Rodeo Royal

Calgary's "official" pre-Stampede season starts with "Rodeo Royal"--some qualifying rounds of Rodeo (calf-roping, steer-wrestling, etc. all included) in the spring, including an agricultural trade show/display and the "Black Star Saloon"--featuring lots of fun country bands. We went last night, and despite the fact that I forgot my inhaler and allergy pills (ended up finding both at the Medical tent, so I was fine!), we had lots of fun watching the bucking broncos, bulls and the "wild pony race"--my personal favourite, where kids chase a small "wild" pony and try to get on its' back and ride it before the time runs out...lots of good clean fun! Here are some photos of the highlights...Keep in mind that Stampede runs July 6-15th here, and our guest room is first come first served--we'd LOVE to have you out!! http://calgarystampede.com/
:)

Work...

Just an update on "everyday life": work is going well for both of us--Dave happy with his role at Calgary Health Region, and me enjoying my busy busy days with the kids at Providence. Here is a recent "article" I wrote on the Providence website:
http://providencechildren.com/www/main/page.php?page_id=11

More Malcolm!!

Just thought these were way too cute...

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!

xoxo

Spring has sprung!

Spring has arrived in Calgary--lots of tulips starting to grow, and buds on our trees! This weekend was beautiful: sunny and +15c both days--so nice to be outside again after hibernating all winter!

Moab part 2

Dave's Moab trip...

I (Dave) was Mountain Biking in Moab, Utah the week before Easter with a group of 10 others from Calgary. After a 17 hour drive straight south of Calgary we arrived. We had great weather, the landscape is unbelievable (like Mars!) and the rides were epic. After a few days in Moab we went for a change of scenery and headed to check out the trails in Fruita, Colarado which were amazing in a different way. Here are a few of the photos and I will add others as I get them from the rest of the group.

Welcome to the world, Malcolm Daniel--our newest member of the Jackson family!

Well they did it--and just in perfect timing! Joel and Janet are the proud parents of a baby boy, born this morning at 1:21am, at 9lbs--a big, healthy baby! They told us this morning they have decided on Malcolm Daniel for our new little nephew. I'm off to the hospital again for one last visit with the new family before my flight leaves at 3pm--couldn't be better timed! We are so proud and so happy for them--I'll post more photos as they come! :)

Happy Easter!

Here are some photos from our family Easter visits: Aunt Joan and Uncle Fred came down to Bobcaygeon on Wednesday for a visit; then Stratford on Saturday and Sunday with Aunt Judy, Lori, Kathy, Chris and the kids; a very brief visit with the Brewins in Grimsby, before heading back to Oakville/Mississauga to wait for our much awaited baby niece or nephew (to arrive any minute!!). I'm so lucky I was able to visit with so much of our family and friends in such a short time period...and so glad I will still be here (hopefully!) with the newest member of our family arrives!

"Aunt Kathy" and Madeline...

"Grandma Judy" and the Tiplers...

The Brewins

Aunt Joan and Uncle Fred in Bobcaygeon

Babies babies babies!!!

It is such an exciting time right now--as I've been lucky enough to visit a few new little ones, and have been around for the preparations that come along with expecting a new baby! Our cousin Lori had a little girl Dec 18th--here she is at Easter--getting so big and wanting to move around and be so active--amazing how much she has changed since our first visit when she was just 4 days old! I also got to see little Gabriela Millar at less than 2 weeks old--mom, dad and baby all doing fantastic! Amy of course is due in July, so we are eager to hear all of her exciting updates! We hope to meet Alexa Gorham at one of our next visits to Ontario.
Recently we have learned that our very close friends Jim and Andrea Bailey are expecting a little one at the end of October--we are so thrilled for them! Tim and Kirsten Hogan are also due around the same time--so exciting to have a new baby coming in Calgary too! As you can see, there is a good reason why this is "babies babies babies" right now--a bit of baby fever! We couldn't be happier to be a part of all of these new little lives, and look forward to having exciting news of our own in the future...but not TOO soon...in the future... :)

Beth and Maddy



Beth, Ines and Gabs

Welcome Alexa! (Congrats Frank and Desiree!)

We are so thrilled to share more exciting news from our friends: Frank and Desiree Gorham are the proud parents of a daughter, Alexa, born on Monday, April 2nd. Congratulations! (We will hope to soon have a photo of the happy family to share...)

Ontario Visit! (so far...)

Amy and Janet's growing bellies: Due dates= Apr 12th and July 12th--guess which is which?... (Amy actually looks much bigger than this in person!)...

Beth is in Ontario this week, visiting with friends and family (and keeping her fingers crossed that our soon-to-be niece or nephew will arrive sooner rather than later!). Here are a few photos from the family visit on Sunday...

Spring Break!

We will be on a bit of a hiatus for the next week or so: Dave is off to Moab Utah to get some mountain biking out of his system, while I'm off to visit friends and family in Ontario for Easter. We will have plenty of photos to post when we get back I'm sure. Happy Easter!

Congratulations Ines and Jamie!

Welcome to the new addition to the "Millucci" family: our friends Ines and Jamie are the proud parents of a beautiful baby girl: Gabriela Lucia. We are so happy for them and wish them all the best!! :)

Last bit of winter...

It has been interesting weather here lately: warm most days (10-15c), but still snow overnight every now and then, that melts through the day. After a few weekends in the city, and Beth attending a workshop for work yesterday (Saturday), we decided on a last little stab at winter this afternoon--a few hours in the snow at Sunshine Village Resort in Banff. We met a couple on the gondola who were from Manchester, England, and just raved about what a wonderful place this is to vacation. We realized again that we can't take for granted the fact that we can sleep in on a Sunday, drive out to Banff for a half day of skiing, and then be back in time to have BBQ for dinner! On the days when we're feeling homesick for Ontario, we have to remind myself how lucky we are to be living here! Spring is on the way, so it's likely we are done with our snowboarding updates; hopefully we will have some spring flowers to show you soon!

Our new Fussball table!

Thanks to our good friend Sean Brennan, we have a new addition to our household--a fussball table! Luckily, we have lots of room in our downstairs room, so this is the perfect way to fill some space with something fun! Unfortunately, my (Beth) fussball skills leave much to be desired--Dave is having a really hard time finding ways to let me win, despite a fairly significant handicap and extremely modified playing tactics...I guess practice makes perfect! I will have to keep practising! Thanks Sean!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

We celebrated St. Patty's day with a few green beer with our friends Chris and Marla, Di, and Marc. Hope you had a good day too!

Weekends in Calgary...

I (Beth) have spent the last few weeks (and weekends!) in town: it's been nice to have some relaxing "down time", and to spend some time around the house.
Saturday March 3rd was our annual Providence "Dine and Deals" Gala Fundraiser: I volunteered to oversee the Silent Auction, so got to mix and mingle with colleagues, parents, and a few of the rich (but not so famous) in this city. It was a nice night out, and a great way to feel a part of my work "family".
I was also lucky enough to catch up with a great friend, Effie Gatsinos on her return trip to Calgary--sharing our great experiences at Guelph with some prospective students, and then catching up over some great food and drinks. She is such a wonderful person, and always a delight to spend time with!
This past weekend, my good friend Skye Gorven was in town for a visit. We spent a fun "girls weekend" visiting the shops on 17th Ave, looking for ideas for bridesmaids dresses for her upcoming wedding. After a night out with the boys on Saturday, we drove up to Banff on Sunday in hopes of a short hike in the mountains, only to leave the 17c sunny weather in Calgary and arrive to cool and rainy in Banff. We still enjoyed a day at the spa at the Rimrock Hotel up by Banff Springs, and were lucky enough to have Dave making great meals for us all weekend. It was great to see Skye, and to have her share in this amazing place we now call home. We're looking forward to seeing more of her home in Vancouver for her August 31st wedding.
We have a few more low key weeks planned, before I'm off to Ontario on March 31st, and Dave heads to Moab, Utah for a mountain biking trip.

Dave's backcountry Wapta Traverse

In March, I (Dave) embarked on a 4 day back country expedition called the Wapta Traverse up into the Rockies and onto the Glaciers with 3 others (Ryan, Tracy and Michele). A trek that many have done before and also many have attempted and not been able to complete.

There were a number of firsts for me on the trip in that I was on skis for the first time in about 10 years, the first time on touring skis and then add a big heavy backpack and just wait for something good to happen. Each day consisted of slogging along for 4-8 hours, with a lot of uphill climbing (until the last day which was mostly downhill) and following our GPS coordinates to find our accommodations for the night. The back country huts have beds, propane stoves and dishes so it was nice not to have to carry all of that along. Each hut is perched along the mountains with perfect panorama views of the area surrounding. 3 of the 4 were blue bird days and the scenery was spectacular. The non-sunny day (whiteout conditions) was extremely sketchy as we made our way along some areas of the glacier that were host to large crevasses. We spent that day tied together in case someone fell in and followed the GPS very closely. Just before dusk the GPS led us to a large cliff and it turned out that the hut was on top of the cliff....so after about 8 hours of trekking we strapped the skis to our packs and climbed to shelter. Now that's a day where you finish really feeling alive! (mostly due to the number of near misses throughout the day)

It was a great experience and the people I went with were gladly very experienced back country skiers and excellent company. Maybe we will go again next year?