Mack and I made it to Yellowknife, despite arriving to the gate ten minutes after our scheduled flight time – the line-up to get through security was madness! It’s colder here than in Edmonton, but there is more daylight than I expected (around 5 hours). No photos to share yet, as we had a pretty low-key day relaxing at Mack’s parents’ house. It’s not a bad way to start a vacation though!

We exchanged presents this afternoon with Mack’s family – thanks again Kim, Shane, Thom, Martin and Patti for the gifts! I originally didn’t know what to buy Mack’s parents, but I remembered Jennifer Crosby’s idea of putting together a basket of locally-accrued food items. It seemed like a good way to share some uniquely Edmonton products, so a few weeks back, we started to assemble it. We ended up with this:

Basket of locally-purveyed goods

It contains:

• Adam’s Apple wine from en Sante
• Raspberry Spread from Strathcona Country Kitchens
• A Jam Story book by Sarah Jackson
• Canola oil from Mighty Trio Organics
• Beer Mustard from Country Kitchen
• a “Tea for Two” ornament from Le Papier
• Monk’s and Christmas Blends of tea from Acquired Taste Tea Co.
• Dried fruit mix and cinnamon apples from the Old Strathcona Farmers’ Market
• Sugar-free milk and dark Chocophilia chocolates from Kerstin’s Chocolates
• a tin of sugar-free candy from Sweet Tweet

Martin and Patti appreciated the gift, but I have to say, I really enjoyed looking for things that I thought they might enjoy. And though we restricted ourselves to items purchased at local businesses, it was fairly easy to find the variety that we did.

Hope everyone had a good Christmas!