their hay bales together for the night and remarked that it was actual comfy! When she got home, she had a ton of stories and better yet a great experience with her class and something that will be remembered for years to come.

May Long Weekend

2009-05-27T20:59:00.008-06:00

Happy and relaxed

Leeches they collected.......gross

Dirty but happy

My girls

Tasha and Allie waiting their turn on the dirtbikes

The mom's pull out on the machinery for a ride

May long weekend is typically spent on the West Coast and for the first time in 8 years we did not venture out on the 12 hour trip to meet up with everyone. We stayed home and drove 20 minutes to camp instead! It certainly felt weird not to be going and as I was humming and haaing about whether we had everything for the weekend, Scott was quick to point out that it was pretty easy to come home if we hadn't remembered it all. So off we went to the unoffical campsite with 8 other campers/trailers, tons of kids, that many dogs and mountain bikes, dirt bikes and ATV's. We had a blast. The guys went for their daily dirtbike ride, the girls for their walk/run and the kids found mud puddles and other assorted goodies and were kept busy until the decided they were hungry. A good weekend and in keeping with our west coast tradition we pigged out on crab the friday night with Scott cooking away. Not quite the same - buying it at superstore - instead of throwing out the crab traps - but we needed to have some sort of west coast for the weekend! And another first - no costume for Scott this long weekend - we will have to see if he can "get it together" for September when we hopefully head to the coast then.

Mother's Day Tea

2009-05-27T20:51:00.005-06:00

Our last year at preschool (yeah) and our last year for Mother's Day Tea. This is very special as the children work hard all week making their mother's a present and goodies for the actual tea. (Sandwiches and snot cookies we call them - come on- what are the odds some kids HASN'T sneezed on them)

Natasha was more excited to get to wear her special dress than she was about me actually coming for tea! Nonetheless, she greeted me at the door with my paper corsage, led me to our table where we got to eat finger sandwiches, cookies and fruit and then we mothers were treated to 2 songs and a dance. What a great performance and although I am glad we won't be back to preschool next year, this is one event I will sorely miss!

Art from the Heart

2009-05-27T20:45:00.002-06:00

At the beginning of May the Elementary schools across the valley showcase their art at the art studio Pynelogs. They call is "Art from the Heart" and it is displayed for 2 weeks with one evening as an invite for parents. Allie's class did oil paintings of the mountains. We are very proud of her work - she did an amazing job! Now mom just has to get it framed!!

Happy Easter!

2009-04-14T21:04:00.008-06:00

Gum..Yum!

Still don'tbelieve??

The Girls

The hunt is on!

What did you find Allie?

The "look what I found" happy dance

Easter 2009

Easter was an interesting affair this year as we were sort of open sort of closed. We had 16 degree days on Friday and Saturday but it started to cool down on Sunday. It was still good weather for the Easter Bunny to come though! This past week was our week of parties. We had Aaron's party, our staff pary, a birthday party for our mechanic, a kid birthday party, Easter Dinner at our house and another Easter brunch at the neighbors. What a busy weekend! I went to Cranbrook to get suplies for everything last week and got the "Easter Bunny" goodies when I was there, coming home I shoved them in the safe thinking it wouldn't be opened. Little did I know Scott had planned on Skeet shooting with the staff and asked Allie to help him get the skeets out of the safe. She spotted the stuff and told Scott she knew he and I were the Easter Bunny. So, what do you do? Come clean and wreck Easter or lie through your teeth? Didn't really do either - kind of evaded the question for awhile until that didn't work, then simply asked her what she thought. Answering truthfully she claimed she thought her Dad and I were the Easter Bunny (since she saw everything) but when I asked about Santa -she replied quickly that he was real since there was no way her dad nor I would have bought her nintendo DS! Either way we told her that if she believes - he will come. And sure enough Easter morning he did!

One down.....many to go

2009-04-14T20:56:00.002-06:00

Tasha lost her first Tooth last week. It had been loose for a few weeks and one morning she and Allie disapeared into the bathroom and boom - Allie pulled it out. No tears just pure excitement - she couldn't wait to put it in the little velvet bag and under her pillow. She and Allie immediately ran upstairs to do just that. Of course no one reminded anyone and the toothfairy forgot to come that night. There was some disapointment but as Allie well knows - sometimes the toothfairy gets too busy and can't come the first night. Sure enough the toothfairy "got it together" the second night and Tash found a twoonie under her pillow.

Grammie's Visit

2009-04-14T20:34:00.009-06:00

Dinner with Grammie
At the Banff Gondola parking lot

At the top (good picture taking Tash!)

Riding down

Leaving our hotel - see all the Elk!

Allie coming off the waterslide

Feeding ducks

Riding a Grizzly (hopefully the only one she ever gets that close to!)

For March break Mom hopped on a plane and ended up in Banff. The girls and I met her there for three nights before we all went on to Calgary. We did the shopping, the hot tubbing, the gondola ride up Sulphur mountain, and of course dinner's out. In Calgary we hit the Zoo on a warm day and saw baby gorilla's the Koala's, Elephants and a few other animals. The most time spent of course was in the pool and on the waterslide. The girls had the pool to themselves the majority of the time and made good use of it. With 2 weeks off, one week away was a nice way to play!

POWDER

2009-04-14T20:21:00.008-06:00

Getting Ready to go!
Allie and Quinnie warming up and goofing off by the fire

This is awesome!

Pam and I

Scott and Tash

Tash, sweeping the snow off the deck!

We hadn't had a stellar snow year so the one day we were to go sledding we were happy to see it was snowing. We had no idea how much snow was falling and how fast! It was clear when we unloaded and as we travelled further down the trail to Forester Creek the snow kept falling. We had a great time playing in the snow and riding around with our friends Pam and Kendyl and their 4 children. Hamburger lunch in the cabin, more playing and back to Pam and Kendyl's for a hot tub - we can't wait to do it again next year!

This makes number THREE!!

2009-04-14T20:15:00.003-06:00

For the third year in a row Team Green Toby Creek Adventures captured the Broomball title for 2009! (Hope they let us play next year!)

Iditarod Party!

2009-04-14T19:56:00.010-06:00

Posing with Allie

Aaron and his Cake

The Bakery in town screens on pcitures - I pulled this photo off the internet

Nancy and I

Jimmy, Tasha and Mary

Brandon, our other dogsled guy and fabulous guitar and songwriter. He started to play and Tasha leaned over to Mary and I and said"I'm going to marry him". Mental note to keep on eye on her around musicians!

Snuggling with Dad around the campfire listening to great music - Allie now tells me she wants to be a songwriter!

My last post was about Aaron and his Iditarod run, and our obsession with this race for the 2 weeks it was on! Everyone at work watched intently as Aaron started out with Bib number 2 and officially was the first musher out. He was leading the pack and staying with the top ten until about day 5 then as his dog numbers dropped, so did his time. The conditions on the Iditarod trail were some of the worst they had ever seen. While running on the Bering Sea, Aaron was forced back to a checkpoint as the temperature dropped to -50 degrees celcius. Yuck! 174 miles to go and he was down to 6 dogs and had to make the heart wrentching decision to scratch from the race. Although disappointed, he was happy with his decision and his spirits were good by the time he returned to us. Of course there had to be a welcome home party - you can't do that kind of run without some good food, live entertainment and a bonfire to celebrate! Aaron also went to Allie's class with a sled dog to speak about the Iditarod race - it was very special for Allie! Aaron is back in Grand Praire now and we think we may see him at Christmas but he will now focus solely on racing the dogs to get them into shape for the Iditarod and we wish him all the best and can't wait to watch him and cheer him on again one day!

Tasha's 5th Birthday!

2009-04-14T19:48:00.005-06:00

Way back in February Natasha turned 5. She had been waiting for that day to come for a long time! Her party was slated for the Saturday night at Panorama for Winter Wonderland - 2 hours of Bouncy Castle's and a magic show. Since we've been using this venue for the past 3 years, the magician knows us pretty well and had Tasha as his assitant for part of the act. She had a great time and told me right after "I want to do this again next year!" It's easy for me so OK!

Iditarod!!

2009-03-12T15:35:00.004-07:00

I know I need to still post a few pictures from Tasha's 5 th birthday and I will get to that soon I promise! But at the moment we are all caught up in the Iditarod and cheering on our musher Aaron Peck. He has done a great job so far as we are in Day 5 of the race - he has already had is mandatory 24 hour break and moved onto 10 place. Aaron is running with the top dogs so to speak. He is in the top 10 with the best of the best. Lance Makey, Martin Buser etc. It is very exciting and we are all glued to the computer watching and updating every few hours. If you get a chance to check it out go to

http://www.iditarod.com/

and cheer Aaron on!!

"Aaron Peck of Canada was the first musher to hit the trail as the race officially began here with the restart, which comes a day after the ceremonial start in Anchorage.
What matters from here on along the 1,000 lonely miles of the Iditarod Trail to Nome is what is in the hearts and minds of mushers and dogs.
Through months of nights on the cold, dark trails of the northland in winter, the hearts have been trained. But the minds remain in some ways untested."

GO AARON!!! (hopefully someone up there in Alaska will finally take a picture of this Canadian boy - we keep waiting!)

Allie's Skating cont'd

2009-03-02T09:27:00.002-07:00

OK - so it doesn't seem to be working.

Please go to the following site to view her skating video...

www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7tTDQO_jQ8

Allie's Skating Performance

2009-02-24T12:59:00.009-07:00

Sunday we headed to Cranbrook to watch Allie compete in her 2nd Skating competition. She was super nervous but did an excellent job with mom and Tash and her teammates cheering her on! I have uploaded a video to "You Tube" and tried desperately to get it on site here but I am having technical difficulties so........ here is the link and type in "Skating 012".

http://www.youtube.com

Iditarod Bound

2009-02-12T15:11:00.003-07:00

This cover story for our local Paper last week featured Aaron Peck, our head Musher for Mountain Dogsled Tours (aka Kingmik Dogsled Tours) . Aaron has been on site since September, building doggie condos and getting ready to for the December tours. He is out of here at the end of the month with 16 of his 40 Alaskan Huskies off to the "Greatest Race on Earth". The Iditarod. It is a 1500 mile race in Alaska done exclusively by dogsled. Aaron has done the race twice and completed his 2005 run in 49th place out of 79 competitors. We are wishing him the best of luck and will be following his progress at http://www.iditarod.com/

Check out this article on him at http://www.columbiavalleypioneer.com/

Allie has been so moved by Aaron's quest that she donated all her savings to help him fund the race. Aaron was of course very touched by her donation. We also sponsored one of his dogs "Max" as a family. We hope he stays safe and has fun and we will update his progress as he goes!

Dogsledding!

2009-02-09T09:29:00.009-07:00

The Doggie Condo's that house all the dogs
Brandon helping Allie get Max ready to put on the harness

They're off

Allie the Musher girl!

Tasha, myself and Brandon

Allie taking a break with Dad

Swtiching Kids, Scott and Tasha

For Allie's 8th Birthday we all went Dogsledding. Part of our Winter Business is Dogsledding which we contract out to Kingmik Dogsled Tours. The head Musher for us this year is Aaron Peck who is using our tours as training for the Iditarod race in Alaska. Aaron has 40 dogs with him at the staging area 7 Km past our office at Delphine Glacier. The Dogsledding has been a huge hit for the guests staying in and around the valley so we had to once again try it out!

Once we got to the staging area Brandon, one of the mushers helped Scott, Allie and Tasha harness the dogs. Once harnessed they got attached to the sled. The 40 dogs went from mellow to full blown barking and yapping as more harnesses got put on. They were very excited to get going! Allie decided that she would try to mush her own team with Dad and Tomo on the sled too. She did a great job, stopping only when she got cold and bundled in with Dad. Tasha chose to ride with me as we sped along the trail looking for animals and marvelling at how far and fast these dogs could run! Not the "Hollywood" dogs, these are Alaskan huskies (a Hienz 57 mix) bred specifically for racing and boy, can they race! A great morning in the outdoors, we are so lucky to live where we live and do these experiences that many can only imagine!

Kootenay Regional Figure Skating Championships 2009

2009-02-09T09:05:00.008-07:00

Auntie Jen getting the hair done for the big event
Allie and her buddies Cael and Jenson

Warm up

Here we go!

Nancy, Smitty and Zack brought flowers!

A Medal for the performance!

Allie's first Skating competition was held last month in Invermere. It was nice that her first competition was held on home ice as she had quite a few people come to watch. Her solo perfomance was done to an Austin Power's song and was a minute long. She did very well considering she was so nervous! She placed 4th in her age category and said she didn't care how well she did, she just had so much fun! What great sportsmanship! One more cometition at the end of this month and that will be it for this year ( I think!).

Ski Days

2009-01-20T21:29:00.003-07:00

Allie and her buddies
Allie racing in the Lusti cup (on the right)

Tasha and her friends Jambo-Rae

Sunday's are ski days in the winter and last Sunday was Tasha's first day in the Windermere Valley Ski Club lessons. She skied from 10 - 3 and was hard pressedto come off the hill (had to bribe with Hot Chocolate). Allie was racing in the Lusti Cup which runs a few times in the season, compiling their results for the end of the year. Both girls had a good day as it was warm and nice and Sunny! No skiing this Sunday though as Allie is competing in the Kootenay Regional Figure Skating Competition in Invermere. We seem to go from one cold place to another!!

My crazy Girls Group

2009-01-19T09:28:00.007-07:00

Me at work getting the paper work organized. Another crazy Costume night!

Chicks on Sticks!!

New Years.....party number 3

Dogsledding, hot pools and Sushi night!

My ski buddies on Sunday Geoff and Mickey!

Well, our Girls Groups is in for another year and I started it off with a bang and took the ladies Dogsledding for my night out. I was working but our head Musher Aaron made sure they had a great time. It was off to the hot pools and for Sushi after their run, and they completlely worn out by the time they went home! Skiin has started and even though we don't have the best snow, it is still pretty good Beautiful and Sunny at the top so there is no reason to stay at the bottom! Allie is back in the racing program and this year Tasha was able to join as well. She had her first set of lessons yesterday and wanted to know immediatly when her next lesson was! I am also skiing once a week on Thursday Afternoons. I have joined Chicks on Sticks with a bunch of the girls and we get a 3 hour lesson which is making a HUGE difference in my skiing! And of course I will get a few runs in on Sunday while the girls are on lessons. Let the Winter continue!!

Happy 8th Birthday Allie!

2009-01-19T09:23:00.005-07:00

Icing Allie's cupcakes to take to school!
Games!

A new skating dress, just in time for the Regional competition!

Allie's birthday was on Friday and she was super excited. The plan was to have 12 or her friends for Pizza at Peppi's Pizzeria and then head to the movies to see Madagascar 2! (Pictures of that I will post tomorrow). Allie took cupcakes to school to share with her class and got lots of phone calls from family and friends!

Winter Fun!

2009-01-19T09:06:00.011-07:00

A girl has to eat before she climbs that big hill!

The Tobogganing Hill

Scott - on his descent.......look out Allie

Things going slightly wrong........

Whew. Made it !

Tasha, Allie and Trinda on the move.

Allie, on her way down.

Tasha and Trinda

Skating on Lake Windermere with her friend Lauren

Shana and Allie racing their machines!

Over Christmas Holidays Scott took a few days off so we could have some outdoor fun. We went out tobboganning for an afternoon with Tasha best friend Trinda, brother Brandon and parents Karen and Joe. They had picked a fabulous hill and we spent over 4 hours walking up and sliding down! It was a great afternoon and everyone had a great time. The next day we headed to Lake Windermere to skate, sled and ice fish. The girls had fun trying the sled and skating on all the different paths around the lake.

Christmas!

2009-01-19T08:52:00.006-07:00

Allie, Tasha and Zack all dressed up for Xmas Dinner
Look what Santa brought!

Love it!

Barsby Family Xmas Photo

Christmas was a fast one as usual this year! Kids were very excited and couldn't wait to see what Santa brought! Mom and the girls Skiied on the 24th in an attempt to wear them out! We had Christmas Eve celebrations with Grandma and Grandpa and soon it was bed time. Allie was up at 4am and asked Dad if Santa had come. Of course he hadn't, Santa rarely shows up before 7. So at 7am, we made the treck downstairs to see what was under the tree. A Nintendo DS for Allie and a baby that pees and poops for Natasha. They spent the rest of the day playing with their presents and just lounging around until it was time to go to Grandma's for dinner. Smitty, Nancy and Zack came for dinner too and the kids had fun playing with their new Kareoke machine and putting on endless shows!

Skating party with Santa

2009-01-19T08:48:00.005-07:00

An annual event is our group of friends is to head to the arena one night for a skate with Santa. Previously the Santa's we have had could not skate (and would be a serious hazzard to the little ones) so we skate first and Santa meets us at Pam's house. The girls got a present from Santa and all the ladies did a photo. Lucky Santa!

Tasha and her Kitty

2009-01-19T08:42:00.001-07:00

Tasha and Oakie sharing a peaceful moment......peaceful for both of them!

Uncle Cody comes to visit!

2009-01-16T13:05:00.001-07:00

Before Christmas, when it was REALLY REALLY COLD! Cody flew in from Ontario with a friend to visit. Although the main point of coming out was to see the girls and Scott and I, there was a hope to snowboard too! But with temperatures as low as -35, that was not meant to be! A day of boarding and 2 days of sledding and then it was movie watching and checking out the valley. Here are the girls snuggled in watching a flick!

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas!

2008-12-23T14:27:00.002-07:00

Well, the Christmas season is now upon us and we are busy with sledding and all things Christmas! Thank you to everyone for the fabulous Christmas cards and to those who have yet to recieve mine, they will be little late! (Brian and Linda, Mark and Sarah, Jen, Jeannie and a few others)! The girls have been busy meeting Santa at breakfast, in parades and most recently skating. Tasha informed me yesterday that she is well aware they are all "Santa's Helpers" because the real Santa smells like Candy Canes and these haven't smelt that way. Only a 4 year old can reason that one out! Last night was an annual Skate with Santa at the arena that friends of ours put on every year. We skated for an hour and then went to a friends to wait for Santa's arrival and a small gift for each child. A hit every year, the girls love the skating portion and of course Santa is always good too! We will see you in the New year!

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Natasha, Nicole, Allison and Scott

And....

2008-12-21T11:37:00.007-07:00

Oakie - Natasha's new cat

NOTHING HAS CHANGED!! After reading Karen's blog and watching the ever falling snow in both Quebec and in Waterloo, I felt it necessary to update everyone on our snow situation. It remains the same. Pathetic. I am positive everyone in Southern Ontario would ship some our way if the could and we would gladly recieve it! So, other than the ridiculously cold temperatures here (-30) we are cold with little snow. Allie is supposed to start ski camp this week but if the temps remain this cold, we will postpone it until next week. The countdown is officially on with Tasha running into our room this morning screaming "4 more sleeps". She is still decidely UNCLEAR on what Santa is bringing her so it might be an interesting Christmas morning, she has said that Santa would be bringing her another kitten but Mom and Dad explained that Santa only brings Kittens once to a family. Her new Cat Oakie was bought by Mom and Dad last Friday. Oakie is the newest addition to the family and one we hope won't be cougar bait come spring.

Last Sunday we had Breakfast with Santa at Radium Resort. The kids got to sit on Santa's knee and tell the big guy what they would like for Christmas. While we were eating breakfast Tasha disppeared for a while. It became apparent where she had gone when she came skipping back with the goodie bag Santa hands out. Needless to say she went up again so Mom could get a picture. She keeps us on our toes. Allie had her school concert on Thursday and the theme this year was "Santa goes Green". It was a very humorous production and Allie did a stellar job as a reindeer!!

Santa Claus Parade

2008-12-06T15:30:00.002-07:00

Last Sunday Invermere had their Santa Claus Parade. For whatever reason it gets smaller every year. Three floats and the Bugle Band from Cranbrook! Our neighbors the Paagman family always supply a horse drawn sleigh (with wheels due to the lack of snow), for Santa to ride on. Both Tasha and Allie were able to be part of the parade this year and Tasha made the front page of the Valley Echo with Santa and Allie made the Columbia Valley Pioneer this week. You know you are in a small town when both kids make both papers in the same week!

Gingerbread House Decorating

2008-12-06T15:21:00.004-07:00

Every year the local bakery in town hosts a Gingerbread house decorating class for kids 4 - 12. Allie has done it a few times but this year Tasha was finally old enough to make one! We arrived right at 10 to wash our hands and put on the apron to smother the gingerbread with icing and tons of candy. Just as much got eaten as got put on the house but they had a good time doing it and the mess stayed out of my kitchen! A hot chocolate at the end of the session and the girls went home happy!

Finally........

2008-12-06T15:10:00.003-07:00

There isn't much but it's a start! The day after my last post we finally got a bit of snow, enough to don the snowpants and for the girls to make snow angels - let's hope it continues!

Oh the weather outside is.........still FALL?

2008-12-05T14:28:00.004-07:00

Here we are December 5th and still looking like areally nice day in September. Not so great for us as we are starting our tours tomorrow and with the lack of snow we are barely going to get by. We know it will eventually show up but still, no one can remember it being green (brown) for this long! It is forecasted for snow tomorrow but the weather man has been saying that for a week now and nothing has happened yet. So, we will wait ......and sled at the top.

My favorite Shots.....

2008-12-05T14:22:00.002-07:00

Tasha and Zack kissing at the park!
Our Figure Skater

These two pictures are just a few of my favorites. I had to take an actual picture of the picture which is why it didn't turn out as clear as I would have liked but nothing is ever perfect, but the memory is there. Nancy snapped the picture of Tasha and her best buddy Zack while they were playing at the park in September. She is going to enter it in a photo contest to see if it can win, it has already won in this house!
Allis had her skating photo taken in October and it turned out fabulous! She is on the ice about 3 times a week for over an hour and is now perfecting her waltz jump! Regionals are coming up so she has been working on her "program" as well!

Waiting......

2008-11-29T13:19:00.005-07:00

Well it's now November 29th and we are anxiously awaiting some snow. Every year we bellyache about the snow situation "We need more snow etc". Well this year we need SOME snow period. We are sure it will come but you sure notice a difference when you keep records year after year! Since the snow isn't here yet and we can't fire up those machines, a lot of other things are keeping us busy. Scott bought a little dirtbike for the girls to ride and Allie has been getting plenty of use out of it! Tasha prefers indoor activites and every day she suits up for her daily Ballet routine.

We had snow a few weeks ago, long enough for Scott to snap a picture of the Grizzly Bear tracks next to the house. We are pretty sure it has moved on for now but that was a bit close for comfort!

Halloween 2008

2008-11-18T14:23:00.007-07:00

While Mom and Dad were in Cuba, Grammie came to stay. It happened to coincide with Halloween so Grammie got to take the girls Trick or treating! Tasha was Bear in the Big Blue House and a Witch while Allie was a Bratz Cheerleader. They both had a great time with Grammie and as you can see she supplied some great photos of the girls for us to enjoy!

It's all about me!

2008-11-18T14:01:00.008-07:00

A few pics of the fun things I have done this past summer. The Loop the lake was an annual 10K run that I participated in last year. Glad to say I did it again this year and managed to come in 2 minutes faster!! Went Kayaking one night with my group of girlfriends and then another night we went to practice shooting. Scott was an advocate for that one!

Bulldog

2008-11-18T13:57:00.001-07:00

Here is Tasha after a day at the Windermere Fall Fair and Scarecrow Festival in September. She picked out what she wanted and this was the result - a bull dog!

My birthday!

2008-11-18T13:53:00.005-07:00

For my birthday - way back in September - my girlfriends let me pick what I wanted to do for it! Rock Climbing was on my list of things to try so on a cool rainy night we headed to the Climbing Wall for 3 hours of laughing as we tested our endurance. We had a blast and will make sure we do it again (maybe even outside!) Here is our favorite picture at the end of the night when our arms could barely hold us up!

Riding Lessons

2008-09-27T10:20:00.003-06:00

Throughout the summer the girls have been doing their riding lessons, and as winter approaches, they will come to an end. Tasha has done well, going from simply walking on the lunge line to walking and doing a slight jog off the line. Allie is not on the lunge line at all and is cantering the small arena on her own. The best is to hear her laugh as she canters - apparently like on ski's, speed is a factor for her! In addition to the riding, Tasha is in gymnastics once a week and Allie is in Figure Skating 3 x a week and is loving it. It is everything in my power to drag her off the ice after an hour and a half! So, until ski season starts the girls are busy enjoying their activities and the outdoors!

1st Day of Preschool!!

2008-09-27T10:15:00.002-06:00

September 16th marked Tasha's first day of 4 year old preschool. She is an old hand at this preschool thing and simply strutted in, dropped her bag and was gone. No see ya mom, nothing. She is very excited to be back at school and the three days a week don't seem to be enough! Painting, playdoh, crafts galore - this is right up her alley!

Paradise

2008-09-14T12:49:00.015-06:00

Arrival! What a beautiful view huh?? Yuck.

Yup, that is snow on the lens, beginning of September. Felt like winter too.

Dinner time

Wow, two pictures of us together, that never happens!

Dave and Andrea

Allie and Laine in the mine shaft. They spent hours mining for gold and Silver, only stopping when the snow and cold brought them inside!

Tasha and Lauren on top of the mine shaft. Queens of their fort!

The directors.............

Scott an Dave getting everything ready to move the outhouse

Steady as she goes....only a few times did we almost lose it..

Final Placement

Last weekend the Barsby family and the Dunlop Family ventured up o Paradise for the night. The last time we had been up there was prior to kids (like 10 years ago) and we felt we needed to do it again. Some things don't change. Still

unbearably hot in the loft - (to the point where you really can't sleep), undeniably cold outside (to the point you want to stay in) and like always, you never know what adventure you are going to be apart of with Scott. This weekend - actually Saturday morning he decided we should move the outhouse. So, there we are moving the outhouse. We had a great time and need to do it again before the snow flies and stays!!

First Day of Grade 2!!

2008-09-14T12:43:00.003-06:00

Allie was geared up and ready for the first day of rgrade 2! She got Mrs. Carriere this year, a teacher that came from Windermere. She is in a class with some of her friends and is having a blast! Of course, Tasha doesn't start until Tuesday which is a long wait when her sister has been going for 2 weeks! Her picture is coming.....

Silverwood!!

2008-09-14T12:22:00.011-06:00

Loving it!

Ready to go!!

Scott.... at the end

Allie

Tasha's favorite section Pollywog Park

On the Train.......

Airplane ride

At the end of August we took four days and three nights and with the Cote Family, headed to Idaho to go to the amusement park Silverwood. The day we arrived it was a fabulous 107 degrees farenheit, the perfect weather to spend at Cabella's, an airconditioned hunting store! We made it to the campsite by 6pm when it was starting to cool off. We had two

day tickets and decided with the weather being so hot we should head straight to the water park and spend most of the day there. What a great water park!! As you can see there is a phenomenal section for kids around Tasha's age and then there are the waterslides. You can rent tubes and go down one of 4 slides. We had rented 4 single tu

bes, but after sending Tash down by herself and listening to her scream, we opted for a 2 man one as well. (We learned later that she screams because it echo's). Scott and Allie braved the really big waterslides and they had a blast. The wave pool was the biggest hit with all four of us riding in to shore and heading right back out again! The water park was a huge draw for us and we will go again next year for sure!! The Silverwood theme park had all the rides. 4 big rollercoasters which Scott and Allie had a go on (and a I got a GREAT picture of Scott that I will try to scan to get up here! Oh boy is it good) Tasha and her friend Trinda got their fill on all the little rides (which were nothing to Tasha after Disneyland!) and generally had fun just being together. Back to the campsite at the end of the day and into bed. A great 2 days and we'll do it again next year!

2008-09-14T12:03:00.007-06:00

Allie, Stella and Tasha posing for a picture!
Allie on the waterslide at Kinsmen beach

Tasha and the pool

Hanging out on Shammoo

Well Summer has come and gone although it really didn't feel like we had much of a summer here. A few really hot days but other than that - it was cooler than usual. We did however get a fair amount of use out of the pool!! When it was hot, it was hot so we could jump in and out as we wanted without having to drive anywhere! What a treat! The girls had fun at the beach, as you can see the waterslide was Allie's favorite while Tasha preferred to be on shore swimming in and out. Stella and the gang were here at the beginning of July and we spent time at the beach, in the pool and just hanging out.

Ontario Visit

2008-08-15T09:44:00.016-06:00

Tasha - waiting patiently for the Turkeys to come to her............

Oma catches one

Swimming with Grammie in Cousin Mark's beautiful Salt Water Pool

Janice and Max, Tasha, Maya, Allie and Me visiting at Waubashene

The old farmers and their girls

The little girls - claiming their island!

Cool Tattoo (and hopefully the only one you'll ever have)

More swimming in Grammies pool

A tea party at Rosie Bum's house!! Complete with tea, sugar and milk. It is becoming an Ontario tradition and one the girls really look forward to!!

A visit with Karen who is always willing to drive to find us!!

With Oma and Poppa!

Tasha and Talia. Tasha LOVES babies, even when they cry...

Auntie Dayne (or should I say Mommy Dayna) and Talia

A lunch date with Great Grandma and Grammie

We have been home for a few weeks now but I have finally gotten around to getting some pictures off the camera and onto the blog page! We had a great time regardless of the weather which was Thunderstormy. The highlights were seeing all our good friends, meeting Talia and of course all the swimming we did!! These are just a few of the 150 pictures I took and since I am on dial up - you only get to view these!!

We are off to Silverwood in Idaho on Sunday for three days. Amusement park and Water park it should be a great way to end our summer. Kids go back to school September 2!! Hard to believe it is almost school time! Although Allie says she is ready!!

Summer!!

2008-08-07T14:53:00.002-06:00

Well the posts have been non existent for the month of July. The first two weeks were spent at the Radium Pools every morning for swimming lessons. Allie did a fabulous job and got her level 4 Red cross and Tasha got her Crocodile Badge. Very exciting! Week three was a vacation Camp for Allie in the mornings and of course the beach in the afternoon's. Then our big trip to Ontario!! What fun. We got lots of swimming in, egg collecting, friend visiting and mom got her shopping fix. The best was getting to meet Talia and watch her nap in Dayna's arms. So sweet. So, I am going to attempt to post some pics SOON but while the weather lasts - we'll be at the beach!

June Groove

2008-06-22T18:38:00.007-06:00

Another Money Club night, we all pick a month and have to do something different when we host our month. I have been December for the last 2 years and no surprise - we have gone Snowmobiling. This year I have July so we are going (Surprise surprise) Quading! But last Thursday night was my girlfriend Nancy's night. She sent out an invitation. It went something like this:

"You are invited to attend Coy's Golf Course Thursday June 19th. You are required to attend as a Blushing Bride or a Bitter Bridesmaid."

As you can see, these were the results and we had an absolute BLAST!!! We did however stump an older gentleman who kept asking "Where are the Men? Don't you need Men to get married?"

Maybe you do, but we didn't need them on Thursday!!

Haggards Cove - pictures part 2

2008-06-02T12:52:00.006-06:00

Almost swimming........
Fishing from the Dock

The "pearl Necklace holders" that Jen just "Happened" to have in the cabin......

Hannah, Allie and Sydney

Twig, his McDonalds hat and the Turkey!!

Mud Mania.........they were having a lot of fun!

Haggards Cove - May 2008

2008-06-02T12:14:00.013-06:00

The cabin!

Getting ready to go fishing!

Dancing on the deck

Allie picked the coldest day to try swimming in the ocean!!

The Pirate with his annual story - this year the story of the Tukatukatu's

One of the pearl's the kids found in Oysters

Always a costume..........

Tasha was so excited to be on the beach we don't think her feet touched the ground!

Posing...........

The gang....The Worden's, the Sandlands, the Stannards, the O'Hara's and the Barsby's

Family Photo !!

We've been back for awhile now but over the May long weekend we headed to the coast to go to the cabin at Haggards Cove. We had bought a "New to us" Seaswirl boat which is more of an ocean going boat than the one we had taken previously. So we hauled that down to Vancouver Island, secured it a spot at the "Boathouse" in Port Alberni and left it there! But before we dropped it of, we headed to the cabin on Wednesday May 14 to spend 6 days hanging out. We got lucky with the weather as it was hot and sunny for the first few days. That is rare for me as I am almost always in rain gear! Scott was anxious to put out the prawn traps so no sooner had we arrived then we were back out in the boat! Prawn traps down and back to the cabin to unpack and enjoy the evening. Thursday was spent attaching down riggers and the prawn puller to the boat (what a difference a Prawn puller makes!! No sweat pulling up a trap from 350ft down!!) We went and pulled our traps, getting about 30 prawns. The girls were great at pulling off the heads and cleaning them. By the time we arrived back at the dock in the evening our friends Jen and Twig had arrived at their cabin so we had a nice night hanging out with them. Friday took Scott and Twig offshore fishing while Jen and I took the girls to the water's edge to watch them attempt to swim and then hung out doing crafts at the cabin. Another prawn dinner and off to bed. Saturday the Sandlands arrived to stay with Jen and Twig and their 2 year old daughter was entertainment for Natasha. Tash and Morgan spent time playing at our cabin and just having fun! By5:30 the O'Hara's with baby Niall and the Stannards with Hannah and Sydney pulled in to the dock and the weekend officially began!

Sunday was the last day for decent weather so it was decided we would head to "Creepy Island" to go look for Oysters. Scott had told the kids all about how some oyster's grow pearls and he wanted to find some and check it out. Another hunt ensued with 8 specially planted oysters being found. There was great anticipation each of the girls and Niall gave Scott their oyster to see if there was a pearl inside. Of course there was!! They were super excited and thought it was very cool. We had hotdogs on the campfire and headed back to Haggards cove for turkey dinner. Twig's famous deep fried turkey!! It was really good! Monday the Sandlands and the Wordens' headed for home. Clint and I insulated the floor of the cabin and then Wade, Clint and Scott added plywood so hopefully we won't need slippers in August!

A great weekend and fun had by all. Hopefully we can head back out there in August or September!!

Mother's Day Tea

2008-05-25T13:48:00.006-06:00

My Mother's Day Present!

Greeting me at the door with a flower corsage

Singing and Dancing

Flower Cookies for our snack

A picture of us at Tea!

We had Mother's Day Tea at Natasha's school a few days before we left to go on Holidays! She was super excited about it and asked every day if it was "Today?". The kids had done a great deal of work , making cookies, sandwiches and all sorts of goodies for us to eat. Tash greeted me at the door with my paper corsage she made me and helped me pin it on. Then she decided where we could sit and we sat down to eat our sandwiches and snacks. Her class sand two songs for the mom's and gave us our presents. It was a very sweet morning!

Disneyland!!!!

2008-05-05T14:08:00.014-06:00

Sleeping Beauty's Castle
Walt Disney and Mickey

Our Princess lunch with Ariel

Cause it is all about the costume.........(I have 4 more picture similar to this one!)

A Bugs Life

So Strong...........Toontown

Family Portrait with Mickey

Minnie's House!

Pluto (Allie spotted him while waiting in line - he was up in Chip and Dale's treehouse -good eyes!!)

Princess Jasmine

The picture they take of you on Splash Mountain.

Disneyland 2008!!

We're back! What a great trip! We were ready to roll Monday morning and still hadn't told the girls where we were going. We had two meetings to go to that morning so we decided to send Allie to school until we were done so we told her before she went. She looked at us stunned, then as it sunk in, she let a few tears go and was off to school terribly excited! Tasha? She was excited too but had no clue where she was going until we told her she was going to meet the Princesses. After that she was pumped, and so began the "Are we going? Are we there yet? When?". After a 4 hour drive and some shopping on the way we arrived at our hotel and spent the night, catching a 6am flight to LAX. The girls were great, bounding out of bed at 4am when we said "We are going to Disneyland!". They slept on the plane and in the shuttle van on the way to the hotel in Anaheim. We checked into the hotel at 9:30am, had a quick breakfast and was at Disneyland by 10:30. We spent the entire day going on every ride we could. We managed to do Fantasyland, Tomorrowland and Toontown and every ride there. We met Goofy, Pluto, Mickey and Alice (Alice in Wonderland) that day. The consensus was that the best ride of the day was the Mad Hatter Bobsleds, a rollercoaster ride that rips through a mountain in the dark so you never know which way your going to go.

Tasha met the height requirement of 40 inches so she could do pretty much everything with the exception of about 5 rides. We saw "Honey I shrunk the Audience" in 3D and then headed back to the hotel at about 5. Off to the pool, dinner and an early bedtime. Up early on the Wednesday and off to Disneyland to do Critter Country, Adventureland and Frontierland. We did all the rides and decided Pirates of the Caribean was our favorite. We met Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Eyeore, Princess Jasmine, and Minnie Mouse. Tasha was thrilled - she wanted to meet Minnie and Princess Belle. We weren't done checking things out though and headed for California Adventure to see what else lay ahead. We saw "A Bugs Life" in 3D and didn't do many of the kids rides as the girls deamed them as Lame and wanted to do the roller coasters with Dad. We managed most of the rides before we it was time for the Pixar parade which was EXCELLENT! Both girls said it was the highlight of their day. Off to Disneyland to watch the Disney Parade of Dreams and then to the hotel by8. Thursday morning was a "Magic"morning which meant as ticket holders we could enter the park one hour earlier than the general public. We took advantage of that and got there for 9am. First ride we did was Nemo's underwater submarine adventure. It was worth the 25 minute wait (That was a easy wait we found out as it climbed to 2 hours on Saturday . Yuck) It was quite the adventure. A few more rides then we booted over to California Adventure to have our Princess Lunch. I had booked this prior to going and was glad I did - it is a hot commodity! You can have breakfasts with different characters but because the girls love their Princesses, I decided this one was best. They met Ariel, Snow White, Jasmine, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty. No Belle to their disapointment but we did see her with the Beast on a float at the Parade. Each Princess was so sweet, talking to both Allie and Tasha, telling them about the dwarves, the Prince and so forth. It was very cool. All throughout Disneyland whenever anyone of the staff spoke to the girls they called them Princess. "Hold on a second Princess"etc. Very special. With lunch over, we went back for more rides, Jumping Jellyfish, a crazy ferris wheel and then Scott did the Screamer and the Tower of Terror. Allie got to do Mulholland Madness with dad and then we used the Parents switch card and she did it again with me. Our favorite ride of all though was "Condor Flats" also known as Soaring over California. You get strapped into chairs and are in front of a huge screen which moves and makes you feel as though you are flying. We did that ride twice as Allie loved it that much!

Friday we got to the park a little later and noticed immediatly it was much busier than it had been the previous three days. Longer line ups and just more people in general. We bailed out and went to the pool before going back at 6 for the electrical parade and the fireworks show. Those were incredible. Saturday was even busier than the Friday so we literally did one ride and went back to the hotel to spend the afternoon swimming before our 9pm flight.

All in all it was a great family vacation and I would do it again. Maybe when Tasha is about 10 and then to Walt Disney World to see Universal and Epcot.

I have 300 pictures but have only posted a few. Allie and I are off to Horse Camp this weekend with Scott and Tasha joining us on Sunday and heading to the coast. So, to all you Mother's out there and to my mother, HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!! I will post more when we are back!!!

A New Cousin!

2008-04-18T08:21:00.003-06:00

A big congratulations to Stella on the birth of her new baby sister Violet Warden Barsby! Violet was born April 16th at 10:30pm and weighed in at 8lbs, 11.6 ounces. Todd and Ginger are thrilled with their new addition! Allie and Tasha are patiently waiting until May when we can go and meet their new cousin!! Although Allie is realistic - "She's not going to do much mom, I think I'll play with Stella!" We'll see them soon!

It's almost time!!!

2008-04-16T14:26:00.003-06:00

After such a long winter, we decided the girls (and us!) needed to have some fun. And what better spot to do that than to go to Disneyland!! So, after researching some options I booked us out of Spokane for 4 nights and 5 days at Disney. THE GIRLS DON'T KNOW!! So if anyone calls in the next week, please don't spoil the surprise (or realistically, don't screw up because neither Scott nor I would be able to stand the Tasha count down. Are we going today? Now? Now? Now? Now?) So we have decided we will tell them the day before we go..................maybe. Both Scott and I are excited, I have never been to Disney but Scott has been once when he was fifteen (and was real pleasant about it according to his mom!) but he is as excited as I am and we are both looking forward to spending some fun time with the girls and to watch the magic of it all unfold before them.
We are becoming the travelling gypsies for the next while. After Disney we are home for 4 days then Allie and I are off to a Mother/Daughter Horse camp. We leave directly from there to go to the coast to spend some time down time at the cabin. So, there won't be any blogging until we get back and by then I will have a ton of pictures to show off!!!

Toby Creek Adventures Staff Day

2008-04-16T10:48:00.009-06:00

Scott set the tone for the day.........what tone was that you ask??? Fun. Not retarded.

The gang at Forester

Snow, Snow, Snow.....

Carving......what a view huh?

Hut on top of Thunderwater

This is what happens when you pull the rip cord in one of the avalanche vests we demo'd this winter. Only trick is how to get it to work again!

Cooking the crab and still wearing that hat...

THE SEASON IS DONE!!! I can't write any bigger than that or I would! YIPPEEEE! What a long winter this was, or at least that is what it felt like to me anyways! We officially closed for the season on Monday and on the 7th of April we had our staff party. A full day of sledding in Forester Creek followed by dinner and beer at our place. Usually we separate the days and the guys go sledding one day and the party is the next but we have caught on to something. If you take them sledding the same day and wear them out, they are much more managable in the evening! They still manage to drink the same amount but there are less games, less shooting of the potato gun and they seem content to sit around the campfire. We were lucky it was a beautifully mild evening and with the fire, we managed to stay outside until the wee hours of the morning, when they went inside to play fusball hockey and watch sledding videos. All in all a great way to end the season and give everyone a much needed break. Not that the sledding is over. Scott and some of the guys have headed to Whistler to our BC Commercial Snowmobile Operators Meetings and they took their sleds, hoping to ride the Pemberton Glacier, and watch the Big Dawg Shootout "The greatest Snowmobile Show on earth". The girls and I are at home. (For obvious reasons!)

2008 Champions

2008-04-09T14:03:00.003-06:00

And they did it again ! The 2008 Broomball Champions for the second year in a row is Team Green - Toby Creek Adventures!! It was actually a pretty boring game as we won 6-0 over Syndicate. Great goal tending by Robbie (Front left) and MVP for the year was Gord Fullerton (2nd row thrid from left)

Here is our Team

Back row Left to Right - Paintcan, Ganzewinkle, Rio, Mike, Me, Thomas, Doc and Kutch

2nd Row Left to Right - Darryl, Smitty, Gord, Dollack, CJ, Becca and Byron.

Can we do it again??

2008-03-29T12:29:00.006-07:00

Pre game warm up!

Waiting and cheering "Go Green!"

Tasha and Zack cheering us on!!

Allie, our Number 1 Fan!!

It's that time again! Broomball FINALS! Oh yes, we have been "Broomballing" since early January and this Monday night we are down to our last game. The last two weeks have been exciting, starting with the Quarter finals, we played Housekeeping. It also coincided with St. Patricks Day and although we knew they didn't have a chance, the housekeeping team didn't help matters by drinking excess amounts of green beer prior to playing. To those individuals who played in bare feet, we are still wondering "What were you thinking?". Needless to say, they gave it a fair shot but were no match for Toby Creek and we won that game 10 - 1. We stayed to watch the Ski Patrol game and were all in utter shock when Maintenance came out of no where and won that game 3 - 1. Anything can happen in playoffs.

Last week was the semi finals and we were playing the Lusti/Can Ski team. Where they find players over 6'2 I don't know but there were three of them. A good game but still Toby Creek won 6 - 0. Of course we had to stay to watch the next game to see if we would be playing Team Maintenance or Syndicate Boarders in the playoffs. It was close but with one minute left Syndicate scored. Finals are on Monday night and my little cheerleaders are primed, we play at 7pm on an icy snow covered court unlike last year's final when it was a bare court so this year will be interesting! I will be sure to keep you posted on the results and hopefully have a few more pictures!!

Enjoying the Sunshine

2008-03-15T08:27:00.008-07:00

Last weekend was a beautiful weekend so what better way to spend it than at the ski hill! Allie doesn't seem to get many pictures taken but I guess when you are at School and conquering the Ski hill every weekend, that is the way it is! However, she is out having fun so that is what counts! We are still working hard but the winter is coming to an end fairly soon, an estimate is about 3 weeks to go! We need to take advantage of all the winter activites before they come to an end. March break is here and Allie has two weeks off so I am sure we will get a few runs in and a bit of sledding!!

Tasha and Dad just getting off the lift
Enjoying some sunny weather - together!!

Allie - toboganning in the backyard

Tasha at Gymnastics

Beam work

The graduate!!

Winter

2008-02-29T09:26:00.013-07:00

Well, it has been forever since my last post as Dayna reminds - she checks every other day! So, finally I am home for 4 hours on a Friday morning before I am out the door to get Tasha to Gymnastics and pick Allie up from school! The winter has been a busy one for us. I am officially back to work at work, instead of being at home and the theory was 2 days a week but I am up to about 6 right now. Doesn't leave a whole lot of time for much else but Sundays are Ski days and we take fulladvantage of that this time of year as the days are warmer and the sun is in full swing. How can you not be outside! I am going to bypass Christmas for now but will skip back to January. The first part was a busy one with the WARI guys and the Avalanche stuff going on. They want to come back next year and we welcome them back with open arms. A great group of guys and of course the attraction for my staff is the bomb throwing! A few days after the WARI guys had departed we started to film another segment of the Motorhead Traveler. This is was our 5th show working with Kevin and he has become part of the kids lives and they look forward to seeing him on each return visit. This one was filmed at a local ranch "Firlands Ranch" where we shot a Gorment cooking segment and a Horse drawn sleigh ride. The ranch house itself was showcased as well as it is a beautiful log home! It was Allie's 7th birthday during Kevin's visit and he brought Webkinz for both the girls. Allie got the afternoon off school to shoot the Sleigh ride segment then it was birthday cake at the house and home to bed! Her party was a few days later and we took 7 little girls out for pizza and a movie - Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium. She had a great time and got plenty of crafty things to create with! She has become quite the little skier and has skied every single Sunday since the hill opened at the beginning of December. She has mastered all the green and blue runs and now is tackling the black and double black diamond runs. Incredible! This kid has gone places Scott and I haven't even gone yet!

I signed Tasha up for ski lessons in January with the idea that she would learn to ski on her own. The week before he lessons started we took her out for a trial run. Halfway down the run, holding on to Scott's pole she looked at him, threw the pole away and raced to the bottom of the hill, stopping and waiting for us at the bottom. Who needs lessons? Still, she did 5 weeks of lessons to ensure she would actually turn on command and is now quite a competent little skier, going up and down the lift on her own, tyring her hardest to beat her mom every time!

Last Saturday was Tasha's 4th birthday! We invited 11 of our friends (Allie's included) and had them meet us at Panorama at 6pm for pizza and cake. It was Winter Wonderland so the Bouncy Castle's went up and the kids were gone. They had a magic show to watch for 30 minutes halfway through the night and by 9 they were still going, not running full tilt but they played on those bouncy things until the power was cut and they were deflated! What an easy party for me!!

This weekend it will be more skiing for us and then March break will soon be upon us. The kids in our district get 2 weeks off. I will be working most of the first week but then as it is Spring Skiing, I think you can guess where we will be!!

Happy 4th Birthday Tasha!!
The birthday girl with her friend Trinda!

One of the Bouncy Castle's!!

Skking all on her own! She has mastered the pommell lift as well and goes up and down continuously!

All smiles before her skiing lesson!

A big Happy 7th birthday to Allie!!

The girls!! The cowboy hat was for the segment we were shooting, Allie opted to take hers off!!

A Horse drawn sleigh Ride with Kevin of the Motorhead Traveller!

Happy Birthday Allie! Posing with Tasha!

Tasha- learning to skate with mom!

Allie is part of the Panorama Mountain Freeride Club. Here they are at the Summit of Panorama. She is the fourth kid from the left. (Purple Helmet)

WARI Avalanche Research

2008-01-11T14:16:00.000-07:00

I know, I know . I need to post some Christmas pics and I promise I will. We have had a few busy weeks and there is no sign it is stopping!

For the past 5 days we have had the opportunity to be a part of the WARI Avalanche Research Team. What does that mean? That means my husband, our Avalanche forecasters and a team from California have been flying around the mountain throwing explosives out of Helicopters. You should see the grin on Scott's face! Check out their website and hopefully I will have some pictures to post!

"The WARI Institute is dedicated to saving lives by sponsoring avalanche education and research. The WARI Institute was founded in 2004 by John Weinel, Will Paden and Tom Waclo. WARI is a supporting sponsor of the Canadian Avalanche Centre"

http://www.warisite.com/

Basically what is happening is the Helicopter airlifts a "Mannequin" to the middle of a slope. This "Dummy" is fastened with a safety vest that houses an airbag which inflates in an avalanche situation and brings the person to the surface. We do a second pass in the chopper and throw out the AMEX, triggering a slide and wait to see what happens to our dummy. The results have been great, with each airbag inflating and the Dummies riding the slide on the surface. Although this is a great device and ensures you are brought to the surface, trust me, there is no guarantee that you won't hit trees, or have a 500 lb slap or other debris come down on you as you ride this thing down. The dummies are in mixed condition. Some have noticebly broken appendages and the latest has more internal damage than I have ever seen. So when playing in the backcountry......play safe!!

2007-12-20T20:43:00.000-07:00

Allie, in black turtleneck and Red skirt (3rd from left)

Here is Allie performing in her Christmas concert "Santa. You've got Mail". Natasha, Grandma and I went to the afternoon performance to watch while Dad and Grandpa went to the evening one. It was a great 1.5 hour show, the kids did such a fabulous job! Allie's class sang the song "All I want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth." Turns out a few of them need them! She was pretty proud and did a great job!! We got to stay home tomorrow night, then off to our Skating party Saturday and skiing on Sunday! Action packed as always!!

2007-12-19T21:29:00.000-07:00

Posing with Dad by the Christmas tree

Tasha and the hair piece she found in the toy chest.....

A special craft at the Preschool Christmas Party

A Picture with Someone special!!!

As we get closer to Christmas life seems to get even busier! There are parties to attend, special Christmas functions and oh yeah, work too. For some my Christmas cards may arrive late (I recently found a few in the truck) My apologies, better late than never right! The last week has been a busy one. Allison had her Baton Christmas party (where my flash didn't work), Grammie made a special visit for the weekend and spent a whole lotta time with the girls as mom worked, skiing on Sunday and then school and work. Tasha's Christmas party for preschool was tonight from 6:30 to 8 pm. They made special crafts, a gingerbread house and sang the parents a few Christmas songs. Very sweet. The teachers were also very brave and handed out bells and other musical instruments to the children. Natasha recieved a triangle and became very dramatic when the time came to ring it. ( I wish I could post the video footage - very funny) She took her job very seriously and seemed to experience pure joy attacking this triangle...... A visit from Santa was at the end of the night and after some photos we headed home. Allison's concert is tomorrow night so hopefully all will work and I will post a few more photos soon!!

December

2007-12-08T12:02:00.000-07:00

Tasha - the bowling expert (want to guess how long it takes the ball to actually reach the pins??)

How on earth did an entire month slip by without a post? I can't believe it but yup, there it is - Halloween. Pathetic. Sorry folks all I can say is it has been pretty crazy around here.

Here is a brief update of what's been happening. I wil post some pictures eventually (not that I have taken any recently!). November came and went with kids in school, baton and gymnastics. We managed to take a family holiday with Scott's parents in the middle of the month and went to the states to take advantage of the dollar. We stayed in Couer d'alene at the Holiday Inn Expres which was connected to the Raptor Reef, a huge indoor water park. The kids had such a great time. We shopped during the day then made it back to the hotel by 4 for 2 hours of waterpark fun, then out for dinner and back to the adjoining kids playground and arcade. They were exhausted by the time they hit the sheets! Allie has said she wants to go back for her birthday but I think we will wait until May when the sleds have been put away and we get some free time!!

Our sled shipment has kept us hopping, trucks arriving almost weekly with 6 or 8 machines. One more shipment to go and our fleet is complete. Once they are off the truck, they need to be uncrated and assembled which usually takes a bit of time. All our guys are back again for another year and staff training started on Monday of this week and we have had our bus back and forth from Banff, full everyday since Wednesday. We are in full swing. I am back in the office a few days a week and the occasional weekend to keep things rolling and to keep my mind in check with what's going on.

We had a terrific amount of snow on Sunday night - enough that is took 3 days for Scott and our staff to reach our alpine cabin. It was nuts!! Of course then it rained the next day so things got pretty slick. We are happy with the amount of snow though and are anxious to get a bit more soon so we have some powder to play in.

Panorama opened yesterday for the season so we made the trip up the hill after school to get our Season's passes and the girls rental boots and skiis. Of course Lusti of Lusit's rental shop is always too good to us and the girls got brand new equipment, right out of the box once again to use this year! Thanks Lusti!! Allie is pumped and ready to ski, she wanted to go as soon as she got them yesterday. Tasha put her boots on and wouldn't take them off (which slowed our progress of getting from one building to another in a timely fashion.)

This year, instead of the Nancy Greene program we have opted for the new Panorama Mountain Village Freeride Club. Allie is in the program tittled "Bumps and Jumps" which will suit her fine as she is all about the jumps in the terrain park. This program is about "All Mountain Skiing" and the safety of it. We were not ready at 6 to head in the racing direction so this was a good option (until we get to the flips and aerials!). She is looking forward to it and we are hoping it warms up beyond the -20 it was this morning. Tasha will be skiing with mom and dad for the first while until Mom can find a program or an instructor to take her for an hour once a week. She is keen to learn but it will have to be warmer for her to be out there for any extended period of time!

Other than that, we have been in work mode for the last 6 weeks, spending every waking moment getting ready for the season. Everyday including weekends. Tasha is getting very good at handing the right tools to Scott and our mechanic and Allie is using her computer skills and helping me in the office.

I think that is it for now, as it gets closer to Christmas I will be posting more - especially since I am up at the office more frequently and we have HIGH SPEED here!!!

Happy Halloween!!

2007-10-28T19:22:00.001-07:00

This was a mask my girlfriends husband had. There were 7 of us that tried it on and it made every one of us look completely different!! Fun! My real costume was Kermit the Frog - at least I didn't have to do my hair!!

Halloween Fun!!

2007-10-28T18:50:00.001-07:00

Ready to have some fun! Minnie Mouse and Sleeping Beauty!

Trick or Treat!!

I don't care who he says he works for.....

Trying one of the games

Posing with Dad after the " catch the doughnut on a string" contest

Tasha - posing with her pumpkin. She posed like this unprompted.......should we be worried?

Allie and her scary pumpkin!

The finished product

Halloween will soon be upon us and so far we have lucked out and have not had any snow fall on us yet!! Yippee! So yesterday we headed to Fort Steele, an old heritage town on the outskirts of Cranbrook to have a little Halloween fun. Every year the Fort Steele Historical Society puts on a huge Halloween Night called "Spooktacular!". For $10.00 per person, you get access to the town to see all the old buildings and all the animals as well as all the Halloween activities. The children are expected to wear their Halloween Costumes and bring their bags so they can trick or treat down the old wooden boardwalk. The girls had been looking forward to it all week and Tasha started at 7am asking if it was time to go. We had a few things to do in Cranbrook so for 2 hours we kept saying "after dinner, we are going after dinner". This was lost on her............... Anyways, after dinner in Cranbrook we made it to Fort Steele, pulled on some Costumes, some Winter Coats and headed in through the Pumpkin Gates and went straight to the Old Theatre where we saw a 20 minute play about Kids and candy. It was great with Allie and Tasha not only siting through it but were captivated as well, laughing and pointing at the characters as they interacted with the audience. Remember - we live in a pretty remote area - these kids don't see this very often! We were very impressed! Then we grabbed our Trick or Treat Bags and outside we went, down the old boardwalk to the Dentist's house, the Government house, the Doctors house etc. Each house handed out candy, some of it in bags as the kids plowed on with Mom and Dad following with our Tim Horton's Coffee and Hot Chocolate. Along the Trick or Treating route there were several stations to stop and play games, and a few houses were "Haunted". Tasha and Allie didn't even blink at the Little Kids Haunted House and we whizzed through it so fast I barely registered what was in there! Then we walked by the real Haunted House which Allison was adamant she wanted to go in. So, after making sure, Scott took her inside. She came out at the end, a few tears making their way down her cheeks and promptly said she was NOT DOING THAT EVER AGAIN. But after a brief explanation about High School Drama classes and kids pretending, all was well again and we carried on. The kids threw fake spiders into giant Dream Catchers, tried to eat a doughnut hanging by a string (Tasha did surprisingly well! Although she is such a sugar addict, it may not be as surprising after all!), tried their hand at some Slingshot work, ring toss and a few others. We were there for 2 hours and as it got dark, the bonfires in the street were lit and it took on a different feel entirely! Kids were done though so we packed it in before the fireworks, with the idea that we will go again next year but go a little later so we don't have so much time to wait for the fireworks!

Tasha has a Halloween party tomorrow and has changed costumes 4 times already so it will be interesting to see what we end up with (my guess is a Princess, not the Witch costume I just HAD to buy her) and Allie is not allowed to wear a Halloween costume to school so we bought a Halloween dress with witches and ghosts on it to celebrate the day until we get home and put on the costumes and head to town for the real Trick or Treating fest! Hope everyone has a Happy Halloween!

Fall

2007-10-19T09:03:00.000-06:00

The weather has changed and it is calling for snow today (Not quite sure how I feel about this - I think the proper word might be - YUCK) so we are all headed up to work to get as much done as we can before the white stuff hits the ground! It is noticebly colder so we are into the winter coats, mitts and hats. We knew the nice fall weather would end one day!! Since becoming an Arctic Cat dealer we are privy to a few more items than the average consumer. This year was the launching of Children's Battery operated jeep. Arctic Cat and Fisher Price teamed up and came up with a fun little adventure vehicle that the kids would be sure to love. Of course we have to try a few and ordered 4, with the idea that they could easily be used as promotional items. Well, as soon as Scott got one together he made the mistake of showing the girls. We are now down to three for promotions. Allie is a tad long for this fun mobile but still loves driving around nonetheless. Tasha does a great job and seems to find her joy in shifting from forward to reverse! At least they are having fun!!

The Mickey Ears were a gift from 22 of our friends who just got back from Disneyland. Our family and another one were the only two out of our group of friends who didn't go so they were kind enough to bring back a sounvenir for the girls! When Tasha is a bit older we will be making the journey to "The best place on earth" but until she reaches 46 inches - there is no point!! She needs to be able to get on the rides!!!

Tasha's First Day of Preschool

2007-10-02T15:29:00.001-06:00

Tasha's first Day of Preschool!!

September

2007-10-02T14:17:00.000-06:00

Maya and Tasha playing their favorite activity - Dress up

Jack on our ATV Tour

Happy Birthday Mom! A spa day at the Banff Springs!

A pose with their Auntie!!

Posing with Grammie

Celebrating my Birthday!

First Day of Grade One!

Where has the time gone? I can't believe the last post I did was in August. Sorry folks, been a busy month! We will begin at the end of August when some dear friends of mine made the journey to visit with us for 2 nights. We welcomed Jack, Nancy, Janice, Eric and Maya with open arms to our neck of the woods. The only one who hadn't been to see us before was Jack and I think he liked it! Jack and Nancy are from upstate New York and Janice, Eric and Maya are currently living in New York City so they were a long way from home! We did all the touristy things like go to the Radium Hot pools for a soak and went up the mountain for an ATV tour. It was a great visit and we hope they come back again soon!

Of course September meant the dreaded "First Day of School". In my house though the countdown had been on for weeks as Allie was looking forward to Grade One and Natasha was just looking forward to going to school (any school really - as she would tell people she was going into grade 3 - instead of saying 3 year old preschool!) So Allie started Grade One and is in Mrs. Gagatek's class. The teacher didn't seem to matter - the important thing was that their class has a Guniea Pig named Patches and the kids get to take it home during Christmas Vacation. Allie was smart enough to pipe up and tell the teacher that her family never goes anywhere for Christmas or spring break.....................fabulous. Tasha didn't start school until a few weeks after Allie which was a hard thing for her to understand. She fully expected to be going the same day Allie went and was pretty disapointed when we drove past her school and went home! But she is into the swing of things now on Monday and Thursday mornings, walking in the door and not looking back, her favorite thing to do is to paint. I now have enough paintings I may use some for wrapping paper! But they are both enjoying school and look forward to going each day so that is great.

Grammie came out for a visit at the beginning of September and overlapped by a day with the arrival of Auntie Dayna and Uncle Mark. Dayna and I took Mom to the Banff Springs hotel for a night and a day at thje spa for her birthday. We had a fabulous time and would love to be able to do it all the time! Or at least once a year! Dayna and Mark stayed for a week and while Mark went on a backcountry hunting trip with Scott, Dayna and I went horseback riding and took a glass beadmaking course! It was great!

We have had numerous projects going on throughout the summer. The first one is the 50 X 50 foot shop Scott had built. The truss's were bought at an auction last year and we had the lumber cut from some of the trees on our property. I call it "The Airplane Hanger" but really, you could fit one in there no problem. Scott likes it and has managed to fit the boat , the camper and the tractor in it with plenty of room left. I will post some pics of it soon!

Funny, when I write it all down, it doesn't sound like we have been that busy but with after school work, and Snowmobile season looming around the corner, we have been hard at work getting things ready. I will be better at posting so keep checking and we hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!!

Loop the lake

2007-08-19T13:16:00.000-06:00

Every year the Rotary Club in Invermere puts on a run called "Loop the Lake". There is a 10 K run, a 1/2 Marathon and a Full Marathon around Lake Windermere. For some reason I decided I really wanted to participate in the 10Km run for fun. So, my girlfriends Michelle and Larissa decided along with me we would try it. I was pumped, the only thing making me wonder was the listing on the website for the 10 K run stating "Not your typical course - not for your personal best". What the heck, you never know until you try. Lucky for us the weather was cool (+5 at 7 am) so it was perfect running weather. I made it in 1 hour and 12 minutes. Not bad for someone who runs occasionally and did nothing to prepare for this event. My goal was to come in under 1 hour and 15 so I achieved that and can't wait till next year to see if I can beat my time. Maybe I'll train a bit more too. I wouldn't mind trying a 10K race somewhere outside of the mountains where it is flat - that would be a novelty!!

Paradise

2007-08-10T16:19:00.000-06:00

On the ridge at Paradise

Tasha and her pink helmet

Cute!

Th meadow at Paradise

Last weekend we had a friend of Scott's visit us from Australia with his wife. We took the kids and the quads and went up to the ridge at Paradise. Tremendous views, good company and some great photos made for a great evening!

Summer Fun!

2007-08-10T16:02:00.000-06:00

Allie in the "Fun Zone"
Allie on the climbing wall (I'll try to turn it later!)

Tasha - all grins

The girls waiting to go down the bouncy slide!

It's been awhile since my last post. The weather has been hot and sunny and the girls and I have taken advantage of living close to pools and lakes! Getting a few projects done around the house are also in the works, keeping us outdoors and busy. We hope everyone is enjoying their summer, as we continue to enjoy ours!!

Lake Koocanusa

2007-07-20T10:20:00.000-06:00

This was a perfect spot to ride bikes and it didn't take Tasha long to have it all figured out!

Allie learning to waterski - we need to work on the standing up part but she was keen to do it! No fear!!

Tasha taking a turn at the whale

Have you ever seen him more relaxed???

Allie and Cam riding "Shampoo"

Tasha and the fish she caught - a proud moment!

Allie - enjoying the swimming!

Sunday afternoon we pulled out with the truck and camper to Lake Koocanusa to do a bit of camping with the Brush family. They are a family with 4 boys ranging in age from 19 down to 6. Allie and Cameron were in the same class this year at school and for the past 3 years we have always said "We should go camping together" and never got around to it until this year! Koocanusa Lake is 180 km from our house towards Cranbrook and it extends into Montana. Scott and I have houseboated on this lake years ago and were anxious to go back to check it out. Brad and Nancy headed out with 3 of the boys on Saturday to get a spot at Kikoman Creek Provincial Park and scored a site right on the lake. It was great! The weather was hot so we spent most of our time in the water. The Brush's had brought their boat so we spent one day out at a sandy island and watching the kids wakeboard and try waterskiing. We swam, relaxed, fished and had a great time!

We came home Wednesday night to a wild rain/hail/thunderstorm and were happy we did as we watched trees fall all around the house! We are looking forward to next year already - although Nancy and I may take off with the kids ourselves when the weather gets hot again!!

Canada Day

2007-07-03T23:32:00.001-06:00

Waiting patiently!
"House of the Friesians "

The Roman Princesses

Allie!

The Roman Gladiator

He loves anything that has to do with a costume!!

On Sunday July 1st, Invermere had their Canada Day Parade. Scott was asked by our neighbours to help out in the Stampede Parade this year and they used Invermere as the practice parade. Scott's only condition was that he get to wear a cool costume. I think this one qualifies!! Allie of course wanted to help out as well so she became part of the Roman Princesses crew. She did a great job walking down main street throwing candy. Scott of course had a great time - although he was heckled about his "Skirt" from quite a few friends! So, if any of you have a desire to sit down in front of the TV on Friday to watch the Stampede Parade, you might get a glimpse of Allie and Scott as they walk with the Fresians. Wish Alli luck - the parade route is quite long but she says she wants to do it!!

I won't be there to see it though as I leave for Surfing on Thursday but hopefully I will get some pictures from the neighbours!

Mutton Bustin'

2007-06-28T13:12:00.000-06:00

Getting ready to ride! (we had been at a birthday party so their faces were decorated)

Loaded.................

.............and she's off!!!

Proud little Mutton Buster!!

Friday night was the annual Bull Busting in the Rockies event. This is a travelling rodeo that pulls into Invermere once a year and sets up in the local arena. There is a dinner, bull riding, a silent and live auction and Mutton Busting. What is Mutton Busting?? This is a kids only sport where anyone above the age of 6 can register, pay a fee and ride a sheep. The longest rider of course wins. Allie went to Bull Busting last year and got to see our neighbour Ster do some Mutton Busting and this year she was determined that she too was going to enter to "get a trophy". So, Friday night at 7pm I watched Allie - first rider out- climb aboard a sheep and ride it for about 4 seconds before landing in the dirt. She did great and came off with a big smile. Thankfully her sheep was calm (not all of them were!) and simply ran straight ahead. She got a ribbon for her efforts and spent the rest of the night running around the arena with her friends having a great time. Would she do it again?? She says she will so we will have to wait and see!!

Family Fun Day!

2007-06-28T13:04:00.001-06:00

Last Thursday was Family Fun day at Allie's school. This was a celebration of David Thompson who (it is said) was the first to discover the Columbia Valley. This was a fun event for all the kids and a lot of work for the teachers. Tasha participated in a sand moving competition and above Allie waits for the Zip line. This was the most popular even by far - as there was a fairly lengthy lineup! We stayed for Hot lunch and we were done. Allie's last day of Kindergarden is Thursday June 28th. We look forward to being back at the school next year!

Las Vegas!!

2007-06-26T22:20:00.000-06:00

Las Vegas! This seems to be the travel year for Scott and I. We have never travelled so much together in such a short period of time! Since we are now an Arctic Cat dealership - we are essentially Arctic Cat dealers which means twice a year we are expected to go to "Dealer" Meetings. What a hardship that this year's ATV dealer meeting was in Vegas! It wasn't a hard decision to go as the trip was basically paid for! So we left June 11 out of Spokane - our passports arrived on the 18th but we had booked out of the US incase that happened! - and arrived in Vegas at 8pm Monday niht. It wa a bit of a culture shock as we got off the plane and got off in what seemed to be a Casino in the airport. Nonetheless we carried on, got our luggage and caught a cab to our hotel "The Rio All Suites Hotel". We were put up in a huge suite in a massive hotel (big enough that we didn't know there was another section until Wednesday!). We quickly unpacked and headed to the lobby - aka Casino - for some gambling. That lasted about 20 minutes when we were down$100 . We are not good gamblers which is a good thing for us. We had a bite to eat and headed for bed. Tuesday we were up and walking the stip for most of the day. Got halfway down - saw Treasure Island - a Pirate Themed hotel - right up Scott's alley! And shopped a little. Saw the Belagio Fountains and a show in Cesears Palace and then it was time to go back to the hotel to get ready for the Welcome Reception for Arctic Cat. Some drinks, a nice dinner and the unveiling of a 1000cc Thundercat ATV (Who needs a 1000cc ATV??). More gambling and people watching and another day was done! Wednesday were meetings for most, a few hours by the pool and then dinner with one of my oldest friends Dean Irvine. Dean and I went to Kindergarden together and have stayed in touch. He and his wife Kati live in Vegas as she manages a Crique de Soliel show - Love. They picked us up at the hotel and drove us to "Old Las Vegas" or basically Freemont Street. It was great! What a wild place. We had a great dinner and walked that portion of Vegas before they dropped us off in front of Treasure Island for the Pirate show. Thursday morning was early as Scott had booked us on a Sand Dune Buggy Ride. Of course I get on the bus filled with men and I can see them roll their eyes. Great - a woman. 5 minutes into the ride myself and Scott were the only ones not stuck. They weren't rolling their eyes anymore! We had fun burning around in the dunes (I found it similar to sledding which likely helped my driving skills!). Back to the hotel and Scott chose to sit around the pool while I went to an outlet mall and shopped for a few hours. Back for the farewell dinner and a private concert by "Emerson Drive" (Canadian Country band - very good) and drinks for a few hours in the bar with the other BC dealers. It was short and sweet. Only saw half of the strip so that means we need to go back one day!
Of course when we got home I went to down load the pictures but since we had taken a different camera somehow they got erased when I tried to down load them. Or at least I think they are erased. If I manage to find them I will post them!

Aspengrove Equestrian Camp

2007-06-17T16:28:00.000-06:00

Our cozy cabin!
View from the upper ring

Me and Carly

Jumping a fence

Horse camp! That's where I was last weekend. My girlfriend and neighbour Teena and I set off Friday morning for Vernon BC (a pretty 5 hour drive). We had decided in the winter to do a girls weekend and since we both are into Horses, this seemed to be an obvious choice! We weren't disappointed either. We checked in at 5 and were greeted by 3 overly friendly labs and their owners. Aspengrove is a summer camp for horse crazy kids and they supplement throughout the year by doing adult camps. Another good reason to go was to check it out for in case Allie ever wanted to go to Horse Camp. I can say I was very impressed. We shared a great little cabin that had not only electricity but heat! A novelty for us Mountain women who are used to basics in cabins. There were 9 of us signed up for the Women's only weekend. However we did have one man in our group. Rick, a naval officer was taking the place of his wife who had been deployed to Afghanistan a few months previously. He was a great guy and extremely interesting to talk to so he had no problem fitting in with the girls. Dinner was all homemade and very plentiful and the drinks flowed the first night as we were assigned our mounts for the weekend. I was assigned to Carly, a 15 hh grey Thoroughbred cross. She was new to the Camp so I was test driving her for 2 days. Saturday we were scheduled to ride at 10 and at 2. The lessons went great with us doing some jumps by the afternoon, and starting to feel those muscles that hadn't been worked in quite some time! Saturday night was dinner and more drinks and some Karaoke fun before we fell into bed, ready to do it all over again on Sunday. Teena, Rick and I were all in the same lesson group and had a great time, jumping full courses by our 3rd lesson. Teena had never ridden English before and did superbly, and is now hooked! It was a fab weekend full of activity and a great crowd, we will go back next year for sure!!

Pachena Bay

2007-06-06T15:02:00.000-06:00

What can I say about this picture?????

Pachena Bay

Allie - always finding creatures. She wanted to bring this starfish home but we left it for the sea

Tasha - playing on the beach

Arts and Crafts - painting their Pirate Masks

The tale of the "Lost Mermaids Treasure"

The Gang! Lochlan, Allie, Hannah, Tasha, Sydney and MacKenzie

An overnight to see Scott's brother Todd, sister in law Ginger and niece Stella! The girls had a great time! Can't wait for July!!

It's been too long since my last post. We are having a few computer clitches which is the main reason for my lateness. That and we have been pretty busy enjoying the nice weather! The week after Scott and I returned from Mexico we were off again to the West Coast. This seems to be an annual trip we have made to Vancouver Island each May Long weekend to camp with the "Burly Westcoasters" AKA Scott's (And now mine) friends from High School. Last year marked the first long weekend we didn't camp - going to our cabin instead. But this year we were back into the routine. It is a nice way to see everyone at once and the kids have a blast! We hardly see them!!

We left Invermere on Wednesday afternoon listening to the radio with high hopes the trans canada was re opened. It had been closed because of mud slides but had re opened and then closed and reopened again. We hoped we were going to catch the opened part. Luckily enough we did! We drove to Hope and found a campsite, spent the night and caught the 10:30 am ferry to the island. We did some running around and made to Clint and Kari's in time for the Grey's Anatomy season finale!! An over night here and Friday morning we headed to Bamfield for Pachena Bay. Every year on May long weekend it rains. Never fails. The weather reports were calling for "Heavy Rain warnings" for the west coast. At least we knew what we were in for! In the past we have always gone to Port Renfrew - an Native Reservation not far from Victoria. We like it there but decided this year to try something new. Pachena Bay is still a native run campground but they are far better organized with their sites, outhouses, showers, water and we were somewhat more sheltered than at Renfrew. This is important when there are HEAVY RAIN Warnings in effect! Each campsite still had a pathway to the beach we just weren't camped directly on the beach.

The kids had a great time playing on the beach. We had enough beach toys (thanks Paula!) to start our own store and the kids utilized them to the fullest. They ran up and down the beach digging for Gooey Ducks and shells, played in the ocean and at one point went swimming. We, as parents learned we will never take enough clothes with us and when camping by the ocean - the kids will always be wet. There were a lot of wet clothes hanging by the fire!!

There were some very cool tidal pools up the beach that Scott and the kids explored during the day which led a story about Mermaid's treasure. Scott sat the kids down and donned his Pirate's hat to tell the "Story of the Lost Mermaid Treasure". Truthfully he had the Pirates hat on all weekend - not just for the story. The kids listened to the tale patiently , then out came the Metal Detector and off they went to search. After quite a bit of digging (those darn chests are always buried so deep!) they hauled out the chest and opened it to find Gold Chocolate coins, jewelry and money. It was great!! But with 6 little heads and hands trying to grab things out of the chest I didn't get a whole lot of pictures!! Anyways, they had fun! We always have a great time with the friends we get to see and rain or shine there are always memorable stories to tell. This weekend was no exception!! To the Burly Westcoaster - we thank you for the camping trip even the weather was good and I promise to get the photos off for you guys soon!!!

Mexico!!

2007-05-11T14:20:00.000-06:00

Bus ride to the resort! Beer on board!!

Our Mexican dinner

Scott - lounging!

The Coba Ruins

On top!

A Mayan Home

Repelling

Zip Line!!

The opening to the underground river system called a "Cenote"

Swimming In the Cenote

Lobby of the Bahia Principe Coba

Xel - Ha - a big park - great for Snorkeling!

We're back! We had a great time in Sunny Hot Mexico but we have to admit - it is nice to be home! Apparently we didn't miss much for weather - it rained the entire time we were gone! We flew out of Calgary at 5:30am - Scott and I checked in an hour and a half before our flight so we didn't get seats together but at opposite ends in the same row. Didn't bother me - I slept for most of the trip and Scott read his book. We landed in Cancun around noon their time and found our Sunquest bus. The bus ride would take almost 2 hours as we dropped people off at other resorts. We didn't mind though as you got to drink "Cervesa" on the way! We got to the hotel and checked in to our Club Diamond room which was exactly like every other room - but we had a decent view of the ocean and pool. Quickly donned our beach clothes and headed for the pool bar. Grabbed a few drinks and walked down the beach to the Hammock section and hung out. That was pretty much our first afternoon. We had decided that Monday would be our beach day and we would decide what else to do after that. Monday was spent at the beach, the pool and the bar. We did what would be expected and got slightly burnt on day one so we were ready for an adventure the next day!

Tuesday we had decided to visit the Coba Ruins. It was only an hour away and it was the tallest Ruins in the Mayan that you can still climb. So, we did the Adventure package which was the trip to the ruins, lunch in a Mayan Village, Repelling, Zip lines and swimming in a Cenote (Mexico's underground river system 150 Km of rivers and cenotes). The whole thing was very cool and it was a full day adventure - we got back to the resort at 5 pm. Wednesday we decided to go to Playa Del Carmen for the morning to check out the shopping. One thing that surprised us was how "American" everything was right down to the Walmart in PLaya Del Carmen. Nonethless we picked up a few things and spent the afternoon on the beach again! Thursday brought us to a Snorkeling adventure in a small Zodiak boat which took us zipping down the coast line to a few different snorkeling spots. The highlight for us was Snorkeling with Sea Turtles. Very cool. We got some great pictures with our underwater camera! We were back at the resort in time for a siesta and some drinks around the pool - waiting for the Mexican Show at 9pm. However by the time 9pm came we discovered we each had a little bit of sun stroke so we watched a little and went to bed. Friday we headed to Xel- Ha which is a large park - great for Snorkeling, swimming with the dolphins and lazing on inner tubes down the "Lazy River". A relaxing day spent in and out of the water. Then is was Saturday and our departure day! We hung out at the pool and boarded our bus for Cancun at 2:30pm. The flight home was a little turbulent as we flew over Kansas (tornadoes) but we arrived back in Calgary safe and sound. We made it home Sunday afternoon and the girls were happy to see us and their new Mexican dresses!!

2007-04-26T17:10:00.000-06:00

Hola!! It's that time!! The season is done and Scott and I are off on a vacation! ALONE!! It is hard to believe we are leaving the girls behinde (well realistically Scott is having a harder time with it than I am ) but we are! They are staying mostly with Scott's Mom, Daycare and my girlfriend Kriss for the week. Scott and I are off to the Mayan Riviera in Mexico. We've never been so this will be an adventure for us both! 6 nights all inclusive at the Bahia Principe Tulum. We are really looking forward to it! www.bahia-principe.com

The last few weeks have seen an end to our season, the take down of fencing etc, a very long and memorable staff party and now the maintenace and moving of machines. A few guys have stayed on and a few have moved on. All in all it was a good season with lots of snow, so we are pleased. The girls are seeing a bit more of their dad with much more to come in May when we head for the coast.

Well, this entry is brief - I am in the midst of packing and cleaning before we head out on Saturday - look for some sunny pictures when we get back!! Adios!

Mix of seasons.........

2007-04-09T21:23:00.000-06:00

We had some crazy weather this past week. It was 19 degrees last Saturday and on Sunday we had a foot of snow! Very bizarre. So, on Friday when it was starting to get warm again, Tasha decided to play outside. Bathing suit and winter boots, interesting choice but since there was still snow - likely a wise one!

Latest Toy........

2007-04-09T21:19:00.000-06:00

...........didn't know about this one! That is not some crazed maniac sitting on my lawn on a dirtbike (well, depending on the day really...) that would be Scott a top his latest toy. An 1984 Honda dirtbike he insists will be a great fuel saving investment. He has a point - it does cost more to fire up a crew cab but he seems to ride this thing ALL OVER so we will see how much time and money is saved!!! Quite the look huh - GQ check him out!

Happy Easter!

2007-04-09T21:14:00.000-06:00

The Easter bunny came Sunday morning but we had to get up and remind the girls that he had been there!!
Score!! She found it!!

Egg Decorating

2007-04-09T21:01:00.000-06:00

SOOOO Excited!

Suited up and ready to dye!

The Final Product!

The Champions!!

2007-04-05T16:40:00.000-06:00

Heli Fondue

2007-04-01T09:47:00.000-06:00

Co Pilot - RIGHT ON!!!

One of our many views while flying over Paradise

Next stop - Summit Hut on top of Panorama

We made it!

Myself, Nancy, Larissa and Michelle at the Summit

Posing for the camera!

Our fondue dinner

Enjoying our drinks outside on the deck

Saturday night was another first or me! A few weeks ago a group of us decided we needed to do something fun or the end of the ski season. The Heli Fondue was brouht up and quickly booked! The Heli Fondue is a program through RK Heliski and Panorama. You get a helicopter ride to the Summit of Panorama, stay for a fondue dinner and then fly back down. Very cool. Lucky for us, my friend Judy, who works for RK, put it all together. That meant special perks for those who knew her! We met at the plex to sign our waivers and go over the machine with our pilot Duncan. Having never been in a Helicopter before it was interesting to learn how to just "Pop" out the window in the event of a crash! We were flying in the a-star which can hold 14 people, I was the lucky one who got to be Duncans co-pilot (Thanks Judy!!). We buckled in and started the machine. Duncan was great, learning that Scott and I owned Toby Creek, it was only natural that we tour Paradise. So, up we went to Paradise. I have been on our trails more times than I can count but to see it from a "Birds eye view" gave me a totally different perspective. It was amazing! We buzzed up to the top actually landing on the ridge, then we headed one drainage over to Mt. Nelson where Duncan did a little "Fun Flying" taking us between a very narrow mountain top and dropping over the otherside. Incredible! We then flew up to the Summit, taking in the ski hill scenery and doing a fly by of the Summit Hut twice so our friends who were working could get some pictures. We landed and went in for dinner and drinks. The fondue was great, the atmosphere was stunning and we had a great time! After about 1.5 hours it was time to get back in the Helicopter for another ride. Larissa got to be co pilot this time as Duncan took us on an extra tour of Tayton Bowl so Jusy, Michelle and I could see exactly where we will be skiing on Monday! Landing on the ridge of Tayton for a minute, Duncan lifted off and took us on a ride that would equal something at Canada's Wonderland! It was phenomenal!! We landed at the plex a few hours after we had left but the experience will stay with us forever!!! A very cool way to spend a Saturday night.

Broomball - Panorama style!!

2007-03-28T15:07:00.000-07:00

Panorama is not only a ski hill in the winter but for all our staff and the staff that work there it is BROOMBALL season. What is broomball? Like Hockey - only not on ice (Although played on a snow covered tennis court which equals ice in the spring), we use brooms (not actual brooms but similar - they hurt when they hit you), and we wear winter boots. Toby Creek Adventures has had a team for 3 years and I used to play when I first moved out here on the housekeeping team. Our team consists of mainly the guides, groomers, mechanic, 4 girls (me included) and some of the Panorama Security team as they moonlight for us as well. We have close to 15 people who play regularly and a few drop ins . Ryan, our camera man from sled sense was a drop in player and we also allowed a few of the Russian Sledders to play (Ryan was much better). The games last an hour, with a quick half time where we switch ends.
Broomball is a very serious thing in this small mountain community. It is considered a league (but realistically it is a beer league) with approximately 10 teams (Ski Patrol, Food and Beverage, Housekeeping, Toby Creek Adventures, the Dream Team, Ski School, Lifties, Maintenance, Lustis and one more which totally escapes me right now!) For the past 2 years we have been in the finals against the same team (Dream Team) and this year we were determined to beat them!! The funny thing about the Dream Team is that they are comprised mainly from other teams who got tired of losing. One of our guides - Woody - joined that team long before we started ours and Byron's wife (one of our long term guides) plays for them as well. (They claim they are divorced on Mondays). Every Monday we would gather at the office to wait to play Broomball, then from 6 to 9, we would play for an hour at Panorama on the tennis court. We played in Snow, -28 degree weather (no spectators that night), rain and once in almost total darkness when the lights didn't work. But our last game of the season was Monday night. It was sunny, warm and on a completely bare court. Broomball, when played on snow and ice is a slightly slower sport - you are trying to stay up right and not break anything. So, Monday's game was COMPLETELY different. In a word - it was fast. Much faster than we were all used to which really showed as we all puffed away on the bench after sprinting for a few minutes. I am happy to report though that other than one bleeding knuckle (told you to wear gloves Smitty), some bruising of the shins (those sticks HURT), our team went relatively uninjured.
Last year, I promised the guys that if they went to the finals, I would get them matching Jersey's to wear for Broomball. So, although we didn't win last year, I got Arctic Cat jerseys for most of our team for this year. And I must say they were our good luck charm (or we have a much better strqategy than last year) We went all season UNDEFEATED!!!! Check out this website for the highlights and I will post some pictures of our team as soon as I can get some!!
http://www.highvibe.ca/HighVibe/Broomball%202007.html
You won't know what happened to the undefeated team unless you watch! There is a quick glance of Tash in her pink jacket at the beginning and a quick one of Allie half way through. Our top scorer was Dave one of our guides and our fabulous Goalie was Rob - our groomer. I am on the reel but things are going so fast that I couldn't tell you where I am even if I wanted to! Stay tuned for the group photo, I am waiting for it from the photographer!!!

2007-03-16T15:40:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was the last day for Allie's Nancy Greene program. All in all it was a good program with a few learning curves for the organizers to work out for next year! Allie enjoyed skiing and progressed to the the point Scott and I have to really ski hard to keep up to her! Natasha is on the slopes as well, we are off the bunny hill now and on the next hill up making our "Pizza's" and "French fries". She is truly enjoying herself, especially with the nice warm weather we have been having.

Dogsledding Photos!

2007-03-16T15:28:00.000-07:00

Allie asked me to include this photo as her "Favorite" dog Violet is in the picture. She is the 2nd one on the left and has the most intense blue eyes and is cross eyed! A real sweetie though and has captured Allie's heart!

Allie and I - ready to roll with Chris mushing for us!! Scott got to Mush as well and did quite well mushing 10 dogs! Quite the power!!

Stopping for a break at the end of the line! This is the Delphine Glacier! The thing about dogsledding is that you don't want to stop for long. The dogs start barking and jumping around - they want to run, not wait for pictures!!

Allie, holding on to the sled - wanting to mush but we need a few years yet!!