Thanksgiving, a snow teaser, Lynden Lighted Parade and a bit more!

Well, it's been awhile! Lots has happened since the last post, so let's recap!

After our anniversary, the kids had Book Character day and had to dress-up as their favorite book character. For Shantel, that wasn't hard. Since she loves fancy and all things la-dee-dah, she was...... Fancy Nancy! And well, Steve was easy. Fancy Nancy's dad!

Anthea's school in Yarrow had the exact same event on the same day, so can you guess who she is?

Yep.... Pippy Longstockings!

They had a fun day, and had hot lunch as well. About once a month, the kids get a hot lunch. They get either chicken burgers, chicken nuggets, corn dogs, grilled cheese along with a drink. In the in-between weeks, kids also get pizza for lunch. The kids love it and so do I!

The next day was Thanksgiving (Thursday). We could reflect on the many things we could be thankful for in the past year. We had a church service in the morning and later in the afternoon headed to DeMooy's for dinner. It was a very enjoyable afternoon/evening and lots of food! It was late by the time we got home, and we only live around the corner!

After dinner, the kids watched a movie and we enjoyed dessert in peace!

And of course, the pavlova!

The forecast for that weekend was very cold i.e. -9 celcius at night. During the day we were having wind chills of around -22 degrees. Freezing!

The tops of the mountain were getting icing sugar dusting (snow!)

On Friday afternoon we headed off to the warm pools in Abbotsford with the Kleyn family. Everyone loved the water and it was with regret that we had to leave! When we got outside, it was flurrying and  very cold!

When we got home and after dinner, it started snowing in earnest. The kids were very excited. But alas, after an hour or so, it got too cold and snow stopped. Hopefully we get more in the coming weeks!

On Monday Jaclyn's friend Aliesha arrived for her two month stay here in the States! Let's just say we have two very happy girls!

And on Tuesday, after passing all the loops and regulations, I had to go to Everett (1.5hrs drive one way) and finally got my Washington drivers license! Yay! Very happy! 

Saturday night was the Lighted Parade in Lynden, so we headed downtown and met up with the Klos'. Here are the girls with Vincent.

Compared to last year (our first year which was freezing cold and we didn't last longer than 15 minutes), it was a beautiful evening. The rain held off and there was no wind and it wasn't too cold either. The parade was well done, with all the vehicles lit up with little lights. After the parade, we headed to Klos' for a hot chocolate to warm us up. We had a great evening.
(But guys, you'll need to do something about that egg nog recipe!).

Anthea and Shantel decided to dress up our lounge window with paper snow flakes. Didn't they do a great job?

On Friday night we went to see the Messiah sung right here in Lynden! Always very moving and it was beautiful to listen too! 

On Tuesday we had our Christmas Ladies Bible Study Social. Lots of good food and the gift exchange game is always fun!

Basketball season has begun. Both Jaclyn and Stefan are looking forward to some exciting games!

And as we head into winter, the Canadian geese are on the move and heading south. Here they are honking their horns!

We've had some rain, some (very strong) winds and the outlook is some sunny weather at least till Tuesday!

Only one more week to Christmas break! Next Friday is the last day of school and the high-schoolers get to go ice skating and the elementary kids roller skating!

And more week for Anthea's friends to arrive! We will have one busy and noisy household! Fun times!

Well that's the recap. Thanks for looking!

We hope this finds you in good health.

Till next time.

Wreaths and an Anniversary!

Two main events this week: Wreath making and our 22nd anniversary!

Wednesday was wreath making day. We had about 100 orders to fill and so the ladies came when they could and put their hammer and clipping skills to the test and put together wreaths and swags! A bunch of us would make the wreaths and another group would then decorate with cones and ribbons.

And on Friday, we were able to celebrate our 22nd wedding anniversary! In those years, we received 5 healthy children, we have lived in 5 houses (one just for 8 weeks!), moved to another country on the other side of the world, had happy and sad times, and a wonderful community of family and friends in at least 3 countries! We have been very blessed and we thank our heavenly Father for His care over us. We pray He may continue to be with us in the coming years and grant us what we need in our current place here in the USA. Over here we are richly blessed with a caring communion of saints and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all you have done for us, and continue to do. You know who you are!!

So on Friday, my hubby presented me with a beautiful bunch of 12 red roses! 

So sweet! He said, 'you don't get flowers from me often, so enjoy them while you've got them'!!

As a gift from the kids, they sent us to Harrison Hot Springs for an overnighter! Wow! We left soon after Steve came home, although at this point, he just thought we were going out to dinner (I secretly had packed a suitcase and already had it in the car!).

He did get a bit suspicious that we had to drive an hour to have dinner. But he wisely said nothing! We finally arrived and I left the suitcase in the car and proceeded to the lobby for registration. Steve was a bit confused as to why we needed to register if we were just going for dinner. I then tried to block Steve from hearing the lady at the desk but he overheard the overnight and breakfast words! Then he realized we were actually staying overnight. And so then, we had to get the suitcase!

 Hotel and lobby

First thing we did was head to the Lakeside Cafe for our dinner; we were starving! There was wonderful selection of meats and salads and of course dessert. It was all very delicious!

This was the night view out of the restaurant window. Pretty lights decorating the trees.

The hotel knew it was our anniversary and very thoughtfully had a card and a plate of chocolate strawberries for us to enjoy! They were very good!

After dinner we headed to the outdoor pools and spas. There is a total of 5 with varying temperatures with some for families and others just for the adults. All the pools are heated by the hot springs located just outside the hotel. The pools were heavenly and so relaxing. It was a cold evening, and it even rained but it was so nice in the pools. Just what the doctor ordered especially since it was report time and Steve had to work to a deadline!

The following morning we headed to the same restaurant for breakfast. Another treat!

This happy chappy made the omelets. He was quite the character and had us chuckling with his quirky mannerisms!

Our very healthy and delicious omelet!

There was also a great selection of sausages, bacon, scrambled eggs, as well as yoghurts, cereals, cooked oats, breads and breakfast muffins! 

Remember the night lights. Well, this was the vision in the morning from the same window!

This was another view from our dining table overlooking the lake/lagoon.

After breakfast, we headed off to the pools again. It was just so relaxing, we had to hurry to get out by checkout (11am)!

After checkout, we went for a walk to the spring's source. Very interesting history. While the indigenous people already knew of the spring's existence and believed in their healing properties, it was 'accidentally' found by some people who's boat capsized and they expected the water to be freezing cold, and instead found out the water was pleasantly warm!

The view of the Resort. Restaurant is on the left and the hotel on the right.

And the spring's source. 

Looking back at the hotel. Centre of the pic with the green box on the roof.

After we left Harrison, where we said we could easy come again (!), we visited Tante Fien while we were in the area (Abbotsford) and enjoyed some time with her. We then headed home and got back around 4pm. 

Everything on the home front was great! Sunday cake was in the oven, gingerbread men in the cookie jar, washing done and folded, and kids happy we were home! Thanks for a great time kids! We loved it!

This week's highlight will be Thanksgiving. We have Thursday and Friday off, church on Thursday morning and dinner at friends at 4pmish! Can't wait!

That's it for this week! Thanks for looking!

Shantel's potlatch, frozen waterfall, and Dine and Dash!

This update will be a two week update. Mostly because we've been busy on Saturday nights which is my 'blog night'!! 

Daylight saving is over so we are back to 16 hours behind. The weather is cooling down. Last week we had lots of rain, then 4 days of wind. Bitterly cold with temps of around 3 degrees during the day and below zero during the night. The furnace is on, water in puddles froze over, and then we had gorgeous days of sunshine. Very deceiving because you see the blue blue sky and think, must be beautiful outside. So you head outside and suck in the cold air and you have to take another breath because the cold air takes your breath away, and you quickly head back inside!!

Here's some comparison photos of fall on the mountain behind us. It's a little bit deceptive because the first photos taken in September was on a sunny late afternoon. The comparison photo was just taken a week ago but on a sombre overcast day. But you can see the effects of fall!

We had an eventful morning one day when the council (county) tree loppers came and chopped the branches on a tree on our property which were growing through the powerlines. I think there were about 3 trucks and 1 car and a total of 7 personnel. Once they finally got set up, there were two working; one was cutting down the branches and another was picking up the branches that had fallen and feeding them into the mulcher. The other five were standing around watching! Oh and two were holding the lollipop signs on our super busy road! Okay, that was sarcastic! We get a car going past every hour or so!

The story doesn't end there. After about half an hour of chopping and feeding the mulcher, they quit work and packed everything up. The trucks backed up on the packing area opposite our house, and everyone hopped back in their trucks and cars and they sat there. For an hour they sat there, probably having lunch. Well after the hour was up, everything went back again. Witches hats back in place, lollipop ladies holding their signs again, the trucks back near the tree and they started work again. I don't know how long they worked for because I had to leave, which I had to stop at the first lady and wait for her to radio to the second lady so that I could go past safely, but I did have to laugh!

Shantel had been studying about the first Indians and how they lived and to culminate their topic, they had a Potlatch event for the parents. Even the big chief was invited and he came in a canoe.

Some of the kids read some reciting, they sang a couple of songs and even gave gifts to the big chief. Here Shantel is presenting the chief a 'woven hat'!!

Afterwards we got to sample some salmon, cookies, cake and candy. It was nice to see the kids show what they had learnt.

For Taleesha's birthday, she got a chalk/whiteboard. The girls just love drawing on it and I saw Taleesha draw this! Very artistic!

One Friday night, we headed to a local joint in Sumas for a hot cuppa. Comfy couches in front of the fireplace (okay it was fake but still very cosy!)

It's a real 'gezellig' place with decorations on the walls including a moose head hanging over the fireplace.

These are not giant marshmallows but wrapped bales which gets mixed with other grains and given to the cows.

Coming home from church last week the view was just majestic; low clouds, the colors of fall and green fields. The photo doesn't really do justice.

John and Veronica came over last Sunday and the girls, particularly Taleesha just really clicks with him. He got roped into playing games with them and reading books!

Every fortnight, Cassie and Taleesha switch houses and play together. This week was Cassie's turn at our place and they had lots of fun. They were allowed to watch an episode or two of Chuggington and they loved it!

On Friday night, we had our annual fall Dine and Dash. We served appetizers at our house and enjoyed prawn cocktail, prawn crackers, mini spring rolls, chicken wings and guacamole with 8 guests. We then moved onto the next house for dinner where we had gourmet. Delish! We then moved on to the next house for desserts. It was a very enjoyable evening, where we met at least 12 couples! 

The waterfall has frozen over or at least most of it, so Anthea and Stefan headed out there to check it out! 

Saturday afternoon we had some family photos taken so we'll had lots of shots taken. Check this space to see them once they become available!

Here's one of Shantel in the autumn leaves!

Saturday night saw us head off to Bellingham with Darryn and Bea for an evening out! We had Thai food for dinner and then Starbucks to warm up! We had a great evening guys!

Well, that's our update for the past fortnight! 

We hope this finds you in good health in whichever corner of the globe you live!

Thanks for looking!