Lake Louise

This past Christmas we went down to Cranbrook, BC to spend it with my husband's side of the family (we take turns every year spending it with each sides of our family). We were going to fly down, but we decided to drive so we could make a stop through Lake Louise and stay at the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise! We have driven through Lake Louise many times, but we have never stayed to enjoy it. The drive from Fort St John to Cranbrook is about 12.5 hours so it was a great way to break up the drive. Let's just say our stay at Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise was even better than we had imagined! 

Quick stop at Tim Horton's and our road trip begins!

The drive from Northern BC to Lake Louise was so beautiful!

The Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise is just stunning

Upon arrival we had a cute box of chocolate covered blueberries & a sweet note in our room...

and a dog bed & food dishes for Lilly!

The view from our room was so pretty!

Our view from one of the restaurants while enjoying drinks.

Time to go ice skating!

Recognize this ice castle from The Bachelor by chance?? It was on the season with Sean when him & Catherine had their date in Lake Louise! 

Keeping Lilly warm haha (don't worry he was skating super slow & extra careful)

I was trying to act like I knew what I was doing ;)

We had so much fun!

What?! Well this didn't make me feel safe!! 

Sleigh Rides

They had such a cute ice bar set up near the lake. 

They had a few ice sculptures that were pretty amazing.

Exploring! 

Drank some champagne in the room while getting ready for dinner!

Yummy!

Dinner was AMAZING. Sean and I love Indian food and the chef's at the restaurant we chose for dinner happened to be from India. So of course we had to order the Indian dishes on the menu! Sean had the lamb vindaloo & I had the butter chicken. Delicious!

During dinner we had a "pet sitter" watch Lilly because pets are not allowed to be left in the rooms alone. It was so nice they offered this for a little extra charge & we were able to enjoy ourselves while Lilly had a friend to walk around the hotel and hang with.

Relaxing by a fireplace after dinner... 

and playing with Lilly! 

The Christmas tree in the lobby was so pretty! The whole hotel honestly felt a bit magical with all the Christmas decor & Christmas activities going on.

Walking around the hotel... Lilly was loving it!

Another cute Christmas touch in the lobby... Gingerbread houses!

Everything was amazing about our stay! I feel like it was the ultimate Canadian experience during Christmas time :) I hope to stay there again during the holidays and have my family come stay with us. I know they would love it! Sean and I also agree that we will have to visit again during the summer time. Lake Louise is definitely something to see!

xo Ashley

Christmas Home Decor

I didn't take pictures of EVERYTHING around the house that is Christmasy, but here are a few pics! I love adding to my Christmas decor collection every year and I have definitely realized it'll take awhile to build the collection and I love having new meaning pieces in our home every year!

(Yes, we need to shovel. The snow just keeps coming!) I would have loved to added lights outside the house, but maybe next year.

Hanging Christmas bulbs from the ceiling is my absolute favorite! My mom always did it when 

growing up and makes me think of her house during the holiday season.

My favorite would have to be decorating the fireplace. A new piece this year is the tissue garland and I am obsessed! I have been wanting one for so long and it seemed like the perfect time to get a Christmas colored one! Now I think I need to buy a million different ones!

My mom gave us these adorable Christmas ornaments last year ...

I bought these ones from the Minnesota State Fair this past summer...

A few things on the wall…

It is just so much fun to decorate the house with festive Christmas pieces from the tree to Christmas pillows & soap pumps :) 

Happy decorating!

xo Ashley 

Christmas Tree Tradition

My brother-in-law (Ian, Sean's youngest brother) came to FSJ to visit us this past week and it was so nice to have him! Ian lives in Calgary so it was quite a drive up for him, but we really appreciate it and were excited for him to stay with us! The first night he got into town Sean was working night shift so Ian and I opened a bottle of wine, sat on the couch and caught up. Ooh ya know 1 bottle turned into 3 bottles, but we had such a fun night with Christmas music playing and catching up on life!

Ian joined me for a class at the gym I go to on Wednesdays called Butts & Guts. It's one of my favorite classes. It was nice to have a workout partner that day!

Sean and I have started a little family tradition for getting our Christmas tree. We drive up the Alaska Highway and cut down our tree! I always grew up with a fake Christmas tree, but Sean always grew up with a real one. I love getting a real one and I look forward to continuing the tradition with our kids one day. It's so fun stopping at Tim Hortons to get coffee, drive up the highway while listening to Christmas music and all bundled up! We drove to the same spot we went last year to cut down a tree and there was so much snow. It was really fun to have Ian with us this year!

{ Wide Bow Headband : AshleyKae Boutique }

Sean always says you have to shake the tree first so all of the snow falls off and you can really see what the tree looks like…

We walked around a bit saying "What about that one?!" and then we would say "Nooo. Not that one." After walking around a bit through the snow that was up to our knees we finally saw a tree that we all agreed on!

Sean starts sawing the tree and then we take turns at it…

Then we drag the tree back to the truck! 

(this part always makes me feel like in the movies haha)

On our way back to Fort St John we stop at this little hole in the wall restaurant called "The Shepard's Inn" off the Alaska Highway and warm up with a yummy slice of homemade pie and hot coco!

This is what the holiday season is all about.. making new memories, family traditions & enjoy being together!

xo Ashley