Christmas Day

Christmas is exhausting.

Unleash the children!

Chaos

Tobin had been eyeing up this pot of cars since Christmas eve

Singing Christmas Carols

Christmas Eve at the Gillatrons

Getting four boys under six to sit still long enough to take a picture is challenging...

All ready for Santa. I think the adults are more excited than the kids.

Nick has started crawling, just in time for the myriad choking hazards associated with this festive season. Fortunately most of the decorations are situated above the height of the dog's tail so he'll be safe.

We've been hearing lots of hard-to-take news about friends near and far so I think we'll be spending the day appreciating our good fortune and trying to send our best vibes and thoughts out to all our best people.

Love from us.

Even MORE Skiing!

SICK!!!!

Tobin is pretty amped about ski season and has been practicing by skiing around the living room. Earlier this week Ann-Marie took the boys up the gondola to check it out and to seed a bit of excitment.

Here's jolly old St Nick*

"Hey look, I can sit up!"

*a few hours from now, at about 2am, I'll be calling him 'Satan-Screaming-Angel-of-Death' child

more skiing...

Okay, to set the record straight I don't ski more than Ann-Marie, I just take pictures and make blog postings about my ski days... Sorry if this bores you, but I got to ski an exciting line today. This is also partially to torture you European transplants that are busy bettering yourselves academically.

Ski touring at -20 requires down and tea

ahhh, into the sun!

Looking over at a piece of the magnificent Ross

Summit of Afton, we had to cross a narrow catwalk to reach the top of the line we skied. Intimidating, but we belayed our way across. Sir Donald in the background.

Just below the summit, making our way down to the entrance... Glad to have skis on now.

Through the difficulties and looking at sweet steep powder right to the bottom!!!

1/2 way down. Stop for a rest and some phots.

Travis getting amongst it!

The fellas below our line, the central couloir that comes off the summit.

Skiing!

Skiing is really, really good right now. Here are some pics from our day today. Work time in the bank! Looks like I need to figure out how to fix the exposure...

Harry and Luc and diamond dust

Up on to Avalanche Crest

Enjoying the views...

Slaying sweet pow! Run #1

Our standard of living is plummeting... But at least there's always booze!

Another Random Conversational Gem

Tobin: "I have something in here" (patting his diaper)

Me: "you do? What is it, a poop?"

Tobin: "no"

Me: "is it pee?"

Tobin: "no, it's just a penis"

Hunting

Corey and I went out to get our moose the other day. We have a tag for a spike-fork bull, cow or a calf, so pretty much anything we come across we can shoot. Good odds. The only thing that would have improved our odds, however, was if we hadn't been pulling a trailer with 300lbs of cow offal on it. We combined a hunting trip with a day of work for Corey who had to set up a camera on a bait pile to count wolves. Somewhat akin to fishing by trolling with a dead trout. Alas we didn't shoot anything, but it was likely more a function of our low motivation than anything else.

Hunting in the Taliban-mobile

This bear crossed our tracks and was going to intercept a moose we were trailing... Thats when we stopped trailing the moose.

At least we got close to somethin' dead!*

*I took a break from wretching and dry heaving long enough to take this picture.

A Haiku

when we met it was
fair trade organic fresh ground
now Big Eddy style*

This isn't the same woman I married

*I admit, I'm a lousy poet.

Halloween!

"Candy 911!"*

Carlos and Ruby as some Pokemon Characters I didn't understand.

"Oh father, why must you be such a buffoon and involve me in your ridiculous escapades?"

Tinkerbell: "Boy it's cold for trick-or-treating don't you think Dr Pokemon?"
Dr Pokemon: "Well it's not as cold as the Large Hadron Collider, sheesh!"

Ruby, in the running for the cutest child on the planet.

*I stole that line from Carlos.

okay okay okay...

Yes, finally an update. After much complaining from the grandparent demographic here's an update. Just got a fancy-ish camera and am in the process of learning how to use it and its raw files. So far I still haven't managed to install the software on our computer with its 'part time' cd player (still haven't managed to catch it while it's working).
So here are some of the few I've downloaded recently.

Nick swinging and just generally being cute and easy-going

Enjoying the last bit of sun before the snows came

Whoa!

Grandpas Represent!

Bikes

Are awesome...

How to spend money

We went to the Armstrong IPE last weekend, unplanned. Just sort or ended up there. Somehow we managed to spend $100 in 2.5 hours (as well as take 10 years off our lives due to the trans fats, stimulation and virulence of the subjects on display.)

$$$

H5N1

This bird looks like it fell from a great height. But it's actually just a miracle of animal husbandry

Spongiform encephalopathy

H1N1

Tobin riding "Spice". This was a huge hit!

Some delicious exhibits

Top Secret Training Facility

You may wonder "How does she do it?"
I'm referring of course to Ann-Marie's ability to bust out the top three finishes in every race she enters, winning the Calgary marathon, mountaineering, picking plums etc etc...
Well today I snuck into her training 'facility' and had a glimpse into the world of a champion.

Welcome to the Velodrome

Let's have a tour...

Check it, digital audio player holding (presumably) inspirational training music, maybe inspirational chanting or possibly inspirational speeches

Let's have another look at that sick inspirational audio visual center:

Here's a look at the pinnacle of indoor velodrome training technology:

• What we have here is a selection of 5 speeds providing an almost infinite adjustment for any training regime

• A sweet 'Tacx' wind trainer

• Awesome tan coloured tires. Awesome!
  

• Sweet white-coloured cable housing!

• And let's not forget the cutting sheet to catch all that burnin' rubber yo!

Let's go in for a closer look:

Sick!

And not least of all is the inspiring coach shouting directions from his coaches chair, passionately involved to the point that he froths at the mouth and pees his pants! We all need a coach like this!

"How is lookin' at me making you stronger??? Drop and give me 50!!!"