the best for last!

Rummel Lake how I love you so!

Ok...I may be suffering from a little mountain fever, but yesterday's final snowshoe hike lived up to the expectations we all had for "best for last".....totally!

Aside from the 2 1/2 hour relentless climb up (actually to be technical - 350m of elevation gain in just under 5km one way) this hike was amazing! The snow was like sugar - and deep, the weather was awesome, the company superb, and the lunch spot at Rummel Lake - fantastic! There is nothing like enjoying a thermos full of piping hot soup, in the snow, at the base of a mountain lake, surrounded almost entirely by a few of K-country's massive peaks.

On the way up....

Rummel Lake...and lunch!! (well deserved by all of us!)

The way back (another 5km - this time down!) proved to be too much fun for many of us as we all giggled and tumbled our way down the mountain. Feeling a bit adventurous, we decided to ramble off the trail and found ourselves at times waste deep in powder trying to move forwards. Not an easy task....especially when you get a case of the giggles! Everyone had a blast playing in the glades and testing out all of the skills that we had acquired over the past 3 Saturdays. How many times did I fall? Well....let's just say I have way more respect for trekking down hill in snowshoes that ever before. Translation..."a lot"!

our playground

My new friends...and hopefully one day we can all meet up again and tackle those mountain trails. This trip has us all addicted to snowshoeing!

from left to right
Me, Rick, Toby, Amber, Jennifer, Bruce, Carlos & Michelin

Once again we learned a tonne. More tree identification, tracking, and much more orienteering than last week. I think I may take a general interest course at U of C on compass work and mapping. Very interesting and goes so much further beyond than just "reading" the topo map. For now though...I am off in search of some snowshoes. Not just for me, but hopefully Aidan and Maelle, and eventually Brent. Bree and Jenna will be passengers for the next few years!

off the beaten path

The title of this post totally describes my second of three Saturday snowshoe trips. We were out in Kananaskis on the Evan Thomas trail this past Saturday. We spent most of the day following the creek under a canopy of snow covered trees and trudging through fresh snow. What a fantastic day! We had the chance this time to practice a little orienteering and also learn about a few animal tracks in the fresh snow. We saw tonnes of moose tracks but unfortunately didn't get to see one. We snowshoed past a few frozen waterfalls with ice climbers, down and up a few steep banks (that proved a little tricky with snowshoes on!), and enjoyed a fabulous winter picnic.

our winter playground...

trudging through the fresh snow...

our amazing group! (that's me second from the left in the back)

Part of the fun of trips like this is not only the destination, but who you get to meet on these excursions, something that I love! I love to meet new people and my snowshoe group is awesome! Everyone in this group has such a fabulous personality and there is never a dull moment...or a quiet one for that matter! Perhaps this is why we never saw that moose...

I'm looking forward to next week's adventure...the longest trip yet that will take us higher into these amazing peaks and up to a mountain lake. Sounds absolutely perfect!

the future team canada

I think it's official! We now have our very own team Canada...in the making that is!

On Friday, we played host to a few of Aidan and Maelle's buddies and had a skating party here in the afternoon. So much fun! It was amazing to see all of our "not so little ones anymore" outside skating and playing hockey. The mom's and I flashed back to when play dates involved sleeping babies in buckets and we couldn't believe how fast all of our kids have grown up. Wow!

A HUGE thank you to Brad and Brent for managing all of our little hockey stars both on the ice and in the "dressing room". Thanks guys!

He shoots he scores!!!

Thanks everyone for coming out and making our skating party a big success!

olympic fever!

Holy cow! What a day! Or should I say...what a lucky day!

As many of you know, the Olympic Torch is making its way across the country and the Olympic games are not very far away now! (Can't wait!) Anyhow, the torch arrived in Calgary today, but before it got here, it went south of us to a little town called Okotoks. I have a very good friend that lives in Okotoks (The Thomas') and so we made the trip down to see the torch with them this afternoon.

And boy oh boy did we see the torch!

The torch bearer was right where we were standing and the exchange point took place right in front of us! How awesome is that?

Wait it gets better...

Not only did we get to see the torch....but we got our picture with it too! What are the chances?

I think that the kids were excited, but I don't think that they understood the total impact of today's event, and how it may have been a once in a lifetime opportunity. Wow!

Aidan is currently learning about the Olympics at school, and boy is he going to have a good story to share tomorrow morning!

Go Canada!!!

a day away

A HUGE thank you to Brent for watching the kidlets (and taking them to swimming lessons, and Bree and Jenna to child care) while I escaped for the day on Saturday! Where did I go? Where else....to the mountains!! I spent the day snowshoeing with a group from U of C's outdoor centre. What a fabulous day! I am so hooked on this sport that I have started to search out a pair of snowshoes for myself, and hopefully the kids!

We spent the day hiking the beautiful shoreline of Lower Kananaskis Lake. It was a relatively easy trail, but over the next 2 weeks (yes....I am escaping for the next two Saturday's with my little group) the hikes get harder with more elevation gain. I am totally excited and can't wait until next Saturday to get back out and into the peaks!

Not bad for a lunch spot!

Soaking it all up!

Did I mention that I am totally excited?

oh the talent!

Check out the video below to see our newest band members. They have been practicing for a while now and I think they have finally perfected their act!

You may have to turn my music off and your volume up to hear them, but if you can't, the video itself is cute!

a great day

I will be the first to admit that I really hate chinooks. I don't like how it can go from -20 one day, and then 2 days later be +8. That is just wrong. However....if it weren't for these little weather situations then we wouldn't have been able to have the best hike this afternoon around Fish Creek Park. The temperature was in fact +8 which made for a perfect afternoon to get everyone outside and enjoying a great winter walk!

Aidan and Maelle loved pulling Bree and Jenna along the trails.


Jenna was all smiles! Both girls absolutely loved being outside today. Brent and I were shocked as our walk just kept getting longer and longer and we didn't hear anything but giggles & goo's from these outdoor gals!


Most of the trail was still in great condition considering the warm temperatures.


We came prepared this time and packed some birdseed to have a go at feeding the chickadees. Aidan was determined to get a bird to land on his hand an well.....he did! Actually, this little fella came back twice for some good eating. Needless to say he was thrilled. Maelle....well....she almost got one but she pulled her hand away when a little bird tried to land on it. She was more content just to watch. Maybe next time!

twin moments

There are so many (and I mean sooo many) of these little snippets of time every single day of Bree and Jenna doing what little 10 month olds do. Most of the time I can catch a pic or two (ok who am I kidding? I take way more than that) of the two of them in action, but somedays, I like to just sit and watch them. If someone told me years ago that having twins would be this much fun, I would have wished for them long ago! Mind you, they are a lot of work but it's moments like these that I am so thankful that I was one of the lucky ones to experience having twins.

There are:

curious moments

moments of careful decision making

moments of learning the ropes...in this case how to go about licking the cookie dough out of the mixing bowl

crazy moments

helpful moments

Now I need to let you know that aside from all of these "joyful" moments, there are more often than not moments that make me want to pull my hair out and go running down the street screaming like a mad woman! There are at least a few of these in a day. No day around here is ever perfect by any means! Although at the end of the day if I can laugh about things that went on whether good or bad, things that got broken, fights that were had, tears that were shed, and still manage to crack a smile...then....well I guess it wasn't a bad day afterall!

a gift...

....and not just any gift but likely my most favourite, and deeply cherished gift, that I have ever received. This gift was given to me a little over a week ago on Christmas morning. It was wrapped beautifully, it was heavy, and it rattled...just a bit. I was stumped. It had on the tag "To Shari, Love Always Mom". Usually gifts from my parents are always signed "mom and dad". But not this one. This one was different. This gift was special. I carefully opened this mystery package and revealed a large box and an album with the letter "S" on it. Beautiful!

But it gets better. It wasn't just any album, it was an album filled with memories. Memories from my entire childhood. Wow. I was speechless. Family trips, special occasions, school achievements, graduations, awards....all documented in this magnificent album put together by a magnificent person....my mom.

I should also mention that she made one for Kylie as well. Hers (like mine) was filled to the brim with memories of her own achievements throughout childhood. Tonnes of memories of both of us growing up.

After perusing the album awestruck, I opened up the box. In it...more memorabilia. School report cards and certificates, trip diaries (hilarious accounts of many family vacations!), artwork from kindergarten, writing assignments, public school class pictures, and loads of funny stuff including my very first Mickey Mouse watch. I am sure Brent sees me in a new light now!

I don't think I realized the impact of this gift until later that night when Kylie and I were sitting at my dining table looking at these albums and boxes of memories. We laughed ( a lot at times), we remembered, and we shared....so many memories. I guess you could say that these albums took many years to complete, and upon asking my mom just how long they took her to build, her response was "a long time". The inside cover of my album has a little note handwritten in the top left corner that says "Created for Shari with much love and many happy memories. Christmas 2009 - mom xoxo" So true. A definite labour of love. So thank you mom, for giving me the best gift ever. A gift that tells a story...my story...about growing up. You have not only created the most beautiful album for me, but you have created a story that I can now share with my children about who I was when I was little like they are now. Thank you for shaping me into the person that I am today. Thank you for helping me see what family is and I hope that I can follow in your footsteps and give my children the awesome life that you (and dad) gave to me.

I love you.

Shari xoxo

winter fun

We took advantage of some warmer winter weather today (warm by our standards anyway) and headed over to Spruce Meadows for a little snowy fun!

Bree and Jenna enjoyed a sleigh ride around the grounds. This was their first time in a sled together. Usually we keep them in their own sled but we thought we'd give it a go and have them ride facing each other. They loved it!


Aidan attempted to pull Maelle in the toboggan. A little tricky going up hill!


Brent, Aidan and Maelle take the first run down the hill.


Even I got to have a little fun today. I forgot how tricky it can be steering a toboggan. Or I guess you really don't need to steer do you?

Aidan will probably tell you that I came really close to hitting a tree, however, so not true! I was at least 4 feet from the trunk! Miles away as far as I am concerned!
All in all a fantastic way to spend a bit of time this afternoon.

we can have lots of good fun that is funny!

Happy New Year everyone!
The title of this post was the theme of our family's New Year's celebrations this year. We were joined by Auntie Kylie and Uncle Lindsay for the festivities so you can only imagine the antics that went on for most of the evening. There was food (and lots of it!), there was dress up, and then there was "the game". This year's game was all for the kids, yet the adults were the one's that had the most fun I think. The name of the game..."The Cat In The Hat"! And yes...as the book goes, we did a lot of balancing, a lot of wobbling, a lot of crawling, and we had a lot of laughter!

Uncle Lindsay got things started off after he was dressed up by Aidan and Maelle.


Bree celebrated an early New Year in Maelle's new fairy attire. (Thanks Auntie Kylie for snapping this pic!)


Auntie Kylie was jumping 3 times with a book under her chin!


Brent skipped around the Trick-a-ma-stick with the rake balancing between his elbows.


Grandpa Werkman spun in 3 circles with a boat on his belly. (Both Grandma and Grandpa were such great sports! They were the only ones who ended up with the craziest challenges!)

Aidan skipped around the Trick-a-ma-stick with the rake between his elbows.

Now...I had a tonne of other pictures of everyone having a go with the game however...they all ended up being a little blurry as I was laughing way too hard when I took them!

We had a fabulous New Year's Eve, and even though we were all in bed well before midnight, we celebrated in style...surrounded by family and having an absolute blast to ring in the new year. This year for me is all about family. We have a tonne of things on our goal list for this up and coming new year and I am looking forward to every single one of them. We have some fantastic camping adventures in the works, some new outdoor pursuits for everyone, lots of new activities to try out (especially for Aidan and Maelle), but the most important thing is we will be doing it all together as a family. I have a feeling that this is going to be one exciting year!