Ho Ho Ho Merrrrrry Christmasssss

Ho Ho Ho and a Merry Christmas to all our family and friends. We're missing out on the 20 swims and stinking hot weather this xmas and have traded it in for a white xmas - 2 weeks skiing, cross country skiing, ice skating, dog sleding and hopefully a little bit of relaxing aswell!

We're missing everyone heaps, but know this time will fly by all too quickly

This is from our front balcony after a recent snow fall.

Edmnton Rush Lacrosse Team

One more Canadian spectator sport we've taken up is Lacrosse - it's like a cross between hockey and rugby and rough as guts! We went to watch the Edmonton Rush play the Calgary Roughnecks and really enjoyed it!

The funniest part is the 'bully off' in the centre which is akin to Roman Wrestling! It's a game that'd be fun to play though - when we were 20!

And one more picci of the beautiful Victoria Outdoor Ice Skating Rink from the below blow. Notice the helmut on Jen! It makes her go faster!! (not!)

Winter activities (in the Fall)

Well with the cold well and truly set in we are signing ourselves up for all the winter sports. First of all Ian has joined a curling team during the lunch break - it's a bit like lawn bowls but instead you have a 'sheet'- ie ice sheet, and you thrown a rock (lump of granite) down the sheet and curl it asyou go! It's loads of fun. Have also tried our hand (or legs) as Cross Country skiing. We had through that seeing as we're mastering the downhill then we'd pick this up pretty quick,,, not so! You use entirely different muscles and the skis are about half the width of our downhills! But we have to learn - and learn quickly because we have signed ourselves up for a famous cross country ski race called the Birkenbeiner (The Birkie). It honours a famous moment in Norweign history and this year is the 800 year anniversary - the web site is great - www. canadianbirkie.com. This picci top left is of Ian - but check out the kids in the sleigh in front of him!

We've also taken to ice skating - Ian is just a legend and has been able to cross over his skates since day 1! We've had 2 goes on an indoor rink - but the best thing was last Tuesday when we had our first go on an outdoor rink. It was a full moon and there was a little tinkle of snow falling - an absolutely magic night. These piccis are in the daytime - Ian is the one in the black top and khaki jeans in the pici to the left.

Its freezing here!!

On the 29th November Edmonton broke all the record books for cold weather! They called it an Ártic Blast'and boy was it cold. The temperature plummeted to the minus 30's, but the biggest thing to be wary of at these temps is the wind chill factor which increases exponentially with the decreases in temp. It was bringing the temps down into the minus 40's. And to make matters worse we were skiing in it! The lift had stopped at the bottom of the hill - it's both a health and safety concern as the workers are prone to frostbite and also the lubricant starts getting dodgy below minus 30. It was quite an experience (one that we're not in a real hurry to repeat!) skiing in these temps,,, and to cut a long story short Ian ended up with frost bite on the last run of the day - it looked like white waxy clumps on his nose. The waxy spots went away after heating them up, but his nose and cheeks are left looking like he's hit the gravel! We don't think it's too bad a case but will probably make him a little more vulnerable to it in the future,,,, a little something for him to remember Alberta by! We also spent a day at Lake Louise watching the mens world championship Super G event,,, all the famous names, including the super legend Herman Maier. Also had our one and only night at the Banff Fairmont Springs hotel - wowwwwww,,, what an amazing place. It's such an icon of the Rockies! The best experience here was swimming in the heated outdoor pool (heated to 39 degrees) when it was minus 28 and snowing! It's incrediblly warm and not as bad as it sounds - as long as you tie your hair up becuse the second it gets wet it freezes white solid!

But talk about big temperature changes - in Calgary it was minus 42 on the Tuesday and the following Tuesday it was plus 13! Go Figure! A 55 degree change - it sends the kids crazy at school one teacher was telling us.