Medicine Hat Stampede

Yesterday we were invited to attend the Medicine Hat Stampede standing in for Commander BATUS. It was an early start with being driven around Medicine Hat in an open top car for the Parade. Then lunch followed by the rodeo.

These are some pictures of us & the car we were in. The sign on the car reads BATUS COMMANDER Major Kevin Bailey & Samantha. So much to Kevins embarrassment he was promoted for the day. It was quite a bizarre experience sitting in the car & waving to everyone, we certainly will never forget it.

These are a couple of pictures of Kevin in our "casual western" dress for the day. With our new hats, shirts and cowboy boots. Everyone is dressed this way so any self consciousness soon disappears & in fact Kevins quite getting into it!

Say hello to Henry (AKA Harry) Bailey

Sam had her 19 week scan today - all is well, all limbs and appendages accounted for and, yes, it's a boy!!

Banff-Jasper Relay

This weekend we went to Banff National Park as I was running a section of the Banff-Jasper relay, which follows the highway through stunning mountain scenery for 258km (I did a 20.6km section). As well as the incredible scenery, we managed to spot a grey wolf and a grizzly bear!

Warming down after my leg of the race. The Bow glacier lake is in the background.

Bran offers his congratulations.

Bump Bailey at 13 weeks

All fingers and toes present and correct - unfortunately no sign of the Bailey nose yet!

Rockies at last

We now have an RV (recreational vehicle) which we bought with the intention of gettting away from Ralston to somewhere more picturesque at every available opportunity. We took it on a short weekend trip to Canmore, in the Albertan Rockies, this weekend. The RV park that we stayed in was a little crowded but the scenery was spectacular. We arrived late at night, in the dark, and woke to find ourselves surrounded by snow capped peaks.
As you can see, she is a vintage model (the RV, not Sam), but runs well and has all the home comforts. Bran has made himself at home and likes to sit between the driver and passenger whilst we are on the move.



This is where we stayed, the peaks behind us are known as the 3 Sisters and feature on almost every tourism brochure of Canmore.

This is a view from one of the footbridges crossing the Bow River, looking north-west in the direction of Banff.

Here is a rare example of Bran behaving
himself. Note the barbecue on the table behind - when food is around, he is the politest puppy imaginable!

Bran denies everything!

Toilet roll?

It was like that when I got here...

Blob Bailey

We have been keeping our latest news to ourselves, until Sam had her dating scan, but can now reveal that we expect to welcome a new Bailey into the family at the end of Nov this year. Handsome little fellow isn't he/she!!