Ethan

I finish my day and head home to a little baby that is laughing and smiling. Sara is not sleeping as much as I am apparantly (???) but is looking good and doing a great job keeping Ethan healthy and growing. Ken and Jane came down to New Denver to visit Ethan just after his arrival in this world and again when he was two months old. We spent Christmas in Vancouver and Sara and Ethan stayed on for lots of Grandparent time which was loved by all.

I love my job

I take skiers that love to ski to places that they love to ski. I see great big powder smiles all around me. The people that ski ( and ride ) at Wildhorse inspire me. I am thankful to have them in my life even for such a brief moment. I work with a team that know what they need to do and do it well. They too love what they do. We make the very best of what we have and are grateful for that. It is a beautiful world.

Ethan crying for the Vancouver 2010 Olympics

Ethan was out waving the flag when the Olympic torch came through the West Kootenay. The torch came through Creston, Salmo - and Ymir - before ending in Nelson for the evening. It was all pretty funny with the promotional vehicles, the police and the whole production - bringing Canada together....Ymir even had a lone protester - "Environment before Olympics"

More turns at Wildhorse Catskiing

Lots of snow created great early season conditions at Wildhorse Catskiing. We have put in lots of days of great skiing for a lot of returning skiers and snowboarders. We miss having Sara taking photographs and tailguiding. For the alternative Ethan seems to be enjoying his time with Sara.

Ethan at three months

Ethan has started to use his legs and arms in exercises, sometimes to useful purposes like rolling over. Face muscles are being used for crying and smiling. Clothes marked 0-3 months are now being stretched by his big fat budda belly. He is a pleasure to travel with as he sleeps well in cars and airplanes. Ethan has met lots of new people in the last three months some he has graced with a smile, a little puke, an earfull of screams, or at the least a few coo's or mewing. His mother has somewhat reduced the number of photographs taken per day.

My brother Ian ( Grace and Will )

My brother and his two kids wandering in the farmer's market of Ojai, CA. Ian works as a specialist surgical vet in Ventura and rides his road bike up into the hills along the So Cal hills.

Ethan in Santa Barbara

Whilst the rain was pouring in the valleys of the Kootenays and snow accumulating ín the mountains we escaped to Southern California. Ethan enjoyed the longer walks outside and the casual clothing.

Yosemite Valley

Flying back from Ventura, CA we had a perfect view of Yosemite Valley from 30k ft. On your lower left is the famous prow of El Capitan. Yosemite Falls just out of view on the same side of the valley, followed by the expanse of granite slabs of Royal Arches and then Washington Column. Across the other side of the valley the monolith reaching high above the valley floor is Half Dome. Coming back towards us are the Cathedral Towers and then the Sentinel. Lots of rock out there and a lot of wilderness too. Beautiful.

Staying home with Ethan

The last month has pretty much been staying home with Ethan. Changing diapers, going for walks, and holding Ethan. Sara is doing well and everyone is sleeping well. The leaves are falling and winter is approaching. The snow is slowly lowering down the mountains.

Proud father of a baby boy

Sara and Trevor are proud to announce the birth of a baby boy 7lbs 14oz on September 25th at around 5pm named Ethan Robert Rainford-Holsworth. He is the cutest little baby that the world has ever seen. Of course he seems supernaturally strong and appears to be very, very smart- at least he locks on to his mother's breast with enthusiasm. Sara is doing well and is the perfect mother that we all knew she was born to be. Thanks to all for you phone calls and well wishes. We have never felt more grateful to more people in our life. Special thanks to the staff at the Nelson Hospital.
Love
Sara and Trevor

Sara at 8 and 1/2 months

The weather is still beautiful here in New Denver. We attended the Garlic Festival in the ballpark today and took advantage of the weather to snap a few pictures of Sara. Dilbert and Homer have been removed from the possible name list. I am expecting the baby to be delivered at 2:30pm on October 4th. Sara is less sure.

Kettle Valley Railway

This a pretty famous cycling trail around this area and around the world. I got a chance the other day to cycle 60km of the trail - all downhill. We cycled over trestle bridges spanning huge gullies, through tunnels 1km long and lots of beautiful mountain and lake scenes.

Cody Caves

Jim and Doug invited me to explore Cody Caves. Great fun crawling around on hands and knees with our guide Orion. Some tight squeezes and a little bit of climbing on a 3 hour tour. A little bit of cave formations and more information at wikipedia.

Mt Sir Donald - Rogers Pass

I had the good fortune to climb up this big chunk of rock on Saturday with Andrew and Sparky from Rossland. We had a good time. It's been awhile since I've been on top of a big mountain. First climb and second hike for the year....

This photo was actually taken several years ago when Sara and I made a valiant attempt.

Sara at 7 months

Sara is looking awesome at 7 months pregnant. The last of her wedding photographs have been taken and now lots of editing and presenting to the happy couples. We are working on a blog for Sara's wedding photography. Sara has finished working with the New Denver ambulance service for the next little while.

Dan and Mary

My good friends Dan and Mary in Slocan City at the end of Slocan Lake got married last weekend. Great ceremony and party for two beautiful people and their new son, Logan.

Paragliding Spiral Dive

I spun youtube around a little looking at other paragliding stuff and here is another trick that we did at Mara Lake. This is a spiral dive - so the paraglider is taken from straight and level flight to tight 360 and then tighter and the wing is actually in a flight path down towards to ground. The technique is sometimes used to get out of unwanted strong lift. The g-forces are pretty intense.

Paragliding at Mara Lake

For some inexplicable reason I decided to enroll in another paragliding course - on advanced maneavours this summer. For the last couple of years I get out for about 5 flights a year. Glenn at Paraglide Canada I met way back in Canmore flying 15+ years ago. The idea with the course is to have an instructor in a boat on a lake giving directions over radio to deal with situations that may occur in flight. Create the incident and then solve the problem. Land and do it again. We did a few full stalls - stopping the wing flying by reducing airspeed - and then getting it started again. Here is a youtube video of someone else doing it.

Aunt Betty Climbs Idaho Peak

My Aunt Betty and the cousins ( Ann, Elizabeth, Mary and Christine with their husbands and kids ) visited in July and did the usual fun things to do in New Denver. Lots of old stories of relations and as much dirt on my father as possible. Most of the stories related to Aunt Betty feeding Dad mud pies. We hiked up Idaho Peak, went huckleberry picking, out on the boat on Slocan Lake, riding the Galena trail, Dennis Creek Ridge for wildflowers and of course swimming.

Floor On

Yes, we did get the floor on a long time ago and put a tarp over it all for the summer. It was a hectic couple of weeks getting it all done before our guests for the summer arrive. Now that fall is approaching the walls and roof will go up.