#308. I love the new cross country skies!

Being pregnant last winter, I didn’t get the chance to try out the new cross country skis until this year. They are very nice! My favorite is the boots. It is so much more fun to go cross country skiing with nice, clean, shiny, new boots. And they have such cute little skis for kids! It is great to live in a place where we have all these things available for us to use and enjoy, which makes winter a lot more fun!

#307. I love my Sorels!

I never wore winter boots before I came to camp. I was much too cool for that. But the wonderful thing about living out in the bush is that you care about different things than when you live in civilization. Out here, how cool (and warm!) you are is determined by how big your boots are. My boots aren’t very big, so I’m not very cool, even by bush standards, but I now have the freedom to enjoy warm feet in winter. Now I wear my Sorels everywhere…and with everything! The other day I wore them with dress pants. We were on our way to a Christmas program, and I was wearing my boots in the van just for warmth, and had my dress shoes along. I had to run in at the gas station in Anola. I thought briefly about changing my footwear, and then had a wonderful moment of liberation when I realized that I just didn’t care. And I also realized that it was camp that brought me and my Sorels together, for which I will be eternally grateful…

#306. I love the ice rink!

It’s like having our own personal ice rink in our backyard! I love watching Anika learn to skate, and enjoying yet another aspect of camp in winter. Here’s a picture of us on the way to the rink today!

#305. I love Christmas at camp.

It’s beautiful and quiet, and a special time for our family to spend at home. I love going to Christmas events and seeing family and friends, but when we’re at camp for Christmas, there are no interruptions, and we can focus completely on our own little family.

#304. I love the Rennie Christmas program.

It’s a bit different from the Sunday school programs Anika used to be involved in when we lived in Niverville! I still miss those, but the Rennie program is great in other ways! It’s fun, casual and personal, and every kid gets a gift especially for them. I always enjoy seeing what a warm spirit the people of Rennie have.

#303. I love the games cabinet.

It’s huge and old, and one of those things that feels like it’s always been at camp, and always will be at camp. I love being able to choose games to play out of it, and getting some fresh variety at home every once in a while, when we decide to borrow a camp game.

#302. I love how peaceful and quiet camp is in the winter.

Last night we got back to camp after a very hectic day in the city, trying to get everything done before Christmas. I was exhausted, but it felt like a very long time until bedtime! So we decided to bundle the girls up and take them outside for a walk, and it was beautiful. It was completely quiet, and there were big, fluffy snowflakes falling. The moon was shining and making the fresh snow on the ground sparkle and everything was so still. I love that.

#301. I love it when the lodge is decorated for Christmas.

I remember coming out here for the winter reunion as a summer staffer, and always loving the decorations, and seeing the lodge and camp in a completely different season than I was used to.

#300. I love Red Rock take-out!

The flu has been going around here a bit, and in our efforts to stop it from spreading from our household to the group that was here, we decided to eat at home for a few meals. But Lacey and her crew still got our meals ready, and it was amazing to be able to run over to the lodge to grab this stuff when we all weren’t feeling very well.

Just to point out, we’ve reached 300!! I feel like I’m on the home stretch…

#299. I love sledding to the lodge for lunch!

I like it that there are reasons to get us out of the house each day, even when it’s cold. It gives me quick little reminders throughout the day of how beautiful winter is, how fun it is to be out here, and to enjoy all the little things.

#298. I loved visiting people in Rennie last night.

As a full time staff, we wanted to do some kind of outreach at Christmas, and we also are looking for ways to get more involved in the community and get to know people in Rennie. So we decided to make up some Christmas gift baskets, and deliver them to each house. (Esther was in charge of planning what we would make, and she did a really great job!) It was really interesting to talk to different people. We met the man that did the digging for our lodge when it was first built, as well as for the ball field. And we met lots of pets! Everybody in Rennie has at least one cat or dog. It was a really good evening.

#297. I love it that we are surrounded by wildlife!

While Ben was taking out the garbage the other day, he saw a rabbit and a pine marten run by. He wasn’t sure that it was a marten, because he had never actually seen one before, so he came inside and we looked it up on the internet, and learned all about pine martens. (They are so cute!) Oh, the things you can learn about from taking out the garbage…

Photo by Larry Colwell (2003)

#296. I love Kangaroo Court.

I’ve never been a victim of it, so that probably increases my enjoyment of it, but so does seeing Kim in a wig, acting as the judge. My favorite sentence ever: Evan having to wear the monkey-wolf for a whole day!

#295. I love Victoria and EJ’s pictures!

Ben got their pictures off of them before they left camp this summer, and they took so many amazing pictures! They have been a huge inspiration to me as I think about all of the things I love about camp!

#294. I love the window in Ben and Jeremy’s office.

It’s a big improvement over the way things used to be! I love it that their office is big and bright, and the view out that window is great.