Christmas Visitors!

Joanne, Vaun & Teagan came for a pre-Christmas visit, this was their first trip to the ranch. We had a good two days with them, opening presents, skating and visiting.


The kids exchanged gifts. Teagan got some new dress up clothes.


The girls on the trampoline.


All the kids on the trampoline.


The cousins sitting in front of the fireplace.


Vaun, Jo & Teagan in front of the fireplace.

Hockey Day on the Ridge

With the streak of warm weather lately it was hard to get the ice thick enough, but Mother Nature came through with some -22 temperatures the other morning; I took advantage and laid the water too it!


Its not the Colesium but we got ice!


I strapped the blades on to show the youngsters how its done!


Its been a few years since I skated, I was pooped out. The girls were having more fun body sliding than trying to skate on the uneven surface. Kirby wanted to know how I was able to skate on the rough ice, "many years of skating on backyard rinks!" (thanks to dad), was my answer!

Country Christmas!

We are looking forward to our first Country Christmas On The Ridge. Today it was just above zero, with a sunny sky, so we decided to go out across the road and take a traditional family picture.

No props here, that's a real hay bale we're sitting on!

For those that aren't color blind, here's a color shot of the rug rats, they look cold but they're really not!

Rinky Dink!

Warmer weather lately has slowed the progress of the backyard rink. I've been putting down at least 3 layers of water a day but lately its been getting up above 0! The only saving grace is that I positioned it right behind the house so the sun can't get at it so I don't think I'm losing any.


Me and my hose!


Today Blair was itching to try the ice out, it was a little on the rough side and he broke through in a few spots, but he still wanted to carve it up. If you look in the dining room window you can see he has a spectator!

Santa's Visit!

Last weekend was the "Police Kids" Christmas party at the Hockey Hounds arena.


Blair played some hockey.


Erinn tried ice skating for the first time and absolutely loved it. Mom didn't get to help much, she kept getting shooed away until finally it was just Erinn all by herself.


And of course St. Nick came for a visit and the kids brought some presents home.

Rink Progress!

If you look at yesterday's picture of the rink you will notice the lack of snow. I spent an hour shovelling snow from the ditch on to the rink so I could pack it down to get a good base. When I come in to take a break, I'm checking my email and when I look out I see this;



So, in the end I didn't have to shovel!


Here's what things looked like when I finished packing it this morning. You see the snow angel in the middle? This afternoon I will be putting the H2O to it!

White Stuff!

Yesterday we got a good dump of the white stuff!


The yard gets better looking all the time!


You can see I got the icicle lights on the kids' playhouse.


Nice to see something other than dirt in the backyard!


You can't beat country living. While I was taking this picture the coyotes were howling down in the valley; AWESOME!

Winter Everlast!

"Dad, can you make us a rink in the back yard?" Blair asks.
"No son, we never get winter long enough" I reply.

Well winter has lasted for 2 weeks now, with no end in sight, so I'm building a rink!
It started out as 10'x30', than I decided to go big, we have the room for it!


Here is the before picture, 20'x30'. I've been hauling water to top up the tank and today I will begin flooding!

Christmas Decorating!

Over this past weekend Carolyn & the kids were busy with decorating the house for Christmas! My job was to bring home the tree; since I'm the best at picking them out!

I remember when we lived in the bush and getting a tree was much more enjoyable and rewarding. We would take the snowmobile, the sleigh and an ax and spend the afternoon hunting for the perfect one. Now its drive to the Superstore, pick a tree that is wrapped tightly in mesh and looks like all the rest, bring it home and hope for the best!

Well this year I decided we would get a tall one, since we've got 9 foot ceiling in the house. The sign says "White Pine 5.5' to 7'", there is only one that's taller than me (5'8"), so I think its gotta be one of the 7 footers. I pay my $30 and bring it home, hanging out the back of the truck.

When I get home I haul the tree in and try to stand it up; its too tall, so I get my hand saw and saw 6 inches off the bottom. When I go to put the stand on it won't fit now because I sawed too much off! So, I find the part I sawed off, nail it back on, put the stand on and lop off the top 6 inches, now it fits perfectly. I get the thing stood up and hide the trimmings just as Carolyn & the kids pull into the garage; "Nice tree dad", "Nice tree honey, looks like it just fit"!


Notice no angel on the top? I guess Carolyn said it wouldn't fit!