What we learned last evening.

For the last few years I have written up a short Christmas letter noting all the events of the past year in a 'what we learned' format. I got lots of comments on the first year I did it, so I've kept it up. It's lots of fun remembering the experiences of the past few months.

Last night we learned that Turbo, our new kitty, can swim. At least across the fish tank.
He spends a lot of time leaning over the fish tank. I love the look on the yellow fishes face. It almost looks like he's saying 'help me' in fishy talk with his mouth open in a big 'O' as he stares straight at me.
I was already in bed so didn't get to see Turbo take his first swim, but the sound effects were quite entertaining. There was a big splash followed by the excited exclamations of the children as they rushed to his rescue. Breanna immediately wrapped him in a towel and cuddled him till he dried off. I'm not sure what he disliked more; getting wet or being trapped in a big fluffy towel for an hour.

Here's this years Christmas letter...

Waving Hello… from the Hopkins House!

Read on if you want to know what the Hopkins learnt in 2009; some of it good, some of it not so good, but everything an ‘experience’.
Throughout this past year we have all learned so much ... Those pesky pine beetles can take out 3 big pine trees in the blink of an eye making the backyard look much barer; waking up on an angle when you’re camped on the river means you’ve parked over a beaver dam and the water dropped a couple feet while you were sleeping; the helicopter can’t get there fast enough when you’re miles from civilization camped on Williston Lake suffering from your first, and hopefully last, kidney stone; while we hope no one else suffers like Rick, I enjoyed our unexpected trip to Vancouver; our home is too small for seven 14-yr-olds (by the time you read this our boys will be 15 and the party will be at the ski hill not in our rumpus room); you would think adding 100 square feet of floor space to the front entry of our home would make a huge difference, but the pile of shoes just expands to fit the space; Rick learned a new skill when he did the rockwork facing on our home (it looks amazing); the Rocky Mountain Wine festival is a fun event to attend with friends and relatives ~ though Calgary is rather a long drive for an evening out; Seattle + scrapbooking = ‘one fun ladies weekend’ for Breanna, Grandma Lewall and myself; ice makes the playground slide slipperier and faster than usual (we’re hoping Breanna has her cast off before Christmas).
Our family is growing up; Duncan & Daniel are in Grade 10 this year; Breanna is 11 years old and in late French Immersion at Ecole Central; Rick has put his boats away for the year (dreaming of next year) and I am working full time till at least (hoping no longer) next July. Please try to find the time to come visit us way up here in the North. We'd love that. In the mean time, drop us a line or give us a call, if you get the chance.
Have a Merry, Merry Xmas and we hope to see some or all of you in the New Year!
The Hopkins Family