Ladies Retreat Jan 2008

Here is our group photo from this year's Winter retreat. River's Edge Bible Camp Director Harold and his wife Mary, were our guest speakers for our evening fellowship. It was great getting to know them and you can tell how much they love the camp and future plans for it. It is so awesome to see the growth of this retreat. When we started in Feb 2007, it was a scrapbooking retreat and we had about 10 ladies. The retreat we had in October 2007 and Jan 2008, we opened it up to all the ladies in the church who any type of crafts. The retreat in Jan 2008, we had 22 ladies!!!! Harold had put on the camp website calendar that we were coming for a crafters weekend and 4 young gals from Edmonton came down to join us. I had invited a CM consultant and she brought someone and small world - they grew up in Chestermere and smaller yet - Andy married Kristy and her husband! (they are the two gals sitting to the left of me)

Being out there three times now, we now know we wish to always have the lodge. It is perfect for us - the accommodations and your crafting stuff can stay in one building. Only have to leave the lodge for our meals (boy worth getting your boots on for that short walk - great 3 meals a day plus snacks at night!) or if you wanted a blast of fresh air! The early morning crafters are able to get started at whatever hour (plus get the coffee pot ready for the day) and the night owls just make sure the lights are turned off when they leave for a few hours of shut-eye. We have already booked our next retreat - the Weekend of Oct 24, 2008 and not mucking around they are already looking at April 2009!!!! We are hoping to add 8 more people next retreat to have 30 crafty ladies - how cool that would be!

My Weekend Projects

This past Summer, when I was reboxing up my Dad's things, I found a pencil sketching of my paternal grandfather and two of his war medals. What was neat find as the medals were still in the original envelope that the Dept of Defense sent them in. A little piece of history found in a box. Remembering what my Uncle Bert did with his dad's war medals, I went to Michael's and found this shadowbox to display the sketch and medals in. The ladies at the retreat and Camp Director Harold thought it was special to capture this. I am pretty happy myself of how it turned out.

I learned that on these retreats, if I bring smaller projects than by the end of the weekend, you feel you have accomplish something. Being we have at least one retreat in the fall, one of the projects you would find me do are my calendars. Scrapbooking Paradise here in Calgary have these blank calendars - found 2 new ones this year - all you have to do is add your paper, stickers and photos and you are good to go. A few people have mentioned how much they enjoy my photos, so making calendars as gifts is a great way to incorporate both. Above are the projects I completed while on this year's retreat. The bigger calendar on the bottom left, is how it all began. My friends David and Erin and their children live in Kzyzl, Siberia - so with them being so far away I thought making a calendar of their family photos taken of that year would be a great idea for them, esp for the kids. In the past years, I have made calendars with my scenic photos too. Similar to the big calendar, I found a Special Occasions calendar (great way to keep track of birthdays!) and a desk calendar where I add the flower and scenic photos I have taken over the last couple of years. Now if you are curious about that photo on the desk calendar - just click on the photo and it will increase in size to get a better look. Yes, that is me with antlers. I went to the Banff Winter Festival last year and the antlers were there by the ice maze I went through.

This ladies retreat is also a family affair - there were a few mother-daughter teams. The above photo is Brenda with her niece Christy.

Having fun in the snow???? Despite the falling snow and cooler temps, we are able to still have fun and laugh. Here are Brenda, Christy and her mom Linda.

The Crafty Ladies hard at work....

The River's Edge Camp Director, Harold wanted to get some photos of us all hard at work so they could put it in their pamphlets. Think this was one of the best retreats as we have knitters, quilters, crocheters, putting a collage of photos to put on their wall and of course us scrapbookers.

When we come to these retreats, we dress in comfort and work way into the night or early morning - here is Dale giving us a wave in her PJs ready for another round of scrapbooking. That is her daughter Sarah with her. Just like the James family, Dale has known me since I was a kid as she was the Registration lady at Dorion Bible Camp near Thunder Bay.

Eye Spy with my little Eye....

Lorrean (sp?) is putting together her "Eye Spy" quilt. It is for her grandson.

Here she is showing the Camp Director, Harold and fellow quilter Evelyn how the quilt works.

These are the ladies at Chestermere Fellowship who are attempting to teach me how to quilt. We have plenty of laughs especially when we have to rip out our seams - hey that happened once and I had them in stitches with laughters (cute pun eh?)

Brenda, Laura, Lorrean and Linda

More views from the Lodge

See how far the mountains really are!!

The sun is out and shining on the freshly fallen snow and the ice forming on the trees.

Cold Snowy Morning

Last weekend, I joined the ladies from my church to a crafting retreat at River's Edge Bible Camp. This is my third time attending this retreat. We have plenty of laughs, sharing and for me, plenty of scrapping projects completed. The above photos is what we woke up to on Saturday morning. We received quite a dumping of snow - a perfect weekend to get your crafting done in a warm cozy lodge.

Come Sunday morning, the snow had stopped but the colder temperatures arrived. It was -21c as we headed for breakfast. The skies cleared up and you were able to see the mountains. It is funny how sometimes they seem so far away and other times, you feel you can just reach out and touch them. These photos are taken near the lodge where we stay - a perfect mix of how the valley meets the mountains.

Sierra and Ocean

Their pies arrives - Ocean had Banana Cream Pie and Sierra had Chocolate Cream Pie. (Amanda and I had the peanut butter one - it was so light and fluffy and so yummy!!!! Sara had the same as Sierra - the chocolate pie)

Ocean and Sierra had some giddy moments - so I went with the flow and told them - okay be silly and these are the faces my camera captured. Definitely not ladies ediquette but it's okay to be silly every once in a while right?? They were good the whole time we were there - it was great for me to catch up with Amanda and Sara and have special tea at the same time. Thanks for a special evening gals.

Tea anyone???

Before my move to Calgary, the James gals and I came up to Three Hills for a visit with Amy and to go to the local tea house. The Tea House, was very warm and inviting and had wonderful desserts. Just like we did last night, we were able to pick our tea favours . I had the Buckingham Garden tea - it was perfect as I am not adventerous with my tea selections (those who know me are probably not surprised - Ms Picky Laura). Sara had a vanilla favour while Amanda had Jasmine. Sierra and Ocean had fun picking out there tea favours.

Lady Sierra and Lady Ocean, your tea is ready for you. When we walked into the Tea House, we saw there was a table for two. So it was great that Ocean and Sierra were able to have their own table. They had colouring books and reading books to entertain them. Though I didn't get a photo of them, they each took a turn reading each other a book. It was so cute to watch. Plus it also gave Amanda, Sara and I a chance for a visit too.

The tea has brewed and is ready for pouring. Sierra and Ocean showing us how to pour our tea through the strainer to catch the loose tea leaves. The owner of the Tea House made it so special for them, having special tea pots with cute little tea cups for each of them. I think we will have to do this again - it was fun and so relaxing too.

A favourite pasttime in Canada

It is funny when celebrity Guy Canadians get asked about their childhoods - one answer seems to come up - playing hockey and maybe if they are good enough, play for the NHL - Jason Priestly and Keanu Reeves are two I remember. So here are some photos of our Three Hill's gang playing hockey and we improvised for the puck - a Tim Horton's coffee cup!!! They seem to go hand-in-hand - Hockey and Tim Horton's coffee. I am sure any hockey mom or dad in Canada will tell you that while watching their kids on the ice Saturday mornings bright and early, you stay warm holding your X-large Double-Double coffee sitting on the benches.

Amanda skating with the kids

A few photos of Amanda skating with the kids - Sierra, Ocean and Journey. Despite the temperatures cooling off - they looked liked they were having fun on the ice.

Now hold my hand....

Amanda was "monkey in the middle" holding Sara and Sierra's hands as they skated about the rink.

Help!!! How do I stop again??There is a stick in the way!!!! Eventually Sara found a way to skate around the hockey stick. Had to do some multi-tasking because skating at 8 months pregnant she found she had to hold her belly too. She is a brave gal. Being both our camera batteries died - thankfully no one got a photo of my trying to pull of her skate - it was a funny moment but definitely embarrassing on my side. BTW - helpful tip for stopping - TOE-PICK!!! (Hey what movie is that from!!)

Sara looks on while Amanda gives Sierra some skating tips.

I'll help you up Sierra....

Sierra had fallen near the boards and Journey went over to see if Sierra needed an extra hand to get up. Sierra was halfway up but thanked Journey for asking. It was so cute - a special moment between cousins.

Sierra - the upcoming skater from Three Hills!!!! Think the smile says it all - she was having fun out there.