It's always a holiday tradition to go out and find our own tree. We never end up with quite as nice of one as you could buy, but that's half the fun of the whole thing. After enjoying a warmer that normal November, we are locked in a bitter cold spell in December. Tonight's temperature is dropping to -33 C or -27 F. We don't have alot of snow, so we should be making some good ice out on the lake. We finally froze over the last little bit of the lake on Wednesday the 9th.

We have had several people interested in sending up a gift for John-Allen's new baby, John Jr. . The easiest way to get something to them would be to mail it. Their address is:

John & Leeann Bratland
Box 277
Vermilion Bay, ON. P0V 2V0

If you send a gift, you will have to fill out a customs sticker and put it on the package declaring it is a gift, then there won't be any duty charges on it.

Happy news along the shores of Eagle Lake. John Allen (our guide) and his wife Leeann had a 7 lbs. 7 oz. baby boy on November 25th. Both Mom and baby are doing great, and John is a very proud Daddy!!

Building a house can also be as much fun moving / shopping for a house.. When we decided to build, I put together a timeline in my head to have the old house down in August, have the contractor start in September, and would like to have it all closed in before the heavy snow arrives in November / December. Now remember, that was the plan, and we all know how the best laid plans go.

The demolition went along as planned, and after only 40 dump truck loads of debris to the land fill, the site was ready. I decided to dig down right to the bedrock, we have problems with the frost and unstable ground in this area, so I wanted to be sure this house wasn't going to ever move. We also have a problem with bedrock in this area, you never know what it is doing underneath the soil.















So here is a picture of my daughter about 9 ft down from grade on the bedrock. So we'll have a crawlspace at the front of the house and a basketball court at the back.

On September 1st, my contractor started laying things out, right on schedule. The footings were difficult due to the quick changing slope of the rock, and the fact that the soil was all clay. If you add a little water to the clay, you get a nice mud!!

Yes it has been awhile since we posted any updates of what has been happening at Stanley's, so I thought I better get back on track and give everyone a good excuse for my lapse in writing. Well the photos below should sum alot of it up. (for those who don't know what they are looking at, this is our house / office at the resort)





























































This was the house that I grew up in, so it was tough to tear it down, but mother nature and father time both took their toll, on the building, so Chantal and I decided with was time to start from scratch.

I am sure that everyone who has moved before can attest to the joy of the whole experience. With this being said, we did this at the same time as running the camp, tearing down the old house and readying a new place to live. The new place to live happened to be the staff apartments. After several weeks of renovations up there, we moved our family in at the end of July. Ally and Gavan are now sharing a room, but I have told them that the more they help me build the new house, the quicker that they will get their own rooms back.

Moving a complete working office was a challenge as well, as phones and Internet connections were not in place and all had to be added. Needless to say we are all settled and happy in our new spot. A little tightly packed in, but happy.

So what's next... oh yes a new house. That post will follow next.

Hi Chantal and Rob,