Canadventures

A trip to Moraine Lake

2010-07-03T14:55:00.001-07:00

The day before Neil's mum left to travel back to the UK, we took her up to Lake Louise and Moraine Lake for the day. It was the first time she's seen the lakes in the summertime (ie. not frozen over!) and I think she was blown away by the beauty of the place. We were hoping for some bear sightings, but sadly we were out of luck. We did however see an elk by the side of the road on the journey back!

June news

2010-06-28T09:12:00.001-07:00

June has been a great month here, after a really chilly and miserable May. Although we've had more rain than I can remember since we got here 19 months ago, the sun is now making up for it. Neil's mum arrived on the 12th, just in time for the annual Okotoks parade, and also her birthday! Jaz was very excited to be taking part in the parade this year as part of the Guides Canada float, and we all soaked up the sun sitting at the side of the road. Jake had his baseball fun day in the afternoon with a 'tailgate' barbeque and 2 back to back games. We enjoyed more sun until the last game had to be called off due to a massive thunderstorm!

Jake visits his new school

2010-04-25T11:23:00.000-07:00

Jake is coming to the end of his elementary education, and come September, will be moving on to junior high school. This week, Okotoks Junior High (known locally as O.J.) had an open evening for grade 6 students, where they could visit the school, take a guided tour from the current year 7 students (who were great ambassadors for the school) and speak to staff about next year. In addition to the usual subjects - English, Math, Sciences and Social Studies - the students have to choose courses that they would like to study next year. These can be year long courses, or courses for just one semester. Jake was really impressed with the music department, as they have amazing facilities, so he has chosen to study in the concert band. This is great news as it means that he can finally start learning trombone again after what will have been a 2 year break. He's also chosen Science and Technology, and Woodworking for one semester. His choices aren't guaranteed so fingers crossed he gets what he wants.

We were certainly very impressed with the school and staff on our walk round. Everyone seemed very welcoming and the building was bright and attractive, with bright, colourful homerooms and a wonderful gym and library. I think he's pretty excited about next year.

Basement reno

2010-04-24T06:34:00.000-07:00

Lots of you back in Blighty have been saying you'll come and visit us, so we thought we ought to get our bums in gear and sort out some accommodation for you!

When we first started looking at Canadian properties way back on our first visit here, we were amazed at how every house had a basement. It seems to be a North American thing, but virtually every house here, new or old, is built with a basement. While many people use it as a space for storage (here in Canada, people don't really use their loft/attic space in the same way we do in the UK, so the basement is the place to store stuff. Our attic is full of serious amounts of insulation!) there are also many who convert the basement to extra living space, be it a large 'recreation' room or man cave, to a self contained rental suite. Our basement is a fantastic big space, and perfect for conversion to extra living space/bedroom space for guests to use when they come to stay. We also wanted to convert it before it filled up with 'stuff' (like our loft did in the UK....man, that was a pain in the rear end to clear!....it took us weeks!).

Neil was anxious to learn how to do a lot of the building work himself, but lacks a lot of know how. Luckily, he shares an office with a good friend, and fellow realtor, Paul, who also happens to have a background in the building trade - so he knows his stuff. This is perfect as it means that Paul and Neil can work together to convert our basement.

We will be posting regular updates on their progress on here. So far, we are at the stud wall stage, and the boys are busy wiring it all at the moment. We are putting 2 bedrooms, a bathroom, a living room and a small kitchenette (also known as a wet bar) down there. There were already 2 windows, but we've added a third.

Here are a few before and after pics of our progress so far. More to come....

Short break to Banff

2010-04-09T16:51:00.001-07:00

We've all been exhausted recently from working so hard (especially Neil who's been working extremely long hours in the last few weeks, so much so that Jaz said that she was fed up going to bed without bedtime cuddles from her Daddy - oh dear!)

We therefore decided to treat ourselves to a short break in Banff. We stayed at the Hidden Ridge Resort located on Tunnel Mountain just above the town. The views were stunning, although for much of the trip the valley was shrouded in snow clouds. We were happy just to chill out, spend time together as a family and take advantage of the 2 outdoor hot pools! It was a wonderful break - over much too soon for my liking!

Jake's 12th birthday

2010-03-07T18:40:00.000-08:00

Jake celebrated his birthday at the rink today with his 3 friends Damon, Connor and Mwambi, followed by pizza with all our friends. His main present, a huge basketball hoop is being constructed as we speak, and he also got lots of baseball gear with his birthday money. We finished off the celebrations back at home with an Oreo Cookies and cream birthday cake.

Long time no see!

2010-03-06T15:56:00.000-08:00

Hmmm, I think I've been neglecting the old blog recently. I do have good reasons though - Neil and I have been mega busy recently with work stuff and are continuing forward on our journey towards establishing our lives here. So a quick update on what's been going on....

JOB NEWS - for those of you who may not have heard, I've managed to secure a teaching job for this coming September in Calgary. My current employers - I'm for Kids - have decided to expand their operations from early years intervention for children with special needs, and have decided to open a preschool and private kindergarten in McKenzie Towne in SE Calgary. I applied for the kindergarten teachers job and got it! It's all really exciting and for more info, go to www.tinytowne.ca - our new school website.

Spring is most definitely in the air. We've had lovely warm sunny days, and with the thoughts of summer fresh in our minds, Jake has just signed up for a summer season of peewee baseball. Training starts shortly and we'll keep you posted with photos of games etc in the coming months.This will be his first taste of baseball, as last summer he chose soccer club instead. We now need to go and buy a glove, helmet etc in prep for the summer season. He's very excited about it, bless him.

Jaz is doing rookie lifeguard training every week at the moment. She completed all the swimming levels before Christmas, so this is to tide her over until she can join the local swim club - the Okotoks Stingrays - for their summer competitive program. It will also help her get her swimmer badge for guides, as she already has all the distance achievements, but needed water safety training to complete her badge.

Neil is still working hard too. He has two listings at the moment, one here in Okotoks and one in High River (about 10 mins south). We're hoping for a couple of days away at some point over Easter for some R&R and family time, so watch this space.

We are also beginning our basement conversion. We have the plans drawn up, and the next month should see the beginnings of the building work. We are in the process of getting an extra window put in for the second bedroom and a fireplace for the den. Piccies of the reno to follow!

Olympic News

2010-01-18T18:29:00.001-08:00

For those of you who don't know, the winter Olympics are to be held next month in Vancouver. There's not a chance of anyone living in Canada not knowing this, as it's all they can talk about. Canadians think of the winter Olympics with particular pride and fondness as they are a winter sports nation, and we are all hoping that the weather will turn cold and snowy in Whistler in time for the games to start. It's been unusually mild here in Western Canada for the last couple of weeks, which has put the games organisers into a mild panic, nevertheless, there is still plenty of time for the weather to turn cold again, as it undoubtably will.
The torch relay has been going across Canada for several weeks now, and is nearing the final leg of its journey towards Vancouver, with just 3 weeks to go. Today it was our towns turn to host the Olympic torch relay, and everyone turned out to see it go through. The children were lucky enough to see it go right past their school, and I made the trip into town to watch it with Neil this afternoon as it went past his office.
This is the second time Neil and I have seen the torch, having experienced it for the Barcelona 92 summer games while we were holidaying in Spain. It was great to see it again, and so many patriotic people flag waving and wearing their Team Canada clothing.

Christmas and New Year

2009-12-31T16:38:00.000-08:00

It's been a busy time here for us Stophers over the last few weeks. First we had Neil's mum to stay, then it was Jazzie's birthday, then Christmas, then a trip north to visit my aunt and uncle in High Prairie for a few days. Finally, New Year's Eve is here and before we know it, it'll be Monday and back to work and school for us!
We've had a wonderful couple of weeks, with a lovely Christmas day at the Ross' house with good friends, and a terrific short break in the snowy lands of northern Alberta. So I've just decided to put some photos that sum up the last 14 days for us.
1. The Christmas Eve Santa parade that passes our house, complete with police and emergency vehicles sounding their sirens and flashing their lights.
2. Jazzie's birthday cake
3. Christmas lunch
4. Present opening
5. A couple of photos of our trip to High Prairie

For all our friends near and far, in Canada, the UK and beyond. Happy New Year to you all. May 2010 bring you all happiness, peace and prosperity. xxx

Happy Birthday Jaz!

2009-12-23T18:36:00.000-08:00

Jasmine has just celebrated her 9th birthday today, and her second in Canada. She had a party on Monday, when we took her and her friends Ella, Maddie, Keelin, Laura and Holly to 'Build a Bear' in the Chinook Mall, followed by supper at A&W. Today we gave her a hamster - she's named him 'Cookie' - and he has the most space-age cage ever! Jake gave her a gigantic Minnie Mouse as it was something she has wanted for ages. It was lovely for her Grandma to be here for her special day too.

Christmas at Heritage Park

2009-12-23T18:26:00.000-08:00

On Sunday we took Neil's mum to Heritage Park, to the 'Once upon a Christmas' event. Even though it was a freezing cold day, good fun was had by all.
We started off with hot chocolate as we watched Jake and Jaz ice skate on the outdoor rink, and then we travelled around the park seeing Christmas traditions of the past. Jake and Jaz had a chance to buy us Christmas presents at the 'kids only' Christmas shop. We even had a glimpse of traditional Hannukah games in the tiny synagogue. It was a lovely afternoon.

Gingerbread Houses

2009-12-19T14:50:00.000-08:00

We're trying to enter into the Canadian spirit of Christmas a little more this year with our homemade edible creations. We discovered last year that in Canada, people bake like crazy for the holiday season, and so this year we have litres of cookie dough chilling in the fridge, and have made a gingerbread house. Here is Jasmine's afternoon creation (with a little help from mum). Looks good enough to eat! I wonder how long it'll last before it gets eaten up?

Zoolights

2009-12-19T14:41:00.001-08:00

This year we took Neil's mum to see the Calgary Zoolights exhibition. Every winter, Calgary Zoo decorate their grounds with millions of colourful light displays and there is winter music, firepits, ice sculpting and even a live satellite linkup with the big guy in red!
We spent a wonderful couple of hours wandering among the displays and marvelling at the amount of lights. It was magical.

Tree cutting in Kananaskis

2009-12-08T08:24:00.000-08:00

After last year when we paid a small fortune for a not particularly great tree from Staples car park, we decided to do the Albertan thing and cut our own tree this year. For a $5 permit, you can cut your own tree (less than 8ft tall) from anywhere on Crown Provincial land, so armed with a map, the permit and our good friends the Ross family, we set out in convoy on Sunday morning to find our tree.
Bearing in mind the harsh winter storms of the previous 2 days, we fully expected to have to turn back at some point as we heading for Kananaskis country, just west of Bragg Creek. However, the roads were pretty good and we arrived about an hour later. We had to pick our spot, and ended up at Station Flats, where after wading (yes it was that deep) around in snow for a while, found a likely specimen.
The next trick was to cut it, drag it back to the car and try to load it onto the roof. We realised pretty quickly that the tarp that we'd brought was a little inadequate to say the least! After some problem solving and lots of 'to me.....to you' we finally got our trees aboard our cars and after having our permits checked by the park ranger, we headed off for a firepit cook out at McLean Creek.
It was freezing cold (-25) but we managed to get a fire going and roasted some weiners for lunch. We gave up before our marshmallows though, as all our condiments and milk had frozen solid! Instead, we headed for the Cinnamon Spoon cafe in Bragg Creek for some much needed hot chocolate and a good thawing!
The tree is now stored in the garage 'acclimatizing' to warmer temps (it's a balmy -11 in there!) before we bring it in. It's looking a little out of shape after a trip back on the roof of the Honda, but hey ho, we did it!
Pics of our tree will follow after we've got it up.

Arctic storm!

2009-12-05T09:25:00.001-08:00

Yesterday (and today) we have experienced quite the worst arctic weather since we've been in Canada. It has been brutal here in Alberta for the last 24 hours. We've had gusting winds of 50mph as well as huge amounts of snow, which has made driving conditions extremely hazardous and has closed many roads in and around Calgary due to the number of accidents. I drove home from Calgary yesterday lunchtime in a whiteout, and literally couldnt see 3 feet in front of the car. It was genuinely one of the most nerveracking drives of my life. It took some drivers over 3 hours to make a 20 minute journey, and many abandoned their vehicles due to being snowbound. Temperatures are around -10 but it feels a whole lot colder than that due to the icy winds that cut through you when you step outside.
We've given up on clearing the drive and sidewalk outside the house as the blowing snow just covers it again in minutes. We've got drifts of up to a metre in places and its wild! There's not much in the way of winter weather that brings this area to a standstill, but this has done it! Definitely a time to be safely tucked up indoors with a cup of coffee and a fire going.......brrrr!
Neil's mum arrives next weekend....I hope she's packed her longjohns and thermal vest!

Christmas time....

2009-12-01T16:00:00.000-08:00

Well, today is December 1st, the first day of Advent and I've never got the children out of bed so easily....the promise of the Advent calendar chocolate for breakfast never fails!
Canadians start the whole countdown to Christmas a little earlier than us, and many of us have had our Christmas lights up on our houses for a couple of weeks now. The reason being that if you wait til December, you'll get frostbite trying to attach fiddly little lights to your guttering. We said that we wouldn't switch on ours until today, but actually we caved in about a week ago. People seem to call them 'winter lights' here and they stay on until well into the New Year.
Last week was 'Light Up Okotoks' again, but the kids and I didn't go this year as I was sick. Neil opened the office and spent his night serving hot chocolate and tying endless amounts of helium CIR REALTY balloons for happy Okotokians. He came home with numb fingers and blisters.....bless him!
With the arrival of the Christmas spirit, comes the arrival of the cold weather and snow. We've experienced one of the warmest Novembers on record, with no snow at all, and mild temperatures with plenty of warm Chinooks keeping the frost just to overnight time. However, this week has seen temperatures plunge downwards and we've had a couple of snowfalls to make us happy again. More snow is forecast for the beginning of next week, and the world is turning white again!
We're off this coming weekend to chop down our Christmas tree in the foothills. $5 buys you a permit, and with this you can select up to 3 trees, chop them down and transport them home. Bargain! We plan to make a day of it with our friends, the Ross's and have a fire pit with marshmallows out in the forest. Photos to come later.
In the meantime, here are a couple of photos of the house in it's Christmassy lights, and our latest addition - a hand carved reindeer from Millarville christmas market.

Happy first Canniversary to us!

2009-11-05T16:29:00.000-08:00

We've done it....we've been here in Canada exactly one year today! I can't believe how time has flown. I've just been looking back at old threads I wrote on here a year back, and it was such an emotional time. I remember crying as we took off from Gatwick, mostly from exhaustion I think, but also thinking of all the people we were leaving behind. I also remember how unfamiliar everything seemed to begin with, and how, although we were enjoying the adventure, everything was such hard work to begin with - like finding out where to shop for different items, rules of the road, food shopping took HOURS as we got to grips with new brands, foods etc. Everything seemed so strange and new.
All those unfamiliar feelings seem a lifetime away now. We feel so at home here now and have made so many great friends and met some fantastic people. There have been worrying times along the way - job searches, kids settling into new routines, all that sort of stuff, but we truly feel that we are establishing ourselves here now and feel so much richer in so many ways. The Canadian laid back attitude has rubbed off on us now, and we no longer fret about minor things in the way we used to, and their constant positive attitude has rubbed off too. There is so much less 'doom and gloom' here. When we left the UK, the recession was biting hard, and every time you switched on the TV, it was a torrent of bad news and pessimism. Here in Canada, it couldn't be more different. The news here looks on the bright side, even when times are tough, and it helps everyone feel good and look for the silver lining.
Neil and I are off for a fancy meal tomorrow night to celebrate not just our anniversary here, but also his recent success with his job. 2 deals this month! One year on, we feel proud to say we've done it....we had a dream and we went for it. It was a long hard road to emigrate here, with many months of anxiety, stress and worry, but it has been worth every sleepless night, every penny it cost us to move our lives 5000 miles away from Swindon, and every minute of stress wondering 'are we mad to do this?'. If you have a dream, you MUST go for it, or you'll always wonder 'What if?'
If we return to the UK on a holiday (which we plan to do in the next 12 months or so, finances permitting) then I feel sure that, although it will be wonderful to see friends and family again, and there will be a lot of nostalgia, we will still feel happy about boarding a plane bound for Calgary again, knowing that we are going 'home' to Okotoks, and feel that this is where we belong!

WoooOOOoooo!

2009-10-31T16:56:00.000-07:00

It's the night when ghouls and ghosties come a knocking.....Halloween seems to have been revving up here for weeks, and tonights finally the night. Houses around are bedecked with orange lights, pumpkins and even entire graveyards with dry ice machines going......there's no doubt, All Hallow's Eve is HUGE here. I've bought a few hundred candy bars and chocolates and I'm waiting by the door. Jaz has gone out 'trick or treat'-ing with her friend Ella, so here are a few spooky pics of local houses, our scary spook Jaz herself, and a ....er.....lovely....halloween treat that she made for her Guide group party this week.....severed fingers.....ugh!

Alberta Bound

2009-10-23T21:45:00.001-07:00

Shamelessly stolen from the 'Moving or new to Okotoks' group on Facebook, but for those of you who've never been here, a music video which kind of sums up Alberta for those of us who love it. It's more like a promotional tourism video than a music video, but we think it's a brilliant way to share all we love about this place we now call home. Mostly filmed around these parts, with the Okotoks Big Rocks themselves featuring about 1.07mins into the video....enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhkcjxLCm8Y

Jake's Field Trip

2009-10-17T14:48:00.000-07:00

Jake has just returned from his first residential field trip since moving over here. He spent 4 days and 4 nights at the YMCA Camp Chief Hector near Canmore with his Grade 6 buddies. He was really looking forward to sharing a cabin with his best friends Spencer and Tom (Spencer is in the red jacket, Tom is just to the right of Spencer) and had an amazing time in the snowy mountains. He got back to nature learning about ecosystems, food chains and the natural world by playing games, hiking and team building. He came home tired and in need of a long, hot bath, but with plenty of tales to tell and a smile on his face. Great stuff!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-10-15T07:02:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was a long weekend, with Monday off as it was Thanksgiving in Canada. All a bit early I hear you mutter, thinking of the US Thanksgiving which is celebrated just a week or so before Christmas, but here it's in October. In Canada, Thanksgiving is like a big Harvest Festival, where family and friends come together to celebrate and give thanks.....and eat loads of turkey!
Being as our families are all many thousands of miles away, we decided to club together with my friends Debbie and Kat, and their families, and celebrate together in a 'pot luck, but not so random' sort of way. We each took responsibility for part of the feast, and everyone came over for an afternoon and evening of eating, drinking and general silliness. Everyone had a great time, and we're going to continue the tradition with future festivals as they come up, as we all had so much fun together.

2009-10-09T18:35:00.001-07:00

Jaz had her enrollment night at Guides last night. Despite never being part of Brownies or Guides until this year, she has fitted right in and is loving all the activities and challenges that they do. She's already had her first camp out, and has also taken part in selling Guide Cookies door to door - making over $100 in sales that has gone towards future guiding work. She was a very proud girl after the ceremony, and although she was nervous about forgetting her 'promise', she did us proud! Well done Jaz!
The temps as you know have plummeted over the last few days, and last night it was a very chilly -10 degrees. Nevertheless, Neil was out barbecuing our steaks in the snow.....truly Canadian eh?

2009-10-05T10:32:00.000-07:00

Have just read that Canada is ranked the 4th best place to live in the world! Only beaten by Norway, Australia and Iceland....Britain didn't even make the top 20. Looks like we might have made a good choice then....

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/6261469/Britain-slips-out-of-top-20-best-countries-to-live-in.html#

Snow again!

2009-10-04T14:17:00.000-07:00

Ok, so here's how the seasons seem to go here.....winter... winter... winter... summer... summer ...winter. Last week we were still basking in temperatures of plus 30 degrees, and now its down to single digits, with a couple of below zero mornings, and this morning.......snow! We're still getting to grips with the whole 'extreme change in weather in just a few hours' thing that seems to happen here.
The re-arrival of the snow has transported us back in time to our first months here, and we've been reminiscing about how excited we were to see the first snowfalls of last year, and how Jake and Jaz couldn't wait to get out there and play in it. This year.....oh so different! Jaz woke this morning, looked out the window and said 'oh....the snow's back then' in a very casual tone. Jake got up and didn't comment on it at all! (Although to be fair, he is in that 'teenager monosyllabic grunting...surprised by nothing' sort of stage in his life now!) Neil is pleased to see it back....he loves the snowy look and I would be too if it was just another month on from now, but snow in October seems a little early to me. I'd have liked to hold onto the warm autumn days a little longer I think, especially as last winter was sooooo long (we were still getting snow in May!). The snow is a bit 'British' in texture at the moment.....a bit wet and sloppy, I prefer the snow around late November - February where it's dry and powdery, but I'm sure we'll get it soon enough. This snow is already melting fast, but more is forecast for the end of the week, so we'll see what happens....

Sunset in Alberta

2009-09-25T21:44:00.000-07:00

I know I've posted on here already today, but have just taken piccies of the most amazing sunset. The whole sky just turned pink and it was the eeriest but most beautiful thing....enjoy!

September in Okotoks

2009-09-25T17:54:00.000-07:00

Well, the season is officially 'fall'........or 'autumn' depending on who you talk to! It is now late September, and the farmers are busy in the fields with their combine harvesters, the trees are turning beautiful shades of golden and russet and there is a definite chill in the air come early morning.....but were it not for these physical signs around us, you would be forgiven for thinking that summer was still at it's height. The weather is still amazingly warm, a real Indian summer, with record breaking temperatures, including 2 days this week when the temps have been in excess of 30 degrees! If it weren't for the darker mornings (I'm getting up at sunrise now at 6.30am) and the clearer air over the Rockies, which makes them appear several kilometres closer, you would still think we were in mid August. We've had but one night of rain in the last 7 weeks! It is due to cool a little next week, but the sunshine is still here to stay, and it is definitely one of the reasons living here is such a pleasure.
The kids are back doing their regular round of clubs and activities during the week and at weekends - a variety of sports and social events. It keeps us busy, running them here, there and everywhere, but it is lovely to be able to do so at long last, without having the worry of working late, or extra work in the evenings. Even us adults get the chance to indulge a past-time now! Neil has started a photography course (see lovely photos of Sheep River here....after his first lesson!) and I am starting Curling next week. It's something I've been longing to try and I'll let you know how it goes!
Neil is continuing to work very hard, and now has his identity plastered over his car to remind the good people of Okotoks and beyond who he is and what he does! (see photo!) He's feeling a tremendous sense of achievement and is loving the challenges of setting up as a realtor.
All is good as we fast approach our first yearly milestone as permanent residents here in Canada.

Jaz's first camp

2009-09-12T14:58:00.000-07:00

Jasmine has joined the Girl Guides here in Okotoks, and her first taste of fun was a 2 night camping trip at Camp Gardner near Bragg Creek. I wasn't sure if she'd want to go so soon after signing up, but she was very enthusiastic, even when she discovered she was staying in a proper tent, and not a cabin like the Brownies do.
We both went off to Walmart to gather supplies, such as a sleeping bag, tarp, eating utensils and a flashlight, and she loved putting together her list of equipment. We drove her over last night and within minutes of arriving in the woods where they were pitching tents, she waved us off with a shrug, and pitched in to help her fellow guides with tent building. The only thing she was a bit miffed about was not being allowed to bring any candy. There was a total food ban to stop unexpected visitors invading their campsite at night....bear shaped in particular! When we explained it though, she was more than happy to leave it behind. I don't think she was too keen on sharing her tent with any grizzlies this weekend!

Rodeo Time!

2009-09-06T10:40:00.001-07:00

Yeehaa!
We went to our first Rodeo last night here in Okotoks and had a great time! The kids particularly got into it, especially Jaz who was whooping and whistling along with the best of them. We all had Stetsons so we'd look the part and after a bit of a slow start with the bull riding (them bulls were frisky so it was a bit of a risky business for the cowboys climbing aboard), we enjoyed such delights as bareback bronco riding (truly mad, boy must those guys need a chiropractor afterwards!), calf roping and tie-down, steer wrestling, saddled broncos and the junior events like 'mutton bustin'! (very small kids riding sheep, hilarious!) It all concluded with the final event where they release wild horses around the arena, then, in teams of 3, have to capture the horse, saddle it and ride it once round the arena without being thrown off. The horses definitely had the better of most of the riders that's for sure and I bet there are more than a few stiff and sore cowboys today! The animals were all well cared for and went home none the worse for wear, which is more than could be said for some of the riders, who limped off bruised and battered.

back to school photos

2009-08-31T11:00:00.000-07:00

Well, all is quiet in the house. The kids went back to school this morning! Woohoo!

back to school!

2009-08-25T08:36:00.000-07:00

Well, the new term is just lurking around the corner (Monday 31st Aug) and we have been busy preparing for the new school year. Jasmine has had a funky new haircut and looks very grown up! We've been out buying back to school clothes - which seems very surreal as it's just ordinary clothes and trainers rather than school uniform! We've opted for Walmart and Superstore stuff mainly as their clothes seem to get wrecked very quickly and it's not worth spending the extra for better quality clothing, only to see it come home with holes in the knees and all sorts of unimaginable but unshiftable stains down the front within the first week. I'm busy naming all their belongings as it's all sure to go astray in the first week too, and we've been out to buy the huge list of school stationery supplies that Jake needs now he's in Grade 6. When they get to grade 6, they have a long list of stuff to supply for themselves, and places like Staples are totally heaving with every conceivable marker, exercise book and duotang (yes, we had to find out what these were too!)you could imagine. Staples employ extra staff to help guide you round the store helping you locate these often mysterious accessories! We managed to get everything on the list I think, but goodness knows how he'll carry it all to school - I think we may have to go in the car on the first day!
The children only recently found out whose class they'll be in this year. They each received letters in mid August informing them of their new classes and teachers. All the classes get mixed up so they were busy phoning round finding out who was in whose class. Jake has Mrs Burnett (apparently 'waaay' strict, so that's good!)and Jasmine has Mrs Jacks in Grade 4 this year. Both seem pretty happy so that's good. The first day back includes a welcome breakfast for mums and dads too - so it looks like I'll be up and out early along with them!
Jake and Jasmine both have residential trips ahead this term. Jaz just has an overnight stay down south at Frank Slide, and Jake is heading off to Canmore for a 5 day outward bound trip. They've been busy saving up to help pay for their trips (which was strongly suggested and encouraged by school before the summer break, to give them an idea of how much these things cost) by doing chores around the house.
We've also been busy booking this terms sports and leisure activities. Jas is continuing with her swimming lessons and tumbling/trampolining class and is also starting springboard diving classes, as well as Brownies. Jake is continuing with drumming, and also starts basketball classes. I'm going to start curling (!!) and Neil is booked onto photography evening classes. We're all going to be busy bees that's for sure - especially once ski season arrives!

A trip to the Zoo

2009-08-22T18:30:00.000-07:00

Time to make the most of the great weather while it's still here, and also the last few days before the kids go back to school, so we decided to spend the day at Calgary Zoo. It's a vast place, and it's hard to believe that you're minutes away from Downtown while you're there. Most of the zoo is on an island in the Bow River, and there are different themed areas for the different continents. We had a wonderful day and all fell in love with the new baby gorilla. So cute!

Show and Shine

2009-08-22T17:59:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we went to the Okotoks Show and Shine, an annual event where all the local petrol heads who own classic cars park along the main street in Olde Towne and let everyone admire their hours of hard work and beautifully restored vehicles. There were some fantastic cars, and Jake in particular was in his element, marvelling at how shiny their engines were. He found the hugest truck in a quiet shade of vivid yellow, a Ford F650 no less, and announced that THAT was the truck he wanted! We saw a couple of old DeLoreans, which looked much smaller and less impressive than I remember them when they were famous back in the 80's. I tried to explain how they were made cool by Back to the Future etc. but the kids were not impressed - 'it looks kinda ordinary mum!' said Jaz. She found a humongous pink 50's dream machine that she decided was for her, and I fell in love with more than a couple of 60's Mustangs. I never realised how much the locals love to tinker with their old cars, there were so many! Some owners loved to start them up and blow your eardrums out with their deafening roars. As we walked back to my somewhat ordinary Chrysler (in comparison) Jake was grinning from ear to ear, I think it made his day!

A trip to Heritage Park

2009-08-02T19:49:00.000-07:00

Neil has been working so hard over the last few weeks, effectively doing two jobs at the same time, so we decided to have a family day last Wednesday. We recently bought annual passes to Heritage Park in Calgary, so we decided to use them!
Heritage Park is located close to the Glenmore reservoir and is Canada's largest living history museum. There are lots of attractions there including old fashioned fairground rides and a steamboat, as well as a traditional steam railway that circumnavigates the park. Everyone who works there is dressed in period costume, and all the buildings are faithful reproductions of original buildings from Calgary and the surrounding area from the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.
The weather was perfect, beautiful sunshine, with just a cool breeze to keep it comfortable. We had a wonderful day out, and didn't get to see everything, so there is plenty more to do next time.

July updates

2009-07-18T21:07:00.000-07:00

Wow, it's been a while since I updated the blog so I'd better get busy and fill you all in on the last few weeks.
Firstly, my mum came out on a two week visit. It was a relief to see her looking so much better after she's been so poorly over the last few months. Although the sun didn't shine as much as we would have liked, and the weather was distinctly cool and wet for the time of year, she seemed to have a good time, and we were able to show her a few of the beautiful places we've grown to love over the few months we've been here. This time, the trip up to Lake Louise meant we saw water rather than a frozen lake, and we were lucky with the weather as the sun shone on a warm day. Unfortunately, Moraine Lake was less spectacular this time around as the rockpile walk was shut and this affords easily the best views out across the lake. We also took a trip out to Elbow Falls, and to Drumheller, as well as a trip into the city.
Neil has been very busy setting up his realtor business over the last few weeks, and has been making contacts and meeting with potential clients too. There seems to be so much to do, from sorting out office space at the CIR brokerage in town, to ordering his sale boards, buying office supplies and sorting out various forms of advertising. He's been a busy bee indeed, especially as he will continue to work at the video store until he makes his first sale.
I finished my job for the summer break at the end of June, and have been arranging other ways to make a living for the next 9 weeks until my new contract starts. I'm going to do a little tutoring over the summer, as well as a little work with Raya as she attends summer camps and sports clubs. I'm also looking forward to spending time with the children and sorting out the household chores, as well as getting out in the sunshine.
I've also found a course in Canadian Studies offered by the University of Calgary, so will be busy trying to sort out my studies during the next academic year, hopefully gaining my full certification to teach this time next year, and may start 'subbing' at local schools from Sept 2010.
We are continuing to build up a great network of new friends here, both Canadian and ex-pat Brits through our jobs and also in our local neighbourhood. We were marvelling the other day at how many wonderful people we've met since we arrived nearly 9 months ago, and what good friends they are becoming. People have been so warm and welcoming to us and it's certainly true that good friends really enrich our lives here in our new home.
We're beginning to sort out our landscaping around the house now, although it's a slow process. We've finally got our front lawn down, and it's looking very lush and green. The next step is our fence, and then the back lawn can be laid. I'm looking forward to landscaping the yard and finally putting some trees and shrubs in to make it feel more attractive.
The children finished school for the summer 3 weeks ago, receiving very good end of year reports, and are participating in a variety of summer camps to keep them from becoming too bored over the next 9 weeks. They are both keen to find out which teachers they will have next year, but don't find out until late August, just before they return to school. Jake will be entering his final year in elementary school - grade 6, while Jaz will be going into grade 4. This time next year Jake will be about to start junior high school - eek!

Fathers Day

2009-06-21T15:26:00.000-07:00

We decided to head out to Kananaskis today, to the Sheep River falls, west of Turner Valley, to celebrate Father's Day with a picnic in the woods. The weather was less than great with rain showers and cloud covering most of the higher peaks, but nevertheless, it was a breathtaking spot. We kept a look out for wildlife after my 'moose' spotting last weekend, and sharp eyes spotted a fleeting glance of a wolf by the roadside. No bears, although a tomato that Neil dropped during lunch mysteriously disappeared from under the table at some point - so there must have been a little critter about the place!

Parade Day

2009-06-20T13:40:00.001-07:00

Today was the annual Okotoks Parade. It all kicked off with a pancake breakfast on Elizabeth Street first thing (yum!) followed by a fabby parade of all things and people Okotokian down the main street. We decided to pitch a spot on the beer terrace outside 'The Willy' - a local pub just by the main intersection, and enjoyed a drink in the warm sun while we watched the various cars, floats and trucks drive by. A great morning!

Day out to South West Alberta

2009-06-14T17:48:00.000-07:00

Today was my birthday, so we decided to take a day trip south and see more of our province. We started at 'Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump' (catchy name eh?) which does exactly what it says on the tin! It is a UNESCO world heritage site, which kind of puts it on a par with the Pyramids in terms of historical importance!

Thousands of years ago, the First Nations people of the Northern lands used to drive herds of Buffalo over the edge of this erratic escarpment to their deaths below. They would do this so that they could kill enough bison to last them through the long harsh winter. None of the buffalo was wasted, from the meat to the skin and bones, all was used in their daily lives, from making skins to cover their tipis, fat for cooking, and of course the meat. The drop was twice as deep thousands of years ago, but even now it is impressive. We marvelled at the views from the top, as well as enjoying the very impressive museum which has been cleverly built into the hillside. I was impressed with how much Jake and Jasmine already knew about the traditions of the Blackfoot tribal people. They've learnt loads at school, so were very interested in all the artefacts and exhibits.
We then headed west towards the mountains again, stopping for lunch by the Oldman River at Pincher Creek, which was very pretty. We decided to drive up towards the Crowsnest Pass and visit the Frank Slide museum, deep in the mining areas of Crowsnest. In 1903, almost the entire mining village of Frank was buried under a huge mountain slide as Turtle Mountain partly collapsed. We loved the interactive museum , and learnt loads about how and why the disaster occurred. The rubble has been largely left as it fell, and it was eery driving through the site and seeing the devastation - even though it happened 95 years ago!
We drove back through the foothills, along the Cowboy Trail, and saw our first moose! Cool!
A lovely memorable day for all of us

Some pics of our community

2009-05-29T22:14:00.000-07:00

Neil and I went for a walk yesterday evening, just around our community of Drake Landing. For those of you not acquainted with the town of Okotoks, there are several communities situated either north or south of the Sheep River, which runs through the centre of our town. We live to the north, in the newest subdivision (or housing estate to use a UK term) of Drake Landing. We are on the North Eastern edge of the town, high up on the hills overlooking the town, which lies to the South of us. The area is growing fast, but is beginning to look less and less like a building site now, and more and more green and pleasant as the summer approaches. It's a lovely area, with lots of green fields and natural creeks around us, which have plenty of wildlife. We see deer regularly (a pic of one that was close by is included here!) as well as Arctic Hares, which are beginning to lose their winter white fur and becoming browner as the summer comes, and we often hear the coyotes howling in the twilight. Last night, we were being serenaded by bullfrogs with their deep croaks of 'lurve' (it is the mating season!) as we wandered around the lake. They were so loud! I actually saw a coyote for the first time by the highway this morning on my daily commute, and was astonished to discover that they really really look like Wiley Coyote from the Roadrunner cartoons! They have the same spindly nose and long ears and are slightly larger than a fox.

ice cream!

2009-05-29T22:10:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, we decided to drive out to Cochrane, a town similar in size to Okotoks, but nearer the mountains, for one of the MacKays legendary ice-creams. It took just over an hour to get there, but the ice-cream was to die for! Cochrane is a cute town with lots of character, and some lovely shops. We had a great time and the ice-cream really hit the spot on a hot summers day.

Our new deck!

2009-05-18T17:07:00.001-07:00

Now that the ground has thawed, and we have temperatures above, rather than below, zero, it was time to start thinking about our outside space. Our house is on a gentle slope, which means the land falls away slightly towards the back of the property. We don't have a big enough slope for a 'walkout' basement, but nevertheless, it is a pretty big drop from our patio doors to the ground below - about 5 feet!
So, time to plan and build our deck. Here in Canada, almost every home is incomplete without one, and they come in all shapes and sizes. We wanted a deck that would stand up to the many days of intense sunshine, extremely dry climate and harsh winter temperatures, especially considering our backyard is south facing. Therefore, rather than go for a completely wooden deck, which would need replacing after about 3-5 years, we decided to go for a composite material, which is longer lasting and durable. It cost a little more, but should save us money long term.
We've also gone for a 2 tier deck, with a high platform outside the patio doors for the barbecue area, and a lower deck just above ground level for the table and chairs, to make the deck feel more like part of the rest of the garden.
We're really pleased with the results, and have enjoyed our first barbie and meal outside this weekend in the +20's temperatures this May long weekend. Hopefully this is just the start of the transformation of our outdoor space!

Sporting Matters

2009-05-18T16:46:00.000-07:00

The arrival of better weather means one thing and one thing only - time to get outside and play a little more sport, without danger of you freezing solid or having to wear 6 layers of snowproof clothing.
Jaz has started her trampolining up again, at Airborne Tumbling and Trampolining Club. She's been missing it a lot since her move over here, so it was a relief to get her into a local club. She's going to start with the trampolining, and might well take up tumbling too later in the year. So far, she's loving her new club, and is in a small group of about 4 kids, doing a 90 minute session once a week. They have 3 trampolines, so there's plenty of bounce time, and she's managed to pick up where she left off, although the levels here are all a little different. As well as the bouncing, they also do a lot of strength and flexibility training too, which she's enjoying.
Jake has started up his footie again too, although herein known as soccer. Here, football is the American Football style game (known as Canadian football obviously on this side of the border) and with the new name, comes a whole new language. Boots are 'cleats', tackling is 'hustling'....I could go on. He's joined the Okotoks Warriors team, and plays in the High Country League. Here, kids soccer is much more inclusive than in the UK. Jake will never be a future Beckham, but has always really enjoyed playing. For the first time here, he is able to play in a competitive league without fear of rejection or ridicule. It has done wonders for his self esteem, and there are lots of other kids at a similar skill level so that he feels a valued part of a team, where the emphasis is on having fun and enjoying the game, rather than the pushy and at times downright aggressive junior league system in the UK, where if you weren't very skilful or didn't show enough natural flair, you were either bypassed completely, or doomed to sit endlessly on a subs bench. There are no screaming parents on the sidelines, hurling abuse when a child miskicks or makes a mistake. Here, bad behaviour such as swearing is treated really seriously, with matches being forfeited or coaches sacked for unsportsmanlike conduct. Instead, the atmosphere is positive and encouraging, with parents cheering their kids on, win or lose, smiling and laughing and enjoying the game. A far healthier approach in our opinion.

Our first houseguest

2009-04-11T16:55:00.001-07:00

Neil's mum arrived on 8th April. We went to meet her from the airport, and it felt odd collecting someone as a visitor rather than arriving to check in and fly out! After a couple of days to acclimatise and get the body clock onto Mountain time, we headed out as a family to the mountains for a trip to Lake Louise and Banff. It's been nearly 4 years since we were last there as holidaymakers and it had quite a different feel this time as the lakes are mostly all still frozen over, and there's a whole lot more snow around this time! We also got to grips with the fact that this is all close to home and just a short drive away now, rather than the holiday of a lifetime destination! A lot of places are still closed and inaccessible at this time of year (Moraine Lake for one) but nevertheless we were able to show Sue some wonderful sights and breathtaking views. We stayed overnight in Banff and then travelled up Sulphur Mountain by cable car to the summit, which gave us the most incredible panoramic views across the mountain ranges and the town of Banff. We finished off by a visit to Lake Minnewanka (yep, that really is it's name!!!) and saw some mountain goats licking the salt off the highway. We all thoroughly enjoyed our trip and feel very rested and chilled now we are back at home, with fresh mountain air in our lungs! We should sleep well tonight!

So this is Spring eh?

2009-03-29T07:25:00.000-07:00

You know I said in my previous post that it looked as though Spring was finally arriving?....WELL I LIED!
We've had two more dumpings of the white stuff on consecutive weekends. Last weekend saw 15cm fall, and this morning we've woken up to another 15cm at least, and it's still coming down hard!
Bloomin' groundhog!
The early morning commute to Calgary tomorrow will be fun.....slippin' and a slidin' on the Deerfoot Trail all the way I think!

Spring is coming!

2009-03-20T08:21:00.000-07:00

Well at long last, it seems as though the really REALLY cold weather might be behind us. I don't want to tempt fate, but it has been soooo much warmer and more pleasant here recently. Even when we have a cold day, it doesn't drop down into minus double digits, so it's a big relief.
Today is officially the first day of spring, and we are on target to have our warmest day so far - it's due to get up to about 14 degrees here today. Still plenty of sunshine, as seems to be the norm here. I reckon we have had about 80- 90% of our days here with blue skies and sunshine since we arrived in November. The only time we get cloud is when it snows. We still haven't had any rain, although we did have some sleet a couple of weeks ago which is the nearest we've got! It's all so different to what we are used to in the UK. So many people say 'How do you stand the cold?' but although it can be freezing, it's preferable to us for it to be cold and sunny than endlessly grey and damp.

Whenever the weather warms up so much, it's due to a Chinook, a warm weather front which blows in from British Columbia over the Rockies. You see it coming as it forms a Chinook Arch, like a firm arch shaped front of cloud over the mountains (see the pic here from our dining room window!) Then you know you're in for a pleasantly warm day or two.
The snow is melting away quickly now, but we still have a few piles out the front of our house as the front drive is north-facing. Across the street, everyone has their lawns back and, although the grass looks all brown and dead, I'm assured by the locals that give it a couple of months, and it will be green and pleasant again.

Not that that will be true in our garden until we do some serious landscaping and turf laying. As the weather improves, and the ground thaws, it is time to start thinking about sorting our plot out and changing the brown mud for something nicer to look at and play on! I guess it's par for the course when you buy a new home, but having never owned a brand new house before, it's all new to us!
First things first - a deck! At the moment we have a big 5ft drop from out patio doors at the back to the garden below! We need to get some decking people out to give us quotes, as a high deck like that needs decent footings and stuff - all beyond the simple skills of Mr Stophe! We also need a fence down one side of the property, and then some turf. As we live in a strict eco-friendly community, we have to observe all sorts of bylaws for water conservation too so it gets a little complicated if we want flowerbeds (we need built in irrigation systems as we can't use hosepipes etc). Having a deck will make such a difference now the weather is warming up. I'm dying to get out there and top up my vitamin D! We'll also need the obligatory HUGE grill (barbecue) that is part of any Canadian 'backyard'. They don't call them gardens much here, as a garden is more like a vegetable garden.

We are also busy preparing for Neil's mum to come out in 2 weeks time. We're off to IKEA to buy extra bedding next week, and are busy trying to plan a rough itinerary of places to visit whilst she's here. Lake Louise and Banff are definites, with a possible trip out to Drumheller to see the dinosaurs (!) and down to Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump (shorty catchy name for a place eh?) to see the sights. Calgary Tower will be another definite must-see....will she have the bottle to stand on the glass floor???? Time will tell! It's all very exciting to welcome our first UK visitor, and show them the sights and sounds of our wonderful new home. We're going to let the kids stay up extra late to pick her up from the airport, so they're very excited too!

Birthday boys!

2009-03-07T10:22:00.000-08:00

Neil and Jake both celebrated their birthdays this week. Neil on the 1st, and Jake today (7th). Neil had to work on both days unfortunately, but we still managed to give him a lovely evening with a chocolate brownie cake and a lovely meal at the 'Big Rock Inn' Chinese restaurant.
Jake got a plentiful supply of hockey gear for his birthday, including a Flames shirt and a hockey goal so that he can stop slamming the puck into our garage door on a daily basis! He's been out since the crack of dawn practising his skills with his friend Tom. We're off to Boston Pizza tonight for a nice meal, and he has a fantastic birthday cake from Dairy Queen - although he doesn't know it yet - made from Cookie dough ice cream - mmmm!

school projects

2009-03-07T10:10:00.000-08:00

The children recently had a week off school (lots of INSET days plus Family Day all lumped together to give them a mid term break) but both had major homework projects to complete. Jaz had a project where she had to show she understood the Water Cycle by creating a presentation about it, and Jake had to create a project which showed his understanding of chemical changes. Both of them really worked hard and created projects to be proud of. They found that taking part in the project really helped them to deepen their understanding, and we didn't really have any tantrums this time! Progress!

Mind your language!

2009-02-28T09:50:00.000-08:00

Being Brits in Okotoks doesn't usually cause much comment from the locals, as many locals are also British too, and the others are so used to hearing British accents around town that it has long ceased to be a topic of conversation for most! However, venture into Calgary and it becomes more of a talking point.
Several facebook friends have commented on my growing Canadianisms in my writings, and I guess it's just a natural thing to adjust your words and expressions to fit your surroundings. Mostly you do it to make yourself understood amongst the local folk, as many can look at you quizzically when you say 'fizzy drink' instead of 'pop' or that you will 'ring' someone later rather than give them a 'call'. Although we share a language, there are many subtle differences that cause a little confusion at times, or, in my experiences at work, chuckles and gentle teasing about my 'funny English words'!
The children found out pretty quickly that if you ask your teacher for a 'rubber' rather than an 'eraser' it can have quite a different effect (hee hee!) They already correct us with their newly acquired knowledge of Canadian English, with the 'chips/crisps' debate, and the soccer/football thing too. Jumpers are now 'sweaters' and tops are 'shirts' even if they don't have buttons!
We've learnt to call shopping trolleys 'carts' now after confusing the people at Walmart on more than one occasion, and have mastered the essential coffee ordering lingo. We know our 'double doubles' from our 'regular non fat latte' now and don't feel a cold sweat coming on as we join the 'line up' not the queue, at the Tim Hortons or Starbucks in town.
Working with children with speech and language issues means that I have to be very conscious not just about the words I use, but also my accent and intonation. Little people often just look at me blankly when I pronounce words in a particularly English way and I am learning to Canadianize my accent at work, not just to make myself understood with my little wonders, but also to provide correct models of speech for them. This usually makes me quite Canadian on my return from work each day. I'll still be talking about 'budderflies' and rolling my 'r's like a local! I remember asking Raya to fetch her 'felt tips' back at the beginning of the year, only to be met with a quizzical stare, and a 'pardon me? Apparently they are 'markers' here. Raya is very strict with me and makes me 'say it properly' before we can continue our activities - so funny! The other day I warned her about 'watching the wire' that was trailing across the room from her mum's laptop. Very sternly, she put her hands on her hips and corrected me - 'Sarah it's a CORD not a WIRE!' I was told.

Canadians get very offended when people call them American and tell them their accent is the same. It is subtly different and we can now tell Canadians and Americans apart. It's all in the vowels. Canadians have a vowel shift called 'Canadian Raising' which means that words with a long 'igh' sound like 'right' or 'hike' come out as 'rate' and 'hake'. They also pronounce the long 'ou' sound as an 'oa' so words like 'how' come out as 'hoe' and 'mountains' is more 'moantains'.

There are a couple of things that Canadians seem a little confused or undecided about. They have an interesting mix of metric and imperial measures here. There are no miles, only kilometres on the roads, and litres at the petrol pumps too. Temperatures are in degrees Celsius unlike their neighbours to the south! However, measurements seem to mostly be in inches and there are still a lot of pounds and ounces around.
They also seem undecided about spellings. It seems that here, anything goes really regarding traditional English v American spelling. Although everything you read tells you that Canadians follow the English pattern of things with 'our' endings on words like 'colour' and 're' endings for words like 'centre', the reality is different. I don't think they get too hung up on it to be honest, which would match the laid back attitude to life of most Canadians.

Monster Truckin'!

2009-02-14T11:29:00.001-08:00

Yeeha! We took the kids on a 'mystery tour' last night as an early treat for Jake's birthday, and to celebrate the end of the first half term. Jake has long been a fan of monster trucks, and watches them on TV, so when Neil heard that Monster Jam was coming to town, he couldn't resist!
I wasn't sure that Jaz would enjoy it so much but how wrong can you be? She was whooping and cheering on with the rest of the crowd and got really into the spirit of it. It was good family fun, and it was hilarious to see all the dressed up members of the audience in their mullet wigs and dungarees!
It was our first trip to the Pengrowth Saddledome, home of the Calgary Flames NHL team. It is a 20,000 seater indoor stadium which, as well as being a competition hockey rink, is also a concert venue. It was built just over 20 years ago for the 1988 winter olympics and gains it's name from it's unusually shaped roof. Jake is now desperate to go back and watch a Flames match. He's got really into the ice hockey scene here and watches the Flames games nightly on TV. Watch this space...I expect a return visit is imminent!

school stuff!

2009-02-12T08:07:00.001-08:00

We've just attended 2 excellent events at the childrens' elementary school here in Okotoks, and it prompted me to write a little about their new school life.
Both Jake and Jasmine have just had 'student-led conference' evenings at school. The events are a little like 'open evening' in the UK, which is a chance to see their work and visit their classrooms, but with a bit of a difference. Here, the children have helped to set an agenda for the evening, which covers a wide variety of different subjects. There are different activities on the agenda, which include a chance to celebrate a small selection of their work, alongside practical activities involving parents too. It is a chance for the children to lead the parents through their learning process, and show them how they understand what they have covered so far. It was a lot of fun and really interesting.
Jake enjoyed sharing his excellent audio compositions on the Macbooks that he uses at school, and also showed us some amazing science skills, talking us through and showing us how to make 'gloop' slime! He shared some brilliant PE warm up games in the gym, which showed Neil and I just how unfit we are, as well as sharing some of his math achievements and written work.
Jas tested our listening skills in a fun game, where we had to guess a place she was describing from a variety of photos. Her descriptive language work in her writing was superb! Her teacher says she is a really talented writer and we have to agree! She also showed us a cool science trick and some of her wonderful art work.
It was wonderful to see them both so proud of their achievements, and they really enjoyed being able to lead the evening, and demonstrate their skills.
We continue to be really impressed with their new school. We always loved Brook Field so it was important to us to find them a school here that matched what we had in the UK. We truly feel that we've done that with DMG, right from the moment we looked around the school back in April last year, we felt the same sort of ethos and atmosphere in this school too.
DMG is a big school in terms of numbers of students (around 700 in all!) but doesn't feel that big when you visit. They have a policy of multi-aging, where most classes are mixed year groups, and classes are arranged in 'pods' or groups of around 4 together. Each pod has a mixture of year groups within it, from Kindergarten up to grade 6, and the children regularly mix together across the ages for special activities, with the older children mentoring the younger students. Classes are small compared with the UK - around 22 children, this is a deliberate thing to keep relationships between students and teachers more intimate and allow more time for personal bonds to develop.
The school has a 'diversity' programme of special needs inclusion, as well as very strong arts and music programmes (music being particularly strong) as well as sports activities.
The curriculum is balanced differently here, with more time devoted to arts and sporting activities. The children have PE every day (they have a HUGE gymnasium which can accommodate 3 classes at a time) and music 3 times a week with a specialist teacher, again in a special room with a large variety of musical instruments, enough for each child to have the same instrument at once.
The terms are arranged slightly differently, with no half term breaks and just a weeks break for Easter, and a really long summer holiday which is 8 weeks long! The children always finish an hour earlier on Fridays though, and only have half days on the last days of term.
The children carry a contact diary between home and school, and they use this to keep parents informed of events on a weekly basis. The children write in their diaries each morning when they start school, and parents can also write in notes for their teacher such as upcoming medical appointments etc. This cuts down on letters home each day, and makes the children responsible for informing parents about what is going on at school. It seems to work really well.
So far, our impression of Canadian schooling is a good one. The teachers are very caring and positive with the children. They seem to know them very well and Jake has even made a buddy of the school principal - Mr Hampshire! Apparently they share a love of motor racing and Jake is enjoying reading Mr Hampshires published children's stories about cars.

milestone?

2009-02-09T16:08:00.000-08:00

I suddenly realised a few days ago, we've been here for 3 months now....a quarter of a year! I can't quite believe that time has gone so quickly. So, what is the verdict so far?
Well, we all feel very settled now. Everything that seemed so new and strange to begin with - like going shopping for unfamiliar food, watching unfamiliar TV programs, seeing a weather forecast with a new and unfamiliar shaped country on the radar, driving according to different rules such as 4 way intersections and turning right on a red light - all these things and more seem just...well...normal now. We have adjusted quickly to our new everyday lives and feel at home in Okotoks.
There's no doubt that having a job helps to normalise things even more. The day to day routines have become second nature and we are all really enjoying our new lives and daily activities.
What do we miss? Well - friends and family have to be top of the list, although we are meeting new people every day. Good, deep friendships take years to develop, and all that lies ahead of us still. Ironically, most of the people we've struck up initial friendships with happen to be British Expats! This was not intentional, but there are SO many British people around Okotoks. Neil got a comment from a customer in the video store the other day along the lines of 'You English guys are everywhere!'
Other little things spring to mind now and again. Decent TV! We get some BBC programmes here - all of which we've seen before, and are beginning to enjoy some US and Canadian shows, but there are many many channels of poor quality chewing gum for the eyes. We definitely don't watch TV as much as we used to!
There are certain foods we miss. My facebook friends will know already about my hankering for Bisto Gravy Granules (they sell the powder stuff here which is gross). You can get British favourites but at a cost. Decent cheese is a fortune! Chicken, whilst a reasonably cheap option in the UK, is expensive here, as everyone loves Alberta Beef (we are in Cowboy Country after all!). There are no Curry houses in Okotoks sadly, so I miss the takeaways too, although we have a good chinese here.
However, over all, there is nothing too drastic about these little changes to our lives. After all, we didn't come all this way to live exactly as before. With emigration comes lifestyle adjustments, some big...some small...some positive....others not so much. We have enjoyed learning new habits, making small changes and reaping the rewards. We may not be financially as comfortable as we were before, but that will take time. We are however experiencing quality time together as a family like we never did before. I love having weekends to spend time with the children, and it is great to get home earlier in the day and have a family meal together. So far so good. We are all loving our new life so far and look forward to all that this first year brings us.

A trip into the mountains

2009-01-18T14:40:00.000-08:00

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.

2009-01-16T16:43:00.000-08:00

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

2009-01-01T18:46:00.000-08:00

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!

Happy Birthday Jasmine!

2008-12-24T09:49:00.000-08:00

Jaz had a lovely birthday yesterday. She received the new bike that she's wanted for ages, and even got the chance to ride it as the sun was back and shined all day long! The arrival of the sun again lifted our spirits and made the world seem beautiful again in spite of the cold. She had breakfast in bed at her request, while she planned her future shopping trip to spend the birthday money she'd acquired! (Heelys at the top of the list!) and then had a fun time chatting to family and friends throughout the morning either on the phone or on the webcam. In the afternoon, we took her new bike for a spin on the road up to the park, then went sledging in the sunshine, before returning home for birthday cake and hot chocolate. We then played card games until dinner time, when we disappeared off to Pizza Hut. She thanked us for a lovely day with super squeezes at bedtime. It was a lovely day!

Christmas is coming!

2008-12-22T11:29:00.000-08:00

I can't believe our little girl will be 8 years old tomorrow. It seems like yesterday that we set off for the hospital in Swindon at 4am. Here we are, 8 years later, 4000 miles away where she came into the world. Christmas is just a couple of days away and finally we are beginning to feel more festive. We've watched a couple of Christmas movies which always helps get you in the mood, and the house finally feels more of a home as we now have our bedroom furniture (complete with the bed from heaven - huge and like a cloud!) and sofas in our downstairs sitting room at last! More neighbours have appeared with Christmas goodies, including jars of cakemix - no excuses, I'll have to make them now!
Christmas spirit abounds in Okotoks. There is a feeling of warmth in the air, in spite of the freeeeezing weather (more about that later). Everyone is smiling, full of festive cheer and happiness. It's a lovely place to be. Christmas Canadian style is all about the little things you can do for others, like shovelling snow from someones drive, making them cookies, or giving your time in some way. Charity donations and collections are commonplace, and presents generally consist of homemade goodies. Everyone bakes like crazy and makes beautiful ornaments to decorate the tree. It's all about the people around you - less commercial and less about money - I love it! Landmark Homes, who built our house, delivered us a large hamper of christmas goodies the other day. It was a lovely touch, and we've put it under the tree.
The children finished school at lunchtime on Friday, and came home with backpacks full of special Christmas crafts, including gingerbread, tree ornaments and candy canes. They have been enjoying just chilling out watching movies and playing with all the toys they'd forgotten existed for the last few months.
We are looking forward to our first Christmas as a foursome. It will be strange not to have our families around us, but kind of nice in a different way. It's going to be a relaxed affair with lots of eating, drinking and movies to watch. We also have planned an outdoor walk (and sledge) in the snow on Christmas morning.
The weather continues to be extremely cold, although it is supposed to get slightly warmer in the next few days. We have had a really long spell of extreme weather. There has been a lot of snow, ice and fog, with very little sun (unusual for Alberta!) and very low temperatures for over a fortnight now. The windchill has made it feel boneshatteringly cold - up to minus 38 at times! The average temperature has been down around -25 or so. It is unusual for it to be so cold for such an extended period of time here. You get odd weeks of very cold weather, but this is dragging on and on! There is a bit of blue sky today, and it is a welcome change. Your mood lifts when the sun comes out, the mountains come into view and everything looks beautiful again. We've been plugging the cars in on the coldest nights to stop the engines freezing, and you have to remember to warm up the cars in the morning for a good 15 mins before you go out, otherwise it's freezing in the car!
Neil is applying for part time work to supplement our income while he completes his realtor training. He has his first exam in January. My work has started well and I am really enjoying the work. The hours are ideal, although I have an early start and a long commute time on Tuesdays and Wednesdays as the weather has made traffic bad travelling into Calgary. A half hour drive doubles in the wintertime!
We'll put some Christmas photos on here in the next few days. Meanwhile, Happy Christmas to you all wherever you may be. Have a peaceful, relaxing holiday season xxxx

New jobs and new beginnings

2008-12-15T16:57:00.000-08:00

Well, as time is moving on, and the festive period approaches, so do the costs of day to day living and mortgage repayments! Time to look for work then - darn it!
Much as I have loved the last few weeks being a lady of leisure (and frankly think it suited me very well thank you...cup of tea....bit of Jerry Springer.....hoovering....bit of Colin and Justin....cup of tea....lunch.....tidy up a bit and unpack another box....bit of Ty Pennington and Extreme Makeover Home edition...cup of tea...you get the idea) it is time to act a little sensibly and drink a little less tea! I dug out the local paper and decided to look for a job. After a bit of searching I have managed to land a lovely part time job working with pre-school children to help them with their speech and language skills. The two children I am assigned to have some delays with their speech development, and so I get to work with them for a few hours each week to help them practice their skills and have some fun learning through play. Ideal!
I have just completed my first day and loved every minute! I have come home brimming with ideas for topics to start after the Christmas break and am full of enthusiasm for what lies ahead. I met the little girl I will be working with today and she is adorable! She cried when I left and I've promised I'll come back tomorrow to do some painting and playing again. I meet the little boy I'll be working with tomorrrow morning. Even better....it pays the mortgage! Superb!
Neil is busy starting the ball rolling with his training to become a licensed realtor. He's registered with the Calgary Real Estate board today and has applied for the first part of his coursework. Everything is moving along really nicely, and to top it all off, my dishwasher is now plumbed in too! What a great day!

Snow!

2008-12-08T06:56:00.000-08:00

Yesterday morning, as I spoke to Mum on the phone, it started to snow a bit....and then didn't stop for the rest of the day. We had 16cm of snow yesterday in Okotoks - the first big fall of the season, and it was fab! As we drove to the skating rink yesterday afternoon, it looked like a winter wonderland. "This is what we came for!" we said.
The children had a blast, sledging for hours on a hill just down the road with their friend Liam. Jaz came back rosy cheeked and with icicles on her eyelashes. They've also enjoyed shovelling the driveway and paths around the house (although after a couple more falls I reckon the novelty will wear off!). Neil even bought them their own shovels....no flies on him!
We need to keep the driveway clear for the removals men today as our furniture arrives in just a few minutes. The children were up bright and early to lend a hand.
Last night there was a knock on the door, and our neighbours were standing there with hot pecan pies and butter biscuits to welcome us to the neighbourhood! How fantastic is that? I truly believe we are living in 'The Trueman Show' sometimes!

Moving in

2008-12-06T08:16:00.000-08:00

We took possession of our new home on 4th December at 11am. It was wonderful to have our own space again and more room around us. It's been over 3 months since we last had a home of our own so it was an extra special feeling to get the keys to our own place again. The house feels so spacious and bright and we are thrilled with it.
Since we moved in, Neil and I haven't stopped unpacking, sorting and building and have gone to bed each night exhausted. We haven't got much furniture yet but there has still been plenty to do. I can't believe that we arrived with 5 suitcases a month ago, and ended up moving about 4 carloads of stuff over from the basement apartment where we have been living for the last month!
On Friday, we had to go to Canada Customs in Calgary to clear our container, which had arrived by train the night before. They were very pleasant and helpful, and didn't want to open the container to check things, which saved us time. The removal firm over here are going to deliver our goods on Monday morning first thing, so at least we will have some furniture at last!
Even though we haven't got much furniture at the moment, at least the children have beds to sleep on, and a big TV to watch, so they are happy!
Well, still plenty to do, including installing blinds at the upstairs windows to give us some privacy! We have clear glass in our bathroom window (which seems to be commonplace in Canada) so need to get a blind up pretty quickly!
The children are enjoying the freedom of walking to and from school on their own, and particularly like letting themselves into the garage using keypad entry and the automatic garage door opener! They still seem really happy at school and are doing well. Jake in particular seems much happier now, which is a big relief for us. I'm going in to help out with some of their school Christmas activities next week, which I'm looking forward too - particularly making gingerbread houses!
The next step is job hunting I suppose. Much as I like being a lady of leisure, we need to start earning soon. Time to start scanning the job pages. I can't teach until I'm registered (and I've just sent off my forms - which usually take a while to get approved), so need to look for something else in the meantime. Neil has an appointment with a real estate agency next week to discuss becoming a realtor, but will also need to look for temporary work in the meantime.

Light up Okotoks!

2008-11-22T05:57:00.000-08:00

Last night we went to our first town event - Light Up Okotoks. The main street was shut off to traffic for the evening, and shopkeepers open up their stores until late, offering free food and hot chocolate to the townspeople. All the Christmas lights are switched on and at 7pm the tree in the town square was lit up. Local children gathered to sing xmas carols in the square, and there were horse and cart rides, wandering reindeer and occasional wood burning stoves to stand to warm yourself by.
One of the car parks on the north side of the street became an unofficial skating rink due to the unmelted ice that had accumulated there over the last few days! Jas had a blast running and slipping around in her snowboots, and then decided to buy possibly the largest bag of kettle-korn you've ever seen swearing that she was going to eat it all! I think not! There was a lovely community feel to the town with lots of people greeting each other warmly and wishing each other glad tidings of the season - and it's not even December yet!
There are so many lovely little gift shops and craft stores along Elizabeth Street - I can't wait to explore them, and we saw some interesting little restaurants and cafes that we've missed just driving through. We had a lovely evening and felt very at home.

We have found a new home!

2008-11-18T16:17:00.000-08:00

Well, after a day of house viewings in the Drake Landing area, we have found the home we want to buy. It's a brand new 'ready to go' home just around the corner from where we are renting. It's a lot bigger and nicer than we thought we could afford, and I think we've got a really good deal - which has cheered us up after taking such a drop on our UK home price.
Much nail biting was done once we submitted our offer, and after a little negotiation, we had a deal! The house is detached, with a south facing rear yard, 2150 sq ft of developed space inside, with an undeveloped basement (one of our first projects as we have to have space for the rellies and friends to come and stay!) It has a front den, a large kitchen/diner/sitting room across the rear of the house, a HUGE bonus room at the top of the stairs, a large master suite with a double shower, large tub and twin basins, and 2 good sized other bedrooms. There are views of the Rockies from the rear bedrooms and our bathroom, hardwood floors through the downstairs and granite worktops in the kitchen! It's a fabulous house and we feel very lucky to have found it! Completion is set for the 4th December, so fingers crossed all the legal stuff goes through quickly. Our container of furniture is due in Calgary on the 1st of December, so this should tie in really well.

School stuff!

2008-11-18T16:02:00.000-08:00

This Monday, the children started school at Dr Morris Gibson Elementary in Crystal Shores, Okotoks. It is a 15 minute walk from where we are staying in Drake Landing, and there's nothing like being woken up by a brisk walk in the cold morning air! The children have been put in the 3rd and 5th grades so are now closer together grade-wise than they were in the UK - which is nice. Although the school years run from September just like in the UK, in Alberta, the children are graded differently - from March birthdays through to February birthdays the following year. This has made Jake (7th March b'day) one of the oldest in his grade, and Jaz (23rd December b'day) one of the younger ones in hers.
The children met their teachers on an orientation visit last Friday, which was great for them as they could visualise their classrooms and stuff over the weekend before they started. Both teachers were really lovely and very welcoming. They are in smaller classes than in the UK (around 22 students) and are really excited about not wearing uniform anymore!
Both Jake and Jasmine thoroughly enjoyed their first day, and came out of school unusually chatty, really keen to tell me about their experiences. Both had made new friends but said all the children were really friendly and helpful. Jake had really enjoyed Language Arts (literacy in the UK) and really loved a game of street hockey he'd played at recess (playtime). He went in goal (of course!) and his team won! I guess that made him popular!
Jas came home with a lovely postcard and lolly from her teacher saying how delighted she was to have her in the class. She loved the morning rendition of the Canadian National Anthem and was particularly proud as she had learnt the words over the weekend - so could sing along confidently!
First impressions were really good all round. The children seem to have settled in really well and are adjusting to the new Canadian terms for things in school, and new systems and routines really well. I've noticed Jaz is getting a slight twang to her accent already - I knew it wouldn't be long!

Our first week

2008-11-13T08:05:00.000-08:00

Well, what a packed first week we've had. The first few days were filled with the boring admin type stuff of registering for Alberta Healthcare, SIN numbers, car hire, driving licences, appointments with our bank manager to sort out bank cards, savings accounts, credit cards etc, and shopping for basic food supplies and other essentials such as a hairdryer!
We also reminded ourselves of the areas of Okotoks and quickly decided that we really want to live up on the ridge to the north of Sheep River. Crystal Shores or Drake Landing for us! (and we're veering towards Drake Landing at the moment).
We've tried to keep the boredom in check for the children by interspersing the mundane jobs with more interesting things such as trips to local restaurants, the trip into the city, to the movies, etc but it's been a little dull for them so far.

Yesterday we decided that as we plan to live up on the ridge, and we're currently renting up here anyway, we may as well bite the bullet and get them into school. Jaz has been desperate to start for the last few days although Jake is less keen (no surprises there then!). So we went up to Dr Morris Gibson elementary school yesterday afternoon and enrolled them. They start on Monday but are going to visit their teacher this Friday and take a tour of the school.

We live too close for the school bus (which they are gutted about) so they will need to walk about 15 mins. It's a nice walk with one main road to cross - and here's the difference with back in England - they will walk by themselves. It's not cool for your parents to walk you and not really considered necessary here. Even 5 year olds walk by themselves, cross the roads etc. Here in Canada, the pedestrian is king, and when we tried the walk out yesterday, the traffic just spontaneously stops to let you across at any junction! I've never experienced anything like it. It's going to seem quite alien to us at first to just let them go, but there is something really nice about it too. It is like going back in time to when I was small, when you could play out for hours without supervision. All the subdivisions (housing developments) here have very strict speed restrictions and there isn't the paranoia of 'stranger danger' at all. Nevertheless, we will walk with them for the first day, then up to the main road on day 2, then they're on their own! I've been drumming it into Jake that he needs to take care of his sister, hold her hand across the road etc, so fingers crossed he takes it on board - you never can tell with Jake!
We've got a mortgage pre-approved now, so we start house-hunting in earnest over the next day or so. It's more expensive up here on the ridge as the school has a fantastic reputation so it is a desireable area. We will have to compromise on the size of house that we were considering as we don't want to overstretch ourselves before we get jobs sorted. Neil is already being offered jobs in sales! He's not sure it's for him, but it might be a starting point until he finds his niche. Once the kids are in school, we'll have time to start writing resumes and job hunting in earnest.
Here are some photos of us at Princes Island, on the Bow river just north of downtown Calgary. It was darned cold (-4) but a beautiful place, and we enjoyed the afternoon sunshine, followed up by a lovely hot chocolate!

We're here!

2008-11-07T03:26:00.000-08:00

Well, we've made it! We 'landed' in Calgary at 8pm local time on 5th November.
Gary and Lisa drove us to the airport (thanks so much guys) and the farewells were hard - as we expected! After tearful hugs and promises to see each other next year we waved them goodbye. As we sat in the airport lounge, and then aboard the plane, I started to have my 'Oh God what are we doing????' thoughts. I was warned that it would happen by those who've been there and done it before us, and wondered when it might occur. I don't think it helped that I was so tired after very little sleep the night before. The nerves really started to kick in as we taxied down the runway and I felt really sick. It took a few hours before I began to feel more human again (a little nap helped) but by the time we were over Greenland I think I'd sorted myself out!
The flight was good, and the whole 'landing' process was really smooth and uneventful. All the immigration officials were really friendly and polite 'typically Canadian!' and put us at our ease. We made it through to the exits within the hour and Ian and Jayne were there to meet us and give us a ride to our apartment.
The apartment is a 'walkout' in Fiona and Terry's house in Drake Landing. It is brand new and gorgeous! It has everything we need for now and is very comfortable. Jake and Jaz are particularly impressed with the real flame fire that automatically turns itself on and off to keep the heat regular! We all had a good night's sleep and woke up raring to go!
There was a snowstorm as we landed on Wednesday which excited the kids no end! There's not much by Canadian standards but enough to get Jake and Jaz excited! Our first full day dawned bright and sunny with crisp white snow-covered rooftops around us - better than another grey English autumn day any time!
We packed a lot into our first day - registering for Alberta healthcare, Social insurance numbers, driving licence applications, car hire, new simcards for our phones, and an appointment with our bank manager at RBC - not to mention a trip to the pet store to buy our cat Domino some goodies for her arrival on Friday!
Lots more to do over the next few days, including shopping for a car (test drives - yippee!) and a meeting with our mortgage advisor before we start house hunting. The children have been really good so far so we also need to reward them with some treat time - maybe a trip to the cinema or the ice rink is on the cards!

We're off!

2008-11-04T21:44:00.000-08:00

I can't sleep, so I'm up at stupid oclock in the morning writing this instead. After 3 years to the day that we sent off our application to become permanent residents of Canada, we are finally going!
I can't believe this is really it. We've waited so long and now it's finally going to happen...today!
I'm feeling quite emotional - probably because I'm not sleeping well at the moment. Lots to miss...but lots to look forward to.
I think the airport goodbyes will be tough today. We went to Gary and Lisa's for farewell drinks last night and I started to well up! I'm rubbish! They are taking us to the airport today as we thought it best not to have family there. We aren't going to say goodbye - just 'see you soon'. I really want to thank everyone who's been wishing us well with texts, emails and Facebook wishes over the last few days. My phone hasn't stopped beeping! Love you all xxx
I think we'll be over our weight limit on the baggage but I don't really care any more. I've done so much packing and sorting and have got it down to the bare bones of what we need.
The last few days have been a bit fraught. Neil has been quite stressed with all the final letters, phone calls and arrangements for our departures. The children have been fantastic really. They have managed not to kill each other in spite of sharing a small room, having no toys and no space to call their own - this is progress! Maybe once they have a big house to run around in, they might appreciate it more...who knows.
So, looking back at the last few months since we received our '90 day letter' back in January, it has flown by. We've achieved so much in such a short time. I'm so relieved we managed to sell the house as now I think we'd have no chance in the current financial climate. We've seriously de-cluttered our lives and feel the better for it. We've also really begun to appreciate the value of friendship, and appreciate each other more as a family. I think, in spite of the stresses and strains of emigration, we are closer than we've ever been.
Now I'd better go, as I've finished my Lemsip (getting a cold....lovely!) and I've still got a few bits and pieces to do before we leave. My next post will be from Okotoks! Our new home...sounds so strange!

Family farewells

2008-10-31T08:04:00.000-07:00

Last night was our chance to say goodbye to our families. We had a lovely evening at Pinocchio's restaurant in Bournemouth. The whole family got together for the first time in ages and everyone had a really good time. Lots of holidays to Canada were planned for 2009 and Jake and Jasmine had a whale of a time with the cameras taking shots of everyone.

An evening of goodbyes

2008-10-27T01:45:00.001-07:00

Last night was our leaving party in Swindon. It was a chance for us to say farewell and to thank all our friends for being so fantastic. Since we moved to Swindon 15 years ago, we've met so many wonderful people and there's no doubt that one of the hardest things about emigrating is leaving them behind.
A good night was had by all and there were very few tears - which was our main aim! It was a chance to celebrate friendship and have some fun. We sincerely hope that just because we are moving a few thousand miles away, we will carry these friendships with us and keep them alive in the years ahead. So many have promised to visit us - we can only hope that they keep their promises! We would love our friends to see the beauty of Canada through our eyes, and hopefully understand what has made us decide to make it our new home.

Last day at work

2008-10-25T09:09:00.001-07:00

Well, it's the end of an era. After nearly 13 years at Brook Field Primary School, I've finally left! I never really thought the day would come.
I've been so tired over the last few weeks, not helped by rampant insomnia as my brain ticks over with my 'to do' list. I've been longing to finish, just so I can focus on the move....however...when it came down to it, it was one of the hardest days of my life.
I went through every emotion possible yesterday, and used up a whole pack of tissues! However, I didn't cry quite as much as I thought and was quite proud of myself for not becoming a jibbering wreck!
Now, I'm still looking around for work to do. I've never been in a situation where I've not had school stuff to do and it's really weird. I keep looking at my school bag, only to realise that there are no books in it to mark, or planning to sort out, or assessments to do. Weird...but nice weird!
In spite of emotions running high, it felt really good to have so many lovely messages of support and know that I will be missed, and that I have made a difference to some young peoples lives. You put in so much to a teaching career - your heart and soul, your time, dedication, everything - it's a good feeling to know that some of it is appreciated and valued.
However, now it's time for ME! I'm really looking forward to some family time, a chance to say yes when Jake or Jaz want me to do something with them, like play cards or make stuff, instead of my usual answer of 'in a minute, Mummy's busy with this', or 'maybe tomorrow, I've got to do this work for school first'. That's a good feeling!

We move out

2008-09-25T10:26:00.000-07:00

On 2nd and 3rd of September. We moved out of Exmoor Close after nine happy years there. It felt very unsettling and was quite an emotional experience for both of us.

Luckily the children went to Neil's parents for the few days leading up to the move, and the moving days. I think this was best as Jasmine is finding the whole emigration idea a little traumatic at the moment.

Robinson's did a fabulous job: Jim, Steve and Aaron were packing demons and attacked each room like bubble wrapping machines! Their motto was - if it doesn't move, pack it up! - we had a few close shaves with unexpected things going missing as they cut a swathe round the house. Our documents got swept up and buried in a box but luckily we were on the ball and rescued them in the nick of time!

We both felt very weird as we watched the lorry drive off on Wednesday afternoon with all our worldly goods aboard. We know we won't see them again for at least 12 weeks. The house suddenly felt very empty and ....not like our home!

I went off to work the following day knowing that I wouldn't return again. The final few belongings we have left are going with us to our rented house, before we sell them on or dispose of them in time to fly off on November 5th. I couldn't bear to return that evening to say goodbye. I would get too upset. When we bought Exmoor Close back in 1999 I remember thinking that I would be there forever and it was our dream home. Funny how a few years changes your feelings and horizons. I have loved it though. It is a beautiful house and we will always have some fond memories of it. I hope the new owners -Craig and Kelly - are as happy there as we have been.

It's all getting really real!

2008-08-27T07:03:00.000-07:00

We are entering the final weeks of our impending move to Okotoks now. Just 10 weeks to go! EEK! We've spent much of our summer break clearing, sorting, chucking out, carbooting, e-baying etc.
The loft is now clear (that was a BIG job!) and we are getting there with the other rooms. We've booked our one-way flights for 5th November and have sorted out accommodation for the first few weeks of our stay. We've been in touch with banks and mortgage advisors in Calgary and it's suddenly all feeling like it's really going to happen...we are moving across the world for a new life!
I've just realised the significance of the date. 5th November is the date that we posted our visa application to CHC back in 2005, so 3 years to the day we will be flying out embarking on our Canadian adventure!

We're off to London tomorrow to the CHC (Canadian High Commission) to pick up our passports which should have our shiny new Permanent Resident Visas stamped inside! We're making a day of it and taking the kids to see the sights. We've only recently realised that we've never taken the kids to London, so we thought we'd make the most of it before we go.

I go back to work next week. It's odd trying to motivate myself for just 7 weeks before I leave. Everyone keeps talking about a leaving party. I'll have to get organised with that I suppose. I'm not sure how I feel about it to be honest. Part of me would prefer to slip away quietly without any fuss. I'm an emotional wreck at these sorts of events usually - God knows how I'll be when it's actually MY leaving do!