Skating on the Pond

Hello! We are back from a lovely time in Vernon, where we played in the snow and lived in a winter wonderland over New Years.  Twice a year we make the 6 hour drive to visit our friends who live in Vernon- it's a trip we have been making for over 10 years now.   Our kids (they have 2 girls) are the same ages- born months a part so they are like cousins.  Friendships that span through the child-rearing age are often hard to keep up with so we really value the time we spend with them, once in the winter and once in the summer, with their family coming out our way a couple of times in between to visit too.
The boys went up to Silver Star Mountain to snowboard on our second day and then on NYE day we  went ice skating at the pond.  The sun was out- despite the fog down below and it was snowy and lovely (only about -3 so not too cold).  At one point my son lay on the ice and pointed to a 'rainbow' in the sky- kind of this upside down rainbow that was all sparkly and faint like it was made with sparkly snowflakes.  What a treat to see something this beautiful in the sky at the end of a great year, giving hope and promise to a new year dawning.  After lunch it fogged up again and the misty fog came out reminding me how quickly and constant change is in life. 

That winter feeling

We finally made it up to Mt. Seymour to pick up the season's passes for my boys this year, and while there wasn't as much snow as the last time I was up there, it was wonderful to enjoy the wintery feeling, despite the warmish weather here in Vancouver.  We ended up hiking on the snow-shoe trails part of the way to the look-out (last time Sasha and I did the 2.5 km that it took to get there) and noticed that dogs are now allowed on the trail as well.  Not that we have a dog, but there were some beautiful dogs clearly enjoying the snow as much as my boys.  Also new at Seymour- the magic carpet to take kids just learning to ski or snow-board up the bunny hill.  Sure beats the tow-rope! And someone parked their vintage snowshoes on the trail- the kind I'd be hanging up in my home if I had a pair! (The owner's bags were close by so I didn't quite feel like I could mess with these to stand both shoes up-right for the photo... does anyone know what the smaller one on the ground would be for?  It was on it's own...)
Only a few more days until Christmas!  I'll be taking some time off of blogging to really enjoy things around here, but I just thought I'd pass along a very Merry Christmas from my family to yours.  Thank you all for stopping by my blog, leaving comments and being interested in what I do and make.

Mountain top views

Well we were all feeling a whole lot better today, good enough to brave the traffic up to one of our local mountains.  The last time our whole family was up at Seymour was a couple of summers ago when we went hiking and swimming with the boys.  Now seeing everything in it's winter glory on a clear sunny day made the whole mountain absolutely spectacular!  While Dean took Johnny snowboarding, Sasha and I hiked on one of the snowshoe trails down to a little frozen lake and then up to a lookout that was truly amazing.  Of course, hiking back with a tired 6 yr old in tow before the sun went completely down was a little nerve-wracking but we all met up just fine and everyone had a great day.  A much better way to end off 2010 than the flu!!

It's December!!!

We got a bit of snow (for 2 whole days!!) a couple of weeks ago just to get us all excited for Christmas- the boys got to go outside and play in the snow and it made our week extra special.  Something about falling snow and all the Christmas lights on the houses makes me feel all festive, despite the busyness.  Dean started working on his annual Christmas mix tape- I'm hoping he can create a pod-cast of it this year so I can pass it along to you.  It's always entertaining- the hidden gems and sometimes very obscure Christmas music he finds out there.
It's only about a week (9 days, to be exact) until the One of a Kind Vancouver Show and I'm loading my last bisque of the year today! So that's it folks! That's all! I have 2 glaze firings to go and I will be finissimo for the season! I tell ya, I put my last handle on a teapot the other day and felt soooo ready to be done!  You know it's time to quit when you can't bear to trim another pot.  I kept telling myself- 'just 5 more, heather, just 4 more...'  Well, it truly is the final countdown! Yikers, got to get to the studio folks!