Travelling Trio

Well, we're back.

It's been a while since we last posted. A lot has happened since you last read from us; now let's catch up.

This post is brought to you by the Letter "T".


Transportation
We had to say goodbye to an old friend late in November. It was sort of sad to TRADE IN our Mazda 323; you have to remember that it was officially our first car. It served us well for nearly six years, and after a few THOUSAND kilometers - trips to Selkirk, Regina, and Montana, our little family of THREE (counting Charlie) was getting a little TIGHT.
We are now the proud owners of a 2002 Mazda TRIBUTE. I know, I know, SUV's aren't great on gas, but we needed the room. Charlie seems to love having his own area at the back of the car, and we feel much safer as we head out on the busy roads.

Trimmings
We decorated the house for Christmas on the first weekend in December. Richard hung the lights on the front TREES and made sure that all of the lighting in the kitchen ran by clockwork: TIMERS were synchonized and cords were assembled. Laurie did a TREMENDOUS job on the TREE.

Teaching
Richard's practicum wrapped up on December TWENTY-second. Since September, he had been TEACHING at Gilbert Paterson Middle School here in Lethbridge. He TAUGHT Social Studies, Language Arts, and of course - Drama. One of his projects at the school was a Radio Play. For four THURSDAYS in December, he broadcast "A Christmas Vacation Carol" to the students over the school intercom.

Troposphere
Before we left Lethbridge on Dec. TWENTY-THIRD, Richard decided that he had better check out the road conditions. AMA know has online web cams that show streaming photos. (Hey, sometimes the weather channel forgets to tell you about what's actually on the ground). After checking the website, it was pretty obvious. The further north we'd go, the deeper the snow would be. We packed up our boots, loaded up the presents, engaged the 4WD, and headed out.


Tobogganing
Good thing we did. The snow was piled high as we pulled into Spruce Grove. We spent the week with Laurie's folks, which ran at a different pace than our usual visits. It wasn't until the last day of our visit that our TWO nephews, Elijah and Brady, arrived. Even though it was December 29th, those boys unwrapped their presents like... kids on Christmas.


Touch Base
It was really great to see some of our friends when we were in TOWN. We spent an afternoon and dinner with Darnell and Susie (Trinity is a doll and Nolan sure has grown). Cam and Nicole hosted us for an evening (and Richard defeated Caden in Battleships using his Grid TRAP; I think Zarek was spying on me from behind). Unfortunately, we didn't get a chance to see Bryan and Michelle after Christmas Eve, (Richard is pretty sure that Benjamin was trying to get him to save him from his Mini-Santa outfit).


Tired
We left before New Year's this TIME. We knew we would need a couple of days to rest before Laurie had to return to work. Funny thing, though. After checking the AMA websites, Richard noticed that Lethbridge did receive a TONNE of snow while we were gone. Good thing the boots were with us.

Tuition
As you can probably guess, Laurie is back at the International Centre and Richard has returned to the classroom - this time as a student. He is taking THREE classes; the other TWO are credits from some of the THEATRE productions he's been involved in. One TREAT, though, has been our chance to spend our lunch hours TOGETHER.