2010 was again a pretty important year for us! Many camping trips, new additions to our family and finally our permanent residency status in June!

In the first part of the year we had our friend Mark from Lloydminster stay with us while he worked in Regina and were glued to the TV for two weeks when the 21st Winter Olympics in Vancouver were on. It was very special to be the hosting country, it made us very proud to be Canadian residents!!

Of course we did a lot of camping in the summer, even though there have been many extreme storms causing serious flooding (we got trapped in one while camping, which was quite scary). But the best camping trip was two weeks in beautiful British Columbia! It’s camper heaven with mountains, hills and lakes and we fell in love with the Okanagan. In some years we might move there if we can afford it, but no rush, Regina is still home 🙂

Another special trip was four days Las Vegas for Tim and Cortney’s wedding on 10-10-10. That was fantastic! We also enjoyed the craziness of the strip, the warm weather and the palm trees 🙂

But the most important news this year was that we got our permanent visas! So we are still Dutch, but if we want to, we can apply for Canadian Citizenship in a few years.

And last but not least we have some new extensions of our family: since June we’re taking care of a friend’s cat because of landlord issues. This adorable “rental” gets along with everybody and enjoyed the camping too! Then two months ago we also fell in love with a few kittens on a friends’ farm and we took two of them home. The others all play with them and take care of them. One big happy family!!!

Winter started early with some big dumps of snow in November, but our home is filled with much love and joy, so we’re ready for the holidays! Merry Xmas and all the best for 2011!!

Nico & Marlies
Tess, Gandalf, Rider, Smokey, Sheldon & Penny

photos left to right etc:
Conglomerate Cliffs in Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park, SK
deer in Moose Mountain Provincial Park, SK
Terrace campground in Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park, SK
Nico and Smokey in Duck Mountain Provincial Park, SK
Kelowna, BC
Fintry Provincial Park, BC
Nico on St. Patrick’s Day, Regina, SK
Duck Mountain Provincial Park, SK
Herald Provincial Park, BC (Shuswap Lake)
coyote near Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park, SK
Dutch Lake Resort, Clearwater, BC
Loch Leven, Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park, SK
Sheldon & Penny at home
Buffalo Pound, SK
Kelowna, BC
Gandalf at the Dutch Lake Resort, Clearwater, BC
our house in November
pronghorn antelope near Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park, SK
Helmcken Falls, Wells Gray Provincial Park, BC
Duck Mountain Provincial Park, SK
Duck Mountain Provincial Park, SK
Rider at the Manitou Beach campground, SK
Marlies with the view over Revelstoke, BC
Olympic merch
Tess in Douglas Provincial Park, SK