And so it was written that the prodigal son would return....

 

And so I did.

 

And it was good.

 

Limped into Vancouver on the 15th of January for a little visit with our friends out west. Stayed with Nick and GiGi and their new baby Meela in North Van. Spent a couple of days snoeshoeing and MTBing (finally rode the North Shore but no pics to prove it) and just generally had good times. Caught up with our friends Mark and Gabby (and new baby Rhys) and Lisa Gambalambalino, our friends from the Queen Charlotte Islands and all the Vancouver crew surprised us with dinner and sweet seats at the Canucks game as a belated wedding pressie. It was awesome and the mighty Canucks smashed the hapless Sabres much to our delight.

After Vancouver it was back home to visit the fam in Winnipeg and catch up with all our old buddies. Took  our nephews to thier first hockey game but to be honest I think they enjoyed the food, intermissions and chasing Mickey the Moose around more than the actual hockey. The Manitoba Moose won by the way, it must be our presence. Later, we dusted off the old toboggans for a trip down memory lane and I discovered that I still got it. Mike, Nate, Cheryl all put in reasonable performances but Auntie Val got stuck half way down on her last run so we to deduct some points.

Because the weather was so nice (only about -5 to -10!!) we had a chance to head out to Grandma's cabin on Lake Winnipeg at Sandy Bay. Since nobody usually gets out there in the winter we had a little digging out to do but after an hour or so and with a big fire roaring in the fireplace it was really great. Lots of memories stashed around that old place (note to self: remind grandma to throw out pictures of old girlfriends....) Stumbled through the snow down to the beach but a sharp wind drove us back to the warmth of cabin after a couple of pictures.

We had our Winnipeg wedding party on January 28th and about 50 people showed up from far and wide for the shindig. Suffice it to say that much drunkeness ensued culminating with a bit of a food fight and a wrestling match (between Roley and Phil, result: draw) that resulted in a spilled bottle of red wine and the sacrifice of a VCR to the beer gods. Thank you again mom and dad for your patience toward my friends, I tried to stop them, really I did. Errr, anyway....

Cheryl had a chance to catch up with one of her friends from Rotorua here in the Peg. WHAT??? It just so happens that an old school chum (who is in the NZ Air Force) had been posted here in Winnipeg. Angela and Anton (also a flying Kiwi) and their little boy Nikau came to our wedding dealy and then we had a nice night out with them at their place. Imagine, 2 girls from Rotovegas meeting up in the frozen Canadian prairies....strange things are afoot in the great white north. 

Mr Christian and his (about time) fiance and Mom (Chris's mom) had us out to the cabin at Lac Du Bonnet for a couple of days of snowmobiling and good old fashioned home cooking then it was back home for some sad goodbyes as we packed up for Equador after a brief stop in Minneapolis for a visit down in Muellerland. Keep your eyes peeled for a Hola from South America in the near future.

 

Chow

 

Us