Candy and Jim's Great Canadian Adventure: January 2014

This past weekend I took a cross country ski lesson with friends Suzanne and Guy. Jim was signed up to take the lesson but conveniently got out of it by throwing himself down the stairs two days before the scheduled lesson. Oh, he's fine, but his ego was a little bruised. Old age will do that to you. Jim accompanied us out to the trails and took some beautiful wildlife pictures while we skied. He finally got some great shots of a moose!

The weather was perfect. The temperature started out at 12 F degrees but quickly warmed up. And we quickly warmed up! The morning was spent learning to balance on the skis by gliding back and forth on the parallel grooves or tracks cut into the snow in front of the Pocaterra ski hut in Peter Lougheed Provincial Park. There were about twenty of us in the class with two instructors. One of the instructors was six months pregnant and the other had given birth four months ago. These were some STRONG women! After lunch, we hit the trail. The first forty-five minutes felt like it was straight up hill! Coming back, was much better. We were rewarded with some nice flat trail and even some SWEET downhill. Suzanne and I decided we would try it again.....on flat trail next time!

Needless to say, I felt like I had been run over the next day. Those muscles had not been used in a very long time!

Guy, Suzanne and me

Me, Guy and Suzanne

Jim saw several moose... mooses.....mice? that day

Upper Kananaskis Lake

Another moose

Yours truly practicing my technique

Suzanne, in the white, practicing her technique

Our class watching the instructor demo

We spent a wonderful Christmas in Houston this year. In case you do not already know, Jim and I are expecting our first two grandchildren in 2014. Cindy and Ryan are expecting a baby girl in February and Casey and Anthony are expecting their first in July. They don't yet know the gender. Two grand babies in one year! Can you imagine?! What an exciting year 2014 is going to be! Here is a quick Christmas recap and then onto the pictures!

I wish I could say our flight to Houston was uneventful, but nooooo, it never is when you fly United. Leaving Calgary an hour late due to frozen hydraulic lines, we nearly missed our connecting flight in Denver. A very nice gate attendant held the plane and let us on at the last minute. Her co-worker would have denied us access to the plane if she had her way. Thank you, United, for hiring at least one competent employee. We arrived in Houston, but our luggage did not. Thank goodness I had a dress in my carry-on for Cindy's baby shower the next day. Casey and Lisa, Cindy's sister, planned the perfect baby shower, and it came off without a hitch. Those girls are on the ball! Everything was beautiful and the food was delicious. I think Cindy and Ryan got everything on their registry. This is one very lucky baby!

We had dinners and parties with friends and family almost every night of our vacation. We attended the annual Lights in the Heights celebration, and sadly our "Rolling Holiday Bar" is no longer the hit it once was. Our rolling bar has been out done by some locals with a bigger, better wagon. It was more like a parade float than a wagon..... I knew it was just a matter of time. On a different note, I did see Arnold Schwarzenegger dressed as Santa Claus so it wasn't a total loss.

Christmas eve was spent with Casey and Anthony. Cindy and Ryan were with the Byrd family and we celebrated a "late" Christmas when they returned. We attended Christmas eve service and then had sushi at the only restaurant open at 9:00 PM on Christmas eve (Fa ra ra ra ra, ra ra ra ra!) Sometimes you just go with the flow. :)

We got some much anticipated golf time in with friends and family. Jim played golf on probably the coldest day I have encountered in Houston. I think his blood has thickened living up here in Calgary. It didn't seem to bother him nearly as much as it did the "thin blooded" Houstonians. We got Casey and Ryan out on the course this time, and they showed us up with their Driving and Putting skills.

Anthony and Casey had a New Years party at Addix in the Heights. Everyone enjoyed Anthony, Brian, and Jake sharing the DJ gig that they are famous for. Unfortunately, Jim and I didn't make it until midnight. Man, we are old!

The day before I returned to Calgary, was Casey's birthday. We had lunch at Plucker's with around 20 of her friends. It was fun to see everybody and enjoy some great wings. That night, we attended a baby shower for Kimberly and Dan where I learned you can now "suck" the snot out of your baby's nose via an instrument where one end is inserted in the baby's nose and the other end is inserted into your mouth! I kid you not!

Casey and Anthony, Cindy and Ryan, thank you so much for putting up with the old folks for close to a month. We love you guys! Enjoy the pics and Happy New Year!