Summer Lovin’

I am throwing June July and August together. We had such a fantastic summer. Some Covid regulations were lifted, some came back, etc. but when you can get out in the sunshine and outdoor gathering limits fit your family and friends you can’t ask for more.

First things first we had to get the boat in for it’s inaugural soak. Picked a beautiful day for that.

Lindsay and I visited the zoo with the animals haha

Don and I headed north to Calling Lake for what has become our annual Walleye Fishing Extravaganza with the Blue’s! For one week it’s a competition to see who can eat, drink and fish the most. And of course consume my amazing fried fish…

We also headed back to Kathy’s cabin this month. We had a specific purpose and that was to see mom’s bench that was installed. I’m not sure I have told you about the bench? There is a trail being built around the lake that mom and dad had their cabin at ( Kathy now owns the cabin). Anyway they put out the idea to purchase memorial benches. Mom said how she would love one for her and dad, so some of her family; Don, sister Kathy and brother Terry and all their kids went together and bought one.

Pictures tell this story better…

Of course this was the month of Father’s Day as well and we had a fantastic yard vist with all!

So without all the details of visits with the kids and friends that’s June!

May

We had an active month but for some reason I don’t feel like adding a lot of dialogue to that so here is a summary:

May starts off with Blake’s birthday! He turned 14 this year and achieved his learner’s license! Way to go Blake!

The kids were online learning AGAIN. It seems this will never end in school, out of school – it's a yoyo, or maybe a boomerang. LOL Anyhow I decided it would be fun to start a hot lunch program like they have in schools, so I created an order form and each family had a hot lunch day.

I had a lovely Mother’s Day as well!

 

The May long weekend saw us heading to the Stecyk cabin for our annual adventures. Fresh air does your soul good, as well as spending time with our kids which has been so cut back this year. Lots of laughs, great food and drink and quadding.

By May 25 Don and I were FULLY vaccinated. We are so happy to have reached that goal.

And to end the month we celebrated our 41st Anniversary.

Life is good!

April

Well time is passing faster than I expected, and again I have to mention the weather!

And Don and I both have our first vaccines! Woohoo.

We did something pretty odd for us at least, this month. We went out to Abraham Lake to camp. That’s likely the earliest we have ever had the trailer out in Alberta. It was so warm through the day, and really not so bad at night. The furnace ran a few times but not at all as expected. It was such a refreshing break – greatest idea we have had.

The view was so majestic, looking across the frozen terrain while sitting in the sun.

We also went on a road trip to see some southern Alberta boondocking spots. We kept reading about Castle Rec Area and Provincial Park and wanted to see if it was a place we might like to boondock at some point. Although most of what we saw was burried in snow or closed, we determined it was indeed a nice place but none of the boondocking sites had cell service. That’s ok for a short time but not a few days or longer. But a great drive.

On the way home we stopped in Okotoks at the Best Western, and invited ourselves to Walter and Pat’s for breakfast the next day:)

We got home just in time to celebrate Paul’s birthday with supper at our firepit.

Happy April all!!

March

And out like a lion.

Except not really. March continued to bless us with great weather.

We were really starting to feel the drag of winter regardless of the weather, so we invited ourselves to Don’s sister’s cabin back in Saskatchewan. I think we were breaking a few Covid rules, but not sure. Provinces have yet to agree on that, being that the Covid changes when the physical border changes.

It was a fantastic idea. Not only did we have a great visit with Kathy and the rest of Don’s family, we got a bot of exercise in. We helped Kathy cut and pile 2 cords of wood, we also walked around the cabin community. It was so warm out we did the wood in our short sleeves!

When we were home again Don and I drove out to Abraham lake to see if we could spot the famous gas bubbles. Unfortunately it was not possible that day as the snow had blown across the surface, hiding all signs. But it was yet another beautiful sunny drive so never wasted!

Not much else was new this month – not even a photo to share. Still binging Netflix and beer.

Till next time!

February

This year the weather just can’t be better.

February is all about birthdays in this family!

February 3 – Mason turned 7

February 11 – Cal got older

February 16 – Emerson turned 12

February 20 – I got older yet

February 22 – Jeremy got older

February 28 – Connor turned 9

One of my all time favorite photos of the February birthday boys! And the birthday girl of course!

Lots of outdoor activities for us and lots of happiness and family time and friend amidst the pandemic. Can’t ask for more!

Somehow amongst this mayhem the girls and I were able to continue with our new tradition of a Spa date for our birthdays. It gives us time to spend as mother daughter, and truly is better than a material gift.

Also my friends Maria and Annie had a backyard hot dog roast with a few bevvies. Lots of laughs and memories.

One of the most fun days was a tubing date with the whole family for our February birthday people! We went tubing at Sunridge and it was so much fun! The weather co-operated, there was a rope tp pu; you back up, and we took some time to also share some birthday cookies!

If you are a family following Covid rules this is as good as it gets!

Don and I took another drive to the mountains, this time to Athabasca Falls and lunch in Jasper – nothing like the majestic Rockies in winter, so peaceful and quiet.

Lots of Covid friendly visits, tons of virtual meetings and sunshine in abundance – that wraps up February.

Welcome 2021

January Recap – This was a hard month for us, and I am sure we are not the only ones.

The pandemic is taking more and more of a toll on everyone's mental health. I feel a lot of frustration with the differences in how municipalities, provinces and countries are dealing with it. And people. I hope it doesn’t become too divisive.

Continuing on our December theme we have still been doing a lot of hiking in the area, and finally ventured to see the Bunchberry Meadows paths. It is so beautiful out there.

A dear family friend and cousin in law passed away this month. Marie Smith, wife of Don's cousin Doug who passed away last year, is finally at peace. She has been suffering form cancer for years.

And as life often does we were thrown a bomb when our friend Phil Stagg passed away. An absolute perfect “newfie”, best bud, ringette dad and camping friend. We have so much history, so many memories, that we will always have Phil in our hearts and memories but damn it will be hard not expecting him on a long weekend and those giant campfires. Cheers to you buddy.

So here we sit, trying to stay active, missing the old ways of life, and hoping we just might be able to escape south this year.

Sounds a bit depressing but we are a little more up than that!

See you at the end of February!

The Last Month of 2020

 So let's be real here - I can talk forever about COVID but who wants to hear all the negativity?

Let's talk about how great December was. In no particular order here are the great things we did. And I must say that the weather the whole month was AMAZING!!

When we were still able to do so we had an outside fire pit coffee with Paul and Mary - thank goodness they have a fabulous fire pit.

We went to the Stecyk cabin for sliding, quadding and tobogganing behind the skidoo.

We re-discovered Chickakoo Lake in Parkland County, and our love for hiking. It may not be southern territory - but it has been fabulous. It is so much nicer to hike some hills and paths than walk the sidewalks in town.

We went to Maligne Canyon in Jasper National Park for the most perfect canyon hike from the Fifth Bridge to the Tea House, which was actually opened to get a beverage at. And we went to town for a quick pick up at Bear Paw Bakery!

We spent days and days baking and cooking, which we so enjoyed, and lots of evenings driving to see Christmas lights.

We created a special way to share our days with the grandkids. We made Christmas Boxes! There were 2 editions.

Box 1 was filled with Decorate your own Cookie kits for each kid, an advent calendar for each, Elf on the Shelf cereal, photo booth props and their individual ornaments. Oh and the Stecyks' had Zoominescence passes.

When it became apparent Christmas wouldn't be in person this year, of course we needed Box 2! This one had their traditional Christmas PJ's, Ginger Bread House kits that Don MADE!, a couple of family games for each house, nuts and bolts and a small ski gift card for the Camerons.

The houses will see improvement next year. Em's had rough edges and couldn't stay together and Blake's broke, but he went with a more unique structure, and Connor's, Mason's and Reeses's were good! Regardless of the construction part of them, everyone agreed the gingerbread was delicious!

We had so much fun making these and there have been conversations about a January box - we will see:)

On Christmas Eve we did porch drop offs with the presents, picked up ours, and dropped off cinnamon buns and buns.

We made a smaller turkey for ourselves on Christmas Day, but big enough for leftovers and soup.

And we had a great time opening our gifts on our virtual chat! Thank goodness the girls remembered to take screenshots!

We had a virtual chat with Mom, Kathy, Karen and Darlene on Christmas Day as well. That is something we had not done prior to COVID and hopefully we will keep doing.

We spent New Years Eve watching hockey, having a drink or two, and slipped out to see Stony Plain's fireworks display!

So there you have it - December in a nutshell