Whistler Thanksgiving

We had 4 days of sunshine this year up at Whistler! Thanksgiving dinner was fabulous, and the 20 or so friends and family that came up were a blast to hang out with. Just before Thanksgiving dinner, someone yelled "Bear!" and sure enough, there was a black bear ambling up the drive outside our townhouse. Luckily the living area and balcony was one level up, so we could safely crowd the balcony and scare the bear away. On Saturday before we left, we saw a mama bear and her cub walking through parking area.
It was so relaxing and uplifting to get to spend an extended amount of time with people that we just don't get to see enough of.

A yummy feast!

Beautiful day at the summit - and the skiing was great!

Ryan, Colin and Giacomo kept us on our toes!

Roof, windows and siding

Spawn of Beth's

Giacomo had his first trip to Beth's Cafe on Thursday. HE doesn't know that he is in the spot where his parents (and uncle) worked many, many graveyard shifts together, played lots of pinball, and fell in like (okay, or maybe love). But it was fun taking him to the place where it all started! Lots of great memories...but I sure don't miss working graveyard and waiting on drunk frat boys...

Giacomo & Fiona

We had dinner with the Conners last night. Jeff and I enjoyed catching up with Dave and Chaos, and Giacomo had a great time playing with Fiona! They both looked so cute together with their little blond curls and impish faces. Fun!

Fungroover, BC

Matt, Giacomo and I had a fun, sunny weekend in Vancouver while Jeff was in India. Coll and Simon were fabulous hosts, as always!Soakin' in the sun!

Yes, I made Matt shoot a posed photo...probably won't get another one until Jack graduates...

Checking out the fountain at Queen Elizabeth Park

Construction

The second level is really taking shape! The nice weather lately has been a help in getting things done - hopefully we'll get everything dried in before our next big rain. Did I say "we"? Right, what I meant was, thank goodness for framers and roofers and hopefully THEY will get it dried in soon - the royal "we" is way too busy (and tired) for this kind of project!
Below is the computer-designed "finished" house , although we won't be going with the mint green paint.

More!

Here's a sleepy picture of our little signer (no I don't mean singer, although he loves to do that too!). In the last month or so, Giacomo has really taken off with sign language. His first sign was "more" (which he's doing in the photo above), and "motorcycle" was a close second. Now without reminders he uses more, motorcycle, eat, kitty, dog, diaper, gentle, sleep, cookie, play, milk, airplane, book, hat, please and I'm sure a couple more I'm forgetting. It's so great being able to communicate, although we haven't figured out how to sign "Please go get mommy a glass of wine." That's probably a good thing.