Where in the Rockies Again!!!!

We are in the Rockies at Banff once again and woke up this morning and it had snowed. Awesome. This photo is of the Bow River, which has boat trips on it in the summer. Some of the rivers and dams are beginning to freeze over which is something I have never witnessed before. I wonder how long it will take before they are all frozen.
This is up on top of the World, well the banff gondolar anyway. Yes it was -9 degrees up there. It is the most amazing views I have ever seen. It takes 7 minutes to get up to the top which is higher than Mt kosiosco. We have been up there 4 times now and each time I am still overwhelmed by the beauty. God is so good.
Guess what these are? We are going back in the morning early to see if he is back there. I can bearly wait. There were a heap of these foot prints which we feel there were two bears, one baby and a mother.
This is of the lake where the bear prints were. While we were taking this photo we saw two beavers playing around in the lake. How special this was. They didnt mind that we were there and just continued to play. It was getting dark and they were a little way in so the photos didnt turn out too well. Words are very hard to explain every turn in the road in the Rockies. Each minute is new, each day and each season is so different it is hard to comprehend. Okay of to bed now so we can go bear, deer, beaver, elk, squirrel, coyote, and chipmunk hunting.

Have a great week.
Tina

Let it snow! Let it snow!

Hi everyone, How is the warm weather down under. As you can see I have been shopping for fabric. This is a gorgous flanel that I found. I'm planning to make something for Elijah with it but what I havent decided. I would hate to cut up this beautiful fabric. Maybe a pillowcase would be lovely. Elijah will be 1 next month, how time quickly that has gone. He is so gorgous and we miss him so much.
Another Fall photo with a beatiful lake behind it. Most of the leaves in Edmonton are gone now. It is looking quite dry and is cooling off. Today it was 20 degrees but has dropped to 7 this afternoon and they say it is the beginning of the cold. It is ment to be only 5 tomorrow. I am really looking forward to the snow but my friends are not. So I have comprimised and said I could wait for the snow till the kids get here in December. Somehow I dont think it will hold off that long. There is snow in the Rockies of course. With the snow comes me worrying about Phils driving in the conditions we are not used too.
I just loved this photo. These are washrooms/restrooms/bathrooms/toilets. What a place to need to go!!!!! Soon you wont be able to get up to this area as they close the road. These photos were taken at Mount Edith Cavall car park. This was the car ride where our pommy friend, Mark, informed me that it wouldnt snow!!! Not that I would ever bring that up again. Especially after the soccor (I think that was what it was) England verses Australia.

Well in the next few months there will be many more beautiful snow photos for us to share. This week we are being visited by Merrie and Gary Bott in Edmonton and then we will be spending a week in Banff at a resort there. It has been forcast to snow there next week, so that will be nice. I hope they brought there warm clothes, except Merrie asked me to bring my swimmers so that could be interesting swimming in the -4 degrees lakes and rivers. I think there must be an inside pool at the resort.

Hope you all have a great week and "Take time to smell the roses".

Tina

We had another great week on the road to Vancouver. The fall colours were just amazing, as the photo through a very dirty truck window shows. It was amazing to see the difference from town to town in the trees. Vancouver trees are just starting to turn at the moment where in Edmonton and closer to the rockies they have almost finished. Vancouver is much warmer and by the ocean. I love this trip to vancouver then on to Calgery as you travel mostly through the mountains but not the side where the tourists usually go.
I just thought this was a funny photo. They let anyone drive in Canada!!! Note Mt Robson in the background.
Just another amazing sunset and dirty windscreen. Phil and I saw the northern lights this week which was just amazing. Unfortunetly it was overcast and we didnt get the full effect of the lights. They were red and just looked like a wild fire in the sky. We stopped the truck and turned all the lights off to get a better effect.
We also saw a black bear walking through a mountain stream. I was so excited. Not many Canadians have actually seen that. Our friends are amazed at the things we have seen, but we do a lot of Kms to see these amazing things. I am still waiting for a photo of a bear with a Salmon in her mouth and cubs playing on the edge. Unfortunetly I got so excited I didnt think to get the camera out. Ha ha Poor Linda was on bear watch the whole week we were away and didnt see any. Since they have gone home both Phil and I have seen some.

Now of course Phil took this photo. This is a mans view of a sunrise!!!!! I must say the sunrise was beautiful, but it took me a while to see the machinery. The skys here seem much bigger and the colours much more vivid. In the Prairies it is even more amazing, all the open skies.

This week is to be a busy week for me. Tonight I had friendship group which is for folk with disabilites where they come and enjoy singing, a bible story and some supper together. i really love going and helping out. Tomorrow night I am going to a friends for supper and we are going to seeing discovering Jane??? The story of Jane Austin. Wednesday night is cooking for a group of single parents in the community that the Church we attends runs. Thursday night is Bible Study, and also during the day volunteering at an old folks home. Friday is Voluntary work at a Bible for Missions thrift shop. Saturday is a conference on "Disabled folk in the Church" then on Sunday we have Church and are going to Supper with a group of friends. Im going to cook Caramel pie and see how that goes down. It is so good to have things to "keep me off the streets."

Well thanks for viewing the blog, we really do enjoy sharing our experiences with you.

Tina

Just some craft Ive been playing with!

Just a couple of things I have been working on. The top little wall hanging was for a friends 60th Birthday we had the privalige to attend. We had a lovely evening playing "shojbok" (not sure of spelling) It is a dutch game with a long board and round "stones" which you have to get into slots at the end of the board. I havent played since I was very young, just a few years ago really. Its was interesting to see the dutchies childhood memories come back. Many of the folk had a board in there home.
Just a couple of card for birthdays that I have been making. I actually dont know anything about scrapbooking but enjoyed making these cards. Hopefully I will get better and make some Christmas cards. I am trying to find things to occupy my time and found it took me nearly all day, save a trip to the mall, to make them. Hopefully I will get quicker (and better) or else the Christmas cards will be for 2008. Anyone have any good web sites with card making ideas??? I havent got my borowed sewing machine back yet but hopefully next week I will be back finishing some gifts I have started.

WOW, How Awesome!

I'm runny out of words to descibe the Rockies! As you can see we had yet another fabulous week in the Rockies. What a privilage to be able to show our English "4 hour" friends, Mark and Linda this wonderland. As we were going up to Mount Edith Cavall to look at the ice caves I asked if anyone thought it might snow. "No" said Mark in his English accent "Not cold enough". Well it did snow and he will never here the end of it. We couldnt go ice caving as there was too much snow to walk for 2 km in our sandshoes. What a great surprise and how beautiful it looked. The photo is Linda, Phil and myself attempting snow angels??. Linda managed the most amazing snow angel on the Icefield glacier. "Good Job". Im sure it was a first, mind you we couldnt see the glacier properly because it was covered with several inches of snow.
It must have been snowing over night for there to be this much snow. We aslo went to Maligne Lake and the ground was covered in snow as well as the boats and boathouse. So the winter has come even though it is only around the 6th day of Fall. We did see some amazing Fall colours as the photo below shows. The contrast between snow and fall colours was incredible.

The day we arrived in Jasper it was raining and cloudy, but when we woke the mountains had a lovely layer of snow on them. How amazing the rockies are. I really will miss them when we come home.
This was a rather sedate photo of the 4 of us. The mountains in the background are covered in cloud. And it is hard to see the river down below. Along the road from Jasper to Banff are endless lookouts/pullouts/laybyes or whatever your country calls them. It is only a 3 hour drive but takes a day or two if you even look at half of the lookouts. We stayed half way at the icefield at an old log cabin motel. What an experience. We had an amazing dinner but this couldnt match the company. We had a good laugh at the menu where we had a choice of Grain or Starch to accompany out meal. I have never seen this before.
After such a fantastic week it was very hard to come back to an empty flat. But only 7 weeks till Josh and Jane arrive. Then Kylie and Clayton are coming on the 21st December. Fantastic!

Phil rang this morning to say it was snowing 2 hours drive away so I guess it wont be too long before Edmonton gets its first snow falls for the season. It is only 5 degrees today and overcast.

Have a great week and dont forget to take time to smell the roses. Miss you all so much.

Tina