Adrian & Bessie´s wedding

Augher, NI

August 1, 2007

We had a great time at Bessie and Adrian´s wedding. Bessie was a beautiful bride and Adrian looked dashing in his tux. The church ceremony was lovely and the reception at Corrick House was so much fun. We were spinning and whirling around the floor during the Ceili dances most of the night. It was an excellent party. The bride and groom jetted off to Dominican Republic a few days later for their honeymoon while we looked at all of their prezzies!

Sipping a latte at the Marketplace

Armagh, NI

July 25, 2007

We spent a day in Armagh and found the Marketplace - a trendy new addition to a traditional City. The cafe is really nice and there seems to be a lot happening. We came back with Garry on Saturday night and there was a band playing. It was a great night.

Scary rope bridge

Carrick-a-rede, NI

July 21, 2007

Wendy, Mark, Alex and Rachel took us for afternoon outing to the Carrick-a-rede rope bridge. It was really high up and a bit scary to cross but we made it! Alex was especially brave and so was Rachel. That evening we looked after the kiddies and had a great time playing. We're a great aunty and uncle team!

Sipping a Hot Toddy

Bushmills, NI

July 21, 2007

Andy and I went on the tour of the Bushmills Whiskey Distillery. The tour was good but we were most excited about the tasting at the end. I had a hot toddy since I still can't stomach even a class whiskey like Bushmills!

Out on Mark's boat

Portrush, NI

July 20, 2007

Mark took us out on his boat and we motored up the Antrim coast. We got as far up as Dunluce castle and then went back along the islands with thousands of birds on them. It was great to be at sea for a few hours and travel up the coast. Portrush is such a nice spot and it is always lovey to visit Mark and Wendy here. We had a great time hanging out at their new house and playing with the kids.

Family Dinner at the Morrow's

Portadown, NI

July 15, 2007

This was the first time we've had all the Morrows under one roof in over three years. It was great to see Wendy, Mark and the kids and to see Adrian and Bessie too. This was our first introduction to our nephew Alex. He is a treat - so fun and very sweet. Our neice Rachel has a great imagination and we played lots of hide and seek and football in the yard. It was so great that the sun came out today to give us a chance to play outside.

BBQ with the Jossa's

Calgary, AB

July 9, 2007

Just before leaving for Ireland we had a nice BBQ with Bill, Wendy and Dallis. It was quite funny trying to take a group photo out in the yard but we managed to get a good one at last! It was fun to have a last bounce on the trampoline. I still can't 'crack the egg' with Dallis - she's just too good at it!

Hasta Luego Fiesta

Calgary, AB

July 6, 2007

It was great to have all our friends and family in Calgary over for a barbeque before we moved out of our house. And the weather was perfect. It was a great send off and took my mind off all the packing. I was sad to leave our house on July 9 but there will be more houses in the future. We had a great time there and I will miss it. But I won't miss those Calgary winters!

Camping with the Gill's

Boulton Creek, Kananaskis AB

July 2, 2007

Our last camping trip in the Rockies for awhile... We went to Kananaskis for two nights to stay with Carmen, Alec and Bennett. It was nice weather and we had excellent campfires. We even got out on our kayak one last time before packing it away. Bennett is such a great little camper for 8 months old. We had a lot of fun going for hikes and hanging out in the hammocks

Vanessa´s birthday party

Edmonton, AB

June 23, 2007

One last trip to Edmonton before we depart on our adventure. It was great to see Vanessa on her first birthday and watch all the kids having a blast in the bouncy castle. I even had a go! It was nice to see my grandma again and spend a bit of time with my cousins Rachel, Kate, Ken and his wife Tammy. Kate is a super aunty - already teaching Vanessa how to count!

Anniversary at Emerald Lake

Emerald Lake, BC
April 21 & 22, 2007

We celebrated our first wedding anniversary in Emerald Lake and it was so sunny and beautiful. I was so in awe of the setting and cozy fire place that it didn't even phase me when Andy pointed out me why there was no TV in our cabin. Hahahaha. It was a lovely weekend. We ate at Truffle Pigs cafe in Field - fabulous food in a fun cafe atmosphere. And brunched at the Emerald Lake Lodge on Sunday. It was so yummy. Wish we had longer to spend there than just a weekend but it was a great taste of the mountains again. I loved that we could see all the snow and ice but still be able to sit outside and read a magazine in the sun.

Our Japanese Student

Calgary, AB
March 24, 2007

In March, Yuko (a student from Hiroshima, Japan) came to stay with us for a week. She came with a group of 40+ students that each stayed with a different host family. Of all of the sights she saw during her stay, Yuko's favorite activity was probably either ice skating at a snails pace while gripping onto the walls of the rink at Southland Leisure Centre or shopping at ultra-bargain teenage retail outlets at Chinook.

Visiting Family in Edmonton

Edmonton, AB
February, 2007

We took a weekend roadtrip to Edmonton in February to visit Claire's cousins Kate, Rachel (and her daughter Vanessa). We also got to see Claire's cousin Ken's family - his son Joel and wife Tammy. We had a fun time playing with the kids we also spent some time with Claire's Grandma.

Christmas in Calgary

Calgary, AB
December 25, 2006

We spent a quiet Christmas at home this year. Claire's Mom and Dad came over on Christmas day and we prepared turkey and the trimmings. We had a chance to visit with friends and new babies too. Next Christmas we plan to be somewhere hot...

At least there wasn't too much snow this year. New Year's was nice - pretty quiet too, we had a few friends over, played games and ate too much!

Rememberance Day in Banff

Banff, AB
November 11, 2006

We took a day trip out to the mountains with our friend Cathyrn on Rememberance Day. It was a cool, snowy day but great for wandering through the town and Christmas shopping! We walked along the river for a great view of the Banff Springs hotel. Then off to St. James Gate Irish pub for dinner. The mango-burbon chicken wings are amazing!

Ottawa in October

Ottawa, Ontario
October 19, 2006

We finally made it out to Ottawa to visit Andy's friend Jonny and his family. The weather was a bit on the cool and rainy side but we had a great time. We had a day in Ottawa and Hull at the Museum of Civilization. Jonny and Tammy's took us to the best Halloween location ever - Saunders Farm, on Saturday night. The haunted hay ride was a blast. I screamed my lungs out when the guy with the chainsaw started chasing our wagon! The four days came and went so quickly but we hope to get back out there again soon.

Camping at Sylvan

Sylvan Lake, Alberta
August 27, 2006

On the last weekend in August we headed North to Jarvis Bay Provincial Park for 3 days. Situated right beside Sylvan Lake (but a few miles from the busy town), we relaxed and enjoyed the warm summer nights outdoors. We took our inflatable kayak out on the lake on Sunday and floated and paddled for hours. The campfire on Sunday night was particularly impressive thanks to Andy's fire making skills and all the leftover firewood we could carry. The campground manager told us to help ourselves after all of the weekend campers checked out. Apparently that's a perk of making a regular weekend into a long weekend - free firewood!

Paragliding

Cochrane, Alberta
August 20, 2006

On our four month anniversary we went paragliding! We signed up in May in an effort to do something fun and scary this summer. It was such an amazing experience and won't be easy to top. We're both so impressed that we actually ran off a huge hill and glided through the air for about 90 seconds. The landings were less than stellar for both of us but we walked away with but a few bruises and thistles. We put together a short and shaky video of our experience and a collection of photos. We were really impressed with Muller Windsports - the instructors are great! Let us know if you plan to try it and we'll get you their contact info.

Reception Party

Calgary, AB
May 20, 2006
On our one month anniversary we celebrated our recent nuptuals with friends and family in Calgary. We ate, we drank, we danced, we laughed - it was so much fun! It was really great to see everyone and dress up in our weddiing attire again. And the cake was amazing! Fun times...

Beach Bums

Jamaica
April 22 - 29, 2006

We spent the rest of our honeymoon being beach bums. Our days included eating, lounging, swimming, more lounging, more eating and happy hour. It was bliss. We had the same routine as a retired couple! We changed it up on a few days by taking out a sailboat or windsurf. We made the most out of our time at the resort and completely relaxed and had fun!

Newlywed Snorkling Day

Jamaica
April 21, 2006

On our first day as smug marrieds we had breakfast in bed (so spoiled!) and then went out on the glass bottom boat to two reefs. The first had a sunken anchor and cannon. We saw a few big fish and lots of brighltly coloured schools of smaller fish. The big fish with the snorkel was trying to attack the boat but we chased him away...

Wedding Day!

Jamaica
April 20, 2006

We had such a beautiful wedding on the beach. The weather was warm and sunny and we had a great time celebrating with our parents, Andy's brother Adrian and his fiance Bessie and our friends Carmen and Alec. It was an amazing day - more than we could have imagined. What could be better than a wedding on the beach with a steel drum band and island breeze in the background! The reception dinner was fab too. We loved every minute! Just click here to see all our wedding photos!

YS Falls

Jamaica
April 19, 2006

After our boat trip on the Black River we headed to YS Falls. The falls are nestled in a farmer's field accessible by tractor jitney. Carmen and Alec took flying leaps from the rope swing. Andy and I took a refreshing dip. It was a beautiful spot and quite quiet - I'm sure only a small fraction of the people that we would have seen at Dunne's River Falls.

Black River Safari

Jamaica
April 19, 2006

On our 5th day in Jamaica (the day before our wedding) we went on a boat trip in the Black River with crocodiles and mangrove trees. This one looks scary but she was just sleeping. Thankfully no one fell in! I had to remind Andy that he was getting married in less than 24 hours and needed to keep his hands in the boat!

New House!

Calgary, AB
December 27, 2005

We got posession of our new house today. We love the neighbourhood and the town house. So nice to have so much room and no more scary neighbours. Now to get new furniture to go with our sweet abode...

Christmas 2005

Calgary, AB
December 24 & 25, 2005

Christmas was pretty low key this year. On Christmas Eve we went to our friends Bill & Wendy's for dinner and gingerbread house construction. We spent Christmas day at Claire's mom and dad's house and had a nice turkey dinner. Most of our break so far has been spent packing and the next week will be spent moving. But we're really excited to get into our new house!

12 Days of Christmas

Calgary, AB
December 17, 2005

We went to Heritage Park in Calgary for brunch today. The 12 days of Christmas are always a good time with plenty of treats. What can we say, we love a good brunch. We were lucky to get a snowy day with sunshine. One of the only crisp weekends we've had so far this winter season!

Engaged!

Banff, AB
October 15, 2005

We drove to Banff this morning - part of Andy's secret plan. We arrived at the Sulphur Mountain Gondola at about 10:00 a.m. and made our way up the mountain. About half way up Andy proposed!! Thank goodness we had the gondola car to ourselves as I was overcome with excitement and emotion.

The weather was am amazing and the mountains were gorgeous. A perfect day for an engagement! This is one of our first photos as hubby-and-wife-to-be!

Romance in the Rockies

Canmore, AB
October 14, 2005

Andy surprised Claire with a trip to Canmore, complete with a suite at the Chateau Canmore and candlelight dinner. The meal was to die for!

But this was just the start of a very exciting, romantic and memorable weekend...

Thanksgiving Banoffee

Calgary, AB
October 9, 2005

We celebrated Thanksgiving and birthdays with turkey, trimmings and Claire's homemade banoffee (toffee and banana) pie. Claire's mom and dad, and our friend Cathryn joined us for the festivities.

Union Square

San Francisco
August 28, 2005

This morning we transfered from our standard room at the San Remo Hotel to the Penthouse on the roof. A little bit of luxury for our last day in San Fran. Our own patio and a 360 degree view of the city! The Penthouse is like a little cottage - very cozy and sunny.

In between lounging on the patio and taking in the view, we headed to Union Square and area for a quick shopping spree.

Sailing to Sausolito

San Francisco
August 27, 2005

Another beautiful day in San Fran. We caught the ferry to Sausolito at 11:30 and cruised past Alcatrz, the Golden Gate bridge and hundreds of sailboats and yachts en route.

During the afternoon, we checked out the shops and wandered along the water front. We found a quaint pub with no name where we drank beer on the patio with two cats.

In the evening, we bought tickets for Cobb's Comedy Club. The comedians were hilarious. A fantastic San Francisco experience.

Golden Gate Park

San Francisco
August 26, 2005

We must have walked at least 20 kilometers today. We wandered around Golden Gate Park, then headed to Haight Ashbury for wavy gravy ice cream. Later on we walked to the Castro and Mission districts.

We headed back to the San Remo hotel for a siesta by 4:30. Rested and ready to go, we walked to Ghiradelli Square for belgian crepes and fries at "Fritz".

Morrow's Nut House

San Francisco
August 26, 2005

We took the Powell/Hyde cable car to Union Square on Friday evening. We wandered in and out of book stores and stopped for a coffee. On the way back to our hotel we spotted Morrow's Nut House. Too bad it was closed...

Sun and Streetcars

San Francisco
August 25, 2005

We took this picture of an old fashioned streetcar at Pier 29 as we got lost on our way to Coit Tower. Later in the day we explored the piers and Fisherman's Warf and ate fantastic fresh seafood at Pier 43.

In the evening we walked way up into the hills to check out Lombard Street, the crookedest street in San Francisco. The view of the sunset from the Russian Hill district was amazing.