Pictures & Updates

It has been a very long while since I updated this page. I recently added a whole bunch of pictures to Facebook from the past half year that I have been delinquent, so I will share them here as well.

Pictures from January/February
- The birthday party we threw in January for Sally (an Asian-themed evening) which included making our own sushi. The food was fantastic!
- Our trip to Ottawa at the end of January to visit Stephen's parents. We had a great time visiting them and Stephen's grandpa. We got to walk the famed Ridueau Canal by the Parliament and have maple cones and beaver tails! On Stephen's birthday, Feb 2, we drove into Montreal so he could take me on a tour through more of the city (and have an amazing lunch of poutine with montreal smoked meat) and then we met some of his friends there for his birthday supper. What a great long weekend!

Pictures from March
- Mom and Dad's visit when they surprised us the week we moved into our new home (see the entry below).
-My friend Kelly's 5-year anniversary with company lunch (she got to choose her favourite restaurant, McDonald's, and her favourite guest, me).
- The Daffodil Days fundraiser I coordinated for the Canadian Cancer Society.
- Bowling with friends, including Kelly and her husband Chris.

Pictures from April/May
- We celebrated Easter at Jerry and Norma Jean's house with Joel and Becky and Michelle - they are Becky's parents but have become like Calgary "parents" to us, Sally and Michelle.
- We took Aunty Sharon and Uncle Jim to the Gaithers concert and had a fabulous time! They came for supper at our house beforehand.
- On the May long weekend we went to the Kananaskis Lakes for some hiking with friends. Glen and Lana are from the UK and we wanted to take them hiking there. We didn't realize there would be so much snow and although it was warm and beautiful in the city, it was cold out there. We had a fun time anyway!
- Stephen's friend Dean brought his son to our house one Saturday to hang out with us and play. He loved our backyard!

Trip to Banff & Lake Louise with the Archies
- My cousin Nancy and her family came to visit Aunty Sharon and Uncle Jim and we went with them one Saturday to Banff and Lake Louise. So much fun!

Trip to Blue Rock and Sheep River Falls
- Our bible study group from church went for a picnic in the mountains one Sunday after church.

Miscellaneous Pictures of Garden & Kitties
- These are pictures of our beautiful little garden with the pond in our new house. We also got two cats a few weeks after we moved into the house. We went to the Humane Society to "look" and ended up with two of them. We like to spend time in the garden with them watching them play and hunt.

And my most recent pictures -
- Canada Day lunch at Jerry and Norma Jean's with Sally and Michelle.
- A bike ride through Fish Creek Park.
- A rainbow after a thunderstorm.

New Home and New Job

Lots has been going on here and I will update soon but first the major changes.

Stephen and I bought a house. It's a long story but within 9 days of starting the process we became home owners. Everything just fell into place! We signed with a realtor on a Tuesday, viewed the house and made the offer on a Saturday, signed the papers on the Sunday and on Monday 3 weeks later, we were in our new home! It's beautiful and we love it!!

One of the best parts was that my mom and dad came to help us move. We had started packing right away because we were so excited, so the weekend before the move, we didn't have much work to do. On Friday we were wasting time by walking through Home Depot and got a call from my Aunty Sharon who lives in Calgary. She invited us for lunch on Sunday and said she had tried to call us at home but we weren't there. I told her we were at Home Depot and she asked some subtle questions to find out which one. I didn't catch on at all. Little did I know that my mom and dad were with her, having just driven up from Colorado, and as soon as she found out where I was she let them know and they hurried over.

As Stephen and I were leaving Home Depot, someone behind us asked "You didn't find what you were looking for?" I turned around and there were my parents! I couldn't believe it - I couldn't comprehend that they were standing in Home Depot in Calgary - they were supposed to be in Colorado! Mom said I backed up like I was seeing a ghost and then Stephen says I started laughing and crying at the same time. They came to help us move, and get some paperwork done for dad's Canadian pension. They were staying for a week! They were amazing! I don't know how I would have made it through the move without their help! It was so great to have them here and to have them help us with the move and the setting up of our house!

For pictures of the house, click here.
For pictures of the move and my parents visit, click here.

And on the work front, I got a promotion. As of April 16th I will be manager of community campaigns and fundraising events for the southern region of the Canadian Cancer Society - AB/NWT. A raise at this point is good and the job will be challenging but I look forward to the much-needed change!

Christmas Vacation

Right after Becky and Joel's evening wedding dinner on Saturday December 20th, Stephen and I rushed home to change and then left to drive overnight to Colorado! After a long and busy day, it was probably not the best idea, and we don't ever want to do that again, but we wanted to get to Colorado in time to spend a majority of the Sunday with my family. Kirsten and Jeff were already there at my parent’s house with my niece and nephew and they were leaving for a missions trip to Cameroon on Christmas morning so we had to get as much time with them as possible!

It was a difficult drive and we were exhausted when we got to Colorado on Sunday afternoon. Our family decided to celebrate our Christmas Eve traditions (kumla supper and opening presents) the night before Christmas Eve and celebrate Christmas day traditions (opening stockings and turkey dinner) on Christmas Eve so that we wouldn't be rushed on Christmas morning when we had to get the Kirsten's family to the Denver airport.

Stephen and I had been very busy in December and hadn't really gotten any Christmas shopping done before we left, so we only had Monday to do everything! We had one of the most quick and effective Christmas shopping trips we have ever had! Somehow we found just the right gifts and had a lot of fun doing it!

The next day we had our traditional Christmas Eve kumla and ham for supper and opened presents afterwards. Then we woke up on Christmas Eve morning to open stockings and prepare Christmas dinner. The turkey dinner was so delicious! I am not a huge fan of turkey - to me its only an excuse to have everything else that comes with the turkey - stuffing, green beans, potatoes, sweet potatoes, gravy, salad and pie! It's all so yummy! What a feast! Since it was still Christmas Eve, we went to the Christmas Eve service at dad's church that afternoon. It was a good service - singing the beautiful carols and glorifying God for His amazing gift of grace! We got home, did our annual Christmas family pictures and relaxed while Kirsten and Jeff and Olson and Kaelen did last minute packing for their trip to Africa.

They were going for several weeks. The missionaries were having a conference in Cameroon and Kirsten and Jeff were running children's programs for the missionary kids during the conference. My sisters and I spent years there as children and Jeff and Kirsten have been back twice since on missions trips, but Olson and Kaelen have never been there. Kirsten and Jeff were going to show Olson and Kaelen where we used to live and take them on safari at a game park. Then on their way back to the States, they would stop in Paris for a couple of days. My niece Kaelen would be in Paris for her birthday!

We took them to the airport the next morning on Christmas Day. We were so excited for their adventure ahead - especially for Olson and Kaelen! What a great experience for them! We got their bags checked in and saw them through security. They had 8 suitcases - 2 for them and the rest filled with gifts and supplies for missionary families in Cameroon and Chad. (Surprisingly all the suitcase except 2 made it with them to Africa. The other two bags arrived the next day so they weren't without them for long.) My parents and Stephen and I had our actual Christmas lunch at the food court of the Denver airport.

The rest of our 2 week vacation was spent relaxing, eating, shopping and visiting! We had a great time in Loveland with Mom and Dad and Teresa! The weather was beautiful and warm for most of the time. We drove to Estes Park into the Rocky Mountain National Park one day. Another day, we made the drive to Wyoming to visit my sister Melinda and her husband Cody! It was great to see them! On the way out there, we took a scenic route through the Rockies. We celebrated New Years Eve with home made ginger beef, cream cheese won tons (my favourite!) and a puzzle. And then on New Years morning, we've made it a tradition to watch the Rose Parade. On our last day in Colorado my parents took Stephen and I to tour the Red Rocks near Denver. There is a natural amphitheatre in the Red Rocks Park and they thought we would appreciate it. It's just beautiful there. They hold a lot of concerts in the amphitheatre, which overlook Denver in the distance. After we toured there, we went to visit my uncle and aunt on my mom's side, Ivan and Barb! They are so fun, we love to see them and we love to visit them when we're in Colorado.

Our drive home was good - we did run into some bad roads but it was easier because it wasn't overnight! All in all a great trip! It was sad to leave (I live way too far away from my family) but we were looking forward to get home to our friends and family here!

Becky & Joel's Wedding

Becky and Joel got married on Saturday, December 20th. A couple of weeks beforehand, the bridesmaids, Sally, Michelle and I, threw her a wedding shower. Because she has had her own house for years, she doesn't really need household items so we threw her a lingerie shower instead. It was a lot of fun!














































Stephen and I were both in the wedding - I was bridesmaid and he was an usher. It was a great day! I had spent the night before at Sally's house with Becky and the other 2 bridesmaids, praying for the day/new life ahead and getting ready. The hairdressers arrived at 8am Saturday morning and we got our hair and make up done and had a leisurely breakfast. Becky looked absolutely gorgeous!





















The ceremony was beautiful. Afterwards we went and had pictures taken. It was one of the coldest days of the month (-25 or something ridiculous) and we took a couple of pictures outside (us girls were in short strapless dresses and strappy heels, the guys were in kilts - it was extremely cold!). We kept warm in the cars as much as we could. Then we went to an art gallery for more pictures before going back to the wine and cheese afternoon reception at Norma Jean and Jerry's house.










































After that, we had a dinner with just immediate family and the wedding party. It was so yummy and the cake was gorgeous! Right after that was done, Stephen and I raced home to change and get in the car for a long overnight drive to Colorado. Details coming on that in the next blog!