Baby Jack

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!!!

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

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.