CANMORE & BANFF, FEBRUARY 2015

First view of the mountains

Elk!

A true man of the West.

Cave & Basin: a must-see in Banff!

Oh, you know, just Leo DiCaprio's film set!!!!!!!!!!!

INDIAN SUMMER

One of the elders in our community said to Mark, that "this is what we call an Indian summer". The past two weeks have been nothing but warm weather and sunshine, which is quite a change from the last two years we have lived up north. We had a little rain today and they're calling for more tomorrow, but I won't complain! The longer the snow stays away, the better!

We have taken the opportunity that the weather has given us to enjoy as much time as we can exploring the outdoors to take in the sights, the smells, the sounds, and the incomparable crunch of fallen leaves. Thaddeus comes alive when he is free to explore the world around him and experience many of these senses for the first time. It is a marvel and a mama's joy to watch him as he makes each new discovery. 

My heart and soul are so so happy that we are actually experiencing a proper autumn up here this year. This week I've been noticing the overwhelming, beautiful smells of the season. It brings me right back home to Ottawa where autumn seems most magical. Outside - the ground, the wet leaves, the chimney smoke in the air; and Inside - the baking, the pumpkin chai tea, the scented candles. I close my eyes as often as I can remember - to inhale and exhale as slowly as I can - taking it all in before it's gone. Autumn smells so good. Oh how blessed we are to live in this creation!

Thaddeus' molars have been coming through on top and bottom gums, and he has been one really tough cookie. Today was the first time since they have been pushing their way through that I have given him any Advil, and it has been weeks now. He has been extra fussy and has gone back to two naps a day. I won't pretend that my patience wasn't tested more than once today! But there is truly no better pain relief and calm-down strategy than getting outside. It has quickly become my first choice of soothing methods, and if you are ever at a loss with your fussy or teething toddler/baby, I highly suggest you give it a try!

I hope that you too have been able to enjoy the season, and I urge you to take advantage of all that autumn has to give before she is gone. Sleep well, and have yourselves a very happy Friday friends! And we are sending out a very special happy birthday wish to Papa Ardley! ♥

GIVING THANKS

If you were celebrating the holiday this past weekend, I hope you were surrounded by some yummy food, good company, and lots of joy. We spent Saturday preparing our contributions to the dinner: apple crisp (and ice cream), sweet potato casserole, caesar salad (bagged...), and of course, stovetop stuffing. Although we dearly missed our families back in Ontario, we had a wonderfully mellow, but perfectly complete Saturday night Thanksgiving dinner with our Beauval family. There was plenty of laughter, full bellies, sleepy children, and leftovers to be had (which on our part, were had quickly and joyfully). I couldn't help but think of Joey from Friends as I ate my turkey dinner, thankful to be wearing maternity (or Thanksgiving) pants.

On Sunday, Mark, Thaddeus and I enjoyed spending the whole day with one another, which included a Thanksgiving walk in the sunshine around Beauval. It wasn't exactly a walk in Gatineau park, but we sure do live in a beautiful place. The weekend left me feeling very, very grateful.

In other news, I have been feeling for a while now that Thaddeus may be nearing the stage where he will go down only for one nap a day. Well, today marks the beginning of that stage, although I don't know if I'm ready for it! Over the past month or so he has been quite easy to put down for a morning nap, but not quite ready for an afternoon nap. It was definitely beginning to be a bit of a struggle to get him down the second time. So this morning, I finally bit the bullet and decided to push his morning nap as long as I could. Piece of cake, Hallelujah!!! Mind you, we are in the city right now and we spent the morning at WalMart and Value Village (side note: I totally found a Thyme Maternity winter coat for $20!!! I am over the moon!) so I think all that excitement made it easy. We had a quick lunch back at the hotel, and he was out by 11:55. It's almost been an hour now, and I'm hoping I'll get a solid two out of him. Then we'll push through to bed time. So far, so good! Hopefully he'll have a great night's sleep and tomorrow will be just as easy. Here's hoping!

Have a happy Wednesday!

SUMMER!

It's true! It really has arrived! Although the past 2 days have been really rainy up here, we were able to spend the majority of last week and the weekend outside in the sunshine. 

This little smurf loves to "flap flap flap" the crunchy leaves around. And try to eat them, of course. But mostly we collect them in his little green bowl and it's just the most fun in the world to him.

11 months old, and Thaddeus is walking! He has taken many steps all on his own now, but still chooses to crawl for the most part. It won't be long until he's walking full-time, and keeping me on my toes! Walking is probably his favourite thing to do right now, besides throwing food on the floor from his high chair...

Oh Thaddeus, we love you to bits we do!

THANKSGIVING

I have always loved autumn. It has always been by far my favourite season. And growing up so close to the Gatineau Hills, there wasn't much that could beat out the beauty of the changing leaves. However, I had also never experienced autumn in the prairies.

This was my first Thanksgiving (and first holiday) spent outside of Ontario, and it was truly lovely. We spent the weekend in LeRoy, SK, a very small town where Mark’s grandparents farm. We had visited them on our road trip to the West coast this summer, and at that time we had no idea we would be visiting again so soon! I was thrilled, because I think I fell in love with the farm on our last visit. Standing there in the fields is just indescribable. You can see sky all around. And I was lucky enough to experience a true prairie storm. You can see it coming for miles! And then there is all the treasure. Old barns, old houses, old cars, old farm equipment, old everything. I swear they could open a museum. I could just spend hours exploring and taking pictures. I can’t believe I haven’t posted any pictures from our trip yet – but they are coming! I took a few more of the farm this time around though!

On Sunday the whole family came over to the farm. Mark’s Aunts and Uncles, cousins, and puppies. It was wonderful to meet everyone and we were just so happy to be spending the holiday with family. And of course there was so much food! We had such an amazing time, and we look forward to our next farm visit!

We hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving as well!

xox.

BUFFALO NARROWS

This past Saturday we took a day trip and had a picnic up in Buffalo Narrows, about an hour North of Beauval. We went with our next door neighbours Andrew, Nicole, their kids Laura and Sam, and Nicole’s parents. We hiked the sand dunes, picked some shells and chased the birds. 

Here are some pictures!

LONG WEEKENDING PART 2

Played golf for the first time!

3 hour and 15 minute canoe trip from Little Marble Lake to Mazinaw Lake @ Bon Echo Provincial Park.

Some cliff climbers!

On May 22 2010, Mark and I canoed to this very random, but beautiful rock (above), where he asked me to marry him! So this year we came back to find it and reminisce.

Cool, eh?