Not-so-Spring Skiing in Whistler

In celebration of my 29th birthday, we headed north for some spring skiing in Whistler, BC over the weekend. We both decided that British Columbia was one of the prettiest places we had ever been. So pretty, in fact, that Josh had the idea of trying to persuade the Canadians to agree to a straight-across swap--they give us British Columbia, we give them North Dakota.

On the way up there, we realized that we are, like many Americans, completely ignorant about our neighbors to the north. Josh admitted that he didn't know who Canada's president was (actually they have a prime minister). We could only name the following provinces: British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, and Quebec. We tried singing their national anthem, but only knew "oh Ca-na-da." And we had no idea what a Canadian dollar was worth compared to an American dollar (We thought $75 for skiing seemed like a lot).

We learned a couple of things on our brief trip:
1. First and foremost, the freeway heading to Vancouver ends abruptly with no apparent warning. If you go, don't plan on American-like freeways in British Columbia. Plan on a side-trip through downtown Vancouver and a random trip around the entire city.

2. Canada has 10 provinces and 3 territories: Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Nunavut, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Yukon Territory

3. Canada's new prime minister is Stephen Harper. He is a conservative and was elected in February as the 22nd prime minister.

4. The exchange rate for $1 American is roughly $1.15 Canadian. That means skiing at Whistler is still very expensive.

Does this look like spring skiing? It snowed like six inches the day before we were up there.

We took these pics to try and show the scenery, but it was too cloudy and overcast, so you just get us standing there.

Masters Weekend-Saturday

If you're reading this, you probably already know that I'm not the biggest sports fan in town. BASEBALL-too long and boring, FOOTBALL-just don't understand it, and Josh's new favorite NASCAR-five or six hours of nothing but driving around in circles (thanks Jason!).

HOWEVER, this weekend is the MASTERS, which has always been a momentous occasion in the Wathen household. Masters Sunday for our family involves three things: 1. Getting together to watch the tournament. 2. Listening to my dad's armchair analysis (and memories of Masters-past). 3. Betting. In keeping with tradition, each family members draws the name of one player who has a shot at the green jacket, and throws in five bucks (although a certain family member has been known to conveniently forget his five bucks...)

This year, Josh and I won't be around for Masters Sunday, so my dad and I are settling on each picking a player. The low finisher has to buy the other person dinner. My dad chose Retief Goosen, and I had to choose Mike Weir-simply because my sister knows him and nannys for his kids sometimes. I just hope Vijay, the male chauvanist, doesn't win.

Other items of note:
*Utah was well represented in the masters by 21-year-old BYU player, Clay Ogden. He didn't make the cut, but at least he got to go. And he's even from O-town.
*It's raining, which is currently causing a rain delay for the fifth straight year
*Phil Mickelson has a chance at his third major. Many of the other big name players are in contention.

Spokane with the Brunos

Since we moved here, we've looked forward to driving over to Spokane to visit the Bruno family. We made the trip (about a 5 1/2 hour drive) last weekend to visit Holly, Madie and Alivia. We had such a good time catching up with them and playing with the girls. Josh and Madilynn are still best beds ... he could not wait to see her. They just moved in to a new house in Liberty Lake, so it was fun to see that. We also went to a nice brunch in Coeur d'Alene, did a bit of shopping, and relaxed!.


Eating at Red Robin. Afterward we went over to get some Godiva chocolate, which is a Holly and Andy tradition.

Happy to be re-united.


Madie wasn't quite as excited to see me, but oh well.

At the Couer d'Alene resort for brunch.

Alivia--who is 14 months old now!