Snow falling on Midnapore

We were excited to arrive in Calgary to find snow on the ground...without the cold weather. It's been beautiful here, and the existing snow had just stuck around from a cold snap a few weeks ago. This is a picture of me next to the Camwell's house.

I woke up this morning to grey skies and a pretty, light snow. As I blog, I'm looking out the window...I hope it's not cold. We've been able to go on walks without freezing so far.

Christmas brought all sorts of unexpected surprises. Things never go as expected. Here are some examples.

My cousin Kerry came to town (from Vancouver, but she's moving back to Calgary soon--we hope!!) and is staying with my parents. We haven't seen her since we moved from Oregon, so it's been great to hang out with her. After my brief intro to knitting by my friend Katrina, Kerry was there to help me develop my beginner's knitting skills. She knits "normally" though (Katrina showed me her way, the "German" style), so I end up going back and forth between left- and right-hand knitting. Hmmm. So far no disastrous results. I'll take a picture of my scarf-in-progress and post it soon. Anyway, I love my cousin! I've missed her!

Surprise number 2 came on Christmas Eve when we were visiting with my parents, Kerry, and family in from Chilliwack, BC, Uncle Tom, Aunt Carol, and cousins Amanda and Krista with 2-year-old daughter Daija (that's not the surprise). I was playing Christmas carols on the piano for a sing-along downstairs, and the phone rang. It was my Aunt Allison, my mom's sister whom we haven't seen much of in the past eight or so years. I saw her last at my brother Michael's wedding...when was that? Three or four years ago? To wrap up this story...we ended up packing up everybody and some food and caravaning three carloads over to Allison and Peter's house (also in Calgary). I saw my cousins Ainsley and Lachlan. Lachlan is in grade 6, and I haven't seen him since he was a baby. Ainsley is 13 years old!!! She came to Mike and Sharlene's wedding, but other than that, it's been a while. It was a Christmas miracle that we were all able to be together.

Surprise number 3 came on Christmas Day. We woke up, had brunch with the Camwells, opened presents, went for a walk in Fish Creek Park, and headed over to my parents' house. There we were informed that my brother Richard, his wife Tamara, and their daughter (that would be my niece) Roxanne were violently ill and wouldn't make it to the house today. :( Mike and Sharlene forgot that it was an "on" year (we alternate between families because of all the married couples), so their family (including my nephews Sidney and Joseph) didn't join us until after dinner. :( I don't want to sound like a downer, but my brother David wasn't there either...that's another story. :( So we were a small party on Christmas day. My parents, Kerry, Dave and I, and my brother James and his wife Becky. The good news is that we had plenty of elbow room at the dining room table without those extra 8 people.

Surprise number 4 was the news that my friend Karmen's sister had a baby on Christmas Eve. Another Christmas miracle.

Well, there's now a snow advisory for Calgary, which is a big deal, as we Calgarians are used to snow. I hope everyone's Christmases were filled with surprises (and I hope they were good ones!). Stay warm, and if you're reading this in Calgary, be careful as you drive out to see me today. ;)