Odds and Ends

Some odds and ends with B & N from early 2015:

 

Ben (and Mom) spent a lot of time in January and early February working on his project for the Learning Fair at school.  We were so proud of all the time and effort that Ben put in to make his project about dolphins look so great!  And, I think he was pretty proud to show it off to his teachers and friends on February 5th.  Way to go, buddy!   



Presenting Nathalie, the tiger.  (AKA, face-painting day at gymnastics.)

 

Snow Day fundraiser at Nathalie's preschool.  It was actually a lovely day outside, and I love that my little gal is thinking spring with that balloon!

 

Seriously??  No to the helmet, but yes to the swim goggles.  Makes complete sense...to her!

 

Ben attended a friend's "art" birthday party.  I hope some of the paint actually landed on a canvas instead of just the kids.  :)  Ben had a blast, and I'm pretty sure there was even paint in his ears!  The sign of a great party...

 

My cuties being cute!  

Happy, happy!

Happy 38th to Greg!  We love him so much and could not be more grateful for the way he provides for us and loves us back!  We hope it is the happiest of birthdays yet!!     

 

Below is a picture of Greg and his colleague, Harman, taken in late January.  Harman offered to come to our home and teach me how to cook some proper Indian dishes.  I was so excited that I completely forgot to take any pictures of the actual food, and oh my, was it amazing!!  Even better than the food (if that was possible) was the time spent with Harman getting to know more about him, his family,  and his culture.  A truly memorable afternoon, and I am dreaming of making that butter chicken again very, very soon!  Thanks Harman!

Ice & Heat

We had a little weekend away on January 24/25 as an early birthday celebration for Greg.  On Saturday morning, we drove to Lake Louise to see their Ice Magic Festival.  Warning:  there are a lot of winter photos ahead.  I find winter can be especially beautiful, but for all of those who don't, you could probably skip this entire post, as it is full of white winter wonderland fun!

Family photo at Lake Louise, winter 2015.  I think we have seen the lake in all 4 seasons now.  Last summer, we were dipping our toes in the cool water.  And now, we were preparing to walk on the frozen lake.  Amazing.

He's the King of the World!!!

 

Nathalie has been our little evangelist for years now.  As we grocery shop, she will sing Jesus Loves Me as loudly as she pleases.  Well, she asked me who this man was, and I told her this carving was the same as a statue of Jesus in Brazil.  For the next 10 minutes, she walked around the Ice Festival saying (loudly) "Momma, did you see Jesus?  Let's go back and see Jesus!  Hey look, it's Jesus!"  Love this girl...      

Ben getting cozy on the ice couch...

 

Amazing ice art...

Beautiful Lake Louise...

On the lake, there was a castle made of ice, an ice throne, and the Snow Queen was walking around greeting visitors.  She even dubbed Nathalie an ice princess, which made her day! 

Fun family day, and the icicles were tasty!

As we were leaving Lake Louise, we discussed stopping off at the Banff Hot Springs on our way back to our hotel in Canmore.  Rather suddenly, we came upon a sign for Radium Hot Springs instead.  So, we took the exit and decided we were up for a short adventure.  Little did we know, this was a LONG adventure.  The Radium Hot Springs were about a 2 hour drive through the mountains into British Columbia.  (We assumed the sign we saw meant that it wasn't too far...oops!)  It was a pretty drive, but as we neared the hot springs, the weather grew foggy and the skies were growing dark.  Greg and I were already worrying about our drive back to Canmore, but didn't let it ruin our hot springs fun.  The kids were a little cautious of the heat at first but settled right in.  We had so much fun splashing around in the hot water in the dark.  Finally, Ben's red hot cheeks told us it was probably time to be on our way.  We left the hot springs around 5:30 pm and made it back to the hotel around 8:30, tired and hungry.  As expected, it was a long and worrisome drive, but we enjoyed the adventure nonetheless! 

On Sunday, we tried out a new ski hill in Banff called Mt. Norquay.  It wasn't too busy, which was nice, and the temps were rather warm.  Nathalie enjoyed the daycare time and a ski lesson, and the rest of us enjoyed exploring some new terrain.  A great weekend!