Brrr! Snowshoeing in Kananaskis Country (-35c with the windchill?!)

Enjoying winter...?

The snow has made its way to Calgary as well, and today it is sunny but cold (-15c)...very pretty though!

Our front yard (with the Subaru)
The back yard
Just a picture of our living room for fun: I love when the sun is streaming through the front window...

Enjoying the snow at Lake Louise with new and old friends...

Yesterday we headed off to Lake Louise for a ski/snowboard day with new friends Joe and Natasha (Dave's bike racing partner and his wife), their friend Karen, and old friends Sean and Lauren. It was a nice day on the hill, with Dave trying out his new skiis (yes, he has converted from snowboard to skiis), and the rest of us trying out ski-legs that hadn't been out for a while. We were lucky enough to stay at Karen's parents place in Canmore, which is another beautiful, but ridiculously outrageous "vacation home". (I'm not sure how we keep meeting people with such great connections, but we're not complaining!). It was a nice night of good food and chatting with new friends.

The crew: Sean, Dave, Lauren, Joe, Karen and Natasha at the "vacation home"
Canmore: a beautiful day!
Outside Karen's parents place (I'm still wearing my pj pants)

January Update...

It seems it's that time of year when everyone is feeling a little "ho-hum": the holidays are over, winter is still here--and not leaving any time soon--and we are half-heartedly thrown back into the everyday routines of work and "after work" chores and activities...That being said, we have a lot to look forward to in the next few months, so I know the time is going to fly by, and we are trying to enjoy this time of just taking it easy a bit...

Dave took advantage of some new snow at Castle Mountain last weekend and did a day on Saturday with his biking partner Joe, and his wife Natasha. I enjoyed a weekend of reading and relaxing, with some swimming and yoga to keep me from getting too bored.

We are both back into work busy-ness, with Dave having many ongoing projects that had slowed down over Christmas coming back in full swing now that everyone is back from holiday mode. We had his work post-Christmas party on Friday night, which was a nice opportunity to meet all of the "important people" he works with day-to-day. I (Beth) still have a hard time keeping track of all of the new healthcare initiatives in the Region, but it definitely seems like an exciting place to work, and an exciting time to be here.

At my work, this starts to be "crunch" time for parents who are now realizing that they will need to be making decisions soon about where their child will be in the fall (many are moving on to Grade 1 in the public school system), and thus dealing with all of the "transition planning" that goes along with that. We have "IPP Meetings" (Individual Program Plan) coming up in a few weeks, which is always a busy time.

One of the nice things about living out west is that the winter brings with it lots of snow and thus fun things to do in the mountains, but so far very little snow in the city (great for driving)! So we have lots of weekend "mini-vacations" to look forward to: we are off to Fernie in a few weeks for Dave's Christmas present of a Cat-skiing weekend; followed by Family Day weekend in Invermere, and a visit from Karen and Blair the following weekend.

Finally, we booked our "Spring Break" trip this weekend to Costa Rica: we are leaving March 20th, just before Easter, for a week on the beach with some surfing and hopefully a bit of "sight-seeing" as well. It's been a long time since Dave and I have done a trip like this, and we are so looking forward it!

Just a few "updates" from us this time of year--nothing too exciting I guess: We continue to go to our regular classes at the "Talisman Centre"; Dave is still in hockey a couple of nights a week and has now started in a Volleyball League on Wednesdays. I'm a faithful member of my "Book Club" as well as Yoga and the gym. I'm starting to feel a lot more like my self lately--building a bit more muscle back I think and having a lot more "good days", so that is promising.

We hope that 2008 has gotten off to a good start for you as well, and look forward to hearing "updates" from friends and family (if you're still out there?). Feel free to email us any time: bethanyjanette@hotmail.com
Happy New Year!

Dave's new toy

Dave is registered to compete in the "Trans Rockies Challenge" mountain bike endurance race this summer, which travels from Panorama BC to Fernie BC August 10-16th. A few of the guys he rides with have done it before, so this seemed like a good motivator to train over the winter...hence: Dave's new toy--a brand new stationary bike! I've only tried it once, but it's nice to have an option to get a little bit of exercise without having to leave the house on these cold winter days. For more info about Dave's race, see: www.transrockies.com and click on the mountain biking option. Here he is modelling his new race jersey from Mom and Dad Brewin...

More from Tara and Joe's wedding

Here are some photos of the New Year's party/reception that followed the ceremony...Everyone had a blast--the whole family was out on the dance floor until they kicked us out! Happy New Year!

Tara and Joe's New Year's Wedding

Dave's sister Tara and our new brother-in-law Joe got married at the Ancaster Old Mill on New Year's Eve. It was a beautiful ceremony at a perfect location, and we all enjoyed the party afterwards as well. Here are a few of my favourite photos from the day...Congratulations Tara and Joe and welcome to the family!
Tara looked gorgeous, as always...
The ceremony in front of the fire...

Barrie and Tara (always one of my favourite parts of any wedding)

Christmas in Ontario: Part 3--Friends

Again, we were lucky that friends and family have made such an effort to see us when we are in town for a visit. From Amy and Jay's we headed to Lakefield on Boxing Day to see Jim and Andrea and meet their new little guy, Charlie. The rest of the crew: Karen, Rob, Glen and Rachael and Harman headed up on thursday for a game of pick-up hockey in Peterborough and some sushi for dinner to celebrate Karen's birthday. It was a great day with everyone, but of course, the visits are never long enough...

We were able to visit again for in a day in Bobcaygeon with Mom and Dad Jackson, where Mom and I went to the spa and did a little shopping in town before an evening of "SuperTock".

Saturday we were off again, to meet up with the "Burlington girls" (Lindsey, Lara and Skye) for a late lunch, followed by dinner with our old Toronto friends: Duncan and Melissa, Chad and Maria, Skye and Chris, Cheryl and Mike, Josh and Ilana, Ewan and Tory, and Andy. We are so lucky to have so many great friends, and we miss everyone so much!

Christmas in Ontario: Part 2--Hillsdale

From Southern Ontario, we headed slightly north to experience a unique White Christmas in Hillsdale, just outside of Barrie. My sister Amy and her husband have lived in this community for a few years now, but it was only when we arrived on Christmas Eve to see all of the perfect houses, perfectly decorated for Christmas that we realized how special it really is. The volunteer fire department brought the fire trucks around with "Santa" waving to all of the kids from their driveways--such a neat, community-building experience.
The highlight of the Jackson family Christmas this year was of course the latest additions, Nadine and Malcolm, who did their part to entertain all of us on their first Christmas. Neither seemed too interested in the gifts, but the adults were all duly impressed and spent time assembling and playing with the various toys and books. Malcolm seemed most interested in his cousin, and enjoyed grabbing her and trying to give her kisses: pretty cute to watch.
It was great to have everyone in the same busy house for Christmas, and gave a good idea of how busy our holidays will be from now on--new babies are such a welcome change to the family dynamic.

Christmas in Ontario: Part 1--Amherstburg and Windsor

We started our holiday visiting this year with a brief but wonderful visit with Adam and Val Dukelow in London on Friday night--our flight got in late in the evening, but we were able to see them for a few hours before continuing on to Amherstburg on Saturday to see Mom and Dad Brewin. It was great to have a few days with them to celebrate with our own little family before all the other festivities began. We also had a great dinner with Mark and Kathy and Ryan and Kyle on Sunday, then stopped in to see Frank and Desiree and Alexa, as well as a quick hello to Sandra on our way through Windsor. We are so lucky that everyone is so eager to make time to see us when we are in town!


Frank and Desiree and Alexa

Christmas at Providence...

Here are some photos from our Christmas party at Providence...The kids are so excited this time of year--it's a pretty great place to be, and a pretty rewarding job...

My Birthday/Christmas gift from my talented husband...

Dave has been working diligently for the last 3 weeks or so to handcraft a beautiful oak bed for us for our bedroom as one of my Birthday/Christmas gifts...I have to say, he's a pretty talented guy, if I do say so myself, and the bed is beautiful! (Although I do admit to lots of nagging when he was spending hours out in the cold garage "woodworking shop" instead of being lazy inside with me!). Thanks to Mom and Dad and Grandpa Martin for their contributions to the wood shop--they've obviously been put to good use!

Congratulations Karen and Blair!!

We are so excited to find out that our good friends Karen Thomas and Blair Schultz have recently decided to tie the knot! They are both such truly wonderful people, and genuinely make each other so happy, so are obviously both ecstatic to be making it official. We are looking forward to celebrating with them in person over the holidays, and hearing more about any upcoming wedding plans (late summer/early fall 2008?). Congratulations--we love you both!!

Heading Home for the Holidays...

We head "Home for the Holidays" next friday, December 21st, and are very excited about spending some time with our family and friends. It will be the first Christmas for Nadine and Malcolm, which we are all excited about, and then Tara and Joe's wedding is on New Year's Eve, which promises to be an exciting time for the Brewin family. Here is our mini-tree: getting in the holiday spirit!!! :)

First snowboard day of the season...

Well, today marked our first day back in the mountains for a day of snowboarding...We'd been hoping to go for a few weeks, but the chilly temperatures and lack of snow were not promising great conditions. We had a great day though: not a lot of new snow, but enough to cover up most of the rocks. I (Beth) took it easy and didn't quite put in a full day, but Dave, Shandra, Harman and Crystal and Marc spent most of the day on the hill. It was great to be back in the mountains and enjoy living so close to such a wonderful spot. (I was also excited to try out my new jacket! :)

Brunch at the Banff Springs

We made a trip to Banff today to enjoy a delicious brunch to celebrate our friend Tannis' birthday. The decorations and the fresh falling snow really helped to get us into the holiday spirit! :)