Chris and I met Lindsay through Marcia and Phil. She’s an art teacher, and yes you guessed it, she’s super rad. Here she is waiting her turn in the rental shop. This was the first time she was going skiing since she was 9-years old. She did amazing!

Just a glance back down the hill while slowly on the way up.

Marcia and Lindsay eager to get to the top.

We got a good chuckle on the way down when we came across this fake, bloody, arm on the trail. That would be the plaid thing hanging from Lindsay’s face. Hee,hee. Silly ladies. So much fun.

Chris and I enjoying a romantic chairlift ride. I apologize for my turtle face and fake smile. I seem to have trouble not making that face while trying to hold the camera away from us and actually get us in the frame.

Looking sexy after a full-day of skiing.

Marcia and Lindsay enjoying comfy clothes and drinks in the luxurious log house we stayed in that evening. The house belongs to Lindsay’s friends brother. It was the most beautiful log house I’ve ever been in. Thank you so much friends brother!

Here’s the kitchen of the log house. There was a foosball table in the house which occupied and entertained us for hours! Not kidding. We played one-on-one, two-on-two, boys vs girls. Afterwards we enjoyed pasta and wine and slept like babies.

The log house from the outside. We literally had to shovel our way out the next morning. You can see why they call the mountain “Powder King”. I highly recommend skiing at “Powder King”. It was the best snow and powder I’ve ever skied on.

This is the little Echo that got all five of us and our gear the three and a half hours from Grande Prairie to Powder King and back.

We’ve rented a 4 bedroom duplex in Grande Prairie and the main living room ceiling is incredibly tall, so when Chris and I saw this 7 foot Christmas tree for sale at SuperStore we bought it without any hesitation. Then we found ourselves holding the tree and looking at the small trunk of our car.

We did manage to get the 7 foot tree in the trunk of our car but...

...it meant shuffling around the groceries in the back seat.

Chris started sawing off the bottom of the tree.

I tried to help out a bit, but was pretty useless at sawing, so Chris took over again and finished the job. Together we secured the tree in its stand and “voila” after letting it thaw overnight we pulled out the Christmas decorations and decorated it together.

Chris decorating our first Christmas tree.

Laura getting ready to put a shinny red ball. We were so cute, Chris put on his green shirt and Laura her red sweater in honour of decorating the tree.

Chris and I at the County of Grande Prairie (my employer) Christmas party. (Sorry it’s a crummy point shoot shot.)

Phil Bell (my co-worker/friend) at the County Christmas party, with his arm around the door prize he won. It was handmade by someone who works for the County.

We had our two nephews and two nieces spend the night one Saturday. Of course the girls and I played dress-up. They both tried on my nun costume from when I was in “The Sound of Music” in Grade 9. This is Delaney, age 6.

Bridget, age 8, dressed up in my Grade 9 nun costume.

Of course the girls had to try on their Auntie Laura’s wedding dress! Delaney, age 6.

Bridget, age 8, in Auntie Laura’s wedding dress. These days, wedding dresses always have ribbing and formed “boob” shapes, otherwise the dresses would loose their flattering shape because of the weight of the material that makes up a wedding dress. Kinda awkward looking on an eight year old, but yet cute.

The mittens I knit my mom for Christmas. I am now making Chris some, then myself. The are made with 85% mohair and 15% natural wool. I made up the pattern and design since I do not yet know how to read patterns. Not another pair on this planet exists like them. I hope they are keeping my mom very, very warm, especially this past week when temperatures all over Alberta were around –30.

Our niece, Bridget, on Christmas morning.

Our nephew, Ryley, holding the T-shirt we gave him. He is enthralled with palaeontology and, to say the least, views my co-worker Phil as a hero.

Chris gave our nephew, Gregory, the guitar that he, his cousin Shane and his friend Mike (Ham) all learned to play on. What a great Uncle, passing on the gift of music! On that note, Chris bought me an electric piano for Christmas, jazz sheet music and the sheet music for Charlie Brown’s Christmas. It’s been wonderful getting music back into my life. Thank you Chris!

Last, but not least, our niece, “Delaney”, proudly and happily holding up some skates Santa gave her.

Chris and I spent a couple hours one night practicing with our light stands and flashes. Here’s one of the portraits Chris took of me.

A portrait of Chris that I captured that same evening.

Ah! Good to be back in beautiful Alberta.

We were sad to say goodbye to Kate, who drove all the way from Calgary to Vancouver to welcome us home. She then proceeded to drive us from Vancouver to Sorrento, where Chris’s parents live. What a trooper and amazing friend! Love you Kate.

I love Burt’s Bees. Who’s with me? This Burt’s Bees lip balm for ~$5.79 Canadian travelled around the globe with me during our epic 8-month trip. In fact I even had it for a few months before we left!

We were fortunate enough to see the start of the Salmon run while in Sorrento B.C. visiting Chris’s family and retrieving our belongings. Every four years the Sockeye Salmon return to the river where they were born. They find a mate and after laying and fertilizing thousands and thousands of eggs they die. This was the largest group of Salmon we spotted. If you go to the same river now (September 27, 2010) you would probably see an astronomical increase in the number of Salmon.

A Salmon struggles to swim in the shallow water. Other dead Sockeye already bloat in the water.

It is amazing how much power they have.

Donna and Graham, Chris’s mom and dad, took us to see the Salmon run!

While walking through the woods near Sorrento B.C. and enjoying the Salmon run, I also noticed this lovely spider web.

Chris and I celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary this past Monday, September 20, 2010. We enjoyed a fabulous meal at Padrino’s Italian Ristorante located within the Best Western in Grande Prairie. Moments before arriving to the restaurant Chris and I signed the 1-year lease to rent a beautiful 4-bedroom/2-full bathroom duplex. It’ll be great to have our own home again. (And we’ll have more than a couch for you to sleep on Tait!)

Chris jumped feet first into his new life here by going quadding with the boys, our very first weekend in town. Chris got so much mud and dust in his eyes that he was literally crying mud for a few day following. Not to mention that his eyes looked like both had been stung by a jelly fish.

Dean, my brother-in-law, sporting his quad and completing the primary colour theme with his jumper.

This past weekend, September 25 & 26, Chris and I went camping in Canada for the first time since August 2009! We sincerely enjoyed a lovely weekend at Saskatoon Island Provincial Park campground. We went with our friends Marcia and Phil who just moved to Grande Prairie from Edmonton. Phil is also my co-worker at the Pipestone Creek Dinosaur Initiative. He is THE palaeontologist and I am the Education Coordinator. Together we shall rule the world! Muah, ha, ha. (lol) No, together, along with the rest of the team, we endeavor to create a world reknown dinosaur museum in Wembley Alberta, 19 kilometers west of Grande Prairie. Marcia is a junior high teacher.

Phil loves tea. About 2–3 times a day while camping he would perform this Australian tea ritual. He very much prefers loose leaf tea and takes the time and effort to carefully prepare his brew even while camping. In his hand you can see Phil is holding a stainless steal pot, that is much loved judging by how black it is from the many fires that have heated it. Once the water and tea leaves were boiling, Phil removed the pot from the fire and swung it around in a circular motion. The spinning motion caused the tea leaves to settle to the bottom of the pot.

Phil completing his tea ritual by pouring the good tasting brew into a patiently waiting camping mug.

Laura inside part of the Cu Chi tunnel system.

An American tank left over from the Vietnam War. Today tourists climb all over its rusty body.

An entrance to the Cu Chi tunnel system. I would not be able to fit my hips through this. Just look at the size of it compared to my foot! As you can imagine, this was a great advantage for Vietnamese soldiers. If American soldiers did manage to get into the tunnels the Vietnamese has constructed smaller bottle-neck areas where they would get stuck.

Another entrance to the tunnel system. During the war all entrances were camouflaged with foliage.

This is just one style of booby-trap the Vietnamese soldiers used. To the left of Chris you can see some grass going up vertically. This grass is attached to a board which has one axis that allows the board to rotate like a revolving door. If someone steps on the grass covered door, the door swings down and the person falls onto multiple bamboo spikes. The spikes are 2 to 4 feet long.

The man who showed us which gun to shoot and who instructed me how to shoot the gun by saying, “Aim at the cow”, before he took 4 steps away from me.

This is me worried I won’t be able to get my hips through the tiny entrance to the tunnel system.

Eeeekkkk. I’m I going to fit?

Now that I’ve got my hips through, I’m piling extra leaves on top of the lid to my entrance to ensure I’m camouflaged when I’m fully underground.

This entrance was enlarged so tourists could fit inside. It’s true. Vietnamese men and women are a lot smaller than me, so imagine an American soldier with gear trying to fit down the entrance.

I must keep my arms and elbows straight in order to get into the very small entrance of the tunnel. The leaf covered lid provides camouflage.

I’ve almost got my camouflaged lid back on, and then there’s nothing to do but wait and hope the enemy didn’t see me going inside.

This special shoe was worn by the women who carried the dirt from the tunnels to the river. Their toes were slipped into the narrower part but the sole of the shoe made it look like they were walking the opposite direction. So smart.

Chris just about to exit the Cu Chi tunnel system. This part of the system has been enlarged for tourists to crawl through (optional of course).