Well it’s that time of year again, when I try to play catch up and let you know what we have been up to during the year. All I can say is yet again this year has flown by like no other. So far, as of October I have flown 83,385 miles. Most of the travel has been domestic travel as the last time I flew international is when I took a group to Paris, our Ireland and Costa Rica trips. Lately I have been going to Canada as well, but is that considered international?
In June of this past year, I was able to work Wal-Mart week. I can say that I am a shareholder of Wal-Mart especially since I worked there before Delta. But they do put on a show for their share holders. All kinds of celebrities came in. I got to see my friend David, whom I haven’t seen since I graduated from College. He has done well for himself and has a wonderful family. Katelyn got to go to several Vacation Bible Schools within our town. The first one that she visited was at her school and she really enjoyed the “Beach Party” that they had. She tried a Baptist Church one, but didn’t want to go as she didn’t know anyone. We tried to get her to stay with Amy Singleton, but she wouldn’t have any part of that either. In June we celebrated my birthday… well actually I did and had a meeting to go to the very next day. I was also introduced to this restaurant in downtown called “Fritti”. It has the best vegetarian brick oven pizza I have ever tasted. Thank you Josh for showing me that place!
In July, my friend Maryann got married. She had a lovely wedding at her house on July 4. She celebrated with “Fireworks” and a good ol’ fashion BBQ. It was a grand time that everyone had. James, Michele Price-Travers child celebrated his 2nd birthday and Katelyn and I attended a Braves game before she was wisked down to Florida to spend time with Mimi, Don, Lisa, Tony and Keith in Lido Key. Lido Key was very nice. I was able to make it down to have Friday, Monday vacations. The beaches were beautiful as that is pretty much all I was able to do. I understand that Katelyn went shark tooth hunting and went out on the boat. She was so brown during that vacation, she looked like she had baked in the sun every day. You can still see some of her tan lines from this past summer.
In August, we went to yet another Braves game. Katelyn and I love those and we go anytime we get a chance too. She got on the jumbo tron at one game this year with her friend Emily. On a sadder note, my friend Jeremy Fowler ended up passing away from Cancer. He left behind a wife and 3 small children. He was such a great guy and I can’t believe a young sole got taken away so fast off this earth. We will miss Jeremy! Katelyn also was able to go to Chuck E Cheese night for her school fundraiser and we hit Six Flags White Water as many times as we could during this month as we had to use every bit of our season pass during the year.
In September, we celebrated Katelyn’s 5th Birthday Party by going to Jump-a-Roos/Kangaroo Kids. She had a blast with all of her friends. Thank you everyone for attending and making her day special. She began soccer this month and we were able to attend a Rodeo and see Sesame Street and JapanFest. Logan, Katelyn’s cousin also celebrated his first birthday and on another sadder note, my friend Melanie’s dad passed away during this month.
In October, Katelyn went with her school to celebrate “Farm Day” by attending Southern Belle. A local farm and pumpkin patch. She also had to visit the Dentist and we had to put her on Flouride Pills as her teeth are so frail. She has had 5 cavities so far and she is only 5 years old! Katelyn had busy days at school as she started Kindergarten this year and also had to celebrate Hoe Down Day, 50s day, and Orange and Black day for Trick or Treating. She had a big surprise too by going to see Disney on Ice.
Early in November, Katelyn got to attend Steven and Ansley’s birthday parties. She had a blast at both of them. We had several Girl Scout events and mom had to go to several out of town visits during November for her work. We were all thankful when vacation came and we went to Banff, Canada.
During our vacation we had fun! It took us practically all day to get there on Sunday and when we finally arrived in Calgary we ate at an all you can eat Japanese and Korean place. The sushi and tempura were wonderful and Katelyn’s new found Japanese favorite is Tempura and noodles. Then on Monday, we went out and explored the town. We bought some groceries to last us for the week and then went on a historic walk through downtown. We found the playground and pool, which also had a hot tub and sauna for mom and dad. On Tuesday, we went out to Lake Louise. The snow there was so wonderful and powdery. There were several people ice skating on the lake so we went out and tromped around on it too. We didn’t have any Tobaggans to slide down the hill, but Katelyn and mom had slick pants on so we used our behinds to slide down the hill. It was so much fun and then later that night we headed back to head in the pool again. On Wednesday, we went to the Cave Basin and the Upper Hot Springs. The cave basin had an interesting tour and we smelt the sulphur water and then later when we went to the Upper Hot Springs, we got to spend time in the hot water. It didn’t smell like sulphur though as the Hot Springs has modernized their pools. They are heated naturally, but they also add chlorine to the water to neutralize the sulphur, which is great because it stinks. I am allergic to sulpha based drugs and they didn’t affect me one bit! That night we ended up eating Steak at Bumpers. Apparently, Alberta is known for their beef. On Thursday, we celebrated Thanksgiving. It wasn’t traditional at all for us. We ended up heading back to Lake Louise area again only with Tobaggains and ice skates in tow. We were going to do both there, but due to Global Warming, we were afraid to get on the lake today with our skates, so we opted for Tobaggaining instead. We must have done that for about 2 hours and then we gave up and headed back north. We ended up in British Columbia where it was much more colder and we were able to see Elk along the side of the road. After driving for about 1 hour in British Columbia and heading back downhill where the snow was melting we decided to turn back around and head back about 2 hours back to home. We ended up stopping at the lake that was one exit up from where were staying to go Ice Skating. I promised Katelyn that we would skate on a pond and then we did. She had so much fun, but she was worn out. Then later that night, we went out to the Grizzly House which was a Steak and Fondue dinner house. We absolutely did not have a traditional Thanksgiving feast. We had the following:
Salad, Neuchatel (cheese, wine and Kirsch fondue), Exotic dinner – Shark, Alligator, Rattlesnake, Ostrich, Frog Legs, Buffalo, and Venison. Hunter Fondue – Buffalo, Wild Boar and Venison. Dessert – Chocolate Fondue with melted Toblerone chocolate and fresh fruit. Cooked in oil and also on a Granite stone that had been in a kiln for about 6 hours.
We drove to British Columbia one day to see what that had to offer, and then headed home.
In December, we have done most of the traditional Holiday items. We had breakfast with Santa, saw Mr. and Ms. Claus and then also appeared in a parade. We attended Ryan's birthday and Katelyn was in her Christmas play. We also had a holiday party with Girl Scouts and a Christmas party with her school.
Christmas was somber this year as well. Katelyn ended up going to the emergency room on Dec. 24 for an ear infection. Luckily Keith wore his Fire Dept shirt and got in/out of the hospital fast (3 hours). She was put on Amoxicillin and Tylenol w/Codine. She is all better now, but she was not at all excited about opening up her presents that Santa brought. Her big gift was High School Musical phone, but really an MP3 player, but mommy tried to load it on the computer, and it didn't work. I ended up taking it back and Katelyn is fine with getting a regular MP3 player. We spent most of the time inside and contemplating about going to FL to see Nana, Aunt Jenna and Uncle Jake. Each day was viewed, but we either didn't feel well, or flights were full one way or another. I guess we can't win them all.
New Years Eve - Carolyn was the only one awake, so I rang it in with Dick Clark!
I hope all is well with you and would love to hear what you and your family have been up to.
Beginning in January Katelyn will be selling Girl Scout Cookies, so please let me know if you are interested in them. Katelyn has to go to Camp!
All the best, The Minnihans
No comments:
Post a Comment