episode 31 season 1

Merry Christmas from me to YOU!

Merry Christmas, love Valerie

Welcome to A special Christmas episode about a girl who grew up in a small town east of Jasper Alberta who now lives in and loves Calgary. What or who brought you to Calgary, why do you love it here?

Once upon a time there was a was a brown haired girl with green eyes who lived in a town with a quaint population. Her mom and dad were also both from this pulp and paper town. Surrounded by coal mines and mountains.

She, this small girl loved Christmas. Her large praternal family consisted of Auntie Cher, cousin David, Uncle Ron, Auntie Barb and cousins Abby and Katy, Uncle Derek Auntie Marg a x cousins Travis Russel and Jolene as well as uncle Murray (RIP) Auntie Laurie and cousin Kyle. And My dad, Michael comes next with me, Valerie and my older Sister Lisa. Then would be Uncle Darcy (RIP) and next comes Auntie Maureen, Uncle Al and their boys Ryley, Davis and Vaughan. Yes this is my family on my dads side. Amazing isn’t it.?  What’s does your dads side look like? How many people in your family on your praternal side? And this is before we all had babies...

We would head out to Folding mountain resort every year! This resort was owned and operated by my grandparents for many years and previous to that by my grandmas cousin. Nestled in the heart of a mountain names, Folding Mountain-a mountain that folded over a lake many crisp years before as well as other Rocky Mountains it boasts to this day a campground and cabins and condos  just East of the jasper gates in Jasper national and historic park.

There was very rarely a sharing of the holidays my gramma Swain won her family most of the time. Her family came home for Christmas. All the kids. Since my dad was a single parent she didn’t have to share us and I was thankful for that I think because she had mostly boys they all showed up for Christmas to be with their mother and of course my grandpa.

We would arrive a day or two before the specialist day and walk into a country home smelling of pies, all kinds of roasting foods like: of course the traditional Turkey and fixings as well as, other family favourites like sour krout soup and sausage stew, perogi and cabbage rolls, enchiladas, and abundance of salads to include traditional lettuce and sort of bean mixture. Plus an incredible array of desserts.

Funny story, when my dad and his brothers were young, remember  how many of them there were? My grandma would do her Christmas baking way in advance and freeze everything in the basement deep freeze. The boys would go in a sneak slabs of her Nanaimo bars and cakes in the night...the stash and supplies were mush skinnier when the time came for Christmas dinner celebrations...hmmm I wonder if Grandma actually minded.

Upon arrival all these families would show up in troves kids and food and pets lol along with presents and all the banter ‘oh Maureen I bought this dish back  I borrowed’ and Oh Michael here’s these pictures you wanted and ‘oh hi Auntie is so good to see you’ this took most of the day-evening just saying hi’s to everyone. Then the grandkids, Lisa, Travis, Valerie, Russell, David, Jolene, Abby, Katy, Kyle would go hunting with Grandpa Swain for the best Christmas tree, a real tree, picked right in our backyard, up the mountain. The tree could barely fit through the door. the decorating would ensure and Christmas was well underway...

You see our family was big and people were scattered all around the country. We had aunties and uncles in Ontario and British Columbia as well as when my family moved us to Saskatchewan and family in Edmonton. But we would all descend into our home town where we were all raised on this snowy snow capped mountain resort that was familiar and special to each one of us in a different or similar way.

this is my dads side

Her maternal side also lived in this area just East in a small town, still nestled in the Rocky Mountains,