Here we are in January 2023! We had a great trip to Alberta, thankfully all travel went off without too much of a hitch. Our travel on Christmas Day was smooth, we got to the airport about 2 hours before our flight was supposed to leave and lines were a little longer than usual. Thankfully even in the chaos of all the delayed passengers we got through relatively quickly and had a relaxing lunch in the Alaska lounge. I was so thankful we had gotten those First Class tickets all those months ago, the airport was such a zoo but the lounge was lovely and quiet!
Our flight was only slightly delayed thankfully and we were off to Calgary! Nathan was thrilled with his first ever First Class experience, the boxed water was the biggest hit lol. We got to Mark and Frances' in the late afternoon and had a nice Christmas dinner with them. On Boxing Day we had our family gathering (minus Steve and Andrea who weren't able to make it this year) and on the 27th we did our annual sledding excursion. Lynsey apparently no longer participates in the sledding, but she was a good sport and came along at least. We were so happy the weather was so nice, it had been -30 in Calgary the week before! Happy enough with temps hovering around 0! We went to Bobbi and Jer's in the afternoon and hung out for the rest of the day. Always a fun time at the Sampsons! They had just got a baby French Bulldog and she was so cute!
Our trip to La Crete began on Wednesday morning. We did not have a very encouraging start to the trip. The roads had not been good the day before, and there was a big accident just north of Airdrie that closed highway 2 the evening before - and it was still closed in the morning! We had to take a detour that delayed us 40 minutes, so discouraging. We were seriously questioning if we should even do this trip, apparently there had been freezing rain between Edmonton and Slave Lake and I just didn't want to deal with it. We decided to just keep going and hope for the best. As it turned out, the roads were actually not that bad. Not perfect, but by the sounds of it greatly improved from the day before so we got a bit lucky! We only got to La Crete around 8:30pm, and by that time, Adam was done. We all were, but he was handling it the worst:-/. Thankfully some of Grandma's noodle soup and a few buns were just what the doctor ordered to improve his mood!
The next morning the girls all came over to Mom's and we practiced some songs for Mom's 80th birthday party on the 30th. I went uptown once to get some more buns and buy a wedding card, always such a strange experience in La Crete. The wedding was late that afternoon, it was a beautiful wedding! The reception was short and sweet, Brian had to take Adam back a bit early but everything went really well.
I went out for coffee with Melanie on Friday morning, so good to see her again! Tena Doerksen joined us as well which was so nice! It had been forever since I had seen her! The birthday thing at the school went really well. I walked around and once again felt like such a stranger in this school of my childhood. It gets more pronounced every time. Seeing my name on plaques on the wall is a weird feeling, I did once belong there! After the party, I went for a short drive with Patti who had just come back from Barrhead with her family. We even got stuck for a short time which was beyond hilarious:-D. I was sorry I didn't get more time with her but it was nice to see her for a short time!
The drive home the next day was much smoother than the ride there. The weather was good, the roads were near perfect, and it didn't feel nearly as long. We ended up staying up until midnight to ring in the New Year, the kids really wanted to (I would have happily gone to bed at 11 but you know - the sacrifices you make for your kids!). We had a nice New Years Day, I visited with Larissa in the morning and picked up an ice cream cake so we could celebrate Adam's birthday at lunch. I was sort of done by this point and ready to go home, but it was kind of nice to have just one more day before the trip back.
Everything was pretty smooth on Monday for the flight home, it was delayed by about an hour. There were a few hitches on the plane and we had to get juggled around in our seats a bit. Not a big deal. Just not quite as smooth as the flight there! At least we got a drink and a snack this time (apparently there was too much turbulence on the flight there). I was a bit anxious because I knew it was going to be tight to make it to volleyball practice that evening, but it ended up being cancelled which was kind of a relief. It will happen on Friday instead, which works out much better! We took a Lyft home and had the evening to unpack and get organized! Oh and pick up Jasper of course, who could forget that!
All in all a great trip, although I do dream of a day where we don't have to travel at all at Christmas time. We have had a few of those in our married life, but not many. I mean in 2020 we made the decision to go to Phoenix for a few days, but going on a vacation like that is very different than an intense family visiting trip. Both great for their own reasons of course, but Phoenix was definitely more relaxing!
This week has been pretty nice to just slide back into routine, nothing too crazy happening. Lynsey's first volleyball tournament is not this weekend but the one after, and I'm excited and nervous for it! I think it will be really fun but also really busy. Hopefully everything works out okay.
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