oh yes..........

More tobogganing photos

Seems weird to be seeing myself in snowpants and serious layers considering how warm it is here in NZ now. Alas, it was great times in Canada this holiday and Peter and Maire took these great shots. Had to add them in...



I love this one!

Long weekend painting

Here is a pic of the "testing wall" (even though we had 3 different testing walls!). It was fun to try and see what colour should cover over the "salmon" that we have dealt with for so long.


We were both pretty sore after the first coat, basically from having to bend and reach in difficult places, like the fireplace, or behind the oven. I guess that is pretty normal for all painting though; this was basically my first "real" painting experience, with sanding, washing and then 2 coats. Pretty happy with the result though and worth the hard work. What next now? I was so inspired from getting the walls done finally, that the next day I did a massive clean-up of the entire kitchen, including every drawer being reorganised and vacuumed and washed out. I just realised, this may be the most boring blog entry ever. Ah well, I feel accomplished and that's gotta be shared.

Some more exciting news is that I have hired a coach to assist me in achieving my goal for May 3rd when I will cross the finish line of the Rotorua Marathon. I am very excited at the prospect of being able to have completed such a big race, and I will keep you posted on my progress. One step at a time, I guess....

Rob and Bryce: Masters of the Toboggan

Here are two toboganning videos from Mom and Dad's backyard. The video of Rob cuts out just before he explains how much snow went down his underwear. Too bad we missed that.



oh and just for fun,laugh at this.....

Sarah and Laurelle

Here is a cute video of Sarah brushing Laurelle's teeth.

Let's try a video

Here is a video from Christmas day of Max (my nephew) dancing to his Dad's beats.

I love the bum out, low riding stance he uses. Gonna have to take some tips from him for the next night out dancing.

Canmore continued....it was a busy week

Lake Louise:


So Thursday, although Bryce and I were sore and stiff after using all those unused muscles during the cross-country ski and yoga, we woke up early and headed out to Lake Louise (an hour or so outside of Banff). Bryce and Lawrence went skiing and Robyn and I went to the Lake Louise Chateau (a very fancy hotel) and enjoyed some yummy lunch, saw the gorgeous scenery at Lake Louise (including an ice sculpture like a castle on the frozen lake that people figure skate around) and then went cross country skiing again along a closed off road. Great views of the ski hill (mountain!) that the boys were skiing on. Robyn would have been fine to have been skiing with the boys but I am learning that although I would love to be a ski-bunny....it's just not in me. I will continue to ski in the future, but my heart doesn't leap at the chance to find myself at the top of a steep hill, with stiff boards secured on my feet, that don't allow me to ski parallel from the get-go, so I end up doing "awkward, knees-wobbling, tense body" snowplow all the way down the hill. I did alright and I definitely improved during the two times I skiied this trip (with much thanks to the patience of Robyn, Bryce, Lawrence and Andrew for taking time to teach me). However, I heard noises of terror escape my mouth while I negotiated the terrain and I didn't like what I heard.
After the long day, we all soaked in the hot pools in Banff and then went out for dinner. It was "Hockey Night in Banff" at this particular pub and so we were ordered to pick a team to support for the game and if "our" team scored, they would give us a free beer. Sounded pretty good to us, so we (being the good patriots we are) suppored the Ottawa Senators and booed the Buffalo Sabres. Here is a nice pic of Lawrence (Lolo) and Robyn. They were exceptional hosts for our stay and we were very grateful of their kindness to lend us equipment to borrow for our many activities during the week. I think amongst Robo, Lolo and Andrew they had 15 or so pairs of skiis in their one house!


So at this bar where we had dinner, the host/DJ/manager had a microphone and walked around between periods and asked hockey trivia questions. Just as he walked up to our table, Bryce decided he was hot and took off his sweater/jersey. However, since we had been to the hot pools earlier, Bryce and I hadn't actually been aware of what the other one was wearing. Now, let me just preface this to say that we are not one of those couples who wear matching outfits. The worst we ever get is wearing our down jackets at the same time, but that's usually forgivable. Anyway, last year, Bryce laughed when he opened his Dec 19th birthday gift only to confess that I had given him the same shirt he was giving me for Christmas. Well, at this bar in Banff, with a man with a microphone witnessing it, Bryce and I wore the same "Keep NZ Beautiful" shirts. I felt so lame. It left pretty quickly, seeing as we answered the trivia question correctly and scored some free Canadian beer. But not before the dude took the opportunity to embarass us a wee bit about dressing the same.

Us in Banff later that night:


Check out the best sunrise....from 30, 000 feet up just outside of Auckland, somewhere over the Pacific, from our window seat (which, by the way, had a heating vent underneath it so poor Bryce was sweating most of the 13hours on the flight back home!) It reminds me of a Pink Floyd album cover...


So here I am, sitting on the couch back in the Big P (Paraparaumu, New Zealand), trying to re-hydrate after 30 hours travelling from Calgary, and watching NZ women play beach volleyball against Brazil. Its great to be stationary, although my body still feels like it is actually still moving. We have had a great trip and I am blessed to have such a good network of friends in Canada. I loved catching up with everyone and seeing how everyone is growing up and moving on in their lives with new spouses (Congrats Jody and Ian!), new careers and new babies. I really enjoyed seeing my family and all the growth it has had. Being able to play with my nieces and nephews was truly a highlight on this trip and I can't wait to see them again (although they will be much bigger next time, I guess!)
Thanks everyone for such a great welcome and I promise I will be back again soon. To those who are keen, please please please come and visit. We guarantee you will love it here as much as we do and we would love to pay back some of the great hospitality we were shown this trip!
Lots of love,
Candace

Give me more of Canmore.....

We loved it. Loved it. Canmore was great and it was so great to be enveloped in the Rockies for a few days before flying back to New Zealand. Lawrence picked us up from the Calgary airport in "the truck" and drove us back, an hour & a bit to Canmore. The truck has two comfortable seats and then two back seats which are wee little things that requires the two people who sit in them to coordinate knee positions to be able to both fit in. Lucky we are all close or it may have been awkward. Nothing's ever awkward around Robyn though. What a wicked chick. (This pic is of her and Bryce with their Beamer's coffee's in the back of the truck; the next one is our knee position comfort strategy)


She showed us her Ironman video from 2006 and Bryce and I still remain in awe of her for completing such an amazing feat. Anyway, back to the truck. So, the front passenger seat also has a loose latch or something and will only click into place if it first gets jammed back as far as it can go and then thrown forward. This is always a "fun" experience for whoever gets to sit in the back seat. Bryce had the best expression for this when Robyn slammed it back into him, without Bryce being ready for it. It added some fun to the travels for the week!
Tuesday: Skiing and Snowboarding at Nakiska in the Kananaskis Valley, then dinner with some of Robyn's friends from Canmore. Great night and fun to meet the people that take care of my girl.

Wednesday: Breakfast with Heather and Kip. Awesome to see them and to hear about their trip to Uganda and the reason why they didn't end up going swimming (some parasite that can lay eggs into your urethra....mmmmmm....yummy). They are both doing well and I always find it entertaining to hear Heather's ER stories.

We went cross-country skiing in the afternoon, which was tough but awesome. Bryce struggled at first but sorted out the technique by the end. It sure is a good workout though. We chilled out for a few hours and then went to a 60 min spin class that ended with a 30 minute yoga class, taught by one of Robyn's good friends Lindsay. It was a great class and luckily for Bryce, one of Robyn's friends Kris came as well, so Bryce didn't feel de-masculine in the yoga class. It was pretty funny to see some of the men trying to do the yoga positions. And it was very weird to try to relax at the end of the session, while some man outside the class door was heaving hard on a punching bag. It didn't quite help with the mindset you are supposed to be in after a yoga class, I guess. It was my first yoga class as well. I don't think I am a convert, but I did like the stretching. I was pleased that all the woman farting (that someone said usually happens during the class) didn't happen.

With age comes wisdom...

Wise old 30 year old?
Well, I am now 30 and feeling pretty good about it. Seem to not be taking it too hard seeing as I have always been the youngest out of my friends and now I have just "caught up" to them, as opposed to "got older". I had a great day on the 5th, in Holland Landing. Went for my birthday run in the morning and cranked up the "big hill" near my parents place that had been my nemesis for a few days. Got to see Laurie (who is due in a month! and had a very cute belly to go along with it) and Candice and catch up with the two of them and all the things they have been doing.

At night, we had quite a few people over for dinner which my mom made her famous swarties potatoes which I think she gained a few more fans of during the night. Some toboganning and poker games later, I felt satisfied that I had a great birth "day" and spent it some great people.


Sidenote: Bryce would like to point out that he is in fact holding his own leg in this photo, even though it looks like he is getting extra friendly with Mel's fiance Michael

The next two days involved visiting with Juls and Jarrod and their kids, watching my brother Tim rip it up on the soccer field and almost score stylishly with his butt, and then shed a million tears saying goodbye to everyone before boarding a plane to Canmore, Alberta to spend a week with Robyn and Lawrence.

The vacation continues...

TORONTO! The greatest city in the world! Well.....one of the greatest cities in the world, mainly because of the people. Plus they got great Bloody Caesars with Clamato juice (if you don't know what I am talking about, stop reading this blog, because you obviously don't know me!) and awesome chicken wings. Oh, and this big thing called the CN Tower. This pic is from our tour around Toronto yesterday. We spent a great amount of time in IKEA, which we both wish would come to New Zealand. It is a swedish furniture store (and everything else) like FREEDOM in New Zealand, except way cheaper and way bigger! We went and visited my niece Nisha and Maire and Raelen as well, and had fun playing with her on her trampoline and visiting with Maire. Cute apartment in downtown Toronto. Where I would like to live, I think, if I lived in a big city. Then we walked around downtown, had some Canadian beer and chicken wings, and did some shopping (mainly to escape the cold wind). It was pretty though to watch the sunset through the buildings in the city as we walked. Full credit to anyone who cycles in this city in the winter. The chance of slipping over on all the ice on the sides of the street is way too high for me.

This is a view from the car, of my parents street. You will notice the snowbanks are pretty high, but not the highest they have been. We had a conversation last night about the coldest we have felt. My mom, who grew up in Winnipeg, Manitoba (central Canada, very cold) said that she remembers when she was younger seeing her breathe freeze in front of her face and fall like snowflakes. And the snowbanks they had there have been as high as the tops of houses! I believe her, but sometimes you wonder if I got sucked into the old, "Back in my day...." nostalgia.
"Kids these days don't know how lucky they is. Back in my day,
we used to have to walk to school in our barefeet, through 2
metres of snow, uphill, both ways, with jackets made of rabbit
pelts.....and we liked it. We did no complaining!!"


Yep, heard that the actual temperature at that point was actually -23, but we had already made the sign....

Tim's 35th Birthday Dinner....and finally a picture that shows how handsome he is. Always a jokester for the camera, its hard to find nice pictures of him without him screwing up his face. True behaviour for a 35 year old, I guess. I wouldn't know; I'm too young.



My beautiful parents

Tim, Kristie and Max

Winter fun...

This is the view from the top of the "groomed" toboggan run we have been perfecting since we got here. Tonight's excursion was the best yet seeing as there was at least a foot of powder to play in above the snow that had been there previously. Plus it was about -10 today, so the faces were seriously cold going down the hill. Bryce actually lost some feeling in his hand, which was the sacrifice he made from taking these photos. Good work, B!
The last run I took today, almost ran me right into the deck at the top of this photo.

Here is my nephew Asher and myself going up the hill for another run down. He was a pretty good sport about it, except when his face was filled with snow from going down the hill and getting the full face shots of snow. Always good to be the "safe aunt" sitting in the back and using my nephew as a face protector!!




The climb up the hill, and some "fancy" photography of the descent, done by Bryce. He was fiddling with flashes and shutter speeds, and I was just the model/subject who had a sore bum after taking run after run. No complaints though. It will be fun to look back on these photos in a few weeks while I am back in New Zealand, in the "hot sun" wearing jandals....
Just so you know...the forecast (which unlike NZ is usually pretty accurate 3 days ahead of time!) for tomorrow is -20 in the morning, plus the windchill. Brrr...

More Canadian Fun

We have been pretty busy during our trip and trying to get the winter perspective as much as possible. Several toboganning expeditions in the back yard; we have had 2 or 3 snowfalls since we've been here so the conditions have been good. We even caught Bryce go down the hill twice by himself one day, when no one else was outside.
Bryce and I went skiing/boarding at Blue Mountain (aka Blue "Hill") Ski Resort and had a full day of getting some practice in before we hit the Rockies next week.
The annual "girls party" was on Saturday night at Amy's and it was great to see all the ladies again. There was 13 of us all together this year, with 2 babies in tummies, ready to pop out in the next few months. Lots of changes going on, so it was neat to catch up with everyone.

On New Years, we went to Jody and Ian's wedding. We took a limo to and from the wedding, to avoid New Years traffic for cabs, etc; plus it was fun to get all dressed up and arrive in style. Jody's 7 year old son, Jackson walked her down the aisle and gave her away, which was very cute. His fantastic breakdancing later in the night was even cuter though!


Today, the first day of 2008, we woke up to a mini snowstorm and my mom thinks we got about 6 inches of snow. We definitely had enough to get out and have to shovel the driveway and bury each other in the snow. Its funny that what most Canadians would see as a chore, Bryce and I are excited to do. Mostly because we don't ever get to shovel snow. I guess if any Canadians would like the "excitement" of fixing ruts in a limestone sloped driveway after a massive rainfall, please feel free to come and visit and give her a go!

It is amazing how heavy snow can be and how weird it is to be buried underneath it.


So, great trip continues with a few more days chilling at my parents house, a surprise 30th birthday party that has stopped being a surprise (so I could look forward to it instead), and then we fly to Canmore to spend some time with Robyn and Lawrence in Alberta. More entries to come.
Hope you had a fantastic 2007. I know I did. I usually remember each year as my "age year" since I have a January birthday and I have loved being 29! People fret about turning 30, but I am hoping things just get better. If 29 allows to you to have more financial freedom than you have had before, more cardiovascular endurance than ever before and more career opportunities than before, then I can imagine 30 will involve more spending/shopping, more races (I am toying with the idea of running my first marathon this year), and a good year at my school. Sounds good to me!
Plus.....do I look like a 30 year old? Not likely.....