and now for the rest of the story.....

Canada turned out to be one of the best vacations we have gone on as a family. John and I honeymooned in Canada (Banff/Lake Louise) 12 years ago March 16th. We said we would go back for our 5th anniversary but Caleb came along and a few years and another child so it took a little longer than we planned. I am glad we went back...not same location but just as beautiful. Caleb turned his first day of skiing around and by the second day he was riding the ski lift and going down green runs. I was really, really impressed with his ability after only 3 days on the slopes. The last run he took was with his Daddy from the top of Whistler to the base. GO CALEB!!!
Macy on the other hand was more interested in the social aspect of skiing--making friends and having fun. Nothing wrong with that, she still learned how to ski and by the end of her 3 days was able to "Pizza" stop and go down small hills. Yea Macy!
John enjoyed skiing 2 days by himself and the third day Caleb, John and I all skied together. That was my favorite day. We did some skiing, ate lunch at the top of Whistler Mt. and then skied down Blackcomb Mt. taking the Peak to Peak gondola from one to the other. What a ride!!




One activity I would recommend for a day off from skiing is tubing. Oh what fun for kids of all ages. Even Macy enjoyed her time and kept wanting to go down again and again.
The location was beautiful (highly recommend), the food was good, and the accommodations where within walking distance from the slopes. Add all that up and we couldn't have asked for anything more.
Five things i've learned from this trip:
1. Vancouver no matter what time of the day is a traffic nightmare
2. I should have revisited my conversions -- Fahrenheit to Celsius and Kilometers to Miles
3. Salt Lake City Airport is rather large when you are running from terminal "A" to "C" -- despite my friends from this area saying other wise!! :)
4. Even though the pool is heated, -8 Celsius (you do the conversion) makes the run to your
towel/clothes and the door to get inside - a very chilly sprint!
5. Just because a meal is expensive doesn't mean it is going to taste good :( FONDUE???

OH CANADA.....HMM, HMMM,HHHMMMM....EH?

I might should have titled this post trains, planes and automobiles but we left out the trains. It was an interesting trip getting here but we made it, yea! We started out knowing that we only had a 25 min. lay over in Salt Lake City but when the stewardesses were late getting to the plane we were 1 hour late getting off the ground. Some how we made it with 5 min. to spare and Caleb and John took off running and then caught a sky cab to the gate and Macy and I were following in another taxi of the terminal!! They waited on us and two other guys running crazy through the airport to make the flight. Up we went and then as we flew into Vancouver, they were experiencing a very unusual fog that covered a layer of the ground so that we were able to see above it but as we approached the airport we never saw the landing strip until the wheels touched down. Macy and Caleb did SO good the whole trip. Here is a picture of them on the first plane doing what the could to stay busy for 3 1/2 hours!















We got up on Saturday and Caleb, Macy and I went to ski school and John hit the slopes. As we expected Macy did pretty good (her instructor mentioned she needed to work on her stops) and Caleb had a rough day. He was tired very quickly and had a problem with his feet hurting. It is an active sport and requires a lot of stamina that is for sure. I hope their second day will be better and they come away having a great experience for their first time skiing. I was proud of myself that ski school went well,I didn't get hurt and had a fun time. By the end of the day I was able to go 3/4 of the way up the mountain and ski all the way down without falling or having too much trouble. John skied down with me and it was fun to have him along for the ride. He took a big fall (luckily I didn't see it) but recovered well and I hope won't be too sore tomorrow. Here are a few pictures of the kids right before their lesson.

Man vs. Wild.....o.k..... Hunter John...

As many of you already know John is a hunter...a very good hunter
and maybe too good of a hunter. There are many a deer that get
donated to "hunters for the hungry" because we just don't eat that
much venison..much to John's dismay.
So, the big hunt took place this past weekend in Missouri with John's
cousin Steve. They were hunting from sun up to sun down for 3 days
and in that time John was fortunate enough to have tagged a big buck.
It is 10 points and is the biggest of his hunting career!! Yes, this one will
be hanging in my house -- in his office of course -- in the not too distant
future. His deer is the one on his right his cousin Steve got the 9 point.
You maybe asking yourself...now how did he get that deer ALL the way home from Missouri?
Well ask no more...on the roof of his car!!! I guess it's better than the hood?? He said
he got many a "thumbs up" on the ride home which only helped his excitement about
his big kill.
We are glad he is home -- we all missed him but I am grateful he had a great time and ended it
with a really big prize!!
xoxo John.....Natalie