Surprise!!!

Daddy is the best Daddy!

He's been taunting Mummy with tails of a surprise for three weeks!

Adelaide & I (Sarah Grace) knew about it all along...hehehe

Now, it's important to know that Daddy's great at

coming up with surprises but not so good at

surprising Mummy (she's just too smart) !!

THIS time things were different...

Mummy just couldn't figure out what he was up to!

Forgetting all about his taunting,

last Thursday She went off to her Search & Rescue (SAR) meeting.

Upon her return, only 45 minutes later,

there was a strange vehicle in the drive.

Upon entering the cabin,

there were a strange pair of gloves on the table...

In a million years Mummy never would have guessed that

that vehicle & those gloves were the surprise!!!!!

Well not until she peeked around the corner

& look into the living room...

You see, the gloves fit the hands of the driver

of that strange vehicle...

and the driver was

AUNT MAUREEN!!

It didn't take long for Adelaide & me (Sarah Grace)

to snuggle in & make Aunt Maureen feel welcome!!

Too bad we didn't have the camera ready

when Mummy walked through the door to find her surprise!

WOW WEE, was she ever happy !!

It took no time at all for the FitzGerald's

to make the most of the weekend!

We bundled up, & out the door we went!

Luckily,

the sun was shinning & the mercury was rising...

rising just enough to make it possible to

play outdoors...

Can you believe I actually

fell asleep on the kick sled??

I was having fun but the fresh air got the better of me!!

Then it was time for Aunt Maureen to hook up a dog team!

A bit cooler out but WOW...

SO worth bundling up for!!

actually my sister & I

were sound asleep when THIS was going on

but it's easy too see just how happy

Aunt Maureen looks in these photos!!

Look at her form!

Look at her speed!!

Banking the first turn like a PRO!!

& isn't that smile worth a million!!

& oh those mittens!!

I'd say that, that Aunt of ours

has the heart of a true Northerner ;)

Sadly,

all good things must come to an end...

& this weekend was no different :(

or, so say our parents!!

We love you completely Aunt Maureen!!

We think you should just move into our room ...
Adelaide & I talked about it &

we are certain we have room!!!

....................

Enough of these last dinners & tearful goodbye's...

Oh well...We will be reunited soon:)

when ALL of the FitzGeralds come together,

gathering from far away reaches...

Oh, what a day it will be!!

............................

Daddy & our family, from the Yukon

Aunt Maureen & Uncle Ian, from BC

Aunt Margaret & Uncle Jean, from France

Auntie Eileen & Uncle Marcello, from Italy

*********

We can't wait to hug you ALL at the same time!

Hay Daddy....

Great job surprising Mummy !

Lets do it again NEXT weekend!!

Today, He's our HERO!!!!

Adelheid & Sarah's

"My Martin"

did it!!!

He trained all winter long

(heck, he trained all summer long too!!)

He packed his gear... He loaded his sled...

He double checked his list...

and, like any good handler would,
Gene triple checked his list!

Then with a chuckle & a hug...



& his biggest fan (Adelheid) there to send him off...
the final count down was heard &
Martin was mushing down the trail of the
Yukon Quest 300

Together, 12 beautiful dogs
& their loyal Musher
:)

Soooooo...how did he make out??
Well...

23 teams signed up
22 teams started
8 scratched
11 have finished

&
3 are still out there

----------------------------------------
POSITION -BIB # -MUSHER -LOCATION- DATE- TIME IN

9 -59 -MARTIN- FINISH -FEB 17 -18:31

-----------------------------------------

Ahhhh...dear Martin,
We can't wait to welcome you home
Well done Friend!

Yukon Quest Adventures...

Wow! What a weekend!

Sean & I managed to get into Whitehorse in time for me to

volunteer at the

Yukon Quest Vet Check!!

This didn't happen easily, I might add...

NO! We started out making good time

(which is ALWAYS an accomplishment with two little ones in tow)

but then we came across a truck that was not only ditched & abandoned, it was blocking any access down our road!

Thank Goodness for OnStar!

One press of the OnStar Button & the RCMP were dispatched!

Chris (one of our local officers, & darn nice guy too) came to our rescue!

Not only did the OnStar Advisor get us the RCMP,

she called the Quest office & patched them into the truck too so that they wouldn't be worrying about us!...

hummmm...I LOVE my truck!

It took over an hour before we were on our way again,

no thanks to the drunk

that had left his truck across the road!

(who later got a good tongue lashing from BOTH Sean & me)

Then there was this little snow storm...

Come on folks, we're in "the Great WHITE North"...What do you expect??

Oh ya...we're also considered SEMI-DESERT and tend to have very little of the white fluffy stuff on an average snow year!!

Well THIS day, the snow fell until it hit an all time record in Whitehorse!

(I'm thinking it was around one foot)

The drive was rather slow going...with blowing snow, visibility on that highway can get mighty sketchy!

FINALLY, we made it to town & the drive was totally worth it!

THIS dog my friends, is an athlete!

She will be on Colleen Robertia's team,

running the 1000mile Yukon Quest

That would be me in the fancy brown dog-yard jacket!
The vet (Helen) is going over the dog's general physical condition
while I take down the information on a check sheet...
Tony is handling the dog for us!


There is Colleen in the back ground in blue!
& it's my turn to snuggle with this beautiful girl :)



I can't remember what we were laughing at her but
we were totally bonding with Colleen's dogs!

Good thing I didn't have any room in the truck...
I could have easily taken this one home!

Not only did I get to spend the day with
TONS of beautiful furry four legged people
and learn TONS of great things from the different vets that I got tow work with,
the girls got to visit with their faceless Auntie Laura!!
(ONE of these days I'll get her with my camera,when she least expects it!!)

******************************

Apparently Sarah was paying attention to the Vets & Mummy because...

On the way home...we stopped at Auntie Stacie's where

she got to put her new found skills to work on Poo Bear!!!

Final Evaluation

Female-White-Teenager

Body Condition: 2.5/5 (perfect squeezable score)

Skeletal-Muscular: Teddy Bear-Cuddly

Lungs: Inflated with delightful squeals

Oral Exam: Kissable

Heart: HUGE

signing vet: Sarah Grace

The Summit!

For weeks, Sarah Grace has been

climbing everything in sight, while

Adelaide Anne, has been persistent in her efforts!

Well, the moment finally arrived!

THE SUMMITTING OF

GRANDEE'S ROCKER!!

Adelaide has the gumption to do anything she sets her mind to!

(must have gotten that Gene from her MOTHER ;)

I just LOVE her positive attitude...

...not to mention her enthusiasm when she succeeds !!

(Yup, that's my girl !!)

Finally, Grandee's rocking chair has been conquered!!


Heck, this little tike even applauds herself for her accomplishments :)

How can't you fall in love with her...ahhhhhh

This would be the
"Oh Daddy, look what I just did!" giggle,
(I usually get the "I just fell on my noggin" cry or the
"Mummy, my sister just took my toy" scream!)

and the
"Humm....I think I'll savour the moment

before my sister gets up here" look

Not that THAT moment could last for very long around THIS cabin!!

Oh well, things are ALWAYS better in TWO's :)

Way Way Up!!

Good morning :)

There is a school teacher that lives in Nunavut, Arctic Bay, & he has a Blog called Way Way Up...I've enjoyed a number of his entries. He is about to interview an elder as part of his professional development time with the high school & will be writing his stories on his blog!!! I thought you might like to read them too!

There is a link to his blog along the side of my own so that you can access his very easily by simply clicking on it! The link is under Blog Buddies on the right side of my blog page!!

http://waywayup.blogspot.com/

Or, simply click on this link above & then add it to you favourites!

Hope you've all had a good start to your day! The girls have slept in again & are now playing quietly in their crib! I think It's time to get them up though...
It's about -35 out and is as clear as a bell! Thank goodness the sun is shining again :) It feels amazing on my face as it pours through the windows of the cabin !!

Happy reading!!

Kick Sledding!!

On the weekend we decided that it was time to take advantage of the spring like conditions (above -35'C) & the tons of fresh powder that fell!!

On went the sweaters

On went the snow pants

On went the snow boots

Then, it was time to practice walking in the living room!!

(use your imagination as there is no photo capturing that moment)

Then,

On went the coats, hats & mittens!!

What a workout! I was sweating...had to change my shirt even!!

Finally it was time to play in the snow!!

Little Sarah wasn't too sure about walking in her winter boots!

Little Adelaide was amused that we were foolish enough to think she'd even try!

Sean bought this kick-sled for me when the girls were 6 weeks old...

I thought I'd NEVER get to use it!

The wait was well worth it ;)

The two agreed that Mummy's kick-sled looked like a lot of fun!

Well sort of...once on board, they were not 100% sure...

Sarah (pulling up the rear) hung onto her sister for dear life!

Actually, it was rather cute!

Adelaide was ready to keel over just before the hill...

Good thing Wellington was there standing guard!

A close up of there faces, as they started down the hill,

would have been priceless...

Once Dad had his fun, it was MY turn!!
This was a blast! And being the honey Sean is,
he pushed the girls back up the hill for me!!
Did I pick a great guy, or what?

Are these not the cutest kids ever??!!

Even Wellington was joining in on the family fun!

The snow was so deep in the bush that he got stuck!

Can you imagine a Springer, of all dogs, getting stuck?

I think I had just as much fun watching the girls playing in the snow as I did

watching my dear dog!!

When it was time to head back to the cabin,
Adelaide took a face dive right into a massive pile of fresh snow!

She wasn't totally impressed but, managed to hold it together

and, in fact, pulled through her first snow job with flying colours!!

Well, that's it...Our kick sledding day was a total success!!

Hay, by the way, did you notice just how much the girls have grown? It must be all of that clean Yukon air:)