VonHonnet Family Singers

Nipika

We have had a great start to the new year in a winter wonderland at Nipika Mountain Resort.  We spend four days off the grid, with no television or phones getting power from the sun, stream and forest.  Tucked away in Kootenay National Park between the Cross and Kootney rivers, we had a wonderful time cross country skiing, ice skating, tobogganing, exploring and realxing in the wood fired hot tub and sauna.  There was no shortage of friends to play with, both new and old and we look forward to more adventures here in the future, hopefully next time including our friends Val and Curt who organized the trip and then were unfortunately unable to join us.  Lots of photos in the January 2012 album here.

 

 

Happy New Year

May your 2012 be filled with peace, love and happiness!

Here's a look back at our 2011 in photos...

All things Christmasy

Merry Christmas everybody!  We have thoroughly enjoyed the last few frenzied weeks of merriment, celebration, and family gatherings.  It started with Nana and Papa's "early" Christmas in mid-December, continued with school wrap-up Christmas concerts and winter outings, and culminated in 2 days of a relaxing homestand of reflection, gift-giving, Lego and Playmobil building (assembly of parental patience required!), and Christmas Dinner over at Aba and Grandads. We have happily avoided the malls today, leaving the kids with their grandparents while we elected to snowboard up at Sunshine Village to celebrate our 10th anniversary.  Hope you all had a great holiday!

Photographic evidence here.

Dear Santa

Dear Santa,
I hope that you are enjoying getting ready for Christmas.  We are preparing to sleep well on Saturday night.  We would like to ask for something together this year.  Could you please bring us the Playmobil Egyptian Pyramid?  We have tried to be very good this year by respecting other people's things and being kind to others.  I hope the elves are coming along fine.  
Safe travels on Saturday night.  From Alex and Ben 

Early Christmas 2011

We have kicked off the holiday season with a family celebration that has become a bit of a tradition.  We welcomed Nana and Papa to town to soak in a White (early) Christmas with a big family dinner, 12 days of Christmas at Heritage Park, Tree trimming, Christmas music, and a wander in the "Winter Wonderland" of Snowy Calgary.   We had a wonderful time, and truly feel immersed in the spirit of the season... though Ben wakes up every AM wondering when Santa will arrive!  Enjoy some photos here.

Okotokos 4km Run

Alex, Quinn and Elsie before and after their run. On the forested trails and through the snow and ice the three 7 year olds felt very proud after completing their first 4 km run in Okotokos, as part of the Calgary Road Runners Cross Country racing series. Way to go!

Big Sur Half Marathon

Our computer is out of commission for a while, so I thought I would do a few quick updates from my phone. When we have our computer back I'll add some more photos.
At the end of November we had our first really cold snap at home and I was lucky enough to completely miss it - spending a long weekend in California. While the boys stole the chance to watch Stars Wars away from the snarky anti-sci-fi glare of mom, I was running the Big Sur half marathon and stand-up paddleboarding in Monterey Bay with a sea otter!
It is snowing in Calgary now... I will reminisce on my San Francisco treat frequently this winter, I have no doubt.

Great Grandpa Ted on Remembrance Day

We were very proud to hear that CHEK TV in Victoria had chosen grandpa Ted to spotlight on this 11/11/11. Enjoy the video.

Happy Halloween 2011

We had a happy halloween!  Ben decided back in the summertime that he wanted to be awaterfall for halloween. We thought that he would change his mind before October came around, but he stuck to his guns and Brendan and him were very happy with their foam creation.  Alex recieved his Batman costume for Christmas last year and has been waiting to wear it for halloween ever since. Both boys enjoyed parties at their schools and one at a friend's house, as well as trick or treating around our neighbourhood.  Given that we had our first snowfall on the halloween morning, we thought there might be fewer kids out this year, but we still had close to 150 at our house.  There are some photos of the festivites in the  October 2011 album.  We hope everyone had a safe, warm and fun halloween too!

Autumn

Though the memories of hot summer days are fading and we are starting to dress a little warmer around here, we are still managing to find some ways to have fun.  Some photos of hiking, running and other autumn  activites are in the October 2011 photo album.