Cousins!!!!

One of the best parts of being in South Carolina is getting to see all of the cousins! Katherine loves her cousins! And, this is the first trip for Lauren to get to play with them too. Five kids under five - it's a crazy house, but wonderful.

Holiday Happenings

Christmas has been in full swing for a couple of weeks around here. Lots of parties, recitals, goodies and Santa! More explanation to come, but for now - here's some pictures of the festivities.

Zoo Lights - we got all bundled up to brave the 10 degree weather to see the lights at the Zoo - honestly, I think Disneyland has spoiled us, but it was fun, none-the-less. The highlight was talking to Santa via satellite. Yes, that is Lauren under all of that clothing and plastic - and her hands still almost froze.





We made a bunch of Christmas ornaments - Katherine loved decorating them - kept her busy for hours! And, I love the way they turned out!



We found a tree and thawed it out, and then decorated it!







Santa came early - and delivered all sorts of goodies - like a drum set (the only thing Katherine asked for this year).



Katherine took a dance class that centered around the Nutcracker story. Really great class!



And, we had a party at K's preschool that included a concert and Santa - Katherine asked me if he was "the real Santa." I have to say, he looked like a fake to me.





And, now, we are on to the "real" celebration in South Carolina! Such fun!

Baldy

So, I realize that life in the Dennis household can be stressful at times, but is it really so bad that you need to pull all of your hair out?

Apparently so. Both my children have pulled their hair out as a way to self-soothe. When Katherine began doing it, I talked to her pediatrician and he assured me this was "normal" behavior for children. I'm trying to remember that. About a month after we moved, Lauren decided to pull all of her hair out. She is now bald. Here are the before and after pictures...

News

If you've seen Michael Moore's film "Bowling for Columbine," you might remember his comparison of the US and the Canadian media. Moore points out that the US tends to accentuate the negative, "fear factor" stories, and Canada tends to focus on more positive stories. I'm sure some of this is hyperbole, but I have done a couple of comparisons of the KTLA (our local LA station) news headlines and the Calgary Herald's top stories (Calgary's newspaper), and the contrast is quite amazing.

These headlines were taken from the sources on November 18:

Calgary Herald
+Transportation minister defends distracted driving bill
+Mayor seeking public input on budget talks
+Contraband tobacco hurting convenience stores
+Study examines impact of stress on babies

I seriously couldn't find one negative story that day.

KTLA News
+210 Fwy Shut Down Due To Fiery, Double-Fatal Accident
+100 Naked Body Scan Images Leaked Online
+Boyfriend Accused in Horrific Beating Death of 4-year old Boy
+Bodies of Missing Ohio Family Found in Hollowed Out Tree
+13-year old Girl Sexually Assaulted on her Way home From School
+Prosecutor: Jaw Bone Found in Aruba Belonged to Young Woman
+Fertility Doctor Accused of Turning Octomom into 'Human Guinea Pig'
+Teen Shot to Death Inside Long Beach Home

This comparison would be hilarious if it wasn't just sad. In Canada, we feel safer, and people do seem to be happier and more stable than they are in the US. Maybe it's because they don't have crazy, scary news all day long? Maybe it's because they have health care? Maybe because it's too cold? I don't know. What I do know is that it is nice to have a sabbath from the US fear-monger news.

The Tower

The Calgary Tower is probably the most recognized landmark in Calgary (next to the beautiful Canadian Rocky Mountains). It is 525 feet up in the air - amazing 365 degree views.


Winter view


Summer view




Katherine LOVES the tower. And, because of this we have been five times since we arrived in September. Part of the allure for Katherine is the glass observation deck in which you step onto a glass floor and can see straight down to the sidewalk below. I absolutely cannot step on it - my hands start sweating just being in the tower. Katherine loves to dance, jump and sit on the glass. Gives me the creeps every time. If you come to visit us in Calgary, just know that we will be visiting the tower.

Maddie

Our 10 year old Lab, Maddie, has moved with us three times (poor dog); Houston to LA, from one house to another in Long Beach, and Long Beach to Calgary. Although she was born and raised in Houston, she hated going outside there because it was so hot. She loved Long Beach - much cooler weather and a dog door which enabled her to go in and out as she pleased. I'm sure it was a shock to her to be loaded up in the car for three days and find herself in Calgary. At first she loved it here - interesting yard to play in and smell - lots of squirrels to chase (and to eat I'm sorry to say), off-leash parks galore!



But, when it began to snow a couple of weeks ago Maddie took one step outside and gave me the "what the bloody hell is this?" look.



As the temperatures dropped, Maddie flat out refused to go outside. While she is mainly an indoor dog, this becomes problematic, as you might imagine. We have tried everything - bribes, throwing her outside, dog boots - the dog will not do her business outside. Here she is in her dog boots (we got the cheap ones - they have ones that look nicer than my hiking boots).

I have become the dog poop/pee clean-up expert - not a job that I was interested in having. Thankfully, the weather has warmed up and she has been more amicable to going outside. But, it's only November - I'm afraid it's going to be a long winter.

Lake Louise

Lake Louise was our destination today. I have been wanting to get up to this spot since we moved here - Pete had the chance to come up and stay here for some meetings back in September. In the summer the glacier water is aqua blue. In the winter, as you can see from the pictures, it is transformed into a dazzling white landscape. This amazingly beautiful place is only about a 2 hour drive from our house. We traversed up the mountain in negative degree weather, navigated icy, snowy roads, and endured one screaming child (part of the way) - but it was way worth it!

Once we arrived, we enjoyed a lovely lunch at the famous Hotel Fairmont, and we got to admire the beautiful landscape from inside.



We then went outside for a few minutes to take in the view - the pictures really don't do it justice - unbelievable white and blue colors.





On the way home the moon was unbelievably bright and crisp - especially against the white mountains. It was hard to capture on film - especially while driving - this is the best shot I could get.

Negative What?!

So, despite my best efforts to believe that winter was just going to be semi-cold with no snow, the snow arrived Monday night - with a vengeance. It hasn't stopped snowing since - light snow, but steady. I would guess that we've had 8-10 inches, maybe more. I still haven't become tired of looking out the windows at the beautiful winter wonderland, but it is cold!!! Today it is -15c which I believe is about 5 degrees Fahrenheit. And, it is supposed to get colder over the weekend - to negative 27 c! I guess the good news is that most people told me this is as bad as it gets. The girls love the snow - Lauren went sledding at her day care yesterday, and Katherine loves playing in it. I'm trying to figure out what is "too cold" to play outside - I think at some point frost bite is a real risk. Anyway, I've just let her play outside for very short amounts of time. Maddie (our dog) refuses to go outside and has not gone to the bathroom for almost a day (I'm afraid I'm going to find her potty spot in the house sometime).

And, as much as I would love to sit inside all day, life has to go on. But, driving is much scarier than I imagined. I have only driven in the snow a few times - and always with snow chains. I have no snow chains and no snow tires which I don't think is the best idea. I had to go pick up my parents at the airport Tuesday night and I drove about 25 mph the whole way. Stopping seems to be the main problem as the ice doesn't let you stop very well! Almost hit a couple of cars just trying to stop at a light. Today I tried to run an errand and couldn't get any traction to get out of the garage. And, last night Pete couldn't get up either of the two hills into our neighborhood. Unfortunately, I'm sure we'll have plenty of practice in the months ahead!

It's amazing that life goes on here - no schools cancelled, no stopping of mail service, nothing closed - I can't even imagine what the mess would be if we had 1/10 of this snow in Long Beach. Here are some pictures of the snow....













I think 2010 will be the year of many, many cups of hot chocolate!

The Way We Roll

Going from a full day (and then some) of paid employment each day, to staying at home full-time with Lauren and Katherine was quite a major shift, as you can imagine. One of the surprising things to me (even though I knew on some level this would be the case) is that the day just goes by so quickly with very little "productivity," per se. I don't really have anything to show for all my work. I do hope that my "work" pays off later with two productive members of society who love God and who love others. For the time being here's what my full "schedule" looks like...




















Clearly this leaves time for little else.....

Remembering

This week Canadians are remembering Veterans - Thursday is the official holiday, but the festivities seem to be scheduled all week. "Remembrance Day" is the holiday, and it commemorates veterans of all wars. It's an interesting thing to experience a national holiday (or "statutory" holiday as the Canadians call it) within another country. Of course in the US we honor veterans on Veterans' Day. However, Pete and I both noticed a number of differences between the two ways our countries honor veterans. First, for the month of November, everyone here in Calgary wears plastic poppies. They are "sold" everywhere - for a small donation. Boy Scouts are handing them out at the stores, all the news people are wearing them on their lapels, and banners wave the red poppies all over town. I didn't know anything about this symbol and had to ask around. What I found out was the red poppy is a reference to the poppies that grew all over the battlefields and cemeteries throughout France after WWI.

The famous poem by John McCrae (the one who gets the credit at least) explains the sentiment:

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

The holiday is observed on November 11th because that is the day that World War I ended. And so, on the 11th day of the 11th month at the 11th hour there will be two minutes of silence observed across Canada. The interesting thing for me is the lack of overt nationalism that we so often see in the US around these kind of holidays - I haven't seen any large number of Canadian flags flying, no Canadian flags on lapels. And, I appreciate the poppies and the gist of the holiday because it seems so much broader and universal than our own American holiday. It's about remembering those who died serving their country - and it's about (as our pastor told us on Sunday) remembering the future that we hope for - one of peace and no more war. This kind of hopefulness transcends borders and nationalism.

Katherine asked me to buy a poppy for her because she wanted to honor her Great-Grandmother (Grandma Mavis). She said she wanted people to know she was remembering Grandma Mavis. Even though she didn't really get the whole war part, I think that her wanting to remember her great-grandmother is very sweet. So, she wore her poppy quite proudly today.

Halloween Festivities

Today we officially kicked off Halloween 2010 with a concert and party at Katherine's preschool, costume parading, pumpkin carving and pumpkin seed roasting. And, it was a warmer day today! Yipee - a balmy 50 degrees! It's amazing how warm that feels after a couple of weeks of below freezing. Katherine and Lauren didn't even have sweaters on today.













Katherine drew her own design!



Happy Halloween!