2023 has been another year to be very thankful for!

Happy Holidays!

2023 was a year filled with so many blessings! Drew and I, with Katie’s fabulous help continue to help a great amount of buyers and sellers here in our mountain paradise. 2023 although down in sales volume from our market record breaking 2021 was still in the top 5 for sales volume. We are so very thankful to all our clients who continue to put their trust in us! We expect 2024 to be another good year even with a few parts of the market being affected with higher interest rates, noting that most of our market is not interest rate sensitive.

Reflections from Brad!

I continue to get out and enjoy our mountains with almost enough skiing, (never seems to be quite enough) , I enjoyed many days last year at Lake Louise with friends and a few with Joanna who was nursing her back which seems to be coming along well. I had a hi-lite of the Winter with a roommate from many years ago who lives in Golden, I worked hard to keep up to her on a 25 cm powder day from 9-4pm (I rarely ski that long) I was exhausted but what a day!

Not as much mtn biking or road biking this year, I pulled or tore something in my left shoulder which has left me working hard to get it back into full working order, stay tuned, not quite there yet.

We had a big holiday set up for Jo’s birthday in late May and the 1st 2 weeks of June. Jo and I landed in Istanbul for 3 days of exploring and time changing, we saw all the sights, the spice market, Grand Bazaar, we even had a food tour. We then went to join 10 of our friends for a week in Crete to celebrate Jo’s birthday. We had a 4 bedroom and a 2 bedroom with a shared court yard which was perfect for the 7 course birthday dinner feast I organized with a local chef that we had outdoors under the stars on the courtyard. The dinner was amazing and I even felt that we had maybe a little too much food which is hard to believe. All 12 of us loved Crete! The food was so unbelievably great and inexpensive, friendly people, easy to get around once there, nice weather and who knew that they have such big mountains, would love to go back and do some biking. We chartered a yacht for a day and went to explore some of the surrounding islands and beaches, that was fabulous as well. 

Jo and I went back to Turkey for what was to be another 12 days but you will have to ask me about my passport issue and it only having 5.5 months left where they denied me reentry into Turkey. The upside to ending our trip early was that between us booking this trip for Jo’s bday and us leaving was that Cal obtained an internship in Calgary that was starting at the beginning of June. If our trip would have continued in Turkey I would have missed out on the opportunity to spend all of June outside of work with Cal while he was in Calgary so that was a big upside I am very thankful for. It was great having Cal back out west again after much of the previous 4 years back east. Cal’s internship was part of his program that allowed him to graduate from The College and Sports Media in Toronto. He was with Sportsnet The Fan 960 radio in Calgary for the 2 months for his internship and then onto Sportsnet The Fan 590 in Toronto until late November. Cal was loving all he was learning and the people he was meeting with Sportsnet and then a TV job opportunity became available in a small market in Alberta , he applied and got the job and started Dec 4th. Cal is the weather / news / sports anchor plus will have an opportunity to do the colour and play by play for the local hockey team in the new year. His passion is more to be in front of a camera and this is a great opportunity to hone his talents and get a lot of practice. I am very excited that we will be able to meet up more being a lot closer than Toronto.

Lauren is loving her coworkers and her job that is in a department of the federal government. Lauren helped coordinate a conference in France last Spring and loved the travel and went to London to visit some friends after France. Lauren is still able to work remotely and came to the Lake for several weeks. It was fabulous having her nearby for meals and adventures when she was not working. Lauren also was able to get a puppy this summer and Cash is wonderful, high energy for sure which is a puppy’s job. Cash is a lot of fun and so very cute. Lauren will be here for Christmas and for part of ski season and will work from home while she is here, I am very excited to have them both here!

Jo’s has had an extremely busy work year and she is very thankful for her clients support as well. Jo has been volunteering with the Calgary Stampede Board helping mentor young ladies, and of course they love her too, no surprise there! We had a trip planned to Japan for the 1st 2 weeks of Feb 2024 that we seemed to be holding back on booking for some reason which is not like us, we have recently decided to shelve that trip for a year or 2.

I have been out skate and classic skiing several times and actually bought some new classic skis and boots which I am loving! I am still getting to the gym 5 – 6 times a week but I need to pick my attendance at Yoga as I only seem to get there once or twice a week. I have some ski buddies coming for a couple of days in early March and I hope to do a tour in BC to see my skier friends at various resorts. My new passion is wake foiling which I picked up in August when I got back to Alberta and expect that to be woven into my other non winter activities for a long time, I love the peace and tranquility of carving through the water but I still have so much to learn. I am having fun trying a new sport.

Happy holidays to everyone and all the best in health, happiness, love and prosperity in 2024 and beyond! Brad xo

Reflections From Drew!

Wow, another wonderful year in the beautiful Bow Valley. It is amazing how quickly the year has passed. Last year was exciting as it started with Brad and I having the opportunity to host skiers/snowboarders and a group that snowshoed from across Canada to show them the beauty we get to live in. It is always great to see the reactions and excitement of the people that visit Canmore and Banff.

The food drive was another great success, thank you for all of you that helped out whether it was by helping to collect the food (we go door to door throughout Canmore) sort the food or through a food/monetary donation. If you were not in the Christmas spirit before the food bank drive, you sure are from that moment forward.

Asher has enjoyed 2023 as he moved from grade 10 into grade 11. In the spring he played soccer again for his high school team (Canmore Collegiate High School). In the fall he was back on the field to play another year of football, I am not sure what he enjoys more but both are definite passions. When not doing schoolwork, soccer or football Asher is often found at the gym or better yet on the ski hill. He continues to work part time which will help as he just passed his drivers test…. Make sure you look both ways out there 😉

Hannah had a great season of competitive cheerleading heading back to Florida in the spring to compete at the World Championship. It was exciting to see Hannah over the last year start to transition to coaching teams and she is a natural. Hannah also entered Mount Royal University and is excelling; she will make an amazing teacher!

Brendan is now in his third year of biomedical engineering at the University of Calgary. His work ethic and long days/nights are helping him not only survive but thrive. He was invited to present at a Biomedical Conference in Banff in October and is excited to see what this next year will bring with an opportunity to start a Co-op in May.

My folks are doing very well, and it was nice to get out with them this past weekend to see the lights at Spruce Meadows.

We were able to travel more this year. It was great to go with Cheryl down to Florida to support Hannah. We truly were there to enjoy watching Hannah but felt different as Hannah runs the show herself. After the competition Cheryl and Hannah got to spend some mother daughter time swimming with Manatees and enjoying the Clearwater area of Florida.

My brother and I have been trying to plan a golf trip to Ireland for the last 10 years and we finally went in June. It was such a great trip and my first time there. While the golf had its ups and downs, Ireland was stunning and I will find my way back there soon I hope, the next time with Cheryl.

A long time in the planning was our summer holiday down to Florida and the Caribbean on a cruise to celebrate graduation of all three kids. Brendan’s was a couple of years late; Hannah was on time and Asher was a couple of years early. Cheryl and I fully understand that as the kids get older times like these will be harder and harder to come by so this was a very special time for the five of us.

In November, Asher and I were able to get away for a university tour out east. It is hard to imagine having all three kids at university in a couple of years.

As I look back on the entire year, it was also with a lot of fun activity be it trail runs, bike rides, golf and just most of all fantastic family time. I hope this finds you and your loved ones healthy and happy, and my family and I wish you great health and happiness in 2023.

Keep Smiling, Drew!

Check out last months newsletter HERE!