New Deck

This weekend I set about re-newing our deck. There were quite a few rotten joists and boards and the main beam needed to be replaced. It was a big job but I had lots of help from the kids and friends and managed to complete the job late last night as planned. View the construction pictures click here

Golf at Kananaskis

Today I played golf with Nick and 2 of his friends at Kananaskis Country Golf Course in the mountains. The weather was beautiful, scenery was spectacular and golf indifferent. We all had a great day. Have a look at more of the pictures click here

Camp Brown

Last weekend we had our first ever family camping trip. We found a nice site, called Elkwood Campground, deep in the mountains in Kananaskis and pitched our 222 sq ft tent. We arrived on Friday lunchtime, as we were concerned about getting a spot. We needn't have worried.
That evening we cooked hot dogs on the camp fire and then marshmallows. The first night got very cold and we all struggled to get to sleep, which was also partly due to the baked beans!! We awoke the next day and had a hearty breakfast of scrambled eggs, beans (again!) and toast and then ventured out for a horse back trail ride. We got back to Camp Brown and started cooking our dinner, steak, smash and yep you got it baked beans. That night was a little warmer than the previous night but we still had some strange noises to sleep through. Sunday morning breakfast consisted of, basically everything we had left, eggs, toast, hot dogs, smash and of course beans. We then packed up our tent and took a detour via Spray Lake on our journey home. Click here for the pictures.

Whitewater Rafting

Today was Derek and Diana's last day so we decided to go whitewater rafting. We had such a good time rafting on the Kananaskis River, which was classed at 2 & 3. This meant that Sophie and Lewis could go too, so the whole family could have some fun together. Class 3 states that you will get wet! And we did. But we didn't care as it was a beautiful day with the temperature reaching 30 degrees C (around 84 F) and we were all kitted out with the correct gear, so the cold glacial water was very refreshing indeed. I have uploaded some more pictures - click here.

Black Belt Grading

Last Friday I took my black belt grading and the weekend course with Sensei Yaguchi. I found out tonight that I passed. I am now a black belt in Shotokan Karate :-) The picture is of me and a fellow student, also taking his black belt grading, in the kumite (free style sparing) part of the grading. Many thanks to all my karate friends back in the UK for the lovely emails. The picture below is me, showing off my new belt and Sensei Jones.

The Calgary Stampede and "The Big Show"

The Calgary Stampede has been on for this last 10 days and what a great fun time to be in Calgary. Everybody goes cowboy mad for the duration of the Stampede. Restaurants have bails of hay laying around and the waiters and waitresses all dress in cowboy hats and boots. The Stampede itself was rather special for us as Sophie performed in the Grandstand show, which is deemed as the greatest outdoor show on earth. We helped out program selling and managed to see Sophie for a few nights in the show. The show was amazing with fireworks, acrobats, circus artists on the new cable system which allowed them to float over the heads of the audience and of course the Young Canadians. The kids were absolutely fantastic!! Sophie enjoyed the whole experience and hopes she can be in the show again next year. I have uploaded some more photos - click here.

Here are Diana and Derek in Calgary.

We have had a great time so far, and have been made very comfortable. We have had a couple of short holidays in the Rockies, at Lake Louise and Jasper.
Now we are in the middle of the Stampede, have been involved in Program selling (We didn’t sell as many as Becca, or even Steve, but we did our best). It is a great event, we have learned a lot about Rodeo, and are enjoying the “The Big Show” which is certainly very spectacular with lighting effects and fireworks. At the preview show a thunderstorm was included.
We have also been introduced to Baseball, have seen matches and practice sessions involving Alex and Lewis, and a Calgary Vipers match.All that and we still have a couple of weeks to go!