We had a lovely fall, the weather was very cooperative and we made the most of it with family picnics, walks in the woods and enjoying being outside :





In mid September, Chris and I had booked a mini-trip to Nashville because we had to cancel our trip there back in March 2020 due to Covid. This was a whirlwind compared to the original trip plans, but it was still fun to check it out:

On our first day, we jumped on a hop on, hop off trolley tour to get the lay of the land.

What we noticed about Nashville is how many unique buildings and sculptures there are: 

And of course we checked out a bunch of Honky Tonks and little dive bars on Broadway to hear an eclectic mix of music from reggae to folk to full out country:

We went out for dinner on the Mississippi River on the General Jackson Steamboat:

We went on a carriage ride one night with a horse named Minnie Pearl:

On our last day, we did a lot of walking, going up Music row to see all the studios. Look, it's that cute little "Nipper" Jack Russell Terrier dog logo:

After all that walking, we stopped for lunch at this groovy bbq joint, called Martin's, which was multi-leveled and full of trees and plants. We felt like we were dining in an open air restaurant in the jungle. 

And it wouldn't be a trip to Nashville without trying the hot chicken, delicious! 🤣


At the end of September, I went down to Calgary to go for dinner at Major Tom's and a Serena Ryder concert with Tricia to celebrate her successful recovery from a surgery. We had a wonderful time!



But it was short lived, because I had to come back home for our annual Chili Cook-off the next day! And guess who won...

This dork!

We had nice fall weather in October. It was filled with picnics, puzzles, a puppy, produce (the last of the garden) and a play: 

Little Shop of Horrors, the musical, was awesome and fitting for the time of year.

On November 1st, I won a radio contest, It was so crazy! And so timely as I was working on our winter getaway at the time.

That's the radio d.j., not me, haha.

And we took my Mom to Hadestown, the musical in November. Chris and I had seen it before at the Citadel, when it premiered here before heading to Broadway and we were blown away by it. When I heard it was touring and stopping in Edmonton, we jumped at the chance to see it again. It did not disappoint.



December was festive with friends and family get togethers. This post is getting to be really long so I'll just leave a few more photos here, some of my favourites from December: 

Cheers to another year in the books! May you have a cozy start to 2024!