After saying good-bye to our family in Vancouver we sped eastwards into central BC. We made a 2-day stop in Kamloops to give big hugs to Kat and Bec; as well as two days of heated scrabble playing. Leaving Kamloops, we packed the suitcase and bags for one last time and headed home.

There was a lot of snow on the side of the Coquihalla highway at the summit, but it was springtime everywhere else in the province…until Revelstoke. We kept wondering when the snow was going to ‘start’. Scant patches were to be found merely 20 minutes from Revelstoke, but 2 ft. of snow and 6 ft. snowbanks still prevail in our small city. Emily is quite excited to be able to play in the snow, since we more or less skipped winter this year. She promptly made a snowman or woman Saturday afternoon.

We said good-bye to family and friends in Toronto and headed west.

We were eagerly awaited by loving family in Vancouver. We had a get-together the next day and it was another wonderful Hunt-Kerfoot celebration. The guys are gettin’ their man on with this great looking hunk o’ beef.

We had a great meal, topped off with these cute cakes:

All this celebrating can be pretty tiring for a jet-lagged three year old…

But it’s always fun hanging out with other kids, espcially their friend Imogen.

We made a visit to our dear adoptive family, Jacques et Nadine. They have a wonderful chalet in the woods on Lac Doré north of Ottawa. It is very quiet and relaxing there. This year there is still almost a metre of snow there so we had some fun sledding.


The girls love to feed the local deer, who come to the house twice daily for corn and alfalfa pellets.

On this visit, a neighbour left her dog, Fluffy, with us for a few days. She was well loved.

Nous sommes tristes de dites au revoir aux Jacques et Nadine…à la prochaine!!

Although it is always hard to come to an end to one’s travels, we were very excited to come back to Canada. I can’t say why exactly we were so excited, perhaps it’s the familiarity of being surrounded by English-speaking people, or perhaps the knowledge that we are in a relatively safe environment, but definitely coming home to mom’s cooking is always a treat!
Our travels have not ended yet, we spent a week in Toronto visiting friends and relatives. We visited the McMichael Gallery, which has a large number of paintings by the Group of Seven. Lawren Harris is one of my favourite painters. This modern interpretation of a totem pole was quite interesting.

Simon had a jam night with our friend Carl, while our kids played with theirs. We never would have imagined this scenario way back when Carl and I were in college together!

The girls had a chance to play with more children of our friends, which is always a bonus for all of us.

Also not previously imaginable is Simon’s past fire crew-mate, Dean, reading bedtime stories to all of our girls. Life is so full of irony!

This past weekend was the annual ‘girlie hike’, that I am usually a participant in. It all started 7 summers ago, just before I got married; when several of my closest friends decided to publicly humiliate me in a National Park (otherwise known as a stagette) and venture up to a remote cabin for some good food, good wine and good times! (it’s too bad I don’t have a photo with me of the bowling ball on a chain that I had to drag up the mountain attached to my leg!!)


This event was so popular that we all decided to continue to do this each August or September, sometimes with an unlucky bride-to-be, and sometimes without; but always sans men and children. We are not man and children haters, it is just nice to have a weekend with so much girlie energy! Every year has been an amazing time for all and it is a much-anticipated event. Here are a few highlights from past years.
Balu Pass, Glacier National Park:

Glacier Crest Trail, Glacier National Park:

Hiking into Elizabeth Parker Hut:

Lake Oesa, Yoho National Park:

Another bride to be, dressed up for hiking (also a ball and chain and fashion victim):

Amiskwi Lodge:

This past weekend, the gang went up to Kokanee Glacier cabin and had a really great time. I was thinking of them and it was really touching to see that they were thinking of me as well:

I am truly blessed to have such great friends, the ones pictured here and all the others. I salute you all!
I look forward to many more girlie hikes in the future!!