Saturday, December 17, 2011

The gang's all here...



We picked Lorelle up from Seattle airport this past Wednesday. There's been the usual end of school activities - recitals, rollerskating, etc. and now it's time to relax and have some days off... Lorelle spent a few days taking care of Vinny - he loved the attention so much he wouldn't go down for his nap!! Today the girls went skiing on Mount Baker - here they are all packed and ready to go.

Thanksgiving 2011








This past Thanksgiving we went overnight to Whistler. It was a wonderful little getaway with no stress of hosting a big Thanksgiving dinner. We just picked up KFC & added a few bottles of sparkling apple cider and called it good. It was actually really good... Here's a few shots of the kids enjoying the snow & the beautiful heated pool & hot tub outside our room.

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

November Update


Well it's definitely time to update my blog but I've got that dragging feeling I get when the sun doesn't shine much and the rain and clouds are just too familiar a scene... Jocelyn and I are trying to be more faithful in taking the proper dosage of Vitamin D as we're both low - even in the summer. I just keep reminding myself that to get to Spring weather we've got to get through winter. Hopefully this year we'll get an early spring - we can only hope :) So what's new? A quick look at my calendar tells me there's been just a lot of the regular, run of the mill sort of activities going on the past month. I was on a veggie pak committee (fundraiser), played volleyball each Monday evening (Jocelyn plays this year too), worked part time, helped at the school library, participated in Dine n Dash and then last week got together with some wonderful friends on a yearly overnight retreat. The weather was cold & sunny - absolutely beautiful!! DeRoche sits on a hillside overlooking the Fraser Valley (Chilliwack area) and it's the most peaceful and beautiful location. On Nov. 18 we remembered our 22nd Anniversary - and hope to celebrate when Lorelle is home by going out for dinner together. Jocelyn is finishing up her first quarter at Whatcom and has enjoyed it for the most part. She's just choosing her next courses & hopes to continue working part time as she studies. Other than that - not much to add. We are really looking forward to having Lorelle home in December - it feels like a LONG time since we've been together. We're looking forward to planning some family outings & just spending time together.

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Vinny's First Birthday






Here's a few pictures of Vinny's first birthday party this past weekend. It seems hard to believe he's been with us for almost a year - at just under 2 weeks old he came to us from the hospital weighing a bit over 4 pounds. This past year has flown by - we don't know his future but it has been a blessing to have him as part of our family these past 12 months.

Monday, October 10, 2011

September 2011




It's been quite a while since I posted - and that's mostly because our new computer just won't allow me to download from my camera. I've always thought that a post without photos is just boring, Well I guess I'll go with boring - I give up fighting with my computer. The last month has been filled with the regular busy-ness plus lots of canning - peaches, pickles, beans, applesauce, salsa as well as freezing swiss chard, sugar peas and a variety of berries. Each time I'd say I was absolutely done someone would ask if I wanted something they had too much of and I couldn't resist. It's worth it... I just love pulling out a jar of something at dinner and knowing exactly what I'm eating - and it tastes amazing too!!!

This past weekend was somewhat relaxing - CCS had a Fall Break - so our younger two had Thursday till Monday off. The weather was mostly nice - with Monday being rainy & dreary. I "threw out" my back so I felt like an old lady all weekend - blaaaahhh. I was quite proud to have been running consistently for an entire year - twice a week - up to a mile and a half. I had to break that record because of my back but hope to pick it back up so I can run a 5k next month...

This weekend we hope to celebrate our little guy's first birthday - a few special people in his life will come to celebrate with him. Looking forward to putting an online album together for his first year of life. We will miss Lorelle - can't wait for Christmas break.

Saturday, September 17, 2011

Not sure about that...

Here Alec is playing blocks with V - and teaching him to knock down his tower. At first V did not think it was much fun at all - especially when we all laughed at his shocked expression!


Good-bye

We came back from boating last Saturday to a beautiful gift basket from our renter - Laetisia found an apartment to share with a few other girls & has moved out of our room above the garage. We loved getting to know her & having her around - we'll miss her but I'm sure we'll see her for dinner a time or two...

Soccer Season

Soccer season has begun - Alec is playing in the Lynden Youth Sports League as well as CCS's soccer team. Here he is at one of his first games at LYS - on the one picture you see the back of him and one of his good friends on the opposite team - both given the same number - what are the chances??


Bath time for our little man...

Our little man is still living with us - he'll be turning one next month. He's so much fun - here he is enjoying bath time. He's starting to realize that when he's naughty he has an audience & can cause much laughter.. Who can stay mad at such a cute face?


Camping Trip to Lake Osoyoos / Oroville,WA

We enjoyed an extra long weekend away at one of our favorite camping spots - Osoyoos Lake in Oroville, WA. We just had the youngest two with us. It's usually hot and dry as it's on the other side of the mountains & gets very little rain. We spent most of the time on the boat - sometimes just relaxing in the water and other times skiing. I still enjoy a good round - but tried to slalom and the closest I got was a few seconds out of the water. So sad... I'll try again next year :)








Wednesday, August 24, 2011

August 2011





Well, I realize that August has just flown by & if I don't post soon I will not have posted at all this month!! It's been a very busy month with visitors - but the camera was never used - what a shame!!! First we had my sister & her family as well as my niece and her family over for a weekend. We took the boat out on the lake on the Saturday and for the rest just enjoyed time with them. Too bad we didn't get pictures of my niece's boy Ezra - he's about the same age as Vinny and it was fun to see them interact. A week later we had friends from Iowa come to visit - they have been very good to Lorelle while she's been studying at college in their town. It's her "home away from home" and we definitely understand why she enjoys seeing them. Here's just one picture of their youngest one - so cute!!

There's been lots of coming & going in our family this summer. Jocelyn left to work in Ontario, came back & left a day later for a 2 week mission trip to Mexico, then came back for a week and left for Police Academy in Yakima, WA. Lorelle stayed closer to home working at Premier and has now left for her 3rd year of College. Henry drove with her to Winnipeg where he could have meetings at his head office and Lorelle was able to spend some time with a significant other :)

So far we've not gone away on vacation so we've decided to take a long weekend away camping in the interior of BC. Looking forward to hot & sunny weather and making good use of our boat. See you later!!!

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Our little man is growing...




Stepping Stones Bible Camp 2011

This was the first year that A went to Stepping Stones - and I was privileged to be one of the cooks for this week long camp. I don't have the greatest photos to show because I was basically busy in the kitchen from morning to night - with just enough time to get into a little bit of trouble with the campers & counsellors. It was a wonderful experience serving & watching the campers and counsellors as they learned more about God's will in their lives and sing songs of praise to their creator. A would really like to go back again next year.




Summer - will it ever arrive?









Okay, so here are a few pictures that show that we enjoyed a day out on the water with our boat. It has been unseasonably cold & rainy up until now - with a few nice summer days in between. Needless to say we've not gotten a lot of use out of our boat. Here we are on the 4th of July at Harrison Lake - a VERY cold lake in BC. We did make it back in time to enjoy the 4th of July fireworks.