A final 2010 purchase

Steve was up bright and early on Friday the 31st of December as our friend Brendon was taking him to look at a snow mobile - yippee!  We had been umming and ahhing about whether to get a snow mobile as it is not something we can all do together, however after more snow falls we saw just about everyone riding around on their snow machines and it looked like so much fun.  Steve was impressed with the 2008 Yamaha Venture which has two seats and is suited to driving on trails, he came back to talk to me about it and I agreed that we should get it.  We went across to Wabush and paid the deposit and then went straight to Ce La Vie sports store to buy our snow mobile gear!

It seems that every activity here requires a different set of gear and accessories to go with it, however you can't really go without them.  Snow mobile suits are especially designed for the cold, so we felt like snow men trying on our suits, pants and gloves.  Steve, Taylor, Cooper and I all got a two piece Choko snow mobile suit.  Everyone in Lab City seems to have a Choko snow mobile suit so we won't look out of place; they even select the colour suit to match the snow mobile!  We chose modular helmets, Steve got black while Taylor and I chose silver as well as balaclavas to wear underneath, we decided to pass on the heated visors for now as we are not sure yet whether we need this accessory. We did need new gloves though as this can be a real cold spot in the wind, even with our heated grips for the driver and the passenger. We decided to stay with the snow boots we have but you can buy snow boots suited for the extra cold as well.  I was very impressed by the seal fur boots however they didn't have my size )-:

We loaded our bulky bags into the car and took the gear home and packed it away, the New Years weekend started this afternoon so we can't get the snow mobile until Tuesday.  More on the snow mobile once we get it!!

Cross Country Skiing

Having the Boxing Day public holiday on Monday 27th Dec allowed for another day for us to all spend some time together so we decided to all go Cross Country Skiing.  Cooper has been having lessons for a few weeks now but we can't say he is loving it just yet so we hired a Polk (a small covered sled) that I dragged behind me with Cooper and Ryder in.  This was pretty scary having the boys connected to me as this was only my second attempt at skiing in a week so I am far from seasoned.  Alyssa and TJ have never skied either so it was left to Kristy to explain what we had to do.  There is probably a method that could be learnt relatively easily but we all decided to get in the grooves cut in the snow for beginners - it can't be that hard!  Once we got TJ's boots clipped into her skis, she just slid off down the slope - away from the grooves, screaming then falling in a heap.  Cooper and Ryder were both complaining about the cold, Alyssa tells us all her fingers are frozen and... we haven't left yet... oh this is going to be fantastic...  We eventually all got our skis clipped on and into the cut grooves and started to slide off along the trail.  The freshly fallen snow in the trees and on the trail looked amazing against the brilliant blue sky background and the air was so cold and crisp that our nostrils felt like they were sticking together, you forget it's -17 deg C when it is such a beautiful day outside!  We skiied along the trail next to the lake that is frozen over up hills and down hollows.  One slope downhill Alyssa headed first.... Arrghhh!! Crash at the turn at the bottom... then Steve and the boys... Move Alyssa!!... same result... then Kristy... then TJ.... Crash! Crash!  We all gathered ourselves together and skiied on for about half an hour or so then turned back so we could get the boys back and warm next to the fire place.  Alyssa and TJ skiied on a bit further then the grooves ended so they turned round and headed for home also.  A hotdog and hot chocolate for all back at the lodge made for a good end to our first skiing adventure together.  It was so good that we decided to join the club.  Lessons start this week...

Our First White Christmas

We got a sleep in on Christmas morning until 8.30am (this may not happen again for many years to come!).  Cooper was very excited to see that Santa had left lots of presents and the carrot had a bite out of it.  Cooper asked me to leave Santa a coffee and a cookie so we made him a latte and left him a good old Aussie Tim Tam.  Santa even filled the stockings on our mantle peice with chocolates, Cooper was amazed!

Unwrapping presents took us till about 10.30 then we thought we better hurry up and get ready for Christmas lunch.  We spent Christmas day with some other Australian families in our street.  As usual we ate way too much and had our dessert at about 4.30pm.  Kim did an awesome job cooking turkey, lamb and pork roasts and Matt was an excellent bartender, the cocktails just kept coming.  At about 7pm we were all realxing in the loungeroom ready to fall asleep, lucky we only had to walk down the street to get home although it was very cold by that time.  It was a great day, the kids loved their presents and they really had a ball playing with them.  Thanks to everyone who bought us gifts and sent cards and gifts in the mail.

Cooper and Ryder's new kitchen from Nanna and Grandpa

Ryder's wheelie car ramp

Alyssa eating a chocolate 'A' from her Xmas stocking

Cooper has been asking Santa for Hungry Hippos

Steve's new t-shirt

Kristy & Ryder

Smile Taylor!

Nice Rack!

Since moving to Canada I have been really wanting to know more about or even better, see a Moose.  Moose hunting was a free for all at one stage but now you must have a license to hunt for them and you are restricted in the number you can kill.  One of the guys at work, Walter Standing, is a very keen hunter and he tells me that the antlers are made of calcium and they fall off and grow back every year - hard to believe because they are so huge!  Walter had a license this year and he went on vacation to the island of Newfoundland.  After another successful hunt, Walter brought back this nice rack to Lab city and one day he asked me for my car keys so he could put something in there.  I finished work that day, went down to my car and what a surprise - a beautiful 16 point rack.  I am now looking to get it treated and mounted etc so I can hopefully bring it back to Australia.  Some locals apparently cut off the head and tie it to the front of their truck as a trophy then drive round the town - I can't wait to see that!  Other expats here are looking to get the whole head and bring that back but I can't imagine I would feel very comfortable with Bullwinkle looking down at us from the mantle piece.  I still haven't seen a Moose, but I will before long.  In the meantime, I've got a great rack!

Christmas Cheer

Only two days before Christmas and the shops are crazy.  The Christmas aisles in Walmart are looking bare but I managed to pick up a few new decorations on sale at a shop that looks like it only sells Christmas decorations (not sure what they are going to sell after December 25th!).

Last night at 10.30pm our doorbell rang, four carolers were singing at the front door!  I must admit that I had no idea what it was all about and I thought they would be asking for a donation or selling raffle tickets (every day I get asked to buy a raffle ticket).  They told me they were just spreading Christmas cheer.

Putting up our real Christmas tree

Cooper puts on the star

On another note, we had a big snowfall a couple of weeks ago but again the weather warmed up and the snow melting caused lots of damage to the rail tracks coming in to Labrador City.  The queue at the gas bar (petrol station) was huge as everyone lined up to fill up their cars with gas before it ran out.

Washout under the rail tracks

The IOC Christmas Party

The Iron Ore Company of Canada (IOC) Primary Ore department Christmas party was held last night.  The Christmas party is for staff employees only and it costs $20 per head to attend.  Historically the party is not well attended so Steve's acting GM was determined to make it a party to remember before the new GM takes over the reins next week.  His idea was to have a pre-Christmas party at each of the managers houses with complimentary food and drink.  Steve is one of the three managers and he has the biggest team of staff employees so we invited 45 employees and their partners to our house for the pre-party.

Saturday was already a busy day for us, I had a hair appointment, Cooper had skiing and we had to clean the house before the party.  The food was delivered at 4.30pm and people arrived at 5pm on the dot.  Everyone takes off their shoes and coats in the entry and a few people brought us cards and gifts.  All the guests were very well dressed with most men wore shirts, ties and jackets.  Many of the women had their hair curled and styled. By 5.30 our house was so full that we had to open the windows and the front door to let some cool air in.  It was a really good party and some of the people from the other parties came to our party as well!  At 7pm the bus turned up to take us all to the Christmas party at the Lab City Curling Club.  Luckily one of the guys helped us usher everyone out and the bus waited for Steve and I before taking us to the Curling Club.

At the Christmas party we had a steak supper, this is very popular here, a massive T bone steak that covers your plate, mushrooms, onions, a baked potato and coleslaw.  There was a DJ after supper, everyone danced and the Newfie songs pulled a big crown on the dancefloor. Heave Away is a very popular Newfie song that I have heard played at every party I have been to so far.  The party was still going strong at 1.30am when I caught the bus home.  It was a great night.

Lyrics for Heave Away - Newfoundland, attributed to Pius Power Sr.

Come get your duds in order
  For we're going to leave tomorrow
Heave away, me jollies, heave away
Come get your duds in order
  For we're going to cross the water
Heave away me jolly boys, we're all bound away

Sometimes we're bound for Liverpool
  Sometimes we're bound for Spain
But now we're bound for St. John's town
  To watch the girls a-dancing

Now it's farewell Maggie darling
  For it's now I'm going to leave you
You promised me you'd marry me
  But how you did deceive me

I wrote me love a letter
  And I signed it with a ring
I wrote me love a letter
  I was on the Jenny Lind

Sometimes we're bound for Liverpool
  Sometimes we're bound for Spain
But now we're bound for St. John's town
  To watch the girls a-dancing

Alyssa is finally here

Alyssa is spending Christmas with us here in Labrador City.  We've had her flights booked since we booked our flights to get here and she was flying Brisbane - LA - Dallas - Montreal - Quebec - Sept Iles - Wabush.  The day before she was scheduled to leave Qantas called her to say that the Brisbane - LA flight was delayed by eight hours, this meant she would arrive a day later.  She was told that her flights would connect through to Montreal but she would need to contact her travel agent to arrange the Montreal - Wabush flights.  Steve called American Express who made our booking and they reviewed the scheduled flights and advised that we change the itinerary to fly Brisbane - LA - New York - Montreal - Quebec - Sept Iles - Wabush.  Well this sounded very glamorous indeed and meant less time in airports for Alyssa so we made the booking.

Alyssa departed Brisbane for LA on Sunday instead of Saturday as originally planned however the LA - New York flight was cancelled due to bad weather so she flew LA - Miami - Montreal.  She had a very tight connection in Miami and arrived in Montreal after midnight.  We had changed her hotel booking so that she was staying at the hotel right at the Montreal airport so she could grab her bags and go straight to bed.  Unfortunately her bags were missing so she took her complimentary Qantas PJ's as her only change of clothes.

Now we had the largest snowfall we have seen since being here on Sunday night.  We woke up early and called Alyssa to make sure she was awake and heading back to the domestic terminal to check in nice and early.  Steve scraped the snow off his car, dug the snow from around it and headed off to work.  About 30 minutes later Alyssa called to say that her flight was cancelled due to poor weather!  She could fly to Sept Iles but had no connection to Wabush!  We rebooked her into the airport hotel and told her to sit tight.  We made so many phone calls back and forwards on Monday, maybe she should catch the flight to Sept Iles, maybe she should try Provincial Airlines instead of Air Canada, maybe she should wait in Montreal.  At about 10am the Wabush airport was closed so we decided that Alyssa should remain in Montreal until we could get her a seat all the way to Wabush.

Tuesday's flights were fully booked so the best we could get was to book her on the 6am flight to Wabush on Wednesday morning.  On Monday night Steve's boss, Brian, kindly took Alyssa shopping to buy her a change of clothes.  She waited it out on Wednesday in the hotel.  On Wednesday morning Alyssa checked in for the Air Canada flight to Wabush.  At 830am I got a call at home, Alyssa sounded disappointed, her flight had been cancelled again.  We couldn't believe it!

Fortunately the travel agent had made her a backup booking on Provincial Air Lines for Wednesday afternoon.  The PAL flight departed late at 2:50pm, made a brief stop in Sept Iles then landed at Wabush airport at 7:30pm.  Alyssa said it was the bumpiest landing she had ever had.

Alyssa and Taylor had a very long hug, a few tears, happy to see each other finally.

Happy together!

Wee College Christmas Concert

Today was Cooper's Christmas concert at Wee College.  Steve came home from work to come along with us, it is extremely common for Dad's to attend anything to do with their kids here.  The concert was at the Pentecostal Church, we sat near the front and watched all the four year olds file in.  The kids were all dressed up, girls in Christmas dresses and boys in pants, shirts, vests and ties!  Cooper didn't wear a tie, he does have some short sleeve shirts but that is about as formal as his wardrobe gets.

Cooper's class sang Candlelight and a welcome song.  He wouldn't sing Away in a Manger or do the actions.  At the end of the concert each child received a gift and got to say Merry Christmas into the microphone, Cooper just said "I don't want to talk".  We had morning tea afterwards (we took ANZACs) and Ryder enjoyed the choc chip cookies and cheese and crackers.

Singing the Candlelight song

 

Morning tea after the concert

Settling In

I keep telling people that I must be feeling more settled as I have had time to do some baking this week.  I made a date slice with my Australian recipe and it didn't work out quite the same way with all purpose flour and baking powder instead of SR flour.  The next thing I made was orange muffins from a North American recipe website, the recipe called for baking soda and baking powder, I thought they were the same thing!  Anyway, the muffins turned out great.  Next week Cooper has a Christmas concert and party at Wee College and the boys in the class have to bring cookies.  There are lots of great cookie making moms here so I decided I would make ANZAC biscuits (according to Wiki ANZACS must be referrred to as biscuits, not cookies).  Now last time I made ANZACs (I think I was in high school) I made one big biscuit so I did a test run this week, these turned out great too so I hope the Candians like them next week.

One of the things that prompted me to bake this week was the arrival of our new coffee machine, we now have coffee with milk!  Yippee!  We are making the most of it, cappucinos and lattes at every opportunity.  In fact, one night we were making coffees after dinner in the kitchen so when Cooper told me he was going out to look out our inflatable Santa decoration, I said "ok".  A bit later on we could hear Cooper calling out, we thought he was watching TV in the basement and wanted the channel changed (he calls out from the basement all the time), so we didn't attend to him immediately.  Eventually Steve decided to go downstairs to change the channel and Cooper wasn't there!  As soon as Steve said that I remembered that Cooper said he was going outside.  I ran to the front door and there was Cooper, standing there in his gumboots and PJ's, tears rolling down his cheeks,  "I was locked out" he cried.  The poor little thing, I felt so sorry for him, it was snowing and he was so cold.  He actually did this again the next day and the lady across the road saw him from her front window and came across to let him in!

Our inflatable Santa, a distraction for Cooper.

Arrival of our air freight

Finally our air freight arrived on Thursday morning, we were so excited to have some of our own things!  We were allowed 450 kg of air freight which was about 16 packing boxes full.  Back in Australia we decide to pack all of our clothes, some linen and a few essentials for Cooper and Ryder - the cot, the highchair and a few toys.

I was determined to unpack one box at a time to avoid a big mess but I ended up opening most of them and creating a big mess, it's now Saturday morning and I still have my clothes to put away so the house is still untidy.  While unpacking I was thinking how unneccesary lots of the items are.  The boys have so many t-shirts, shorts and summer PJ's, some haven't even been worn yet. These items went in bottom drawers along with rash shirts, summer shoes and togs. We stocked up on Bonds socks, singlets and undies before we left so it was good to get this stuff, nothing beats good old Aussie bonds underwear!  While I was really looking forward to receiving our clothes, I felt a little disappointed after unpacking it all, we still don't seem to have enough of the items we actually need - long pants or warm tops.  The highchair and toys have been very handy though.