New Adventure...

It's Valentine's Day, so I am going to write about the man I love. ♥

Well, it's been quiet around our house for the last few weeks. My husband, Steve, has gone to work for awhile in Alberta. He got a job for a trucking company out there, and has been having all kinds of adventures. He has the excitement of a little boy who is getting to play with mighty machines! We are all super excited for him because the desk-life job was just not agreeing with him anymore... he loved his years on the farm, but now, being in town and having a home office, he would look out the window and long to be outside. Now, he gets to do that again!

In January, Steve went through a driving course to get his Class 1, and he got his license on January 24th. On January 25th he got a job... he didn't even have to apply for it, they called him! After completing a series of courses to get 8 safety tickets (I have no idea what they all are, but they include First Aid, TDG, and H2S, plus a bunch more!) so that he could drive on and around oilfields, he set out with another driver for a trip north... way north... like 13 (+) hours north of the Alberta border into the Northwest Territories. That is a land of glorious sunsets, ice roads and small trees.

Along the way, while he wasn't driving, Steve has been sending me pictures. I thought I would share a few on here.


The frozen MacKenzie River... think "Ice Road Truckers" :)


The road goes right over the frozen river! They had to cross the river like this in 2 spots each way.


Steve said it was a bit of a strange feeling to see these ferries parked like this.


He has sent me some amazing sunset pictures. I hope one day I get to take this trip with him!


This week, they are doing some local (around Edmonton) runs and hoping for another northern assignment soon.

Victoria & Goodbye Summer

School starts in 4 days. I'm ready! The kids are ready, too! Elise can't wait to get started in Kindergarten, and the boys are eager to see their friends again.

So... we had one last hurrah before heading back to routine. We took a trip over to Victoria. Time with friends, a little touristy stuff, a visit with my Granny in the care home.... it was a great week! Plus, my parents have acreage, so there was always lots for the kids to do to keep busy!

Here are a few of the highlights from the week.

Family Time...

My kids with their Great Granny.


Some fun with different features on my camera... black and white and some blur.






Building Time...

The kids and Steve and I (mostly Steve and the kids :) have been working on a play fort in the back forty of my parents' place. I was on cougar and bear alert because there have been sightings of both in the area this summer.



Friend Time...

We got together with Tricia and the boys at a park in Sidney for a couple hours to play. Later in the weekend, we also hooked up with Todd's old school buddy that has moved over to the Island. That was a lot of fun, too. I don't have pics to share from that. (yes, of course I TOOK pictures, but I am not going to post them :)



Game Time...

So many games of Chinese Checkers and Battleship took place over the week that I lost count! The kids really loved playing these games, so I am going to have to add them to a shopping list at some point! We have lots of games, but these 2 games are not ones we own.



Scott took this black and white. I just love how he took it from a different perspective.


Fun Time...

After visiting Granny, we went to the Beacon Hill Drive-In for ice cream. Yikes! These bowls were HUGE... way too much for one kid. They didn't need to eat lunch that day :)


Farm Time...

I posted a few weeks ago about my dad's chickens. The kids had fun feeding them, and watching them... it was also an excuse to not finish their dinner, "But mommm, Papa said the chickens would really like to have some of my dinner!" Ok, whatever Papa says!



This was so cute. We were walking up the driveway with my dad and he was showing me his plum tree. Just as he was saying, "It didn't even give me one lousy plum..." We both spotted it! A beautiful, ripe, delicious yellow plum! Further searching yielded 2 more plums from this tree, and one from another tree. Enough plums for each of the kids and Papa!!


E is such a poser. This was take 5 of her standing beside this sunflower. I just wanted to show the height of the flower, and she had to show off a bit! Dad's sunflowers were a bit short this year because they were all volunteers. I love sunflowers.



Tractor driving lessons with Papa. Out of all the kids, Elise was the only one that wanted to steer the tractor. The boys just wanted to go along for the ride. After her turn was done, she said, "I am such a good driver, I didn't even hit any of the cars in the driveway." Well, I hope not!


On Sunday afternoon, we went to the Beacon Hill Petting Farm after church for a little bit. Elise has been there before, but it was the first time for the boys. They instantly fell in love with all the little pygmy goats!







Bed Time...

The sunsets in Victoria were just glorious. Night after night of beautiful skies. I couldn't believe how there was so much colour every night, but each night was different. Here are pics from 2 different nights.

Vivid pinks and purples one night...


And bright orange on another night that bounced off the water of the Bay and made a beautiful backdrop for the silhouettes.

Happy Anniversary!

It was the Summer of '69.......

More than just Bryan Adams can sing about that great summer, and the history made in the summer of '69. My mom and dad tied the knot August 16th of that year, and it was a strong knot that can't be broken.

Happy 42nd anniversary, Mom and Dad!

Later this year, Steve and I will celebrate our 10th anniversary, and when I asked him what we should do to celebrate, he jokingly said, "well, you're going to Norway with your mom!" I think that is more fittingly what my dad should say to my mom, because here we are, on the other side of the world, and he is at home without her on their anniversary - probably eating chicken noodle soup. Hope you're having a great day, dad. We'll see you soon!!

I know that some of these photos have appeared in my posts before, but I still love these snapshots of my parents together.



This is where it all began... the lighthouse at the end of the breakwater in Victoria - my dad proposed and she was speechless. So half an hour later, he asked again! hahah! I guess she thought she'd answered him. So she made sure she said "yes" out loud that time!!


August 16, 1969. So cute! They've hardly changed a bit!

Summertime

Whether the weather is telling us it's summertime, or not, the time off and laid back pace of each day clearly says "Summer!"

Earlier this week, my sister and her family came for a visit. We had so much fun together, but the time went too quickly. We managed to pack in quite a bit to our few days together. Waterpark, Elise's b-day party, adventures on the skytrain and a visit to Science World. In between all that were Popsicles, bouncing on the tramp, movies, coffee (lots of coffee!) and shared meals. Thanks for a great visit, Louise and Miles. So great to see your growing family.

Here are a few pics from the week.

My sister is the best at braiding hair... she did E's hair up really cute, right off the bat when they arrived. Louise has 4 boys, so she wowed her husband with her skills - he hadn't ever seen what Louise could do with long hair!!


Liam and Elise - best buds!


The 3 boys that are the same (within 11 months) age.


A sister is a forever friend.


The whole crew at the waterpark - enjoying pizza and cupcakes for Elise's 5th birthday.


On our way into the big city (Vancouver :) for a day at Science World.



We made it there, and back - no problem!! This pic below is of our way home, and we let 3 trains go by before we decided to split up and squish on. The trains were packed.... but it was afternoon rush hour. This was after a few stops and many people had already gotten off. Before this pic, I couldn't even see Louise's family - just knew they were on the same train because Cole was talking to everyone!! We all made home safe and sound!


All the kids posing for Grammie on the play fort!


Come back soon!!

Running for Water

Today was the 4th annual Run For Water in our city, and I ran it with my boys (well, we 3 ran it, but not really "together"!) This race raises money for clean water in Ethiopia, and there were 2814 runners participating today in four different distances (5K, 10K, 1/2 Marathon and Marathon) and over $200,000 raised! Amazing!

Both the winner of the 1/2 Marathon and the winner of the full Marathon were running for their first time at that distance, and won. I thought that was pretty cool!

Our race clothes laid out last night:


The three of us started off together, but I had told the boys that if they stuck together, they did not have to wait for me. They were happy about that, and just went for it!!


The boys left me at the starting line, and I only had sight of them until the first bend in the road about 3/4 of a km into the run. Then I didn't see them again until after the race. They finished 8 minutes ahead of me!

Off to a good start......


Todd placed 9th in his age category! Scott finished at the same time as him, but was in the 8-12 year old category, so it was a bit more difficult to place in the top 10! So proud of my boys.


With some friends... their oldest daughter placed 6th in her age category for the 5K, and their oldest son placed 2nd overall in the 10K, which put him first in his age category. These kids are amazing (there are 6 of them!) and they all ran, including their parents!! Elise is proudly holding a medal in this pic, but she just borrowed it for the photo - didn't want to be left out just because she didn't race!!!

The race day events were great, too. Bouncy castles, slides, food, free Starbucks coffee, and lots of music. A really well-planned, and well-attended community event, with global focus.



My boys really loved the food tent for runners. Water, fruit, power bars. I think they really just wanted to run the race so they could eat the food at the end!!! Oh, and Todd wanted a medal :) He said he is now going to collect medals!