Cousin Danni

In my christmas letter this year I put my blog address and last night Robs cousin Danni commented... HI DANNI!!! I was so excited to hear from you its been so long since we've seen you! Could you leave me a comment with your email address? I do have a christmas card and picture for you but dont have your address so its sitting on the dinning room table! Does anyone have Cory and Marks address' too - their cards are also sitting on my table! This is really neat to be able to talk to all the family who are spread out all over two provinces. Anyways hope you are all well - and Danni hope your family can stay away from needles and hospitals for the holdiays! Take care. Anyone who reads this who sees grandma and grandpa please give them both a hug from us.

Getting Ready for Christmas

Hey everybody, hope you are all just about ready for Christmas too and the next few days wont be too crazy! We finished up shopping for the last few hard ones on our list today and then Katie and I spent an hour or so wrapping tonight. She insists on doing the gifts she bought herself but she is very good at wrapping so they actually look great. She has amazed me with her generosity this year though for gifts. Usually I let her buy for a few people and spend a few dollars of her own money, this year I helped her out with the cost and then let her buy for who and pretty much what she wanted! She picked out stuff for all her aunts and uncles, her grandparents and a few friends and she did it all herself. She knew certain peoples styles very well and was able to choose gifts for everyone and keep within the budget I gave her. If only I could do that!

Here are a few shots of a snowman that Katie and Rob built in the backyard yesterday - the snow was finaly good packing snow with the warm weather we've been having.













Here is a shot of Katie skating - we went to the rink in taylor last week - its great - did I already blog about this, it seems like deja vu? anyways - she loves skating and I had a blast too. I did pretty well if I do say so too for an old goat who hasnt been on the ice in 10 years! I can still do cross cuts and skate backwards! tried a walz jump ( the easiest one) - lets just say it wasnt the most gracefull thing on the ice that day! After a few laps with the bar she agreed to try just holding my hands and she was awesome!

The rest of the pics are a bit blurry so we will have to get more next time!

Well thats about it for now - all is well up here though, Rob has been off for a few days as his truck is acting up again but its in the shop today and hopefully will be fixed soon! The time with him has been great, the paycheck will suck, but thats January so I'll think about that later, lol! Katie said the other day "boy it sure is nice for Daddy that we're up here cause otherwise he would be really lonely today when he cant work". Daddy agreed .

My 100s List

So does anyone know the origin of these lists? For my family who doesnt know the background all of my blogging friends have been posting these 100s lists. Its a list of 100 things about you. I have had such a good time reading theirs that I thought I'd join in and do one too. Enjoy
1. I am 30
2. I am the oldest of five kids, they are 25, 21, 19 & 17
3. Yup - same parents
4. I am proud of all my siblings, they are awesome
5. My mom rocks, she is trully the best mom in the world. She deserves a medal, or money
6. Lots of money
7. My dad sucks. He was not a good father and lost a great family for it
8. I am a good mom
9. I have one daughter who is 5
10. I dont know if I will have more children or not
11. I'm OK with that
12. My husband is a great dad
13. I met my husband when I was 15
14. I will never forget the first time I saw him. I love him with all my heart
15. We are very opposite but we balance each other very well
16. We dated for 8 years before getting married
17. We finished college and bought a house first
18. I am an RN.
19. I love being a nurse
20. I'm one of those weird people who loves trauma; blood, gore, resucitations... bring it on!
22. I havent worked much this year because Katie and I travelled with Rob lots
23. I miss working and will go back soon
24. I forgot to call the director of nursing at the hospital here today to apply.
25. I also do like being at home - its alot of work taking care of a family and a home
26. I like to organize, but am not always organized
27. I love to be sarcastic and witty
28. I am a very open person
29. I am honest. Always
30. I would rather be honest and hurt someone's feelings than lie to make them feel better
31. That doesnt always go over so well
32. I break the rules - ok so I guess thats not really honest is it?
33. Its fun anyways
34. I love chocolate and I love caramel
35. cant really pick a favorite
36. my favorite food changes monthly
37. right now its scallops remoulade from Salty's Beach House
38. I love to travel
39. I have been to Japan, Tiajuana Mexico, Alabama, New Orleans and Las Vegas
40. I wasnt that impressed with Vegas.
41. I loved New Orleans
42. My husband doesnt like to travel
43. I plan to make him travel anyway
44. I love to dance
45. I was a highland dancer for 10 years. I was good at it
46. My husband hates to dance
47. I havent figured out how to make him dance
48. yet
49. I love to read
50. my favorite authors are Patricia Cornwell, Nora Roberts, Micheal Criton (sp?) and John Grisham
51. I am smart
52. I remember numbers with weird ease, I know phone numbers I havent called in years
53. I suck at math however, I cant do algebra to save my life
54. I am very careful calculating drugs at work
55. I am a perfectionist
56. I hate making mistakes
57. I take criticism personally
58. I try not to make mistakes so I dont have to take criticism
59. That backfires sometimes
60. I am blessed with many friends
61. My oldest friend is Jacquie, we met in the 6th grade
62. we can go 6 months without talking and then pickup like it was yesterday. She's great
63. I am short, 5' 1"
64. I am pear shaped :)
65. I hate our society's pressure on body image
66. I think confidence is beautiful, not measurements
67. Its hard to be confident when your measurements are not "perfect"
68. thats ok - I'd rather eat chocolate and caramel
69. I like to be quirky, it goes well with short
70. I am not afraid of bugs or rodents... as long as I dont think about it too much
71. I am afraid of explosive gases and electicity
72. did I mention my husband is a welder?
73.I am not afraid of needles.. but then I'm usually the one giving them
74. I love music
75. I listen to almost anything - Sarah Mclaughlin, Enya, Uncle Kracker, Nickleback, Kid Rock
76. We went to Alabama to see Kid Rock
77. It was very good
78. I like to scrapbook - I can copy the magazines pretty well
79. I wish I was more artistic
80. I cant sing in tune for anything
81. I sing anyways
82. I used to play the piano and flute
83. I speak french, I graduated with a bilingual diploma
84. I didnt enjoy high school, I didnt fit in very well
85. I was very shy, and even shorter
86. I am very empathetic
87. I hate mean and rude people
88. I think child molesters should be locked in a room with the kids parents for 5 minutes before sentancing
89. I love to drive fast
90. I have gotten two speeding tickets in my life
91. My husband taught me how to drive when I was 16
92. that sounds weird - he was only 18
93. I used to be a waitress
94. I have two tattoos
95. I love them
96. I love starbucks
97. my favorite drink is a chai latte
98. I love to laugh until I cry
99. I dont need much sleep
100. I really am happy with my life, I feel very lucky

Playing in the snow

Vayda and Tessa came over to play on the weekend and I got all the girls out in the back yard to play in the snow - it was great!
Jersey was wired - running all over the yard and trying to catch snow the girls threw for her.
The girls climbed all over the play fort and had fun slidding down into the snow. They were dissapointed that the snow was too powdery to make a snowman but had fun making trails through all the deep stuff - it was past thier knees!

We walked over to the school and went toboggoning too but I didnt take my camera - there is a short hill and Katie and Vayda had a blast slidding, Tessa, not so much. She was afraid to go on the sled, and when I finally got her to go down with me we spun backwards and she freaked out. oops. She still had a good time though cheering for the other two!

Entering the next Decade

So as most of you know - I turned 30 yesterday... and no, I dont feel any older!
I actually am kinda excited to be 30 - I have always felt young as many of my friends and most of my co-workers are older than me, now, although I am still younger than them, I am no longer such a "youngun". Maybe its being so short as well, but I often feel like I am struggling for respect- especially at work, so now, ha... I'm old. lol It is so weird how when you're a teenager 30 seems so old and now it seems so young. I actually caught myself calling a 20 year old a kid... I would have been pissed if someone called me a kid when I was 20!
I will always remember this lady I did homecare for years ago, she was 102 yrs old, I remember her talking about her age and telling me that she still felt the same as she did when she was 17 in her head and heart. I didnt really believe her, but now I think I am getting it, I still do feel like the same person- maybe a bit wiser, and at the same time a bit bolder, but just me.
To all of you who are older than me I'm sure you're laughing now saying "well, duh", but to my siblings who are younger than me - cant wait till you're 30 and say "now I know what you meant"!
I do have to do some bragging now... I normally hate to outright brag but..... I got diamonds!!!!! Rob came home last night with diamond studd earings for me! AAAHHHHH!!! made me cry, and I dont usually get sappy and cry, but that did it. lol.
Rob was at camp for 4 days and then on the way home (on nov 30), his truck froze up and stalled out. We couldnt get a tow truck that night, so had to wait till morning (dec 1) and leave the truck and all his tools on the side of the alaska highway... needless to say I wasnt really expecting him to get out and get me much as he was a bit stressed out about why the truck had died and if it would be ok. but... DIAMONDS!!! wow.
ok I'm done now and will shut up. Miss you all and looking forward to a good visit over the holidays.

Our Furniture

I have been getting flack for not posting the pics of our house with our new furniture in it - so here they are!

This is katie's room - she has the nicest flooring and the best view too! Her closet is to the left of where she's standing and is pretty big with shelves on one side.

I traded her dressers as this one doesnt fit in our room - it was grandma's and is very nice.

Here is the family room - the sectional just barely fits but it is sooooo comfy so it has to stay!

The lights are on dimmers which makes it pretty cosy at night. We are using the coffee table as a tv stand until we can buy a new one as our old one was from 1970 something...

The living room looks really good now - the couches are awesome and I put up the pictures that I had framed originally for our bedroom in Penticton.

The black recliner was supposed to go in the family room with the sectional but it didnt fit - and we needed another chair in the living room, so... voila! I really like the bay window and used shannon's advice and pulled the couch away from the wall about a foot or two - Rob thinks I wont be able to rearrange with the layout ... you'd think he would know better after 12 years of living with me! I can rearrange anything lol!

The front entry is to the left of where I am standing to take this picture - there is a wall behind the black chair that separates it from the living room

The dining room set looks really good in the house and I love the big china cabinet - dont know where I had all the stuff before but it is full! too much stuff!

I am standing in the living room to take this shot - right infront of the black chair. there is an entrance to the kitchen from the dinning room on the right. I think the french doors will be nice in the summer, too damn cold to use them now!!!

Well, thats a few shots to give you an idea of the house with furniture - its pretty neat to have new stuff - we have wanted to go buy new things for a long time and it was great to be able to get it for the new house. It is feeling prett homey now and starting to get a bit organized... im sure it will take me a few months to get stuff where I want it all. As long as I can find most stuff I will survive.

Miss everyone, we are really happy up here - even though it was minus freaken 25 today... yup you read that right and that's without wind chill! needless to say we didnt stay out long, and my truck was running most of the afternoon - I am slowly getting used to that, but otherwise I dont know if if would start! Well gotta run, take care guys, talk to y'all soon

Happy Birthday Emily!

My beautiful niece is two today. She is the most incredible little girl - I had Emi for four days just before we moved to give Corey and Ashley a bit of a break (she is expecting again) and so we could spend time with her before we left. Wow, she is bright - can say abc's to the letter E, and sing "baa baa sheep"! Did I mention she's two? Just like my little sister, she is spirited and knows what she wants, why she wants it, how she wants it, when she wants it... you know the story! lol. We had a great time with her and really miss her. Katie loves to help look after her cousin Emi, and I was happy to get some pretty awsome pics of the two of them.

Ashley and Corey you guys have done an excellent job with your daughter, she is trully a nice little girl, and she's gorgeous too! I know its been trying at times because she is so strong willed but keep up the work, you are doing it right. I cant wait to meet the ambitious, confident and amazing woman you are raising. I am so glad for you guys to have been able to buy a house with a yard - the two weeks of waiting will seem like ages likely but then it will be great and Emi will love the yard and play set I know.

Can you believe this was almost two years ago? What adorable cousins.

Katie was so excited that Emily is getting old enough to actually play with her, they had such a good time, when they werent fighting... I couldnt believe that in only four days they got into the "sibbling" rivalry stuff - it was pretty funny, when it wasnt making me crazy!

Emi - happy birthday my love. I hope you have a very exciting year as a two year old. You are a great little girl and aunty loves you very much. Your cousin Katie misses you and cant wait to see you at Christmas.

ps. Ashley I havent been organized enough to get a present for her and get it sent but I would like to get her something special so I will bring something at Christmas. Kiss Emi for us

One Week Later...

Rob pointed out this morning that we have been here for one week today! Seems longer than that cause its been so busy what with Katie starting school and dance, setting up the house and all that. I am pleased to say I really do like it here, the snow is great, the cold sucks but is managable with enough clothes! One afternoon walking Katie home from school was really nasty but other than thats its been ok. I cant get over all the young people here - just got back from safeway and I'm sure 70% of the customers were my age and the rest were in thier 50's. Lots of babies too - yeah I know y'all are cheering hoping I'll get baby fever! lol.
Some good things: people are very friendly; the moms in the boot room waiting for school pick up are awesome - most seem alot like us; driving in the snow is a blast!!!; our house and neighborhood rock - the street is quiet!!! ; the cultural center looks great, has a big theater and a crafts department with lots of childrens programs.
Some wierd things; leaving your vehicle running all the time - as soon as it hits -15 cars are running everywhere - grocery store lot, school etc, just locked with the spare key - there must not be alot of vehicle theft here; wearing socks in places - alot of businesses have boot racks at the door and then you just wear your socks!!
Some crappy things; missing all you guys... no tea with gran, no hot tub at nana's, no sushi and salty's with janet, no coffee with Shannon, no appy parties with our gang... the list goes on; the customer service is often poor - clerks are not freindly like at home and places are so short staffed it takes much longer than I am used to for service
but... there is a scrapbook store, a nick knack store like willowbrook lane and a starbucks (yup Shannon I found one inside safeway!) so its all good :).
one thing i could use advice on is the heat in our house - we have never had a split level with bedrooms upstairs and cant figure out how to keep the main level warm enough without cooking the upstairs... i tried opening all the windows up but cold air drops so all it did was cool down the main floor and then trigger the furnace which then heated the upstairs some more! Kelly did you have this problem in Drumheller?
anyways, we have company for dinner (one of the guys from Robs work) so i should go and be social... I will still post some pics of the furniture in the next few days.

Snow... and more snow!

Wow what an introduction to northern winter - it has snowed almost every day since we got here! The snow in the backyard today was over my knees!!!! Its great fun to drive in, looks really pretty, but is not so great to shovel... a word of advice : when buying a home up north look for the smallest driveway available!! lol. We may be buying a snow blade for the front of our quad before the winter is out - Rob always wanted a ride on mower...














Katie is adjusting well to school here, I am enormously pleased with her class - it is so calm compared to the one back home - I know its just the luck of the draw as to what kind of kids are in the class, but there were several behavior issue children in the last class and it was very hectic. Here they are all so quiet, no one hitting or pushing! They go outside for "recess" 4 days a week which I like for the exercise part but she is not crazy about cause its cold. She started Jazz this week and will start ballet and sparks next week. She has been adjusting fairly well, but has complained of tummy pains a couple times which I think are a bit of nerves. She says she misses, Nana and Papa and Gran and uncle Ross but she does love our new home and loves seeing daddy and vayda!

Rob is back to work - long hours this last two days but he was so happy to have a house with his family and home cooked food tonight instead of a lonely motel and restaurant.

Jolanda and I got a short visit yesterday and today but its been pretty hectic this week - next week we are planning to go the gym together and put Tessa and Katie in the childminding room for an hour while we work out and yak!!!


Here are a few pics of the house from the outside and all the snow (for you Ross).

pics of the house

oops - lost the pics in my post again - here they are

Our New Home in Ft St John

So we are finally moved... all the reno's to the Penticton house were finished just in the nick of time, we listed it and sold a week later!! wow - what a busy time that was. Our relator and my good friend Shannon did a fantastic job. We arrived in Fort St John on Sunday night and got the keys to our new house, it is beautiful - Rob did a great ob picking it out (I hadnt seen it in person, only pictures and lots of phone calls). We are still waiting for our furniture to arrive however... the truck blew a tire in Cash creek and they ended up a day and a half behind. Should be in tonight though... sleeping on the floor and living without any of our stuff has been fun but our hips arnt 20 any more and we really need some couches to sit on!
Here are a few pics of the house - it is a 4 level split with attached double garage and fenced back yard, awesome! Upstairs is 3 bedrooms, our ensuite and "Katie's bathroom" which she was so excited about! lol. the main floor has living rm, dining rm and kitchen then two steps down to familyroom, computer room and bathroom. The basement is unfinished and will be mostly storage for all our crap - which despite thinning out we still seem to have so much of!
The weather has been pretty good - so far the cold is actually not as bad as I was expecting - mits, boots and good coats and we have been nice and warm. People leave thier cars running alot here which seems weird, but helps as they dont like to start in the cold.
Hope everyone is well and I will post some more pics with our furniture and the outside soon

Jen, Rob & Katie

Jen, Rob & Katie

Katie's 5th Birthday - Family party

Katie turns 5 next week but with Rob, Ken and Derek all home this weekend we decided to do a spur of the moment party for the family. Great Nana and Papa were not able to make it as Nana has a cold but great grandma Funk was there with aunty Maureen, Ken & Donna & Derek, Janet & Ross and of course Me, Rob and Katie. Here are just a few quick pics of the party.

The Tattoos

In order Geoff, Doug, Me, Ash






So the second part of mom's birthday weekend just came together kinda spur of the moment, we had all been talking for some time about getting a family tattoo.. something that we would all get to represent our family and how close the five kids and mom are. I had done up some sketches and then the boys were looking on the net and found one we all loved. It is a sun with a ray for each of the kids and mom is the center of the sun. Turns out we all liked it and since we were all home decided to go for it!!! It is very cool cause we all did the same template but then put our own touches on it with color and I added a vine and flowers to mine. Ash, Doug and Geoff got theirs done on Monday and Me, mom and Ross all went today! I dont have pics of moms and Ross' cause I forgot my camera but I will get some soon and post them. Mine is a bit blurry as I discovered it is hard to take a clear shot of ones own foot!
They all turned out great and now we all have a symbol of our family bond. Way to go Mom for getting a tattoo!!!

Mom's Birthday

My mom turned 55 this week and so the five of us kids got together and did a few things for her, and everyone even managed to get time out of their scheduals and got home for the weekend!
We sent her shopping with her friend Sheila for four hours on monday and while she was out we redecorated her back patio. Of course it happened to be the hottest day of the summer so we were all dripping and moving a bit slow - Geoff did an awesome job up on the ladder paining the roof! We bought her a new patio set and some decorations and managed to get it all out just before she got home, it was like the TV show "move move move we have 15 minutes left!!!"
Mom was thrilled and we all had a blast working together, thanks so much Doug, Ash, Geoff & Ross - I had a great weekend with y'all!

Pics from the cabin

Ok I finally got the pictures to load! These are the shots that go with my previous post about the Millers cabin.

The Millers Cabin

Kim & Trevor Miller bought a cabin up above Kelowna - so we all went out to check it out on Saturday. It is huge and very cool! They have big plans for various improvements but it is great even a bit rustic how it is.
Us, the Derosiers, the Huzars and the Sorensens all went up so we had the usual crew of 10 adults, 6 kids and 6 dogs! It was awesome to see everyone and visit around the fire - we ate tons as usual and of course Rob fell asleep for a bit!
The kids played endlessly on the dock and even brought back an old raft they found down the shore! Katie did very well keeping up with the big kids - and they all did well to include her too - its dificult with such a big age gap (4 - 12) but they are all pretty good at it now and Erin is only 2 years older than her so they played well.
The road in to the cabin was pretty rough but with some work it could be fixed so we could all get our trailers in - it would definately become our regular camping spot!

Kaitlyn had a blast and in true Katie style fell asleep on the back of the quad with Daddy... only she could do that!

I cant get my pictures to add so I will post them seperately... still learning!!

Jersey & Katie

Katie and I took Jersey over to the park to take some pictures of the two of them - they turned out pretty good! Jersey is growing fast, I think we are making some progress with the potty training... she didnt have an accident in the house all day yesterday! Its much harder than it was to train Katie!!!

I think I have been trained a bit better now- I know she has to pee as soon as she wakes up, after playing and eating. I know she wont pee on the couch, bed or in the car... and except for Jolanda she wont pee when she's being held!lol. Its been pretty frustrating though - glad I'm not working or my house would be gross!

In the mornings after Rob leaves for work Jersey will run upstairs and crawl into bed with Katie and sleep for another hour then wakes her up with kisses. Its pretty cute to see the two of them snuggled in bed. They seem to have a bond already!

Camping May Long Weekend

We came home from Alberta for the long weekend and went camping with Rosali and Steve and Sandra at 22km. It was great to get out in the woods again, but was way too short! The weather was excellent even though it was miserable in town - Sandra and I got sunburnt. We all went for a hike and took some family shots of eachother, the one Steve took of us is my favorite family picture. Cant wait to get out again.

On May 5th we got our new boxer puppy "Jersey" from Iowa. She is 11 weeks old now and is full of energy! So far she loves camping, eating everything in sight - edible or not - and meeting new people.