Winter Wonderland - Christmas in Jasper

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Our first white Christmas! Even though I've been brought up with Christmas in the summer time, I was really looking forward to a 'traditional' Christmas, with snow and turkey and eggnog and all those other Christmas traditions you see on TV and on Christmas cards. And Christmas in Jasper didn't disappoint! We were a little sad not to be with our families, but very excited to be spending our first Christmas as Mr and Mrs Heather in such a magical place.

We woke up to the sounds of children upstairs opening their presents (lots of running around and woo-hoos). The lovely landlady upstairs had given us a little christmas tree with lights, and we bought ourselves our first christmas ornament which we put on the tree. We exchanged our gifts and then went to find a phone to call our families. After wishing everyone a merry christmas, we found a cafe that was open for breakfast and defrosted our toes (the public phone we called from was outside, and we were totally frozen!). We went home, and after checking for frostbite, changed into our very warmest clothes and took a walk in the snow out to Jasper Park Lodge.

It really was a winter wonderland. The Athabasca River is mostly frozen, apart from a tiny little stream that is edged with ice and snow. The walk out there took about 2 hours because I had to stop every 5 minutes and take pictures. It was perfect! So quiet and peaceful, except for me prattling on about how magical it all was (Jamie says I'm the best bear defence - bears can hear me coming for miles and stay away).

We got to Jasper Park Lodge, and sat by the fire drinking mint hot chocolates. I loved going back to JPL - it brought back so many memories of our wedding! We walked past the room we were married in, and sat in the lounge where we had sat with our families the night before the wedding. So many good memories! I could see where I hid with my mum and sister while we waited for the celebrant to turn up, and we remembered how wonderful it was having our family and friends all together in one spot. When we had finished our trip down memory lane, we hired some ice skates and walked down to the lake for our first ever outdoor skate! It was fantastic! Skating out in the open air, looking out at all the snow and the mountains! It was so wonderful that we didn't want to leave!

We were finally able to tear ourselves away from the lake and began the walk home. Unfortunately it was already dark by the time we left, and we had to find our way back through the woods in the darkness. A bit of an adventure! We couldn't find our trail, but we did manage to find a well-groomed cross-country ski trail and we followed it back to Old Fort Point, and from there we could find our way home.

Christmas dinner was at Jasper Inn. Jamie's boss at More than Mail invited us to have dinner with them and their family, and it was lovely! A big Christmas buffet, wine, beer and lovely people to share it with. Jamie ate 2 huge helpings (everyone agreed his 'seconds' were like firsts) and there was a scary moment where it looked like he wouldn't be able to eat dessert. But being the trooper he is, he was able to eat at least 3. We had to walk very very slowly on the way home...

All in all, it was one of our best Christmas experiences ever. I think the only thing that could have made it better would have been if our families could have been there. We've already started planning how we'll get them all over for next year....

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