New this Christmas!

New Little Explorer! Who thought watching a little one open gifts could be so entertaining. She thought the gifts were the wrapping paper and bows! That green tissue paper kept her busy for a long time!





New recipes! Absolutely love the Sweet Potato Biscuits. Will be hard to make them just for Christmas or other special occasions. The Cranberry Relish is another new favorite of mine. Hints of citrus fruit carefully blended all together (but no cooking!) make for a tantalizing taste bud treat!

This is what Christmas is all about!

This is what Christmas is all about! Now the next generation of little girls are getting to know their little cousin. One little girl in particular could hardly leave E's side. M loves babies so the trip up to the Craft Sale was complete for her when she was privileged to "take care" of her.

This is all part of what Christmas is really about. Relationships! While these girls were having fun in the one room, us older girls were getting in a good gab session in the other. To say nothing of the very non typical Christmas meal, complete with chocolate dessert! Thanks girls for contributing to the post Craft Sale supper! This time together should really be part of the Christmas tradition!

"The stockings were hung ..."

We're about as ready for Christmas as we can be. Guest room for E & B (and four pawed ball of energy) is ready. Groceries are bought for the new nontraditional Christmas meal - which I won't argue if it became the new tradition for our home. Presents need wrapping - but they are all sitting in our home right now waiting for paper, tape, ribbon, bows, tags, whatever creativity comes out of our thoughts of the recipient of the gift. The stockings will need to hang empty for a few more months, waiting for K to be back.

I've enjoyed planning our Christmas meal. I've enjoying shopping for gifts of special interest for each of our children. I've really enjoyed shopping for one sweet little girl. The joy of being a Grandma! I'm looking forward to preparing our non-traditional food. I'm looking forward to doing it once again in a few months!

Now. The only irritant to deal with this week is getting the dryer fixed. When I've heard about all the furnace replacements that have occurred with family members the last few years, a dryer is not something to destroy the week.

"The stockings were hung by the chimney with care". This year I've spent more time on the "with care" and less on the actual "were hung". I quite like this!

Pinball Clemons

I had the honor and great opportunity to go to the annual Alberta Urban Municipalities Association conference this year in Edmonton. There were all sorts of sessions dealing with municipal issues including opportunities to meet with a number of government ministers. We heard Premier Ed Stelmach speak as well as Brian Mason from the NDP and Dr. Swan from the Liberals and the MLA from the Wildrose Alliance. It was all good, but the best was the last Keynote speaker being Michael Pinball Clemons. He was incredibly dynamic, personal and motivational. He made a number of important points about what is important in life - the main one being a dad and husband! This just was SO awesome to hear! He calls it "substance" in life not just "style". Style is fleeting where substance is (sorry to use this word :)) - substantial! Carrying a piece of leather around the field is just style! He called himself just a "glorified talent". It is safe to say the entire room felt motivated to make a difference in life and as Pinball put it, we make a huge difference in our community being in municipal politics! And yes I did get an autograph on the notes I made about his speech! The photo here is with our entire city of Lacombe council.

Headin' South!

For those of you who do not know, Kev has left for the Antarctic on October 25th for a 5-6month stint at the Rothera Base for British Antarctic Survey. He is just about there right now. Here is a photo of him sitting in the co-pilot's seat in the twin otter airplane.

Final Days!

DOCKED














WAITING TRUCK














REVELSTOKE














CLOSE TO HOME














CLOSER YET!

Day Eight - At Sea

The day had come! A very bittersweet sense of it all coming to an end. Memories of the last days floating in and out of our thoughts bringing a feeling of tranquility. All the beauty we had been blessed to participate in mixed with the idea the day had arrived when it was time to turn around and head for home. Many times we've traveled this same final day of a vacation only this time there were no children with downcast eyes and solemn voices wishing the holiday to go on forever. And yet feeling so much like a child wanting the ship to stay in the far north and not take us back to that final port in Canada.

Our final full day at sea was picture perfect. For having endured rough wild seas we were now being treated with calm smooth waters and warm sunny skies on the very path we had traveled only a few short days ago. We made the most of the day and enjoyed each moment as it arrived. Most of the pictures of our eighth day are courtesy of Cor and Joanne. Cor tirelessly captured with his camera lens life on the Zuiderdam! Our thanks to them for their generous sharing of pictures and creating a memorable holiday!

Day Seven in Alaska

Picture #1 - Our ship in dock at Ketchikan, Alaska
This was our last port on our cruise. Before taking our afternoon tour we had a chance to wander around town and get a picture of our docked ship. It was nice to be located this time steps from downtown. This also gave us a chance to put our sweaters etc back on board. The day warmed up quite nicely.

Picture #2 - Totem poles & Long House at the Saxman Native Village
These are only a few of the totem poles in the Saxman Native Village, but it is a good shot of the Long House where we watched a number of native dances. Many of the performers were children. Each clan has their own symbol emblazoned on the back of their robes. Sort of like clans of bikers do!

Picture #3 - Master Wood Carver watching us watching him do nothing!
We were looking forward to watching a master carver work. Instead he only watched us while the tour guide explained the woodworking shop to us. To hire this older gentleman to carve you a totem pole would cost between three and five thousand dollars per foot of totem pole! Maybe we didn't pay enough on the tour to even witness him at work. Might have cost too much!

Picture #4 - Picture of carver's tools since he wasn't carving!
Since the master carver wouldn't carve and the tour guide was getting boring we looked around at the shop. Made for some interesting pictures anyway!

Picture #5 - Lumberjacks at Lumberjack Show in Ketchikan
The lumberjacks were entertaining as well as highly skilled in numerous "events". They are actual competitors in "lumberjack competitions". The show was both fascinating to watch and humerus!

Picture #6 - Creek Street in Ketchikan
The famous red light district of former Ketchikan! Now the places of business for the "red light girls" have been turned into tourist shops. Miss Dolly and her girls had shut down shop (the first green house on the right) for the afternoon so we couldn't even explore the famous recreated whore house of Ketchikan!

Picture #7 - View of the Town of Ketchikan from our ship
The evening's weather was gorgeously sunny and warm so we could enjoy our verandah views watching float planes come in and take some good pictures of the town itself!

Day Six - Glacier Bay

My favorite photo of Glacier Bay. Touch up courtesy of B.






















Happy if somewhat chilly Mariners!

There is nothing quite like slowly sailing up a long inlet in anticipation of reaching a massive glacier once you reach the "end of the road". The Marjorie Glacier is beautiful and fascinatingly interesting as you study the many layers and pinnacles that form the toe of the glacier. Our ship pulled in close enough and stayed long enough to spend time on the bow of the ship admiring what no human hand could ever create!

This picture is courtesy of Cor and Joanne and shows the entire span of the glacier. Of course we pulled in much closer than it appears in this photo. It almost felt like you could reach out and possibly stretch to touch it. Maybe that's just from holding binoculars up to my eyes for so long! Perspective became lost! I liked my view actually!









One Bird!















Two Birds!













Three Birds!

Day Five - To Canada and Back

Today was the day we went to Carcross Yukon Territories by bus and back as far as Fraser BC. From there we took the Yukon and White Pass train. Peter had been hoping and dreaming of this trip since being ushered back down from the White Pass summit a few years ago but longing to go further. Today was the day! A very full day!

We started in Skagway and followed the Klondike Highway past Summit Lake, Bernard Lake, Shallow Lake, Tutshi Lake and at Tagish Lake reached the Yukon Territory. At CarCross (short version of the original name of Caribou Crossing) we literally crossed over the narrows between Tagish Lake and Bennet Lake the to a now derelict town slowly being revitalized as a tourist attraction. At Carcross we were first well fed at a massive "outdoor" bar-b-que before exploring the pens with some Ididarod race dog sled teams and up and coming puppies. It was easy to see the personalities of the dogs and how pairs were made for racing to gain the best advantage and ultimately winning. The puppies were plain cute resting in groups in any available shade. It was actually quite warm in Carcross. There were actual sand dunes just outside of town which gave an odd sense of desert in the far north! We also toured a private natural wildlife museum of a former taxidermist and adjoining gift shop. The work done was amazing right down to his own personal interpretation and creation of a Woolly Mammoth. Because of the distance traveled we didn't have a lot of time in both the aforementioned tourist attractions or across the Highway at the original town of Carcross.

We traveled back by bus to Fraser BC and there transferred over to the historic train for the remainder of our trip. If you have never travelled a narrow gauge train from such dizzying heights above tree-line to sea level in such a short span of space and time, it is well worth every penny spent! This is an experience made comfortable that many in the late 1800's struggled to achieve on foot for a dream of gold and a better life back home for families left behind!

The remainder of our time was spent poking around Skagway a bit and leisurely walking back to our ship docked front and center! A very full day but one that still brings a smile to my face, even after many days and a lot of events have happened since! I think Peter really enjoyed the "dream trip" as well!

Part Two of Day Four

Whale watching was the highlight of Day Four.
Humpback Momma and babe were seen swimming side by side as she taught her young how to survive.
An adventure well worth every penny spent.
Learning lots of facts about whales from our interesting and informative naturalist on board.
Everyone rushed to the viewing deck of our catamaran each time we slowed down to stop.
Sights engraved in our memories if not captured in our camera lenses.

Part One of Day Four

The doors to the bow of the ship were opened for our viewing opportunities.
Really warm layers of clothing were needed to go outside.
Another cruise ship was making the same trip into the inlet with us.
Catamaran pulled alongside our ship to take some fellow travelers on a tour.
You couldn't help but stay by the railing in anticipation of seeing more.

Amazing views of changing scenery unfolded with each mile traveled.
Really great chance to see lots of ice drifting and breaking as we passed by.
Mountains rising straight up out of the sea!

Another Brief Interlude

You know how some mornings start out and you are a bit "foggy"? Well this wasn't foggy and our town, soon to be city's too small to be "smoggy". This was B.C. "smoky" coming over the mountains. Yes - it was very smoky here for a few days. Pray for rain to cut down on the airborne ash and soot when you really didn't want more moisture this summer? Glad the smoke didn't last too many days and very glad they got the rain where they really needed it!!