To Swim or Not to Swim... That is the Question?

The Vancouver Polar Bear Swim is one of the largest and oldest Polar Bear Clubs in the world. Its initial swim was in 1920 when a small number of hardy swimmers took the plunge into English Bay on New Year's Day. Led by their founder, Peter Pantages, the swim has grown from around 10 swimmers in that year to the record number of 2,128 official entries in 2000.

This year, the Polar Bear swim takes place at 2:30pm on Friday 1st January 2010. Nancy has stated that this is on her "bucket list" and plans to take a dip in the cold water. And this is where the question comes.... should I join her? Anthony has also laid down the gauntlet by using blackmail, saying that he will only do it, if I do! What do you think?

What a day!

Yesterday, proved to be a great day... it all started with Nancy and I watching Fulham FC crushing Manchester United 3-0, a convincing victory on the football pitch. Not my words but the comments of ESPN Soccernet website and so I cannot wait to see Match of the Day highlights. This was followed by my Fantasy Football Team performing well and once again showing Ross's team how it is done.

The afternoon saw me head up to Grouse Mountain for my first skiing of the winter season. The snow conditions were ok as there was quite a bit of ice and not enough powder, however, the clear skies meant awesome views of Vancouver. The three hours on the slopes also meant I broke in my new ski-boots, in preparation for Anthony's forthcoming visit to Vancouver.

The great day didn't end there, as the evening saw Nancy cook a roast dinner with the highlight being the roasted parsnips.... YUUUUUMMMYY! We then watched a movie and enjoyed a relaxing evening with hot chocolate. If only all days were like this.

Scott & Nancy's 2009 - Year at a Glance

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

With Scott’s move to Vancouver and our reunion in March, 2009 certainly proved to be a busy year for us. As we will not get the opportunity to see all our family and friends this Christmas, we thought we would send a few snapshots, to show our year at a glance. As the famous Chinese proverb explains “a picture is worth ten-thousand words”.

We started the year, sharing the New Year with Ross, Laura and the kids in Washington DC, seeing all the sights of the USA capital. After this holiday we were apart until early March when Scott moved to Vancouver and so February saw Scott visiting family and friends all over the UK. The 28^th February was Scott’s last day at Mercedes-Benz UK after twelve years of service; he celebrated this by undertaking a boy’s road trip to Lands End.

On arriving in Vancouver, we enjoyed spring by sharing many laughs and drinks with Anthony on his travels to Canada in April and skiing on Grouse Mountain, just before the snow melted for an unseasonably warm summer. We returned to Poets Cove on Pender Island to celebrate our 1^st wedding anniversary. Then by a stroke of luck, Mercedes-Benz Canada advertised the same role Scott had left in the UK and he proved himself worthy to start in June.

This summer we had the pleasure of many trips and activities. Most notably, Emily and Kris’s wedding on the 31^st July provided a perfect reason to visit the UK and complete a whistle-stop tour of all our family and friends. The wedding day was an amazing event and what a great couple Emily and Kris make – all the happiness to them for the future. On returning to Canada, we explored various places including wine tasting in the Okanagan vineyards, zip-lining in Whistler for an amazing adrenalin rush and weekend trips to Vancouver Island. Locally, Scott decided to jump out of a perfectly good airplane, by skydiving in August, which proved to be exhilarating to say the least.

September was all about Las Vegas where we met up with Emily and Kris to enjoy the best of Sin City, including drinks at a minus five degree ice bar. In October, Nancy enjoyed a short but sweet trip to Ireland for Claire and Gregg’s wedding and said hello to some UK-based friends. A big thank you to everyone who supported the We’re with Bob! Team, which helped Nancy raise over $12,000 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Nancy will be in touch soon regarding her next feat – a ½ marathon jog for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society followed by a skydive in the same afternoon of her 35^th birthday!

In 2010, a variety of people are planning to visit us in Vancouver, including Anthony in early January and Emily and Kris in the spring. The city hosts the Winter Olympics in February and the Olympic rings are already lit in the harbour. We have a trip planned to visit Betty (Nancy’s grandmother) in Palm Springs, California in mid-March, which means we can experience the Indian Wells tennis tournament. The 10K run challenge reaches its conclusion by the start of May as well. We are especially looking forward to meeting the new branches of the Shears family tree, with Ross and Laura, Craig and Ra’anaa both expecting in April/May time. So there are many things to look forward to already in 2010.

We are always thinking about our family and friends dotted around the globe and keen to hear from you. Feel free to contact us via telephone, email or Skype. You can also keep up-to-date with us on our blog: http://codenamewfns.blogspot.com/

Best wishes to you and your family over the holiday period and hope 2010 brings you all that you desire. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Love and Best Wishes

Scott and Nancy xo

Christmas is Coming

With the start of advent calendars being opened, festive lights appearing on the shopping streets and office Christmas parties invites landing on desks it certainly feels like Christmas is round the corner. In the last few days, the build up of the festive spirit has being flourishing with Nancy and myself through a variety of Christmas events.

Firstly, last weekend saw us, Bob and Wendy attending the Sidney Santa Claus parade which was quaint to say the least. The parade involved a number of homely decorated trucks, cars and fire engines. We followed this by attending my work Christmas party on Grouse Mountain, where we enjoyed drinks, food, watched ice skaters and admired the amazing view of Vancouver by night - a glittering array of city lights. Last night, we wandered into Gas Town for a friend's birthday party at a Mexican restaurant and the streets were aligned with white lights in the trees - our salsa dancing was probably not that festive but still fun. Today was the Vancouver Christmas parade and Nancy was involved as a volunteer for the Food Bank charity. I took the opportunity to finish off my Christmas shopping and so Christmas is coming ever closer.