Our Last Day Together ...

December 28, 2016

It was a beautiful morning ... the sun was shining ... and it warmed up a bit ...

This was our last day for the family to be together ...

Craig ... James and Ella were going to visit their other grandparents ...

and Rob and Cindy were flying back to Vancouver Island this evening ....

Sooooo... some play time was in order ...

Cindy wanted to try out the snowshoes ... we hiked around the field ...

while Nathan was pulling the kids on the tube with the snowmobile ...

 

 

The kids were having so much fun ...

it didn't matter that they were getting bombarded with snow ...

All you could hear was their screams and laughter ...

 

Ella opted to go for rides on the GT ...

with grandpa pulling her with the quad ...

Finally once Nathan stopped ... and the boys got all the snow cleared out of their gear ...

They gathered together to get a family picture ...

More pictures of all of us together ... enjoying this beautiful day ... playing in the snow ...

Nathan was all packed and ready to head out ...

and another group picture was taken ...

Rob and Cindy were busy for the rest of the afternoon ...

getting packed up to leave this evening ...

 

We decided to go into town for dinner ... picking up Oma ...

to join us for her last visit with Rob and Cindy ...

before driving to the airport ...

One last group picture was taken for this year ...

We had a great time with our dear friends ...

 

 

Morning on Christmas Eve Day ...

December 24, 2016

The kids couldn't wait to get outside ...

we had a hearty breakfast and then they were out the door around 10:30 am ...

The three of them had a blast jumping in the deep snow ...

they also shovelled the deck and piled up the snow ... making a bigger hill ...

and also burying Ella ...

Finally Grandpa and dad made it outside ...

they kids were raring to go sledding on their GT Racers ...

Nathan fired up all the snowmobiles ... even his brothers sled ...

(Ian ... now residing in Texas ... wanted it to be started)

taking them all for a quick ride ...

Making sure they were in good form for riding ...

Craig ended up driving grandpa's sled ... and Nathan took Ian's ...

When grandpa was finished take the kids on their rides ...

Mike took my snowmobile for a ride ...

 

Cindy & Rob loved being in the snow ...

it has been years since they experienced a winter in the Kootenays ...

We were surprised when Cindy wanted to drive the snowmobile ...

she did take it easy ... only going around the driveway loop ...

Cindy was delighted driving it ...

She was not ready to go out into the field ...

 

Everyone came into the house to have lunch ...

as you can see ... Nathan and the kids really helped out ...

Poor Nathan only wanted to stretch out on the floor ... he should know better ...!!!

It was wonderful to see them all have so much fun ...

Mike and Rob went into town to pick up Oma ...

and bring her out ...

to celebrate Christmas Eve ...

 

Nathan and I met Mike at the highway ...

and Oma transferred into the truck ...

as we were not sure how much snow we would encounter ...

travelling to the cemetery ...

Oma wanted to place a candle on the grave site ... of Susie and dad ...

shedding light for Christmas Eve ...

and throughout the season ...

Nathan also helped locate and clear the snow ...

of Margret and Gus Haase grave site ...

They were dear friends of Oma and Opa ...

In remembrance of them ... candles were also placed ...

Sending them love & light ...

for eternity ...

 

 

Secret Activities ...

December 10, 2016

Well ... remember that extra GT racer ... ???  

I know how it magically appeared ...

and grandpa and Craig took some pictures to prove it ... 

Apparently when Mike and Craig went to pick up Nathan last weekend ... 

they just happened to stop and pick one up ... so that each of the kids could ride ... behind the quad ...

No wonder the kids wanted to go to the shop after dinner ... 

They were busy beavers putting it all together ... to have it ready for sledding ...

Craig just loves bombing around in the snow ...

on the little quad ... whenever he can ... 

 

Nathan had brought the new parts for his R/C car ... and spent some time fixing it up ...

Craig also did some tweaking on his ... 

Craig sure has learned a lot watching and helping daddy ...

It amazes me how he can take them apart and put them back together ...

He just one of the guys ... 

 

 

Cookies ... GT Racer ... Car ...

December 11, 2016

We were up early this morning ... ready to seize the day ...

after breakfast we set the table to start icing and decorating ...

all the cookies that were baked the day before ...

Nathan came in to inspect the creative decorating of the cookies ...

Hey ...!!!!

There are a few cookies missing ... Nathan ...?????

We had a fun time decorating ...

The kitchen was cleaned up and the cookies left out to dry ...

before they were packaged up to be taken home ...

James was feeling better ...

they all went out to go sledding ... being pulled by grandpa on the quad ...

hmmmm ...

where did that extra GT Racer come from ...

I thought we only had two ... ???

The kids had a blast outside ... it was still very cold ... so they were not out for very long ...

It was time to have some lunch ... finish a few projects and get things packed up to head back home ...

Ella finished creating the Christmas card for their cousins ... Daigen and Nixon ...

so that I could send it in the package being mailed to Texas ...

Oma's car was cleaned out as well ... Nathan found a pair of Opa's flip-up sunglasses ...

and they all took a turn in trying them on ...

They sure got quite a kick out of them ...

The car was packed up ... ready to take Oma's car home ...

Everyone was excited and happy for this awesome gift ...

Safe travels ...!!!

 

 

Let's Have Fun ...

December 10, 2016

Ella wanted to make a Christmas card for Daigen and Nixon ...

and send it in the package with their gifts ...

Ella then snuggled up to Craig ... shhhhh ... she was on a mission ...

she was sweet talking him to go outside and play ... and it worked ...

The two of them went out with grandpa ... and he towed them around with the quad ...

those GT racers were flying ...

James was feeling under the weather and did not go out ...

he was relaxing on the couch ... hoping to get better ...

Ella came back in from sledding ... and Craig went to the shop to work with Grandpa ...

James was feeling a little better ... so we decided to make a batch of sugar cookies ...

Ella loved all the cookie cutters ... and did a great job placing them on the baking sheets ...

 

James had his turn with rolling out the cookie dough ...

placing the cookie cutters ... and putting them on the trays to be baked ...

Once all the cookies were baked ... they were left to cool ...

to be decorated tomorrow ...

James went to lay down and have a rest ... poor little guy ... hoping his fever would break ...

Ella came outside with me to check the boiler ... and add some wood ...

She then thought she would make a snow angel ...

as there were no tracks of any kind on the deck ...

It was perfect ... so beautiful this little angel ...

After an evening of working on remote control cars ... and whatever else needed fixing ...

the three crazies decided to slip into the hot tub ... which was set at 39 C ...

brrrrrrrrr ... it was -18 C this evening

They sure ran in quick to the house once they got out of the hot tub ...

 

Last Weekend in the Meadows ...

October 15, 2016

 

We headed back up to Mazur Meadows last evening ...

enjoying a quiet time by the campfire ...

When I awoke in the morning ...

I saw that John's truck was pulling up behind our trailer ...

John and his son ... Adrian ... were up early ... to go hunting ...

It was a successful hunt ... and now it was time to dress out the deer ...

and get it ready to take to the butcher ...

 

After lunch the guys decided to shoot a few rounds of shells ...

trap shooting with flying clay discs ...

 

Denise I decided to go for a hike ... to check out the fishing holes ...

while the guys were playing ...

Adrian had gone out hunting again with his dad ...

bringing back a grouse and rabbit ...

 

Rocko was making his special sauce again ... to have with penne this evening ...

Lindsay was in charge of the garlic bread and caesar salad ...

We managed to enjoy our dinner ... before the rain started to fall ...

Ranger and umbrellas kept us dry ... throughout the night ... sitting by the fire ...

This was our last evening to be together out in the wilderness ...

It was getting late and I was ready to call it a night ...

but before I said goodnight ...

I ended up making some "Grillers" for the guys ... as they were needing a midnight snack with their sociables ...

psst ...

I also knew once they would ingest some food ...

it wouldn't be long before they would be ready to call it a night ...

tee hee !!!

 

 

 

October 16, 2016

 

Everyone was busy ... packing up all their belongs ...

to head out of the meadows today ...

Once we were all packed up ... other than the quads and fishing poles ...

The four of us went for one last ride ...

and try out the fishing spots ...

We could see the fish swimming in the ponds ... hoping to catch one ...

we did have a few nibbles ...

but Rocko was the only one that caught a trout ...

This one released back into the water ...

It had started to rain a bit ... so we left the fishing spots ...

and just went for a ride to the other side of the creek ... up to the mountain ...

I was happy that I put on my rain gear ....

Upon returning back to the campsite ... the quads were put onto the trailers ... now ready to go ...

We did have a quick lunch ... roasting smokies over the campfire ...

before making our journey home ...

We thoroughly enjoyed all our weekends ...

here at Mazur Meadows ...

 

 

 

 

Camping In the Meadow ...

October 1 & 2, 2016

Mike and I decided to head up to Mazur Meadows ... with the travel trailer to get it set up ...

and bringing supplies needed for this weekend ...

and for the long weekend coming up ...

The weather was beautiful ... clear blue skies ... perfect for a walk in the woods ...

Denise with her grandchildren and myself ...

went for this hike ... the kids had a great time ...

and they were on the look out for edible mushrooms ...

We enjoyed a lovely afternoon and evening ... huddled around the campfire ...

when it started to get cooler earlier ... in the mountains ...

We woke up to another beautiful sunny day ...

after breakfast ... we sat around the campfire ... planning our day ... to go quadding ...

We did not bring our quads this trip ...

so Dave was kind enough to loan us his side by side ...

He had already gone hunting first thing this morning ... and didn't need it for the afternoon ...

We were delighted ... Mike got a few instructions and we were ready to head out ...

with Denise and Rocko ...

It felt great to be out in the wilderness ...

high up in the mountains ...

stopping to take a break in the meadow ...

All along the way we were in search of Shaggy Mane mushrooms ...

Our adventure from the start and back to the campsite was about 7km ...

Mike and I enjoyed the experience in the side by side ATV ...

We planned on bringing our quads out to the meadow for the long weekend ...

 

 

Always Something Going On ...

September 4, 2016

Ella helped in the kitchen for our breakfast this morning ...

She put out an arrangement of fruit ...

while I was making waffles ...

After breakfast ... Ella went for a long quad ride with Grandpa ...

the boys were riding the little quads and then Craig decided ...

to get the little trailer of Opa's ...

but there was an issue with the tire ...that needed to be dealt with first ...

 

Nathan had a look at the tire ...

he discovered that the bearings were seized up ...

so ... Craig helped out to get it fixed ...

 

After Ella and Grandpas long quad ride ...

she made her way down to the field ... to say hello to Whiskey and Juno ...

Ella had also husked a bag of corn on the cob ...

and fed the corn husks to the horses ... 

 

 

Ella and James came to help me gather some vegetables ...

for our special dinner ...

James was surprised how big the squash plants were ... and was excited to find the large squash ...

hanging on the trellis ...

 

They also picked some yellow zucchini and lots of carrots ...

Mason came down to the garden later ...

he had been busy riding the little quad ...

 

Once again I had my kitchen helper ...

cleaning up the carrots and munching on a few ...

  

 

Huckleberry Picking Day ...

August 28, 2016

It was a beautiful day to head up the mountain ...

to go Huckleberry picking ...

Meeting Denise and Rocco at the lake ...

unloading our quads for a full day of adventure ...

We decided to only take one quad ...

I was the passenger today ...

thought with my foot injury ... it was the wise thing to do ...

the terrain was quite rough in a few stretches on the road ...

heading up to our secret location ...

We finally arrived at our destination ... about an hour later ...

way up in the mountains ...

finding what we believe was the mother load ...

There were so many berries ...

we didn't have to go very far at all ...

finding a patch ... plunking ourselves down ... to start picking ...

We were surrounded with these ripe ... blue huckleberries ...

After picking berries for about an hour and half ...

we gathered together to have our picnic lunch ...

and enjoy the beauty all around us ...

We continued picking for a couple more hours ... getting a few buckets full ...

before we made our way back down the mountain ... stopping at a few precious spots ...

the small waterfall was the perfect place for a break ...

Rocco also took us on a path ...

to show us this ancient cedar tree ... there aren't many left in this area ...

We continued down the mountain ...

crossing the creek and driving by this old trappers cabin ...

What a beautiful setting ... so peaceful ... !!!

We arrived back at the campsite ...

and enjoyed the evening with the gang ...

telling our stories to the others that did not join us this day ...

We were invited to join them for dinner ...

and a few sociables ...

before we headed home ...