Let's carry on.....New Years and more!!

Ok, so when i left you last, i was on my way back from Winnipeg to Abby. Had a few flight delays, got in to Abby mid-afternoon, Pam picked me up from the airport, I quickly went home, unpacked and repacked my suitcase, and Pammer and I headed to the ferry! More waiting and and many hours later, we finally arrived in Courtenay to visit my cousin and family for New Years! I love visiting my cousin....it's a time complete with hanging out, eating good food and enjoying the company of one of the cutest kids i know. And dang can he talk well for a 2 yr old!!!Technically i'm a cousin once removed or something to him (how does that work? anybody know? my cousin's kid would be what relation to me??) but i'm trying to teach him to call me Auntie Laura....if he thinks about it enough, he can say it...but otherwise, i was "auntie Aurla". Meh, either way works for me!! We watched enough Shrek to last a lifetime, but how can you say no to that curly mop and big blue eyes that keep saying "I watch Shrek!!" and "Again!!"

After just a brief stay in Courtenay (night of Dec 30th till the morning of Jan 1st) Pammer and I loaded up the car again and headed west, cross island to Ucluelet, to meet up with our friends Kim and Jaco. They had already been renting a cabin for a couple of days, and we joined them till Jan 3rd. I was looking forward to spending time on the west coast of the island, seeing Tofino, the beaches, the waves, and hopefully some pretty skies....we lucked out and didn't have solid rain, so i managed to get a few pics i'm pretty happy with! (by the way, if you've seen my pics on Facebook, these will mostly be the same ones)

Down by the water in Tofino, with some low level clouds that looked pretty neat!

We spent some time walking the Lighthouse Loop of this great trail in Ucluelet called the Wild Pacific Trail...it gave us great views of the crashing waves

Long Beach (between Ucluelet and Tofino)....famous for surfing....

These guys looked pretty hardcore in their wetsuits...it was COLD!!

And back to the Wild Pacific Trail....in search for the lighthouse....and a sunset...

and THEN i got to celebrate my birthday!!! My dear sweet friends made me brownies and everything!!! (the icing reads 'Hap B Laura'...that was all the icing we had...lol) This was the night before my bday, as we had to get up, pack up and drive back to the ferry on the 3rd, but it was still super special...and i got presents too!!

On the 3rd, we spent the afternoon in Nanaimo, and had lunch on the waterfront before catching our ferry. And here's one final pic....the ferry terminal and the lights of Nanaimo in the distance, just before we set sail

And then i got home, went to bed, and woke up Monday morning and headed to work! Whew...it was an exhausing "Christmas break"....but a whole lotta fun!

ok let's begin.....Christmas!

Alrighty....here we go with the first of many updates. I hear there's a lot of snow falling in Winnipeg today, so how appropriate that I blog about my trip home! Wow, it's Jan 25 today...Christmas was a month ago already. Can hardly believe it!

At any rate, let's see what I remember! So I went home for a week. It was busy. I did stuff. Then I came back to BC. Ha, just kidding, i will give you more than that (though it is a fairly accurate synopsis...lol) Spent some time with a few friends, spent some time with family, spent a lot of time sleeping...and also spent some time skiing! It was a good trip, went by far too quickly, but here are a few pics.

Christmas morning...ahhh stockings that are too full and too heavy to be hung by the mantel with care...so are rather placed nicely on the couch. It was just myself and my parents again this year....brother and sis-in-law are expecting a baby in a few short weeks, so she was too far along to fly. So, just me and the 'rents. Ah well, more stuff for me :)
Christmas dinner wouldn't be complete without the crackers...because you NEED to wear the paper crown and get your little prize from within....it's just something that must be done!

Quality time with my dad included going to the Manitoba Moose game!!!!! The Moose are the Canucks farm team....and they were playing the Abbotsford Heat....(Calgary's farm team) so it was like my two rivals facing off....who would win? Winnipeg vs. Abbotsford....Canucks vs. Flames....who to cheer for?? Well, I cheer for the Moose, because lets face it, despite the Heat being Abbotsford's team....I just can't cheer for baby Flames....and lucky for me, the Moose won!

pre game warm up

game on!! (we're the white team)

And skiing! Ah x-country skiing...the amazing workout that I survive only by taking photography breaks the entire time :) I only managed to get out skiing 2x but it was still fun. I'm not gonna lie, the first day was much warmer, thus making the experience more fun. The second day, i thought i was going to lose some fingers to frostbite. But I didn't, and all is well. Anyway, here are some pics from the first day (the warm day) at Kings Park, near my house where I spent many of my growing up years playing soccer, baseball, walking, running, skiing, biking, sledding...etc etc. It's a fun place to take pictures too!

The sky was really cool....i don't think this pic does it justice, but it was the best I could get...i just love the depth of the prairie sky...

Red berries

Winter scene

Over the bridge (pretty sure trolls lived under these red bridges when i was young...)

Another winter scene....toboggan central!!

And now on to the cold day....my dad and I went skiing at Birds Hill Park. Here's my dad all bundled up....

Plane tracks through the sky...and love the prism colours the sun reflected

Animal tracks and the setting sun...we'd better ski fast!!The moon is out! love the trees

And this post would not be complete without a shout out to some great friends I caught up with while home. Had dinner with my friend Julie, whom I haven't seen in about 5 yrs! It was great to catch up, and meet her little bebe! Watt family! Doug and Beth are some of my favourite people, it's great to catch up, and try and sneak free photo advice from Doug!! And chill with their now-grown-up boys whom i used to babysit and now they tower over me! And dearest Anna, long time friend, with an adorable bebe, and essential member of "Kendel Family Fun Night" where we play Cranium and Anna and I SLAUGHTER my parents...it's an annual tradition, and I can't help it that we are amazing sculpters, eyes-closed-artistes and hummers :)

So there you have it...a run down of my Christmas....one post of many updates DONE!! I flew back to Abbotsford on Dec 30 and Pammer and I proceeded to catch a ferry that night over to Vancouver Island.....thus posts on New Years in Courtenay and my birthday in Ucluelet are upcoming.....stay tuned!!!

they're coming...they're coming.....

.....updates, that is!!

i am WAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY behind on my postings....i'm trying to convince myself that playing catch-up isn't the insurmountable project that it seems, and that i just need to get going slowly but surely....I have a ton of pics to wade through, Christmas, New Years, my birthday and of course the typical random assortment of pretty skies and other nature scenes :)

So, never fear, updates are on their way....hopefully sooner rather than later!