As I sit in the glow of our Christmas tree looking out at the frost covered trees I am reminded that it is time for the 2010 Lewis Christmas letter. Of course there is also Marla buried in wrapping paper and ribbons asking me if I have done the letter yet and letting me know that I could always help with the wrapping to kick start me (It is not that I don't want to help with the wrapping she is just a lot better at it than me ;-)
With that said here it is, the Annual Lewis online mass Christmas blog posting. No friend requests, no pokes, no wallpaper, no chat, no apps, no games, just plain old fashioned Christmas Greetings.
2010 was a great year for us. Of course, as I think about what we did this year I realize it is much like the last several years, school, Sayulita, Gabriola, Purden lake, running, soccer and generally a lot of play time. While all of this does not make for a very dynamic Christmas letter, it sure is a nice life.
We had a great winter last year with lots of snow so the skiing was fantastic. We went to Smithers for Marla's birthday with the Martins and the boys fell in love with Hudson Bay Mountain. As a result, in true Lewis fashion we are going back there this year for Marla's birthday with the Martins. (We kind of follow the philosophy of if it was good once it must be good twice, or three or fours times.) Locally we are hoping to have another good year on the slopes but so far the weather is not cooperating as we need a nice dump of snow to get the PG hills in decent shape.
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| Snow Bunny and her boys |
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| Casting not Catching |
Of course one of the best things about last year and a winter with tons of great snow was that it was gone by the time we got back from Mexico at Spring Break. We went back to Sayulita with Marla's parents and her sister for spring break and had a great time. Yes, we stayed in the same house, ate at many of the same restaurants, occupied the same spot on the beach... hey don't judge us, if it ain't broke why fix it. And just so you know we are going to a new place this year, Barra de Navidad, so see we can mix it up.
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| Mexican Stand off |
The Spring ended up being pretty crazy for us as it was a bunch of great times and experiences surrounded by a bunch of really crappy stuff. Along with going to Mexico, the spring was my first on the soccer board and was very busy for me and my eager assistant (Marla) which meant along with coaching several teams and running basketball at my school we were spread a little thin. We were also involved in a huge battle over school closures and a proposal to move French Immersion out of our school which would have meant the boys would have had to change schools ( we won but it left us pretty drained and bitter). At the same time JP and I got the opportunity to go to San Diego for a conference so Marla and Marnie came along and we spent a week in San Diego and had a great time. All of this meant my running season kind of died before it got started and I couldn't really afford the time to go to Boston so I decided not to do the marathon and instead go this year (and of course it filled up in record time and I missed the registration so I have to wait another year but that is a whole other posting). Let's just say when summer came we were even more ready for it than usual.
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| Super Fan! |
We kicked off the summer with a trip to Seattle with the Martins (you will notice our pattern of staying with things that work does not just extend to places we visit but also to traveling companions) to watch a baseball and soccer game. We had an unbelievable time watching the Mariners beat the Yankees with a Grand Slam, watching the world cup final in a packed restaurant and the kids finding out we had unlimited access to the concession at the Sounders game.
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| Loving the cheap seats |
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| A little more subtle than Connor |
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| Slurpee Cup, Kamloops |
The rest of the summer was basically soccer, sun and water. Graeme and Connor have both become soccer crazy over the past year. Graeme had a chance to play on a more competitive team this year and went on a few out of town tournaments while Connor become obsessed with Spain and the World Cup. As a result it seems that a lot of our time is organized around soccer but not to worry it will all pay off if Connor can follow through on his plan of playing for soccer for Barcelona and in the off season running a cake shop in Spain. (Seriously, he must get this stuff from his mother)
The weather this year was fantastic so it meant a lot of very hot days at the lake and once again we were lucky enough to have our friend Val let us use her place on Gabriola Island which we happen to hit during a heat wave.Connor even finished off the summer in style running his first 5 km with his mom in the Labour Day classic. Yes it was a very good summer!
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| Yes, those are star fish! |
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| Lots and lots of skim boarding |
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| Proud Winner |
Graeme had another good cross-country season and is really doing well in basketball but he is really all about the soccer at this point.
All in all another great year with a little bit of work just to break up our sports and leisure activities. The best part is as great as 2010 was 2011 is shaping up to be even better. Even though we might not get to visit and talk to everyone as often as we would like to we do think of all of you often.
We wish you all a
Merry Christmas and hope 2011 finds you healthy and happy.
Love the Lewis'
