Merry Christmas!

Christmas was very exciting.



I love how thoughtful the girls were. They purchased gifts for each other - earrings for Alison from Sarah's trip to Colorado, and the "I am a skier" t-shirt Alison searched for to get for her sister. Even the note for Santa was thoughtful. I wonder how often he is told he's doing a good job by the children?



And they made the pie. Yummy!


It wasn't as much fun for Rustle since he is banished from the living room and couldn't be with his people. He took his bones to a place where he could guarantee to be in our way as soon as we were done!

Training Camp

Since our days around the holidays are filled with skiing, I thought I'd show the other side of things - life in the after-hours, as it were.

The girls get together with the other skiers in the club and do Christmas-y things, like dancing with Bendy Santa,

(this is our friend Cleodie. She's lots of fun.)

or dressing up in war paint to dig tunnels in the snowbanks,

or playing a rousing game of Pee Spoons (if you lose, you have to drink a glass of water. First person to pee, loses. The coach thought this was a great way to get the kids hydrated after a day of training....)

or invite more kids for a Pee Spoon Tournament. On the floor, of course.


I also like to explore some of the non-ski related activities. I took Alison snowshoeing on the Bow River Loop, but she thought it was boring. And she was hungry. And miserable.

But Rustle loved it.

Happy Birthday, Sarah!

Sarah is now 13. A teenager. Nearly as tall as me. Yikes.


We celebrated at home, since ski season prevents a lot of opportunities to have parties. We figure that a half birthday party in June will do nicely, since skiing should be over by then.

Some photos of our girl:

Love the Glee wear!

Apparently, a birthday montage is incomplete without the new birthday ski photo.

World Cup

The Lake Louise Winterstart World Cup Alpine Ski Races were held over the past couple of weekends. Alison and the Lake Louise KD team were flagbearers for the opening ceremonies.


And Sarah, in a very exciting happenstance, was invited to a Fast and Female event on the day of the Ladies Downhill race. She got to meet Karen Lee Gartner and see the gold medal, listen to Kelly Vander Beek, hang out in the VIP area, and meet Lindsey Vonn.



Alison met Lindsey Vonn, too.

Happy Birthday, Alison

Alison is now a full decade. She is not letting her old age get in the way of her silliness!

Alison's 10th Birthday Party

Yes, I'm a few weeks behind, but we are a busy household. Sarah was away for two weeks in November, which hopefully she will share about soon... But in the meantime, we had to plan a party to celebrate Alison turning 10.

This year, Alison wanted a dinner party. She's been watching a lot of Food Network and is quite intrigued, especially by the cake shows. So I suggested one of those murder-mystery dinners and we found some on the internet, designed specifically for kids. It was on!

Her friends got right into it. Some came in costume, but every one of them was interested in the scripts and the mystery of The Ghost of Marnie Anderson at Anderson Castle. Sarah was back from Colorado just the day before the party, and she gladly took on the role of the 85 year old aunt who basically ran the show. They all had a great time.

(Turns out, the jealous maid did it)