Tuesday - school and car

Well Tuesday got us up bright and early for the first day of school. Steve went off early and we hitched a ride into town with Bernice. The opening assembly was held in the chuch starting at 8:15am where we were officially welcomed as teacher, students and family. After the assembly, we all gathered around the flag pole and sang the national anthem and pledge of allegiance! And then everyone went to their classrooms. Parents were welcome to a coffee or tea and visit the classrooms and see their kiddies all settled in. Both Jaclyn and Stefan were excited and of course, a bit apprehensive!

Jaclyn outside her locker with the little girls

Stefan at the front near the window

Jaclyn also at the front

Steve getting to know his students

I then went with Bea and our little girls to Second Chance (large second hand store) and shopped around for some bargains. Got some toys for the kids and clothes. We then went and had lunch at Bea where I took Liana and went home. They had great fun playing together.

Their 'ballet' dresses!!

Taleesha, Liana and Shantel

After school, we headed off to Blaine where there was a Toyota Sienna advertised. Blaine is about 45 minutes west and right on the coast. We looked at the car and took it for a test drive. We liked what we saw. It was at 2004 model and had every option thought of. It was the Limited XLE model and has moon roof, dvd player, power opening doors and hatch and lots of other little things we haven't discovered yet. So after a trip to the bank, we purchased the car and headed to Burger King for dinner as Jaclyn had driver's ed again and needed to be back in Lynden by 7pm.

Toyota Sienna Limited XLE 2004

We are very thankful that we now have our own vehicle and hope that she will last us many years (at least the ones we will be here!). 

Now we just need to do the transfers and associated paperwork.

Sunday and Monday

On Sunday we went to Bob and Debbie Lodder and had morning coffee and lunch. They had a lovely self-contained basement for any family or friends who might be needing accommodation (from Aus?). And they are about 5-8 minutes drive from us! We needed to hurry up on lunch again as we were heading over the border to Abbotsford church again and then to Selles' for the afternoon/evening. Approaching the road leading to the border was a row of cars! Just as well us locals (!) know the back roads and how to get in the front of the line! By doing this we got through in 10 minutes! Plenty of time before church started!! We had another beautiful sermon by Karlo and then headed off to Selles'. Ironically they live in Arnold! They have a beautiful place. It was built in 1946 or so and they modified and added to the house to make it look like a log cabin with lots of little improvements and interesting factors. The kids had a great time, the little ones with the toys and the older two with the pool table and air hockey table. We had a bbq outside and enjoyed hamburgers and salads finished off by delicious dessert! It was really neat to catch up again. And while there, Teresa decided to call her in-laws knowing we were there so we had a great catchup session! And all too soon, it was time to head back over the border and back home. The older kids dared me to drive and chat to the border staff thinking they'd grill me and give me a hard time. But it went without a hitch!

Bill and Irene

Monday was the last day before school. We headed down to Bellingham to check out Costco (a huge store that sells about everything and in bulk) and from there Jaclyn went out to lunch with her friends and Stefan went to a birthday party with his class mates. In the evening Jaclyn went off to driver's ed again.

Third week overview

Our third week is over and time is flying. We have met more people, and enjoyed their hospitality. On Sunday we met Rick and Janice deMooy, who live at the back of our place and had morning coffee and lunch, and for dinner (supper!) we went to Antina and Wayne Chase (Antina is John Janssen's sister!). Wayne will be one of Jaclyn's teacher's.

On Monday Jaclyn did her first driver's ed class. Two hours every Monday, Tuesday and Thursday for five weeks. She has enjoyed the classes so far. In fact, she is now driving on the road with us all in the car! Talking about cars, we still haven't bought one; we're just waiting for the right one! However, we have been able to borrow a car, so the need isn't urgent, except for the fuel. She drinks!!

On Tuesday, Jeanette Bouwman came over and passed on some toys for the little ones to play with. They love the variety and different type of toys! In the afternoon, Stefan and myself went to Bellingham and bought some clothes for school. Let's just say he has a particular taste for clothes.....!
An evening walk finished off the day.

Shantel walked on bare feet because that way her feet would get stronger!

This is opposite our house and a view of the Sumas range

On Wednesday, Bernice picked myself and kids up around 1pm and we went to her parents' place who have a pool with a glass cover which can be closed during inclement weather. The kids just loved the pool. Bernice's sister Stephanie lives right next and will also be Shantel's teacher. They have a boat so the older two went wake boarding since they live right on a lake! They all enjoyed themselves immensely. Later Steve joined us there and we had a bbq for dinner. Very enjoyable!

Thursday we went to the library and signed up there, checked out Second Chance (a huge second hand store) and then tried the wares at Lynden Dutch Bakery. Yum! It sure tasted good!

Friday late afternoon/evening we had John and Veronica Houweling over from Cloverdale for tea. We had tacos for dinner and had a great evening. Those Houwelings........

And Saturday we had rain when we woke up! Stefan helped a contractor next door dismantle a huge barn belonging to the Vreugdenhils. He cam home around 12pm. We had plans to go with Henry and Corrie Klos to go to a lake about 45 minutes away and go boating, skiing etc, but due to the weather being fairly fresh, decided to postpone it to a day with a bit more sunshine! Instead we went there for a bbq and the girls had a 'swim' in their hot tub!! Stefan got himself acquainted with their son Alec who will be the only other grade 9 student, and Jaclyn with Hannah who is in year 12. They all had a great time, especially when there's a quad bike around!

Henry and Steve

The girls and Vincent

And now it's 11pm and time to hit the sack. Next week school starts and with it early morning rises as school starts at 8:10am and finishes at 2:35pm! Fun, fun fun!

We are starting to feel at home and get a feel for the surrounds and driving on the wrong side of the road! The weather is also changing and fall is just around the corner.

We continue to thank God for the way we are adjusting here and being accepted by the people of ARC (American Reformed Church). It certainly is a blessing.

Second week overview

On the second Sunday in Lynden, we went for morning coffee/lunch at the Fabers, close neighbours. So many people are related, it will take a bit of time to work out which family is from which. We were going over the border to Abbotsford church for the 2:30pm church, so we had to rush lunch a bit. The border wait was about 20 minutes and we got to church a bit late. Karlo had a good sermon. The church brought back many memories from 6 years ago when we were there for Teresa and Alex's wedding. After church we met with Mrs Selles and had a good 'ole chat! We made arrangements to visit them in a fortnight's time.

We then went to Karlo and Annet's for afternoon tea and dinner. It was great to catch up again. Shantel got on well with Nyls who is about the same age and Taleesha and Sophy were close in age too. As it was getting on in time, we headed back. The border guy was very kind and let us through no problems.

Waiting to cross from US to Cananda

Shantel loved all the toys!

We had a bit of rain on Sunday morning which changed the whole appearance of the mountains!

The rain, unfortunately the camera focused on the flyscreen!

Some of the things we did this week was get Jaclyn some jeans and shorts for school. A big difference here is there is no uniform so it's free dress. The downside is you need a variety of clothes and within the guidelines. The only restrictions are shirts need sleeves, no slogans of sport teams, and shorts need to be the length of the tips of the fingers when straight down. The kids in primary school need to have two pairs of school, one pair that stays at school. This is because when it rains, it gets real wet and muddy and these are not allowed in the classroom. So they get taken off in the hall and swapped with indoor shoes, in winter these are often slippers/ugg boots!

Steve went in to school nearly all week, so I would drop him off and I would have access to the car. We went in to town and of course had to take a photo of the windmill!

The windmill. You can even sleep in it overnight for $79!

The biggest highlight for Lynden was the Northwest Washington Fair, a bit like the Kelmscott Show/Royal Show. Steve and the two oldest went on Monday night (it's open till 11pm) and the plan was to go to the Demolition Derby, however it was sold out :(   So they just checked out the rest of the fair. One thing that stood out, was no showbags!

On Thursday, Jaclyn went to the fair for the day with her friends. And Stefan went to Craig from next door and did all boy stuff like riding the quad bikes, help pick corn and shooting with a rifle (he was supervised).

On Friday we went into Bellingham and got Jaclyn's learning permit. Here you have to do a driving course with a driving school which includes 30 hours of theory and 6 hours of driving on the road. They then complete a knowledge test and the same driving instructor does the road test. 

We also inquired about our licence, and believe it or not, Washington and Australia does not have reciprocal arrangements and so we also need to do a knowledge test as well as a road test!! But we've been driving for two weeks already!!

Just for interest sake, we went and look at a motorhome and passed a park on the way home. 

 

Caters for all ages!

Saturday afternoon we picked up Elissa and Craig V (our neighbours kids) and took them to the fair. The kids went off on their own and we wandered around the fair. The icecream at the dairy stall serves BIG icecreams.

Now that's an icecream!

Yum - cotton candy aka fairy floss!

At 7pm, Steve and the older kids went and watched the Roar and Rumble ie monster trucks and motorbikes do their stunts. I went home with the kids and tucked them in bed, even though it was already around 9:30pm. In summer it gets dark here around 9pm!

And so that ends, our second week.

We are settling in more and getting things organised such as the bank, internet and health insurance etc. Now just a phone plan. Out here they are outrageously expensive and most need to be locked in with a phone/plan. Nothing cheap and simple here!

We are thankful for all that has taken place and pray that God will bless our time here in USA.

Our first week Part 2

On Wednesday and Thursday we went to Bellingham (about 20-30min drive) which is a bit like Carousel and has the government offices like Department of Licensing, Social Security Admin, Walmart etc. We also viewed a number of houses, but didn't find anything that suited our requirments. Steve also went to school a few times and got a feel of his classroom and even started preparing.

On Friday afternoon, Steve and Stefan along with Darryn and his two boys went camping overnight at Twin Lakes which is about 1 hour drive and very high up. They tented very basic and did hamburgers on the barbie, marshmallow and then bacon and eggs for the brekkie! They had a great time and camped just like you see on the advertising brochures. Couple of tents, camping chairs and right on the edge of a lake!

Stefan, Darryn, Seth and Samuel

Breakfast

Early morning scene

And we took the little girls to a park in Lynden. It was donated by businesses in Lynden and took 9 days to put together. They had a ball!

Shantel up top waving through the window

Taleesha - what fun!

Shantel

On Saturday, we went to Marvin and Bernice (our neighbours) for a bbq and a tour of the farm. 

Very gezellig! Stefan got to ride the quad and the big John Deere tractors. Right up his alley!

And that ended our first week! We enjoyed beautiful weather and are starting to settle in. 

We thank God for His goodness.

Our first week Part 1

Our first week in Lynden was lovely weather, even warm! Catching up with the laundry (I love the dryer!), doing a bit of grocery shop and finding out the equivalent items in pounds and ounces, oh boy, what are we in for! But most things come big. 1 gallon of milk, 1 gallon bottle of juice, big bottles of Gatorade..... And the selections are plenty!

Tuesday, we went to the bank and opened up an account. Unbelievable experience. You write checks, you get paid by checks, you pay your bills by checks. Paying by direct debit is only just coming in and to do that you first have to apply and then the bank will arrange the payment! Netbank is virtually non-existent, but maybe in the next 10 years they'll be up to speed.

Tuesday afternoon we headed up to Mt Baker with Darryn and Bea and their kids. There was still snow, or rather ice, on the peaks and the kids loved it. Went for a hike and admired the views! We then went down a ways and had dinner. Got home pretty late but was well worth it!

The sun was quite bright!

Katlyn and Taleesha - 6 months apart

The midgies were bad and no, it's not an aeroplane!

Taco dinner

To one side of the house is cornfields and out the back some blackberries. We were allowed to pick the berries so the girls had a great time! We even had them dessert.

Corn to the right. Shantel held something up just as I took the photo!

Picking the berries, but very cautious of the thorns!

Yah! Internet is connected so here goes....!

After a few dramas getting connection and network, we finally have internet. So this may be along update, or I might split it up.

Saturday, 3 August.
After a good sleep and a sleep-in due to blockout blinds, we headed downstairs for our complimentary breakfast. We could choose from muffins, bagels, waffles, yoghurt, porridge, fresh fruit and juice, coffee, tea, hot chocolate - yum!

After packing, we hauled all our suitcases down the lift and outside the lobby for the last time! Darryn picked us up around 10:30 and we had the luggage all lined up!

The row of luggage!

After loading up the van, we headed for Lynden. We went to Darryn and Bea's house for lunch and catching up. They have a lovely spacious house and lots of room for playing outside. After lunch which was probably more like 2pm, we headed for our house. We live in Sumas which is about 1km away from the border. We are surrounded by mountains on one side and cornfields on the other. Very quiet and peaceful.

We arrived to a quaint cottage completely refurbished. It has all new cabinets, flooring, curtains etc.

East side of the house and the door. Shantel is at the entrance.

West side and the front door which we don't use.

Taleesha at the door

Family/lounge. Kitchen is on the left

Kitchen

Jaclyn's room

Shantel and Taleesha's room

Recreation room. Stefan's bed is behind the partition, the doors are Jaclyn's room (left) and the little girls room (right)

Stefan's area

Recreation room from opposite angle. The girls love their doll house and tent!

Our room

We had beautiful flowers on the table to welcome us and the fridge/freezer stocked for several days with bread, milk, and other basics! After unloading all the luggage into the house, we started unpacking and putting things away. We were invited to Darryn and Bea's for dinner, so we had to stop halfway and head out again. We are about 12-15 minutes away from church and another 5 minutes from the town. After a delicious dinner and and more conversation, we headed home and crashed.