Christmas in Inuvik (and 2nd annual Yankee Swap!)



Rukus and I in our festive sweaters



Gearing up for the Yankee gift swap.

This year a few days before Christmas we hosted our annual Yankee gifts swap.  All of our friends were invited and encouraged to wear a somewhat ugly sweater- thanks mom for supplying almost the whole party.  Lots of laughs were had, and the gift exchange took a record breaking two hours to finish. 

Chrismat cracker for all the guests.




Robyn, Meegan, Corin, me, Jane, Leah, Colleen and Judy.

 
Most of the guests were nurses and health care workers and many people on the fire department came.

Josh and I.

Christmas Day itself was somewhat uneventful.  I spent the night in my new apartment and did a 8am gift exchange with Josh.  He got me a few new lenses for my SLR camera, so hopefully the photos I post will be more and more interesting and technical.  Once again I had a great Christmas despite being away from family back home.  

Working girls on Christmas day.  Long Term Care put on a great meal with a turkey and all the trimmings.  My scrub top was a gift from Jack and Poppy. 





Fire Hall Christmas Party

This photo is a prime example of what happens when there is a gift exchange where clippers are received as a gift.  Note to self... don't ever casually mention that if a grand is raised for charity you will shave your head.  And then as a last resort, don't demand that media show up to include it in the next edition of the Inuvik Drum.  Yes folks, there will be a full spread of this nights money raising evens in this coming week's news paper.  More photos to come. 

Rememberance Day

Another year, and another great Rememberance Day for the Fire Dept.  I was honoured to lay a wreath as the President of the Inuvik Volunteer Fire Fighters Association.

Sorry I have no more photos....  in case you've forgotten what I look like, back row on the left side :)

Hallowe'en

This year was another epic year for Halllowe'en.  We won first prize for best costume at the Mad Trapper, $300!  These photos say it all...

Josh, Andrea (soon to be Gargamel) and Phil.

The costumes come together... and I'm practacing my most menacing stare.

Meegan, Judy, Brian, Phil, Maryssa, Geo, Nadine, and myself.

Dancing up a storm at the Legion.

Hunting

Tuesday I had the opportunity to go hunting with John Ritchie, one of the Lieutenants at the fire department.  I went to the MNR and got myself a caribou and a mosse tag as well as a hunting lisence.  We went for about 6 hours and didn't see any large game.  We did end up pulling out the shot gun and got two grouse.  I'm kind of glad we didn't see a moose, because I was very nervous about weather or not the moose would cry.  Here are some photos...

Thanksgiving!

Phil, Geo, Meegan and myself getting ready to chow.

 This Thanksgiving was hosted by Corin and Andrew, two of the paramedics in town.  The flight medics got a "cheap" turkey from Yellowknife, and everyone else brought food too.  Arctic Char was a welcomed addition to the meal.  Good company, good food, but we all missed our families!

Happy Thanksgiving!

The food spread.

Phil, Geo, Josh and Meegan.

The whole group of firefighters, nurses, doctors, medics and friends.

Celebrating Tallitality

It all started on June 21st, Aboriginal Day of 2011.  Lianne Jones and myself were in a discussion about the idea of having a specific day to celebrate races, mothers, people, queens and presidents.  It dawned on us that there was not a day dedicated to those of us fortunate enough to be blessed with a height of over 6' tall.  October 1st was the 1st annual Too Tall Party to celebrate our height. 

Chocolate cake with fondant made by Andrea and Lianne.

Awards were given for tallest natural person, tallest person, longest femur, longest eye lashes, and a variety of other tall/longest things. 

Too Tall Jamal

Too Tall Jamal was built as our front door Harlem Globtrotter greeter and stood at a height of 8 feet tall.  Each attendee was "heighted" in upon arrival. 

The shortest guest stood at three feet tall, and that was Rukus. 



Andrea and the growth chart



Judine at 7' 9"

The lallest person award was given to Judine, who stood at a height of 7'9".  Fantastic effort by everyone, especially the stilts and wood block shoes made by a few.  We had such a good time.  Too bad I wiped out and sprained my ankle wearing high heels... I guess it just was never meant to be.