Jen, Rob & Katie

Some more pictures for Great Grandma!

2008-11-17T20:14:00.000-08:00

I cant load very many pictures at a time but here are a few more cute ones of the kids lately. Hope you are having a great visit in Penticton Grandma. Dont know if Edmonton got snow today like us but we got a HUGE dump - at least 4 inches! Was lots of work shovelling thats for sure!!

The Kids Video

2008-11-14T19:15:00.000-08:00

This is a quick video we shot tonight of the kids so Great Grandma Atchison can see them! Katie has lost both her bottom front teeth and one top one, she has at least three wiggly ones she is working on too! Josh seems to be teething alot lately but none have appeared so far - ok with me though as I am still nursing! We are all doing well up here in the north... got snow now which the kids at school all love and Katie built a snowman in the back yard yesterday.

For Great Grandma Atchison

2008-11-14T18:58:00.000-08:00

Here are a few recent pictures of us.

We went up to the cabin on Tuesday to check out how much snow was there, Josh fell asleep in the baby toboggan while Katie and I were trying to plan out a place to flood a skating rink. We decided we will have to just skate at the lake for this year though because there is not a big enough flat spot for our own rink!

The one picture is of the new skid Rob just built for his truck. He got it all put together today and is ready to go back to work tomorrow.

Crazy Life

2008-02-27T19:20:00.000-08:00

wow - I guess I have gotten away from blogging for a bit eh? Its funny how we get so busy with all the day to day stuff of life - six months seems like a long time away when I look ahead but to look back it has flown! We are all doing well up here in the north, wishing for spring days for sure. The sun has been beautiful this week and it has been quite warm but there is still snow on the ground. We had a few feet at least to melt so I suppose it will take a while. I dont know if this will be it for winter anyways so I am afraid to get too excited.

whats new? well, in case anyone doesnt know - I am expecting! We decided to take the plunge and have a second child, so this one is due May 20th. The pregnancy is going well although I must say I am not one of those women who loves being pregnant. It was not fun with Katie and I am not having fun this time either! lol. Oh well, it will be over soon. Katie is SOOOOO excited to be a big sister, she doesnt care if she gets a brother or sister either. Of course we would love to have a boy this time around, but will be thrilled with another girl too.

We are also in the process of trying to buy a farm. We found a 35 acre parcel with a little old farmhouse on it, a barn and shop and its only 10 -15 minutes north of town. We have an offer in on it and are just hoping this house will sell now. All of the buildings need some good TLC but the set up of the land is fantastic and it has an incredible view of the countryside so we are quite willing to do some labour to fix it up. I really hope it all goes through, but am nervous that it wont. We have wanted to have some land with horses and buildings for years so to be close to it now is pretty exciting! We will bring our two horses with us and a friend has offered us a minature horse for when we get a farm, we will probably get a donkey too!

Katie is doing well in Gr 1, she is almost reading now which is so amazing to see! She has a great little circle of friends and seems to be doing well socially too. She is still doing ballet and sparks and hopes to take piano lessons this spring. I think this baby will be really good for her to help get out of some of that only child syndrome that despite my best efforts she has gotten into!
Rob has stuck out his job with Hyland - a small company in town that a business minded friend of ours took over - and it is paying off in the past two weeks finally! There was quite a bit of mangement turmoil when Jason took over and alot of staff left, as did quite a bit of work, but Rob really wanted to stay loyal and believed Jason could turn the company around. It was rough for a couple months as the work was really spotty and our rainy day fund got eaten up and then some, but they have now picked up some great contracts and Jason has made Rob his number one welder as a thanks for staying with him, so he should be as busy as he wants for now!
I have been working in the OR since october and am enjoying it quite a bit. The training was pretty intense and I was often frustrated and exhausted, but now that I am done that its going really well. I will always miss ICU in Penticton but this job is by far my best up here. I have learned tons and cant complain about the hours... mon, tues, wed, 7-3!!!!!! I have to do 11 shifts on call every 6 weeks as well, but so far that's been pretty good too.
I guess thats 6 months in a nutshell, always something new and on the go for us! To all you in the Okanagan - we miss you!!!!!

The Beaton River

2007-07-26T07:03:00.000-07:00

Rob has been off weekends for the past few months which is really great as we have gotten to do lots of family stuff. This past Saturday we took the dog for a run down to the Beaton river on the way to Cecil Lake... Its a really pretty drive out there and a nice spot along the river. (The teens party there though so we had to watch for broken glass in a few spots!!! ARGGG. ) All in all we had a great afternoon, throwing sticks for the dog, skipping rocks, writting in the sand and walking on all the big rocks. Katie had a blast playing "dont touch the ground" and trying to get around by only walking on the rocks, so funny because I can remember doing the same thing as a kid. I was happy to get her out playing in nature with no manufactured toys or entertainment. The weather was warm last week so it was a great time to be out too. This last week has been quite a bit cooler and although its great to sleep in compared to Penticton, we are definately missing the hot days on the beach right now!!! It is supposed to heat back up for next week, and there is still August so all hope is not lost! lol.

This and that

2007-07-05T07:20:00.000-07:00

Katie is all done soccer for this year - she got her medal and water bottle which she now proudly carries everywhere with her! She has already asked to play again next year. Here she is with her two best buds - Abby and Mackenzie.

We have had a great first week of summer - seems our rainy season might be over now? It was a crazy few weeks of storms but it's been 25 degrees for the past few days, lovely!!!! Ashley and mom are coming up this weekend - Katie is so excited to see her cousins! I am so excited to show Ashley our new town and bring her along for some playdates - I think she will love it.

We have been scouting some hunting area's for the fall - Rob is pretty excited to get back hunting and cant wait for Trevor's visit... hope they get a moose! This was a really cool lean -to / hunters cabin we found north of town - we have found some pretty nice spots so far.

I love this picture of Ross (my youngest brother) he cracks me up - his photography is coming along very well though check out his website at: web.mac.com/ross.buchanan

Hope everyone is having a great summer - we sure are!

A Day on the Farm

2007-06-10T07:54:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went out to Garth and Christy's farm to help with fencing. Garth planted oats for the horses but needed to fence them off so the horses wont get in and trample them while they are growing. So we went out and spent about 10 hours putting in posts and running wire, it was awesome!! Rob and Garth did the posts while Katie and I nailed in the wire. Katie was great - we were so impressed to see her helping out and having a great time being a farm girl. She carried the bucket of nails and helped hold and measure the wire while I nailed, she sat in the back of the truck and held the posts while we drove them down to the boys and she spent quite a bit of time gazing at the horses and talking to them when they came over to visit. She only whined that she was bored once all day! Later in the day Christy (who is 8 months pregnant) and Wayland (thier 18 month old son) came out too and Katie spent a long time playing with them and entertaining the toddler. We really had a good time and it was a great exposure to farm life and the work that has to be done. We have been talking to Garth and Christy about boarding a horse with them and it looks like we are going to give it a shot!!!! AAHHHH I am so excited - I rode as a teen and like so many girls always wanted a horse. Garth is going to help us pick one up who is older and calm, so good for Katie, and Rob and I as begginner riders. Then in august there is a horsemanship course we are going to take up here that is apparently awesome.

It's been a while!

2007-06-04T06:50:00.000-07:00

wow - I havent posted in a long time I see. Oops! Between spring yard work and this new internet thing called facebook I havent sat down on blogger in quite a while.

We have been busy in the yard as usual - seems I have my moms gardening genes... and have been planting up a storm. I am thrilled though to find out so much will grow up here and in fact some of my favorites that wouldnt take the okanagan heat are doing well up here! Who would have figured.

I have wanted a dailia for years but they always burnt down south but up here my planters have beautiful dalia's in bloom!!!!

I dug out one plain corner of the yard and put in a few flowering shrubs and a juniper, hung some baskets and got the greenhouse going with vegetables and herbs.

Then last weekend Rob and I put in a stone patio in the back. Our deck was too small for the table set we have and so we decided to make a patio. It was a lot of work but so nice to have Rob around to help with the heavy work. We got in done in two days even!!! I love it and just have a bit of finishing on one side left now.

It has been very warm up here and Katie decided to pull out the slide and sprinkler while I was gardening the other day - she had a great time. Check out the kitchen window view, and more importantly the thermometer!!!! Can you believe it? It is baking in the sun mind you, but I much prefer the 40 on this side of zero!

This weekend Katie and I went to Edmonton with some friends for a ladies weekend, Mackenzie (Katie's friend) had to go for some dental work that would have waited 8 months up here, so we jumped in and had a blast. We cruised West Edmonton Mall, the south point common shopping center (with Ikea and the outlet stores) and just had a really good time. It is only 7 hours to Edmonton from here so not a bad trip at all and the girls were awesome - played the whole trip both ways while Sheena and I yakked our ears off.

Rob stayed home and got the trailer ready for camping and puttered on the yard. We hope to head out camping this weekend around here and are so excited!

Katie is really enjoying school and is quickly learning to read - she can do most of the level 1 readers now with only a bit of help, so cool! We walk to school most days and then usually stay to play for a bit after with 4 other of the kids and moms. I dont know if it was the long winter but we are absolutely LOVING the warm days now! The sun is up when Rob and I get up at 5:30 and it is still bright at 11:00 when we go to bed. Although the ambient temperature is cooler than the south we do find the sun is hotter - we are closer to it from what I have been told but sunscreen is a must outside.

The yardwork progress

2007-05-13T18:10:00.000-07:00

Happy mothers day to all you moms, hope everyone has a great day. We had a really good day today, Rob was home and fixed the hot tub so it should be ready to go in tonight or tommorow!!!! And I finished up my work on the front walkway and garden. Its all coming along very well - its nice to add some personal touches to the house.

Some recent adventures and missadventures!

2007-05-08T08:00:00.000-07:00

Things have been going well up here lately - busy as usual! Last week we got our hot tub delivered and started cleaning it out. Rob filled it up and discovered a huge leak so we had to drain it and flip it up to fix the cracked line (apparently there's a reason we got it so cheap, lol). So on friday we called some neighbors to help us lift the tub which then ended up turning into a block party!

The two guys that came to help are husbands of my boot room mom friends - who were well into the wine by the time they got here... lol. Then another family of friends from down the street came over to hang out too. All the kids had a blast playing in the mud pond that ended up in the yard from emptying the hot tub and then of course us parents got into a bit more wine, ordered some pizza and had a great time. I love our neighborhood - all four families have a girl in kindergarten, the dads in the oil patch and we live within four houses of eachother. We're already planning our summer time block party BBQs!

We discovered that we had to order one of the parts for the hot tub line so left the tub up on its side until monday - or at least that was the plan... It seemed pretty stable... until our wind storm on Sunday.... oops.

Who knew 60km/hr winds would knock over a very heavy hot tub? So over to the nieghbors I trecked to explain our misshap, luckily they are very nice people and just laughed. Rob had a couple guys from work come over to flip the tub back and fix the fence! All better now.

Of course we are still waiting for the new heater so the hot tub still isnt working but soon we will be sitting in it laughing about this right??

Timbits Soccer

2007-05-02T08:54:00.000-07:00

Katie had her first soccer practice and game last night... it was so cute all the little "timbits" running around the field chasing a soccer ball. Two of her friends Abby and Makenzie are playing so Katie wanted to join too, plus since uncle Geoff plays university soccer and it was such a big part of Grans life she was excited to give it a try. She had a blast, there are 10 kids on her team, Abby being one of them which is great. They did a 20 minute practice where they learned a bit about ball handling - or that they couldnt handle it with thier hands, a tidbit that got by most of them, lol. Then they played a 25 minute game of three on three. Katie subbed out voluntarily several times cause she was "just exhausted" and needed a little rest!!! All in all they did very well, of course the emphasis is just on fun and all but one parent seemed to agree with that. This one lady, however, I was floored - she berrated her 5 year old son when he subbed out and told him the soccer field wasnt a dance studio and that he had better start trying to score a goal. She then made him stand on the sidelines perfectly still while she pointed out what each player was doing right. I felt so sorry for that little boy, and tried to make a point of loudly cheering Katie for even running in the right direction let alone kicking the ball with the hopes that she might calm down. After all they are 5.... timbits soccer. Parents like that suck.

Anyways, Katie had a blast and cant wait to play again on thursday. The season goes until June 23rd so boys, if you guys were at all contemplating a trip up she already mentioned how much she would like you to see her play. No pressure or anything, lol.

Spring is here!

2007-05-01T06:52:00.000-07:00

Our snow has been melted for a few weeks now and the temperature consistanly above zero so I think its safe to say it is finally spring! There is some argument, however, that the season up here be renamed to "mud". I tell you this is the weirdest mud I have ever seen in my life, its like sticky quick sand, even more acurate its like that floam stuff but it weighs a ton! Yesterday we were in the backyard trying to level the hot tub pad as we have found a used one we are buying. After a few minutes of walking on the ground under the paving stones my shoes had grown by at least five sizes around and weighed several pounds each... who needs ankle weights to work out!

On the bright side, I am getting in gear for planting and am really excited about the greenhouse. Katie and I went out to the nursery last week armed with notepad and questions. We came home with a list of our future vegetable, fruit and herb garden needs which we are now working on. The greenhouse is just about empty of all our winter storage and we will buy containers and shelves this week. Hopefully by the weekend we can start planting. Katie is very excited as well and was very involved in picking out what we will plant.

I pulled the patio set out and put it up last week as well but I have a project for that as well, the deck is not big enough for that huge table set so I think we will build a small flagstone patio off the side of the deck, I have some cool ideas of course and just have to work up the courage to start digging in the mud again! lol.

Our tomgirl!

2007-04-15T20:54:00.000-07:00

We finally got Katie to love being outdoors and dirty!!!! Despite our best efforts our lovely daughter is a very girly girl, who likes barbies, dresses and pink. She hates to get her hands dirty and would usually rather be inside doing crafts or playing dolls than be outside - especially now that it is muddy out.

But.... the other day Daddy bought her a kids quad. Well, she loves it and has been out quading everyday since even in the mud! On Easter weekend we went down to Penticton and then up the hill to visit our camping friends - one of them had a kids quad and Katie got to ride it and mentioned several times how much she liked it.

Quading is a fairly big summer activity up here and as we live right accross from a big field and hill it will be great for her to be able to go out too. We have the one adult quad but cant afford a second right now so this also solves the dilemna of how to fit three of us on one quad and since he got a smokin deal it didnt put us out of pocket.

Rob spent the first few times out teaching her driving rules and safety and she picked up pretty quick - yesterday we went for a drive out to Inga lake (north west of town) and she did great all on her own with very few reminders from us. Jersey chased her up and down the road while we cheered and took pictures.

The little quad had speed control so she cant go very fast right now, and a remote kill switch so we can shut her off if we need to.

It is still pretty muddy and since there is still the remanents of our huge snow pack left it will likely be that way for a while - but our little girly girl has taken to heading for the biggest puddles and pinning it to make a big spray of mud! We are so proud!lol

Photo Shoot of Katie

2007-04-04T06:46:00.000-07:00

I had been wanting to have some proffessional pictures taken of Katie for years but it was always one of those things on my list that I never got organized enough to do. I used to babysit for Stu Bish (a renoun okanagan photographer) and I always remember the stunning family pictures they had up all over the house and knew I wanted to have some of my family when I was older. So here I am, older, and figured I had better get on it before Katie was 20. Since David Szabo who did our wedding photos is very busy and booked up, not to mention costly, I decided to try to at least get some amature ones done for now. Ross has a friend he had been telling me about who wants to be a proffessional photographer and who Ross has helped on a few photo shoots, so we called and he was thrilled to do a session with Katie. Chris and Ross picked Katie and I up on Thursday before we left Penticton and we all drove down to OK falls to a few spots Chris had checked out for pictures. Well, let me just say I was pleasantly surprised... he is the most proffessional 18yr old I have ever met. He bought Katie some flowers to hold (which she was just tickled about and had to bring home to dry and save) and then with Ross' help took over 200 shots of her. He did alot with her looking away which is what I wanted and asked a few times if I had any special requests. He came up with almost all the poses and settings on his own and the scenery was amazing. Then he went home and spent 2 hours on his computer program editing and selecting the best shots for me. He gave me a cd with color and B&W of the best shots. They are amazing. He was so enthusiastic - it was great, thanked us and said over and over how much fun he was having. So enough bragging about this kid - here is some of his work.
Oh and his website is www.chrisschoenne.com

Abbotsford

2007-04-03T06:40:00.000-07:00

Heres some pictures from the Vancouver part of our trip. Katie and Emilie are 6 months apart and even though we only see them 4 - 5 times a year the two always play unbelievably well together. We arrived on Sunday afternoon and went to Castle fun park for Emilies 6th birthday party - its kinda like scandia in Kelowna - the kids played on the rides, did some bowling and air hockey. Its funny to see Katie in an arcade though - she doesnt like video games and really hasnt had much exposure to them so while the other kids were running around playing Katie was looking very lost and not at all impressed - "mommy I'm bored....theres nothing to do" she says in the middle of 1500 sq feet of arcade type games with at least 100 other kids from 5 - 12 yrs old. She did finally settle on air hockey and had a blast playing with one of the other girls.

On monday we went to Mill lake park and the girls played on the playground while Jacquie and I walked with the baby in the stoller. Its a cool park - there is a walking path all the way around the playground so moms can excersize while kids play. On Tuesday night Dwight offered to keep Emilie, Katie and baby Jack home with him while Jacquie and I went for coffee! It was great, we got to sit, sip coffee and yak like old times. They introduced a bottle right away for Jack so he takes it happily and Jacquie has alot more freedom - because she can leave and know that he can still be fed if he gets hungry. He is such an amazing baby - content like I have never seen, in three days I heard him cry once and it was only really a loud grunt. He is sleeping fairly well, 4 - 5 hours at night and naps lots too, although he likes to eat every 2 - 3 hours during the day. Its been great for Jacquie to be home with the kids and I know she's thinking of alternatives to returning to full time work once her Mat leave is up. Thanks for having us Jacquie, we had a great time.

Its been a while!

2007-04-01T21:43:00.000-07:00

I realized today I havent blogged in over a month so I figured I should put at least a short one on! Katie and I were gone for two weeks in March and had a wonderful time visiting all our friends and family. We left on the 10th and flew to Vancouver where we spent one day with my brother Doug - unfortunately Geoff was away at a soccer tournament so we missed him but it was great to see one brother at least! Next time we will spend a bit more time there Doug - maybe in the summer and we can go back to the aquarium and stanley park like last year. We then went out to Abbotsford and spent 3 days with Jacquie and her family - Katie and Emilie had a great time playing as usual and Jacquie and I got some awesome girl chats! Thanks Dwight for watching all three kids so we could go for coffee for two hours on tuesday!!! We then took the bus to Kamloops and stayed with my sister Ashley and her family. Emily was lots of fun and Katie really enjoyed being the big cousin, we were sad to miss the baby as Ashley was induced two days after we left and Kaylee our new neice was born weighing 7lbs, 12oz... in three hours! Congrats Ash and Corey cant wait to meet her, give her lots of kisses from us. We only got to see mom for two days when our visits overlapped in Kamloops - Katie said on the way home "mom - I miss gran, we only saw her for a short time". Hopefully mom will be able to come up here soon to see us again and check out our new home and town. On the bus again to Penticton and we had a whirlwind but terrific time visiting Nana, Aunty Nett, Grandma Funk, great Nana and Papa, Uncle Ross and then all our friends. We got to meet Donna's new dog "Miss Daisy May" - a 4 month old english bulldog... go to Salty's for lunch with Janet, Jaydon and DJ... play with Olivia at the park... have girls night with Janet, Shannon and I... and a great supper with Steve and Sandra.

We had hoped to be able to see more people but it was so busy as it was! We will be down in the summer at least once though so we will catch up with the rest of you then.

Back home things are good - Rob, Jersey and Gracie missed us and were happy to have us all home again. The snow is starting to melt and I actually saw grass in our back yard the other day - the small wonders... lol. Katie had a busy week back at school and of course catching up on play dates with all her buddies, and today we went to Grande Prairie shopping with Sheena, Mason and Makenzie from down the street - it was a blast.

I have so much to say about each part of our visit back home and things up here but that will take a few posts, for now the quick run down will have to do. lol

We still love living up here and despite being a bit sick of winter are very happy. Rob has been busy at work still which is so awesome - he is really enjoying being able to do the trade he loves and is good at but be able to be home with the family too.

We will miss the Poetsch's and wish you luck on your next adventure.

I will actually post some pics of Katie - Ross' friend Chris is an up and coming photographer who did a shoot with Katie for me in Penticton, he did an amazing job and I am so thrilled with the shots. I will put more on and figure out how to link to his site another time, so if anyone is looking for a photographer you can give him a try.

Baby Jack

2007-02-27T08:12:00.000-08:00

My best friend Jacquie had her second child last week, a beautiful boy. They named him Jack after her dad who passed away several years ago and who was her hero. And for the ouch part: he was 10lbs, 11oz!!!! But all went well and she was home very soon after, that same day I do believe - they dont seem to keep them long at the coast, it amazed me with Emilie how soon she was sent home. Congratulations Jacquie - I cant wait to see him. Their oldest daughter Emilie is one of Katie's best friends and even though we only see them a few times a year the two girls play awesome. Jacquie and I have been friends since the 6th grade so it must be genetic that our daughters are so close! Emilie looks like a very proud big sister.

Just to keep you all up to date - our trip down may change by a few days as Rob might have to work a bit longer than planned but as soon as he is home to watch the dog Katie and I will be on our way to visit everyone!We are so excited and I know it will go by too fast. If Rob keeps busy for the spring we hope to be able to take at least few weeks off in the summer to camp and visit too - thats the plan at least!

Our Town

2007-02-11T08:29:00.000-08:00

I thought I'd post some pics of Fort st John for those of you who havent been here - well - everyone I guess! I didnt get any of downtown yet but here's a couple for you. This is our water tower... I still dont know what a water tower does, is it a resevoir like the lakes we have in the Okanagan? It just doesnt look big enough to actually supply the city with water. Its got such beautiful paintings all around it though and everyone tobogans down the hill all around it. It is in our neighborhood so we drive by it everyday on our way downtown.
This is the hospital where I work - it is renovated inside and is actually quite nice. The hospital foundation raises a phenomenal amount of money here so we have tons of new equipment too which is great. The ER is beautiful with a childrens room in the waiting room, a seperate triage room and glass all around the nursing station so you can see the waiting room (only nurses will know how important this is but Penticton staff are very frustrated with the layout there and would love this one!). The ICU is brand new and has the same monitor system as Penticton so it was great for me - less to learn!
This is a shot of one of the streets heading towards the community center but I took it to show the sun... I love that even though it is -20 and snowy, the sun is out. It just doesnt seem as depressing as those grey days of the Okanagan. I am sure glad I got good prescription sunglasses last year though cause it is hard to drive into it as there are no mountains so the sun is in your eyes until it goes down.
I will take some more if I can remember to take my camera out with me.

Katie - patatie

2007-02-09T19:32:00.000-08:00

I havent sorted through my pictures in a while so when I did today I found some cute ones of Katie to post. I tried to take some shots of her like Heidi did with her girls cause they looked so awesome - but I am not a great photographer and only got one decent one.

Rob took this one the other day - so cute if I do say so myself.

These blocks are awesome - they are called wedgits, Janet bought them a couple years ago and the toy store up here sells them so I just added on to the collection - they are seriously hours of fun for kids and adults. Katie spent an hour and a half building things on the kitchen floor the other day while I did dishes and made supper. ( yup I actually did the dishes!)

Good Will

2007-02-06T18:38:00.000-08:00

I'm sure everyone has seen the visa comercial where the couple leave thier camera on a cafe table and 24 hours and many customers later it is still there for them... "if life were like that you wouldnt need visa". Well I think most of us feel that there isnt alot of good will left and that true to that add very few good things lost will ever be returned, well... yesterday I lost a very nice leather glove in the hospital parking lot after work... tonight as I was leaving work I found it placed on top of the heater ledge by the door! Not only did someone find it and put it there, but no one else took it from there for 24 hours! Anyways, since I just got home thats it for now - take care all!

Dragon Fruit

2007-01-28T07:38:00.000-08:00

Katie was watching Daniel Cook on TV last week and he was trying out new foods - fruit in particular. Katie decided we should try out some new types of fruit like Daniel did... so we went to Safeway and she bought a dragon fruit. Now not knowing anything about the fruit and not having watched the show with her I was relying on her with what to do with the thing once we got it home, but she did well and instructed old mom not to worry and just how to cut the fruit. Then she got into it with the melon baller and had a blast! I must say I found it to be rather bland for such a pretty inside and couldnt help but think it looked like it should have been poisonous... none the less Katie enjoyed it and decided we should try more new fruits each time we go shopping! This week it is Kiwi which she got to try at school on friday when one of the kids brought it for snack. I did tell Katie that one thing to keep in mind is that most fruits bought in the store especially up north dont taste anything like what they would fresh (I dont buy apples and cherries very often after living in the Okanagan!) and that what we need to do to really experience these fruits is to convince daddy that we absolutely must go to where they are grown... does anyone know where dragon fruit is from? and more importantly are there palm trees and beaches there too?

Back to work for us

2007-01-21T16:34:00.000-08:00

I was sorting through the picture files and found a few cute shots of Katie so I thought I would post them. Last week was my first week back to work and was a busy week for all of us. Katie went to Jolanda's for daycare while I was working. It is so nice to have Jolanda here to care for Katie, what peace of mind for all of us knowing that Katie is happy and safe. It was definately tiring for Katie though to play with Tessa and Vayda on top of her school and other activities - she didnt make it through supper the one night!

Rob ended up working lots last week which is great cause its been a slow start to the year - hopefully it will be busy from here on in. His helper is back from school and the truck is running good (touch wood) so he is eager to work. It has been warm too so its not that bad for him being outside working.

I enjoyed being back to work, it was a bit nerve racking as I have been off for a while but I think it will all come back easily. The staff here are so happy to have help so I got a very warm reception! The hospital is a fair bit smaller than Penticton (I think about 1/2 the size) so it will take some getting used to - some services and resources that I took for granted before are not available here, like a CT scanner and 24 hour respiratory therapists. As a result they tend to ship out the sicker patients but ER is still quite busy as they have to stabilize and then wait for transport to get here. The labor and delivery ward is also busy - they have 500 - 600 births a year at this hospital! I am starting in ICU but am going to orientate to ER and float which helps out everywhere.

Family day in a winter yard

2007-01-15T15:48:00.000-08:00

While Rob shovelled the driveway this afternoon I made a tobbogan run for Katie in the back yard. The snow drifts from last weeks blizzard were already about 4 feet high just off the deck so I added a bit more snow and groomed a saucer run out into the yard. It was cool! The snow is quite dry and doesnt pack very well so it was tough making stairs for Katie to get up the hill but in true kid style she struggled up with her saucer and then giggled the whole way down the other side. Jersey of course had to get in on the action and chased the saucer where ever it went.

Rob went into the house after a while to start dinner and made a coffee for me and pink milk for Katie which he passed out the kitchen window to us - nice to have that window opening onto the back deck!

It was another one of the fairly frequent times lately where I am so glad we moved up here. Just those hours we get to all spend as a family doing things - and things that I found harder to do with just Katie and I. I will try to post the video clip but I have never done one so not sure if it will work.

My Favorite Memories

2007-01-13T09:15:00.000-08:00

I love Kelly's slide show so I went to the link and did one too! Although I love Fort St John and am very happy we moved, I miss all my friends and family - so here is a slide show of some of my favorite memories with y'all. I wanted to put it to the theme song to Cheers but I am not that computer able so just sing it to yourself as you watch! I discovered that there are alot of people that I dont have pictures of... next time I visit I'll come armed with my camera!

Dog Sledding

2007-01-11T05:05:00.000-08:00

This past weekend we became true northern folk... we went to watch dog sled races. Am I now a true Canadian? lol. Actually it was amazing to watch, the dogs were not the big fluffy huskies I was expecting instead they looked kinda like fluffy labs. It was pretty cold outside that day but they didnt look cold at all and they were so noisy while waiting to run it was unreal. For each team they had about three people helping to hold the hyper dogs that were hooked up while they hooked up the others, got to the start line and then while waiting to countdown and go. The dogs were whinning, barking, jumping at the line and eachother and we even saw one spat, the minute they were counting down though, they all got quieter and as soon as they were running it was asolutely silent. They really were excited to run. Most teams were families and we saw several kids who looked about 12 helping to harness and hold dogs! The cages they keep the dogs in are small which I knew but I was kinda worried about how cold they must get on the highway. They didnt look heated and some had only wire along the door so you would think it would be very windy? The dogs all looked healthy though so it must be fine. Katie enjoyed watching and as she was dressed better than Rob and I, wanted to stay and watch more than we did!

Photos of Rob

2007-01-05T06:30:00.000-08:00

For Robyn in Australia - Its amazing isnt it?

For everyone else - Rob and I were "blog surfing" the other day - clicking on links off friends sites to see where other bloggers were from. Its amazing how global blogging is and cool to see peoples pics from parts of the world we have never seen, so anyways, Rob clicked on Robyn's link as she is in Australia and nearly fell over when a picture of her husband popped up... He and Rob look so alike its uncanny! I am not very good at blogging yet and I dont know how to put a link in - and dont know if Robyn would be comfortable with me linking to her page - so I will have to wait to see if they reply and then can maybe post some pics to show you - I commented for them to check out my blog for shots of Rob.
Typing this in I feel a bit odd - I know many bloggers surf other peoples sites but we rarely do and had never commented before to someone we dont know. Kinda weird to think of who might look at our family pics, hope I didnt freak them out either... "hi, we dont know you but were looking at your family pictures"... This new online world is odd to get used to - I wonder if our children will have problems with this when they are our age - will it become a more open but trustworthy world or will there still be peeping toms and such?

A Winter Trek

2007-01-05T05:55:00.000-08:00

Well, just a walk in the field really. Across the street from us the houses back onto a huge field , then railway tracks and some forested hillside. We hear and see people out there on ski doo's and quads all the time so we decided to go and check it out. Rob, Katie and I, oh and Jersey too, hiked across the field to the tracks and then down a bit and back to the house. It was deep snow but mostly hard packed so as long as we stayed on the sled tracks it was easy walking. The field is huge and continues on around the north west side of town all the way to the Alaska Highway and then goes into the forested hill a fair ways before houses start. Apparently the field is privately owned but the owners live in California. Rob and John went out the next day on the quads to check it out further and found a huge tobbogan hill and tons of trails. They got stuck a few times in the deep snow where they got off the ski doo trails and then hit water in some culverts they were driving through so they came home soaking wet but with huge grins of course! We will try to get out for a day of quading and tobboganing with the Poestch's if both guys are off work one day.

Happy New Year!!!

2007-01-01T10:22:00.000-08:00

Happy 2007 to everyone - hope you all had a great New Years Eve. For those of you with hangovers - best of luck. We are not hungover today but did go to a great New Years Eve party - one of the guys Rob works with and his wife stopped by our house last night to say hi and have a beer and then invited us to join them at the party they were on thier way to. We had decided to have our own party for just the three of us and so Katie and I had made appies, punch and got dressed up but it was pretty quiet, so we thought we'd accompany Jason and Amber - it was great. Katie was very welcomed and ended up in balloon wars with two of the dads there. Everyone else had arranged siters so she was the only kid - but she still enjoyed herself. They were a pretty great group - some family, some friends and we felt very welcomed as we have so many times up here. They had a karaokee machine going - what a blast - had I not been driving I would probably have gotten up but with my voice I definately need liquid courage, lol. The other moms all tried to get Katie to sing with them but she was too shy - and Rob of course was too shy, and he can actually sing half ways well. Anyways - we missed our old crew for sure and hope you all had a great time too. Here is Katie after we got home - the one guy had taken to decorating her with streamers so she was covered with them! It was also a hat party which was cool - katie wore her new toque and looked so cute.

Cousin Danni

2006-12-21T07:55:00.000-08:00

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

2006-12-20T21:26:00.000-08:00

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

2006-12-13T16:58:00.000-08:00

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

2006-12-11T06:11:00.000-08:00

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

2006-12-02T11:41:00.000-08:00

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

2006-11-24T19:38:00.000-08:00

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!

2006-11-22T17:44:00.000-08:00

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...

2006-11-19T15:00:00.000-08:00

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!

2006-11-17T22:07:00.000-08:00

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

2006-11-15T07:34:00.000-08:00

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

Our New Home in Ft St John

2006-11-14T18:16:00.000-08:00

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

2006-09-18T12:32:00.000-07:00

Jen, Rob & Katie

Katie's 5th Birthday - Family party

2006-09-03T16:45:00.000-07:00

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

2006-07-26T22:48:00.000-07:00

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

2006-07-26T22:31:00.000-07:00

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

2006-06-20T16:53:00.000-07:00

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

2006-06-19T08:23:00.000-07:00

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

2006-05-27T06:03:00.000-07:00

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

2006-05-27T05:44:00.000-07:00

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.

2006-05-25T20:17:00.000-07:00

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.