Snowboarding Demon

Heeeeelllppp!!  I need more time.... My big boy is already doing jumps on his snowboard.... And not just jumps off a small snow mound but jumps OVER people.  I need time to not only process this information but time to recognise that my boy is already doing crazy stunts on a piece of apparatus that he has only just been introduced to.

I had thought that  it would take a number of lessons and a number of hours of practice before he was at such a skill level and that I would be able to slowly get used to him being on a snowboard in the first place. 

I really shouldn't be surprised though.  He is after all Brendan's son.  In so many ways he is taking after his Dad.  He is smart as a tack, loving, loyal and a enjoys anything that involves speed and adrenalin.  So I guess I should just resign myself to the fact that Caleb will be participate in crazy stunts and go hard in most physical endeavours.  I think I need to take some deep breaths and maybe close my eyes a bit more.

Snow Rugby

Take a group of die hard rugby fans, a field of deep, powdery snow and a regulation football and you can put together a game of snow rugby.

This year the snow was almost knee deep which made running extremely difficult but falling not too bad.  Bren, as usual, was Mr Competitive and put his heart and soul into the game.  He took a few big hits but gave as good as he got.  

After chasing someone down (they made the try!!)

Boxing Day - Ice Fishing

           

A boxing day tradition the Carruthers participate in is heading out to "Biff's Ponds" for a spot of ice fishing.  After hitting the shops and spending the kids money from Santa on ski helmets and goggles we headed out to Wayne and Val Bifford's place.  At their property they have a couple of ponds stocked with rainbow trout.  Here Wayne drills holes in the ice and crazy people like us stand around said hole and try to catch a trout or two using krill or prawns as bait.

We all had a turn at fishing with varying levels of success.  

       

  

Every so often the hole starts to freeze over so the icy water needs to be scooped so the hole remains 'fishable'.  Seth decided that this would be his job.  He did however forget that the water was very very very cold and began to use his (gloved) hand to scoop out the partly frozen water.

 














After reminding Seth that this was not really a good idea at all (!!!)  he finally figured out that yes indeed it was extremely cold and so wandered over to the roaring fire not far away and tried to get warm.

 Wayne and Val put on a wonderful spread of food and drinks including sausages for roasting on the fire.   We had a really enjoyable and memorable afternoon.  This is one Christmas tradition we won't be able to participate in when we get home but one which we will always remember fondly.

Merry White Christmas

Our first white Christmas was everything we imagined it to be.  The boys woke early to fresh snow, a gift from Santa and the company of family and special friends.  "Santa even found us.  He must have asked Nanny where we were", said Seth.  The weather was kind, warming up to a pleasant (albeit cold) -14c.  We opened gifts in the morning, ate a light lunch in the middle of the day and enjoyed a bountiful meal of turkey, stuffing, delicious green bean casserole, creamy mashed potatoes and gravy.  Dessert was a divine ginger chocolate cake with cream cheese icing.

Before dinner Seth, Bren and I went for a walk around the block looking at  the houses decorated with Christmas lights, helping to cheer up a landscape blanketed in white.  Snow fell gently as we went for our walk.  On the way we decided to visit Janet, Ingolf, Andrew and Kirsten Sandberg; friends we hadn't seen since our last visit to Williams Lake.  They were excited to see us and meet Seth for the first time.  As with everyone we have met again on our visit here it seems as if we had only been away for the shortest of time.  It is a lovely feeling.

We hope you too had a wonderful day with family and friends and your Christmas was special - white or not!!!

Winter +Big White = Big Snow

What else can I say about Big White but "WOW". This place is unbelievable.  I have never seen so much deep, luscious, powdery snow.  According to those in the know conditions on the mountain are as good as what one would find in February and the best snow in 12 years.   We went up on a day when snow was falling reasonably heavily and temperatures were quite mild (-1c).
After purhcasing the boys snow boards, boots and bindings in Vancouver they were very keen to try out snow boarding.  Incredibly after only two runs down a beginners hill both boys had the basics of snowboarding down pat.  Caleb was particularly adept at the sport most likely because he has been an avid skateboarder, scootererer(???) and rip sticker in Australia.  Seth too did really well.  He being the boy who has no fear and will have a try at absolutely everything and anything.
We have purchased season tickets to Big White so we will be visiting here as much as possible until the end of April.  By then I think the boys will be scooting down blue runs with not a care in the world.