Through the Lens of Haylee

Imagine how excited I was a few months ago to get a message from my wonderful friend, Cheryl when she asked if March would be a good time to visit Three Hills.  Of course, any time is a good time to come and visit me! Even more exciting was that she was bringing her daughter, Haylee.  This would be the first time for Haylee to fly and see the mountains.

Thursday - I picked them up at the airport and we headed to Canmore.

There was snow on the ground and the sky was heavy with more.  We weren't getting a clear view of the mountains but on we went into Banff to explore.

 After a good tour of the town we met up with my son for a nice dinner out.  We were bundled up due to the cold and it felt good to get back to our hotel room with a hot tea and to turn on the fireplace. 

 

Friday - we got up and had breakfast at the hotel and then headed to Lake Louise.  Once again the sky was full of snow but we went for a nice walk along the lake.

 I was excited about having Cheryl and Haylee here!

At the end of the lake Cheryl just had to be a kid again.

As we walked back across the lake there was more childish behaviour or some would call it angelic designs.

It is an unique experience making snow angels on Lake Louise. 

After a full day we headed out of the mountains and into the prairies.

 

Saturday - We went for a little drive around Three Hills and tried to get a good picture of the three hills....it always seems to be a difficult job for everyone who tries.

 Sunday - We all went to church and then loaded up the truck again for another trip into the mountains.  We drove to Radium.

In the evening we went to the hot springs and enjoyed an hour of relaxing in the pools.  It was right around -2 degrees C in the air and the water was 39 degrees.  It felt so good.  We spent the night in Radium.

Monday - We decided to head north through Golden, B.C.  It was another snowy day.  We stopped in Lake Louise and we all skied across the lake.  Another new experience for Haylee. 

We also got to watch some dog sleds take off which was exciting for me to watch.

We drove through 1A and then stopped at Johnston Canyon to do a hike.

That night we stayed in a hotel in Canmore and had a great night's sleep after such a good day.

 Tuesday - We went for a walk and explored Canmore in the morning.

We continued in to Kananaskis but unfortunately it was snowing quite a bit so we couldn't get the views that we normally would.

We drove home and settled in for a few days in Three Hills.

 

Wednesday and Thursday - Ron and I both worked and the girls explored Three Hills.  In the evening we went to a missions conference at the Bible College so they could experience a little bit of my life here.

 Friday - We drove to Drumheller so that Haylee could see the Badlands of Alberta.

She can now say, "Been there, done that!"

 

In the evening we went to a concert at the college featuring Tim Neufeld and the Glory Boys.  It was a fun night.

 Saturday - We made a full day of shopping in Calgary with an extra tour of the city by my boy.

 

Sunday - That's today!  We went to church and then Haylee and Cheryl cleaned my downstairs, packed and had a quieter afternoon because tomorrow we have to drop them off at the airport.  It has been a wonderful visit and I have so enjoyed having Cheryl here and getting to know Haylee all over again. 

 

All pictures above were taken by Haylee.  I so enjoyed seeing her smile as she experienced so many firsts.  Can't wait until she comes back! (and Cheryl too, of course!)

 



P.S.  There are so many more stories to tell about our trip.  We had lots of good laughs and talks, saw so much, drove over 2000 km and enjoyed lots of food....some at the restaurant and some we made here.  The best has to be the peanut butter cheesecake....YUM!

Talks, Teas & Tours

Last Friday Ron and Stephen flew to Ontario for 6 days.  You would think that I would have been lonely but no, it was quite the opposite.  I had lots of activity and my house was full of activity.

I had a routine that every day I would take the dogs for a walk in the back field so that we could all get some exercise and fresh air.

Tanker did his usual trick to me and came crashing into my knees and sent me flying but fortunately no damage was done except an extra load of laundry upon our return to the house.

The really exciting thing about this week was that I wasn't watching the dogs by myself because when I dropped the boys off at the airport I got to pick my sister up!  Our first day together was so nice and warm that we got to hang out on the back deck with our tea and the fur family.

Every day we had a different little activity planned.  We checked out Three Hills, explored the second hand stores, had lots of tea and ate well.

And then after an evening of tv, I would head up to bed and try and find room to sleep.

Ron does not take up as much room as 2 dogs and a cat.  If they were sticking around I would be investing in a King size bed.


Carol and I took a tour to Drumheller one afternoon and checked out the many dinosaurs, the hoodoos, the suspension bridge but she especially enjoyed the ice breaking up on the river.

You see, Carol lives on Vancouver Island and it has been a long time since she has seen frozen water.  It was funny watching how amazed she was at the thick layers of ice.

We had a great week of talking and catching up.  It had been a long time since it was just the two of us and it was great to get to know my sister all over again.  The fur family were really good.  They are really getting use to life at our house and Tanker wasn't even sure he wanted to leave when his boy got here.

Bentley goes outside when Tanker needs some quiet time!

On Wednesday, we took the long way to the airport and did a little more exploring and then we met the boys for supper.  Carol and I said our goodbyes feeling like we knew each other a little better than a week ago.


And now I just have to wait another week and a half and I will have more company and they like Talks, Teas and Tours too!

Valentine's Day Our Way!

It seems to be expected by Ron's coworkers that when we have a few days off we don't usually stay home.  So on Sunday we went to church and then made plans for the next couple of days.  On Monday morning we loaded up the truck with an overnight bag and our cross country skis and headed west.


We drove to Lake Louise and set off across the lake.

It's been so mild that the snow wasn't that great for skiing but you sure can't complain about the scenery or the company!

At the end of the lake we saw people climbing the ice wall.  We both thought skiing was much safer and more enjoyable for us.

It was neat that a few months ago we hiked all around Lake Louise and now we were skiing across it.

I got stopped along the trail by some tourists who wanted a picture with me skiing.  I guess cross country skiing on Lake Louise is a bit of a Canadian icon.  We joked about how many people would want pictures of Ron if he was wearing his red serge.


We stopped to check out the many ice sculptures and Ron practiced his tourist pose.

We headed back to Banff and booked into a hotel for the night.  We thought we would try another trail in Banff but just when we were ready to go Ron noticed that both of his ski boots had cracked along the bottom.  We headed into Canmore to see if we could replace them.  After buying a new pair we enjoyed the sunset as we drove back into Banff.

The evening was so nice and mild that we went for a little walk and stopped for supper at the Grizzly House.

It was an interesting experience.  We had our own private room for two. 

We started out with salad and soup and then a cheese fondue with bread.

Each time we would finish that course we would put up a flag that showed outside the room and the waiter would bring the next item.  Ron ordered the Alberta meat (Beef, Bison & Elk) and I had seafood (lobster, shrimp, scallops).  They arrived raw with a 500 degree stone.

There were five different sauces to try.  Once we finished cooking and eating our meat, our flag went up for our final course - melted toblerone and fruit.

It was all tasty.  After a nice walk in Banff we headed back to the hotel.  The next morning we headed to Lake Minnewanka to try a ski trail there.  It didn't quite work out but it was a pretty morning.

We drove back into Banff and had a tea/coffee break and treated ourselves to a delicious bagel with cream cheese and shaved salmon.  We went for another little walk around town and then decided to try one more trail.

Once again, the snow wasn't that great but the weather was amazing and a nice way to spend Valentine's Day.  On our way home we stopped to have icecream and then I decided it was my turn to treat Ron to a Valentine's dinner.

He makes a lot more money than I do!