The stuff on the couch is "in" stockings, except for the Leavitts, who used gift bags and borrowed things since we couldn't find ours. While we are all there, the kids sleep out in the "Bunkhouse" which Dad and the menfolk built out in the yard. It is a building with bunks, like the name suggests. The addition this year was our ZoomBox, that projects DVDs onto the wall. That got them to bed earlier (not to SLEEP, just to bed) and kept them there longer, so it was a win-win!
Not all 14 cousins can sleep out there at a time, but I think there was 8 or 9 most nights. There are two sets of bunks and a futon.There was not enough snow in Pincher to sled, but we drove about half an hour to the ski hill and found a great spot beside the road.
It was chilly, but we had a GREAT time! The older
boys built a ramp out of two big sleds so we 
(some of us, anyway) could catch some air and we 
completely destroyed a little tree that was in the path of our sled track. Later it got revenge by ripping a hole in my BRAND NEW ski jacket. I KNEW we should've hacked that thing down!
The men were out on snowmobiles, so it was the moms that took the kids to the snow. I am not sure if kids or moms had more fun! Once in awhile the wind would kick up and blow some snow around and we would be cold, but for the most part, it was a good day for it.These photos are stuff we see on the way home - Southern Alberta. Pincher Creek is a great spot for windmills, since the wind never stops, and they are getting to be EVERYWHERE. Some people don't like it, but I think they are graceful and beautiful.
This is pretty typical 
- blue sky ALL the time, and not alot of snow. It often comes after we are gone home and Christmas is over! But the mountains are close and there is snow to be found, if you are looking.
This is pretty typical 
- blue sky ALL the time, and not alot of snow. It often comes after we are gone home and Christmas is over! But the mountains are close and there is snow to be found, if you are looking. Notice the lack of people. Isaac says "where are all the people?" we said "what people?" and he says "all the people who live here" and we said "there ARE no people who live here!". 
It is significant, because in India, there is NOWHERE to look that you don't see people. And I mean that. You can't go anywhere at anytime and not see people. They are everpresent. So to look around to the horizon in every direction and see NO ONE, and not even houses or cars or evidence of people, that was remarkable. And very nice :)
It is significant, because in India, there is NOWHERE to look that you don't see people. And I mean that. You can't go anywhere at anytime and not see people. They are everpresent. So to look around to the horizon in every direction and see NO ONE, and not even houses or cars or evidence of people, that was remarkable. And very nice :)
So after the presents, and the gift exchange game, and gorging ourselves on food of every kind, and staying up too late and all the good stuff that goes along with Christmas, we headed to Bonnie's for a New Year's Eve party. I am choosing NOT to add the video of the karaoke that went on, 
altho it is funny! But here is the group with silly hats on. We are a few kids short- since the older ones were at a New Years Dance. We had arrived in Alberta a few days before Christmas, so Randy and I headed to Spokane to do some banking, pick up some stuff we had had sent to Clancy's, and do some serious shopping. 
We took only Alex and Isaac, and it was a darn good thing, because Mom and Dad's van was FULL on the way home! We had been to Costco, Target, Dollar Tree and Grocery Outlet, and man, was it GREAT!! All the choices, all the meat and the cheese and stuff we had been deprived of (mmmm, tortillas). It was fun, walking thru Costco throwing stuff in the cart with wild abandon!
After a few more local shopping trips (because I thought the pile was too small!) we had to buckle down and try to get it all into our suitcases. We are allowed 2 checked and two carry-ons each (unless you go thru London or fly OUT of Delhi-
then only one carry-on) for a total of 24 bags, and a weight limit of 50 lbs each. We got out the bathroom scale and started with the biggest suitcases first. We had all the kids taking stuff out of the packages (like packets of oatmeal went into ziplock bags) to reduce volume and weight. We had some VERY heavy stuff and some bulky stuff so the first bags were easy. We had packed 5 or 6 and it seemed to me like it was going to be easy so I went shopping again, but when we started packing the next ones....uh oh. Suddenly we had clothes for 6 people and only one small bag left. So I tried to buy a hockey bag (for you non-Canadians out there, a hockey bag is about the largest duffle known to man. It holds all the players pads, skates and uniform. 
They are HUGE, and I maybe could have squeezed in one more trip to the store!) but they were very pricey and Byron wouldn't sell me one of his :(. We ended up taking Randy's snowmobile gear out of the large duffle he had and using that for all the clothes. We really didn't have too much, remember, because we left most of the cold weather stuff in Canada. It worked! every bag was bulging, and every bag had been weighed and checked and weighed again. We just really hoped Dad's scale was accurate! (On the first trip, we had thought the limit was 70 lbs and had one bag that heavy, so there we were in the airport, every bag open, stuff all over, frantically redistributing everything so we wouldn't get stuck with a fee of a couple hundred bucks.) Anyway, it seemed all right, so we loaded up the truck and off we went. When I say loaded, I mean it. 24 suitcases pretty much fills the truck. This time. Byron and Kathleen drove up with us, plus Dad and some kids.
We took only Alex and Isaac, and it was a darn good thing, because Mom and Dad's van was FULL on the way home! We had been to Costco, Target, Dollar Tree and Grocery Outlet, and man, was it GREAT!! All the choices, all the meat and the cheese and stuff we had been deprived of (mmmm, tortillas). It was fun, walking thru Costco throwing stuff in the cart with wild abandon!
After a few more local shopping trips (because I thought the pile was too small!) we had to buckle down and try to get it all into our suitcases. We are allowed 2 checked and two carry-ons each (unless you go thru London or fly OUT of Delhi-
then only one carry-on) for a total of 24 bags, and a weight limit of 50 lbs each. We got out the bathroom scale and started with the biggest suitcases first. We had all the kids taking stuff out of the packages (like packets of oatmeal went into ziplock bags) to reduce volume and weight. We had some VERY heavy stuff and some bulky stuff so the first bags were easy. We had packed 5 or 6 and it seemed to me like it was going to be easy so I went shopping again, but when we started packing the next ones....uh oh. Suddenly we had clothes for 6 people and only one small bag left. So I tried to buy a hockey bag (for you non-Canadians out there, a hockey bag is about the largest duffle known to man. It holds all the players pads, skates and uniform. 
They are HUGE, and I maybe could have squeezed in one more trip to the store!) but they were very pricey and Byron wouldn't sell me one of his :(. We ended up taking Randy's snowmobile gear out of the large duffle he had and using that for all the clothes. We really didn't have too much, remember, because we left most of the cold weather stuff in Canada. It worked! every bag was bulging, and every bag had been weighed and checked and weighed again. We just really hoped Dad's scale was accurate! (On the first trip, we had thought the limit was 70 lbs and had one bag that heavy, so there we were in the airport, every bag open, stuff all over, frantically redistributing everything so we wouldn't get stuck with a fee of a couple hundred bucks.) Anyway, it seemed all right, so we loaded up the truck and off we went. When I say loaded, I mean it. 24 suitcases pretty much fills the truck. This time. Byron and Kathleen drove up with us, plus Dad and some kids.
We got up to the front of the line and started putting the bags on the scale and HALLELUJAH! They all made it!! Every bag was soooo close, but only one bag was over, and that by only a few ounces. whew! I think Isaac's carry-on was too big, but nobody checked it, so no big deal. We have to give all the credit to Randy - he packed and repacked and weighed so many times!
We got all checked in, said our goodbyes, and settled in to wait. I sent Sam down the hall to check for something and she came back saying Aunt Kathleen was down there! Sure enough, on the other side of the bullet-proof glass was some cousins! They couldn't hear us, but we still played around for awhile and took some goofy photos.
Then we got on the plane and left. And I see that this blog is ridiculously long, so the rest of the story will be told in the next blog!
We got all checked in, said our goodbyes, and settled in to wait. I sent Sam down the hall to check for something and she came back saying Aunt Kathleen was down there! Sure enough, on the other side of the bullet-proof glass was some cousins! They couldn't hear us, but we still played around for awhile and took some goofy photos.
Then we got on the plane and left. And I see that this blog is ridiculously long, so the rest of the story will be told in the next blog!
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