Candy and Jim's Great Canadian Adventure: January 2013

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Skiing Norquay

A couple of weeks ago, Jim and I met Deb and Les on the Norquay mountain, outside of Banff, for some afternoon skiing. The weather was beautiful and warm, but the conditions on the mountain were icy. The lift lines were fairly short for a weekend....if you chose the right chair. Right after lunch, we got in a line that had several ski schools attempting to load about a thousand kids (exaggeration) all at once. Of course, they had to stop about every third chair due to some poor kid falling off. After about ten minutes of that we decided to find a different lift. One of the more interesting things we saw was a guy promoting an online dating service who was dressed up like Cupid. It was warm, but not warm enough for that kind of exposure! Jim asked him how long he had been out on the mountain dressed like that and the guy said, "Long enough to tighten up my nipples!"

Jim had some spectacular falls that should be in the annals of Wide World of Sport's "The Thrill of Victory and the Agony of Defeat"! Possibly the best one of the day was when he lost a ski mid-mountain, tumbled downhill head over hills, and finally landed in the the orange ski netting at the bottom of the run. Man I wish I had seen that one! Unfortunately I only saw it after he had started climbing back uphill to retrieve his ski, but I knew it must have been a good one when I heard the ski lift operator remark to another operator, "Dude! Did you see that guy's fall? It was awesome!"

At the end of the day, we enjoyed a much deserved, delicious dinner at the Maple Leaf in Banff. I think Les is still wondering how his four oz. elk steak cost him $62!!??

Thanks, Deb and Les, for introducing us to Norquay!

Les, making it look easy!

Ski Lodge at Norquay

Ski bums

Candy, Les and Deb

The hill where Jim took his spectacular fall.

View from a run on Norquay

Me and Cupid (notice the bow and ski pole arrow)

Deb looking fantastic and me

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Look Who's 30!

We celebrated Casey's milestone birthday on January 11! I can't believe I have a child that is thirty! If she's thirty, how old does that make me? Well.......of course, twenty-nine! :)

The evening of Casey's birthday, Jim and I met her and Anthony at Cottonwood, a new place on Shepard, for happy hour where she got a shocking surprise from Ryan and Cindy. Since Ryan and Cindy were in Hawaii for their honeymoon and couldn't join us to celebrate, they opted for the next best thing, a singing telegram! Jim and I already knew about it, so we played along. I put on my best "shocked and worried" face and wondered aloud, "Should we call the manager?" The pretext was: a "bag lady" comes into the bar and recognizes Casey as someone she used to work with at Panalpina before she got fired and became homeless. And Casey is the reason she was fired! Casey knew something was up when the woman started asking her about the soccer team she had played on in high school and various other things that she should not have know. Casey took it good-naturedly and wasn't too mad after everyone sang Happy Birthday to her. (Ryan and Cindy, you really got her!)

After HH, we went to Brenner's on the Bayou. What a treat! The food was delicious and the gardens are beautiful. We had a wonderful time. Happy Birthday, mi hija!

Casey and the "bag lady"

Casey got a well needed laptop for her birthday!

Good lookin' couple

Birthday cake at Brenner's

Outside in the gardens

My little girl!

Friday, January 18, 2013

Ryan and Cindy Tie the Knot!

Ryan and Cindy were married on January 5, 2013 in a dream wedding that was preceded by parties and events from September to January. Cindy's Bridal Shower was in September given by Lisa and Casey. Unfortunately I was unable to attend (boo-hoo). Both Ryan and Cindy had bachelor and bachelorette parties in November. Ryan's crew flew to Las Vegas to celebrate "Hangover Style." NOT! From what I was told, things were relatively mild (mind you, what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas!). Cindy's bride's maids flew to Miami to soak up the sun and to engage in some CRAZY Miami night life! December started with a wonderful engagement party given by Frances Byrd (AKA "Nane", Cindy's g-ma). The day before the wedding, Cindy's aunts and friends of the family threw a Bridal Luncheon for Cindy at Ouisie's Table (pronounced weezeey), a wonderful southern restaurant you should definitely try when in Houston. While we lunched, the guys had a golf outing at Tour 18. No clubs were broken, nobody drove a golf cart into a pond, so all in all, a successful outing! The rehearsal dinner was that evening at La Griglia where we were entertained with toasts to the bride and groom. Whew! That was quite a build up to the beautiful wedding on Saturday. They were married at St Paul's Methodist church, and the reception was at the Crystal Ballroom in the old Rice Hotel. What a beautiful venue, and everything came off without a hitch. The band was awesome and everyone stayed and danced late into the night.

We were so lucky to have Jim's sister, Kate, and our niece Amanda from Denver; Jim's aunt and uncle, Ginny and Buster, and cousin, Pam, and her husband, Sean, from Dallas; nieces, Megan and Sam, with their husbands, Ryan and Zach, from Springfield among all our friends from Houston.

I have never seen two people enjoy a wedding as much as Ryan and Cindy. They sang with the band, danced on stage with the band, and were led down the grand staircase by the band at the end of their wedding.

Thank you Rex and Pam Byrd for throwing such an awesome wedding!!!

Ryan and Cindy spent the next ten days in Maui recovering from the wedding excitement. Poor babies! Congratulations, "mis hijos"!

(Disclaimer: most of the wedding shots were taken with Jim's iPhone, so they are not the professional quality you are used to seeing from him. :)

Groomsmen at Tour 18 golf tournament

Ryan (the groom) at Tour 18 golf tournament

Lovely bridesmaids at the rehearsal

Rehearsal: Cindy's brother-in-law, Rob and grandmother, Frances

Rehearsal: Ryan and yours truly

Rehearsal: Cindy's brother-in-law, Rob and mother, Pam

Rehearsal: Groomsmen, looking serious

Rehearsal: Maid of honor, Lisa, Cindy, Ryan and best man, Justin

Rehearsal Dinner: Toast given by Lisa (Cindy's sister)

Rehearsal Dinner: Cousins from MO, Samantha, Zach, Megan, Ryan, and me

Rehearsal Dinner: Dot and Frances (Cindy's grandmother)

Rehearsal Dinner: Pam and Rex (Cindy's parents)

Rehearsal Dinner: Flower girl, Emily, with parents, Chad and Jody

Rehearsal Dinner: Jim's sister, Kate, and niece, Amanda

Wedding Day: Casey in curlers and Ryan

Wedding Day: Jim's aunt Ginny and Ryan

Pre Wedding: Ryan looking cool in the sun glasses Cindy gave him for a wedding present

Pre Wedding: Groomsmen, looking fine

Pre Wedding: Jim, Ryan and me (how about those "Wilma Flinstone" beads?)

Pre Wedding: Me, Ryan, Casey, Jim......Anthony, where are you?

Pre Wedding: Lisa cinching Cindy into that fabulous dress

Wedding Reception: Cutting the cake

Wedding Reception: Cindy and Rex enjoying the father/Daughter dance

Wedding Reception: Ryan and Cindy cutting the grooms cake

Wedding Reception: Cindy and bride's maids on stage performing

Wedding Reception: The "three amigos" Brian, Garner, and Jim

Wedding Reception: Sam and Zach

Wedding Reception: Ryan and Megan

Wedding Reception: Newfies, Linda and Dave

Wedding Reception: Omar and Kathy

Wedding Reception: When they broke out the hats and sunglasses the dance floor went CRAZY!

Wedding Reception: Ryan "gettin jiggy wid it"

Wedding Reception: Waiting for the bride and groom to leave the reception, Casey, Jim and me.

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Rockin' New Year!

This New Year's Eve was spent dining with good friends at Jeannine's Bistro and then at Casey and Anthony's party in mid-town! We have so much to be thankful for this year, with the high point being Ryan and Cindy's upcoming wedding on Jan 5.

We have spent New Year's at Jeannine's Bistro the past three years. This year Steve and Bev Frayne, Toby Brown and Janet Diaz-Brown, and Pachi and Cynthia Lopez joined us. The mussels and pommes frites were "da bomb!"

Pachi, Cynthia, Jim, Janet, Toby, me, Bev and Steve

After dinner we headed over to the Fairview Bar to ring in the new year. We couldn't entice any of our dinner companions to join us. :( So, again, Jim and I got the prize for being the oldest people at the party! Casey and Anthony threw a huge party (over 150 people) at a local spot in mid-town with the help of their friends, Victoria and Brian. The party was a huge success with lots of friends "gettin' down" to the smooth grooves of DJ Neked (Anthony) and DJ Brian. :) Happy New Year everybody!!