2016 in Review

I am ready for a New Year.  The old one sputtered to a finish with colds and flu that made this the quietest holiday ever—just the two of us commiserating, napping, and idling about hoping to feel better in the morning, for days and weeks…

So, I am glad to be able to look back to sweeter memories of the old year and thankful for the energetic times we’ve had and the good things God has done for us in it!

We were still living with Jim’s dad in the BC Kootenays last year at this time and loving all the snow and learning to X-country ski in a pristine wooded wilderness.  It was amazing!

All through January and February we skiied and I discovered doodling…

Then came an opportunity to live and work nearer the Calgary kids and the end of March found us exploring Canmore, Alberta.

where Jim became a bicycle mechanic!

April 1 we moved into a sweet little suite…

with the help of this great moving crew!

It’s been a dream come true to live just an hour away from them all ( :

The spring found me hiking with new found acquaintances…

Finding my first Prairie Crocuses…

…scaling a couple peaks nearest our home with Jim…

And taking it easy on the neighboring golf course as I recovered from Shingles!

There has been so much to discover…

And always the stately Three Sisters providing the backdrop from our doorstep…

A niece’s summer wedding was the perfect opportunity to return to my childhood home in New Jersey…

and see family…

and all the wonderful cousins I grew up with!

 

This is my sis (could you guess?)

Then back in Alberta there was more hiking—and our first hike in a hail storm!

And there were visitors, both people and animals…

And flowers blooming on my doorstep…

In August our middle daughter married, luring us back to Powell River for the occasion!

And we got to meet our newest grandbaby girl for the first time!

 

Then back home to the mountains…

And hikes with the kids…

And endless views…

And then it was fall rutting season and the stately elk were back in our yard, plundering my flowers and providing awesome scenery!

The meadow mellowed…

And the aspens began to turn…

And the mountains got their winter powder…

Leaves turning gave inspiration for art all through September…

And with October’s coming we had our first dusting of snow in the yard…

The elk came calling often…

And the trees out the window made beautiful silhouettes…

And finally, in October we got to take a trip north to see that new grandbaby in her home  ( :

October had its inspiring moments…

And November its practice alphabets…

And the cross-country season opened at the local Nordic Center!

And holiday time came round again…the most low-key holiday ever and one we gladly leave behind to get on with a new year and a new season in our lives…

…a cold one!  But not without a beauty all its own…

Thanks for joining me for the reminisce! ( :

–LS

Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. Ps.90:1-2