Christmas Day ride to Esquimalt Lagoon

A beautiful December 25th for a ride on my motorcycle. It was still cold enough to chill the hands and knees, but if you are out for a ride.....who cares.

Christmas - God's gift of His Son

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas!

Trista is home for Christmas! :))

Slightly tired but happy to be home!

Shopping at The Bay Centre - Downtown

We did the last of our shopping at the Bay Center, downtown, last night. To our delight it was not very busy at all. Students from the Fashion Design Institute made these dresses. Aren't they great!? Tomorrow Trista comes home, can't wait to see her!

Island Gospel Centre - Christmas Dinner

Debra and I joined Mom and Dad for a Christmas Dinner at their church. The food was wonderful and the atmosphere very warm and inviting. Mom R did an amazing job of co-ordinating the feast. We were truly blessed.

Family Christmas

We had a very enjoyable family Christmas get together. After dinner and chatting for a while Debra brought out the dice and taught the game Twaalven which we learned in Holland with Rienus and Audrey. Another game was still in progress (background of this photo) when we left. I do not remember what that game was called.

Mill Bay Thrift Store

What trip up island is complete without stops at thrift stores along the way. We are heading to Ron and Corrine's for the family Christmas party. For those who can't make it this year, you will be missed.

Hope they can hold this scoreline

They did and added one more for an emphatic 3-0 victory over the Premier League title holders.
COYW

Mmmmm...Oliebollen

We can't wait to go back to Holland and travel around, see the sights, ride bicycles (maybe motorcycles), visit the hometowns of our parents and eat the great Dutch food.

Today's chuckle

So THAT'S what happened to the Dinosaur!

La Taurina

Madrid's famous "Bull Bar" in Plaza Mayor. It is so small you can't swing a cat without hitting the walls.

You win Murr...Edmonton coldest place on earth?

Edmonton coldest place on earth?

By CLARA HO, Edmonton Sun

Edmonton was the coldest place in North America this morning and the second-frostiest in the world.

The Edmonton International Airport saw a record low of -46.1 C and -58.4 C with the windchill, outfreezing even the Arctic.

"The cold high pressure has been moving down from the Arctic over the prairies," said Environment Canada meteorologist John McIntyre, adding British Columbia and Saskatchewan also experienced plummeting temperatures. "We are right now in the centre of the heaviest, coldest air."

But the coldest day ever recorded in Edmonton remains unbeaten at -48.3 C with a windchill of -61 C on Jan. 26, 1972.

Today's frigid temperatures broke the previous record for Dec. 13, which was -36.1 C set in 2008, as well as the record for the coldest day in December, a low of -44.5 C set on Dec. 9, 1977. Cold Lake, Grande Prairie and Whitecourt also had record lows today.

Only Dzalinda, Siberia, appeared to be colder, with a weather station there recording temperatures of -48 C.

Automaat - Amsterdam

Hot food on the go! And they tasted amazing!

These pictures are for you Jenny.

Some of the characters in Madrid

Can't believe we have already been back for 10 days

Linda at the store

The store, called Sun, Moon and Stars, carries an eclectic mix of vintage clothing and jewelry, records, coffee table books, memorabilia and much more. Really worthwhile dropping by if you're in the area, you won't be disappointed. They are located on the Old Island Highway in between Parksville and Qualicum Beach beside the Shell station. Stop in and say hello! Tell them Ray and Debra send you!

Brrr.....sunny but COLD

Frozen art (picture taken in Parksville)

We were up Island this weekend to celebrate Mom's birthday. We had a great time and it was good to see everyone. We hadn't seen Linda's boys in a while and man have they grown! What handsome young men! On Sunday we stopped by Mark and Linda's store. They've done an amazing job with the store, it looks wonderful. You can get a glimpse in the photo of Linda.

Happy Birthday Mom R

Happy Birthday Mom! We wish you the Lord's blessings today (and every day). See you tonight.

Love from us all
(This picture was taken at our home on Williams Road after moving back from Holland. Doesn't she look great?!!)

Zero degrees in Victoria (-14 in Edmonton :)))

First hard frost of the season

After suffering through the second wettest fall and third wettest November on record (happy we were in Spain for half of it), we are now experiencing some December sunshine and colder temperatures. Clayton drove home last night in the pickup and informed us that the heater and radio are not working.....great!

Victoria street art

I was downtown today for business and saw this on the street. Vermeer - Girl with a pearl earing. This is for Trista as it is her favorite. Love you sweetie.

Traveling home

We were up at 3 am for our flight from Madrid to Amsterdam. We took the airport shuttle and arrived in less than 10 minutes The flight
itself was pretty full and we experienced a fair bit of turbulance along the way. Arriving in Schiphol, we were informed our boarding time was to be in 1 hour 40 minutes before the flight was scheduled to depart. We thought we could do some leisurely store browsing only to be held up at passport control and then a strict and lengthy lineup at the gate. The flight was good and we watched lots of movies. We are touching down around noon PST (9 pm Spain time which is Central European Time).
More Passport Control, more Customs and yet more security screening and X-Ray in Seattle. We will be glad to see the last of them for a while. The flight to Victoria is on time and it will be good to get home and see the family.
Ray & Debra

Last photo from Madrid

Back in Madrid

We are staying in Clementhoteles very near the airport for our last night. The highspeed train was good and navigating the local commuter train and the Metro is getting easy. We have to be up at 3 am as our flight departs at 5:55. The hotel has complimentary Wifi and airport shuttle.

Goodbye to Barcelona

We leave Saturday morning back to Madrid on the AVE. Barcelona has exceeded expectations. We also say goodbye to our friends Paul and Anne and two of their children Alex and Jo. Thanks guys, it was great!!!

Sagrada Familia

Transbordador Aeri to Jardins de Miramar

Great views!! We were told that the tram started operating at 10 am only to find out it was at 11. We wandered around the beach area and dipped our hands in the Meditteranean Sea.

Barcelona Friday morning

Another beautiful day in Spain. The view is from the balcony of the front of the apartment on Carrer Sant Pere Mer Alt 23.