Belated Christmas Wishes

Merry Christmas! We know it's a little late, but wanted to extend warm wishes to you all over the Christmas Season. All the best in 09. Life's about to change drastically for us... I'll post some photos of our family's time in Canmore soon.

We had some issues with the tree this year. Glad we had Jay and Sharon to help us out. Thanks guys.

31 weeks and counting...

Kip took some pics this morning. It is amazing how much bigger I look in the pictures than in the mirror!

Pre-season Soup

After a seemingly endless November, finally got to make some quality turns. As the Rockes are totally dry, we made the trip to Roger's Pass for some pre-season goodness. Had big dreams of big lines that were squashed by poor visibility. Despite skiing in soup, we were able to get some great turns on Bruins ridge and ended the day with a long descent of 8812 Bowl. Murray likened our disorienting experience in the alpine to a demented 80-year old attempting to make a sandwich. Kinda felt like that... Here's a brief vid. Sorry Peters, youtube chooses the still shot to go along with the video - I guess it liked your style!

Nursery and Belly

Recent shot of a 27 week belly. I may be a little bias, but she looks amazing!

While Heady was away, I got the nursery painted.

November Desperation

A few photos of desperate attempts to enjoy the Rockies during winter transition.

Janny wishing for a little more snow.

Even rock skis wouldn't cut it.

The Kiwis thought Sunshine might have a little more snow. The 10 turns were worth the hike.

Seems a little odd to sand the uptrack? Not quite the remoteness that we're used to...

Return to the Coast

Heady and I decided that a vacation would be the perfect cure for transition season. Hadn't been back to Van or the island in a really long time and we had some people that we really wanted to see while we're still mobile.

It was fantastic to see everyone, we miss you guys a lot. Matt pulled the best suprise - Phish cover band on Sat night. It was definitely a suitable replacement for Virginia. Thanks for the hospitality!

After a great time in Van, we took the long journey west to Tofino for some R&R. Stayed a few nights at Middle Beach Lodge. Pretty awesome spot.

We knew the sun wouldn't last and took full advantage. The paddling in Clayoquot sound is definitely all that it's hyped up to be.

The belly fit no problems!

A beautiful end to the day on Chesterman's beach.

Despite a turn in the weather, we still found places to explore. The coastline in Ucluelet was a far cry from the beaches in Tofino.

Heady had been talking about crab since we started planning the trip. We ate a stupid amount!

The remains...

A local photographer gave us the scoop on where the bears were hanging out. We found a whole bunch of them feasting on salmon near the hatchery. They got way too close for comfort!




Nope, certainly doesn't look like Cowtown. The brown was just a distant memory!

Return to the Coast II

I'm always amazed at how lush the coastal forest is.

The closest thing that we had to a storm!

Chesterman's Beach at low tide.

Long beach.

We must have walked the entire length of Long Beach in search of tidal pools. This was as close as we got.

A look back along Long beach.

We ended up going back to see the bears on 3 separate occasions and spent hours watching them fish. Not as easy as it would seem.

This guys was unsuccessful after hours of trying for a fish. Doesn't really look like he's starving though.

These bears made the Rockies bears look tiny! Good thing they're well fed and not looking for a bigger snack!

21 1/2 weeks.

Here's a pic to show off the belly to those of you who don't live in Calgary!

Healy Pass

I think this is one of my favorite times in the rockies. The larches were in full effect for the hike to Healy Pass for Heady, Sharon and myself.


We took the shuttle from sunshine village and were greeting with quite a treat!

A little chilly in the morning, but Heather didn't notice because the light was so good.

No fragile grasses were harmed in the making of this photo.

A kilometer for every week -impressive!

From the pass. Great spot for lunch.


Sharon just tripped!

The new camera is doing some great stuff with colours. Thanks for the tips Al!

Decending back into the village after an amazing day!

19 weeks and counting...

Had our 19 week ultrasound yesterday. Brain's getting bigger!

Big feet.

A little creepy but nice to see 5 digits on each hand. Couldn't believe we could see eyes too!

Iceline

Armed with a new camera and a new baby bump, Heady and I got to hike Iceline with Mark and Carmen. The hike lived up to it's reputation.

We spent the night at Takakkaw Falls in efforts to get an early start on Saturday morning... Failure.

Crack of 11 o'clock start.



After gaining all our elevation, the alpine opened up into this!

The entire hike is on glacial reminants.

Elkie at 19 wks!

Short side trip for a photo.

Little tarn along the way.

From the highpoint of the hike.

It was great to have Carmen along to educate us on all the rocks.

On the way back.

We stopped at Vermillion Lakes in Banff. Pulled up and Heady snapped this shot just as the sun came out from the clouds. The photographer next to her waited 3 hrs for the shot!