A trip into the mountains

We decided to go off for a drive into the mountains today for a picnic and a bit of exploring. We realised that although we've been here several weeks now, we haven't actually been up into the Rockies yet, so it was long overdue!
We decided to explore Kananaskis country, the edge of the Rockies, next to Banff National Park. There are a couple of ski resorts up there - Nakiska and Fortress - that we wanted to check out for future use, as well as campsites etc.
The drive took just 90 mins, and we marvelled at the scenery (well, most of us...Jaz was more interested in relaying the whole storyline of High School Musical 3 to Jake, who was about as interested in that as watching paint dry!). We could only drive half of the road through the Kananaskis region as the other half doesn't open until the summer.
As we wandered around the village, staring up at the mountains, it seemed unreal to think that we weren't here on holiday, and live about 100kms down the road! It was truly awesome and spectacular, and we plan to go back later on this year and explore it some more.

Well, we haven't written any updates on here for a couple of weeks, so I thought I'd check in again. Finally, we are experiencing a bit of a thaw after what seems like an eternity of freezing weather. It is unusual, even for here, for the weather to stay so cold for such a long time, with an average down in the minus 20's for most of the time over the last few weeks. It is certainly a relief to feel a little warmer at last and the temperature has been above zero again for the last few days. After such a freeze, it feels positively warm and Jake and Jaz arrived home from school on Monday in just their t-shirts, proclaiming they were 'hot'! Everything is relative I guess, so for them it felt like a summers day!
We've been continuing with our weekly ice-skating practice but Neil and I are both suffering from skating injuries. I hurt my knee while getting a little over confident with my turns a few weeks back, and turned it a beautiful shade of black and blue. It is still tender and I'm having to treat the ice with a little more respect at the moment. Neil took a tumble last weekend and ended up at the 'Urgent care' centre in Okotoks, with a suspected broken thumb. After a load of xrays, it turned out to be a bad sprain, so he is also suffering.
The children have made a confident start to their new terms in school. Jasmine is really throwing herself into her new topic of 'spies'. She came home with a new 'secret' identity and has been learning surveillance techniques, investigations and observations. Jake is thrilled to be studying 'hockey' as his topic this term, and is learning the rules of the game fast. He has developed a passion for the Calgary Flames hockey team since we arrived, and has favourite players. He follows the team closely and can often be found watching NHL games in the evening.
Both of the children seem very 'at home' here now and are thoroughly adjusted to the Canadian way of life. When you listen in on Jaz's conversations with her schoolfriends, she sounds totally Canadian now with a very authentic accent, although it disappears when she gets home. Both children are picking up the intonation though, and have adopted Canadian terms for everyday things such as 'candy', 'cookies','pants', etc. Give them a few more months and I think their English accents will be well on the way to disappearing altogether.
We are looking forward to welcoming our first family visitor in April. Neil's mum will be joining us for 3 weeks, and my mum will be coming out for a 3 week visit in June. We are already looking at activities and excursions to take while they visit.
Neil took his first real estate exam earlier this week and scored 98%! Very impressive. He is trying to find some part time evening and weekend work to supplement our income until his training is complete. I am continuing to enjoy my work with Raya and Samuel. I am now working 20 hours a week and enjoying the challenges that come with working with little people. I particularly enjoy the days I spend with Raya at preschool, and am thinking that maybe I would like to pursue a job in a preschool next academic year. For now though, I am really enjoying the work and look forward to each day. It's lovely to come home a little earlier in the day and spend time with Jake, Jaz and Neil in the evenings without the shadow of marking or planning hanging over me. Weekends are also a lot freer and I feel happier and healthier as a result. I definitely feel as if I have a better quality of life at the moment, although there is a part of me that misses the classroom a little. I am still pursuing teaching certification, but Alberta is demanding so many extra information that it is going to take a few more months at least before I know where I stand re: my options for teaching here.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

We have just arrived back from a fabulous time in High Prairie with my uncle and aunt. After a quiet Christmas - just the 4 of us - it was great to meet up with family for New Year. We set out on the 7 hour drive north on Tuesday 30th, putting Neil's new GPS toy through it's paces as we went! After a couple of short stops - one for lunch at Red Deer and a petrol/loo stop at a roadhouse midway between Edmonton and Slave Lake, we arrived at 7.30pm, having been met at the highway by David and Valerie, who led us deep into the Salt Prairie countryside to their home.
It was my first meeting with my cousin, Amy, and it was fantastic to get to know her a little at long last.
After a well earned night's sleep, we were woken by an excited Jasmine, desperate to try out the hot tub! We managed to persuade her to wait until after breakfast, but could put her off no longer. It was a chilly few steps to the snow rimmed tub but delightful to sink into the warm water. The outside temperature was down near minus 30, and it was snowing, but we stayed in for a good 30 mins, with regular ducking to thaw out our crispy snow covered hair and ears! Jaz even got to show off and run round the deck in just her swimsuit, but refused to lie down and make a snow angel! Wise girl!
Later in the day, we went snowmobiling on the family skidoos. Jaz rode in the sled towed along behind David's machine, and the rest of us took turns on the back of the skidoos or the sled. It was great fun, and a chance to appreciate the size of the property - some 160 acres in all.
We celebrated New Year with many of David and Valeries neighbours and friends, and had a lovely evening getting to know each other.
New Years Day meant starting the trip back to Okotoks. We had made much of the latter stage of the trip up to High Prairie in the dark, so it was great to enjoy the scenery around Lesser Slave Lake in the winter sunshine. We had a wonderful couple of days, and look forward to the chance to visit again!