Category: Bow Valley, AB

The Highlight of the Month

Posted on by lindaskelton

The highlight of the month (so far) has been the whirlwind visit of our youngest daughter en route back home to Powell River after almost two adventurous years in the boonies of small-highway-town-Alaska!   Two years ago we sold our Powell River home out from under her and as we moved east eventually landing in Alberta, she flew North to the wilds of Alaska to be near her grandma.  Well she’s moving back home to Powell River now to live near her sisters.  And once again she’s trusting the Lord to open doors for housing and employment as He did so incredibly these past two years as she got to work at her dream desk job at the Crossroad Medical Clinic.

So this post is dedicated to Rachel and her effervescent confidence in God, and posted with a prayer for her guidance and success!

taking the requisite tourist pictures

 

 

The rising steam from Banff’s natural hot springs creating hoarfrost.

 

 

The discovery of hot springs here would be the grounds for establishing Banff Nat’l Park in 1885

 

 

 

Rachel’s travelling companion…
She arrived in time for bracing cold but we still enjoyed a tromp around our neighborhood…

 

 

 

And now she’s arrived safely ‘home’ to Powell River out of reach of hugs but not prayers.

 

Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations.
Before the mountains were brought forth,
or ever you had formed the earth and the world,
from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
Let your work be shown to your servants,
and your glorious power to their children.
Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us,
and establish the work of our hands…
Ps.90:1,2,16,17

–LS

Our Wintry World

Posted on by lindaskelton
When in snow country do as the locals do…
Our favorite pastime this month has been cross-country skiing. We are having a lovely respite of above-freezing days which makes it a whole lot less stressful to pause for picture-taking without feeling you will freeze to death and without having your glasses fog up leaving you in a blinding cloud…
This is the local terrain we frequent…

 

 

 

 

For a change of scene we sometimes head down the road to Banff to have a look around. How different it all looks in winter…

 

 

 

 

Snow-sculpting and ice-sculpting are popular pastimes here…

Back at home the warmer weather lured me out for a walk, which has become rare for me these days. It was delightful ( :

 

 

 

 

 

 

And I will walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be my people. Lev.26:12

 –LS

2016 in Review

Posted on by lindaskelton

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…P1220903

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!

IMG_20160220_122640123 All through January and February we skiied and I discovered doodling…IMG_20160104_221802890P1190843

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

IMG_20160330_151243778_HDRwhere Jim became a bicycle mechanic!

image

April 1 we moved into a sweet little suite…

[Sweet-Suite2.jpg]

with the help of this great moving crew!

7 The Moving Crew roosting

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

10 First Morning Tea April3

The spring found me hiking with new found acquaintances…

P1200079

P1200138

Finding my first Prairie Crocuses…

Crocus chorus

P1200539

…scaling a couple peaks nearest our home with Jim…

P1200610

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

IMG_20160511_113443623_HDR

There has been so much to discover…

IMG_20160514_142759917_HDR

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

IMG_20160531_153640581_HDR

IMG_20160604_171240397_HDR

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

P1210064

and see family…

P1200768

Siblings

and all the wonderful cousins I grew up with!

Weaver Cousins

 

IMG_20160613_202354338

This is my sis (could you guess?)

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

P1210294

P1210326

P1210454

And there were visitors, both people and animals…

deer with fuzzy new headgear

And flowers blooming on my doorstep…

P1210242

P1210803

P1210818

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

Sarah and Jim down the aisleour family2

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

 

new grandbaby, Alexis

Then back home to the mountains…

IMG_20160818_124758592_HDR

And hikes with the kids…

P1210897

And endless views…IMG_20160901_114248794_HDR

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

P1210991

The meadow mellowed…

P1220115

And the aspens began to turn…

P1220370

And the mountains got their winter powder…

IMG_20160911_125402750_HDR

Leaves turning gave inspiration for art all through September…

IMG_20160927_123842594

P1220395

P1220493

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

stumpP1220616

The elk came calling often…

P1220686

And the trees out the window made beautiful silhouettes…

Evening falling silhouette

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

P1220740

P1220783

October had its inspiring moments…

IMG_20161103_102933874

And November its practice alphabets…

P1220900

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

IMG_20161119_114203254

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…

Holiday Train JS 3

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

Skiing the meadow

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