Basketball winners, 'Down Under' Dinner/Fundraiser and Snow!

Tuesday night was Jaclyn's team (Cougars) final game. It was either win or loose! They had a tough game with lots of excitement and the fans roaring in the bleachers. And they won! By one point! Wow! It was so exciting to watch. Cougars did a great job and each player was awarded a trophy! Great way to end the season.

Here they are with their trophies!

On Wednesday, Shantel had a special visitor at preschool. Miss Betty and her dog Bethers came to visit them at kindergarten. Miss Betty has been blind from birth and goes to our church, and so the kids were very excited to have her come. She printed out their names in Braille and gave each kid their name on a card. The best part was when Bethers was allowed off her harness and off duty so that the kids could pet her and also freely explore the room! Bethers also go the church and quietly sits in the pew and the kids all know they are not to touch or pet her when she is on duty. 

 Here Miss Betty is handing out their name cards in Braille. (sorry for the blurry photos)

And Bethers exploring! Yes, she is a poodle as Miss Betty is allergic to labradors. Bethers is a very smart dog and according to Miss Betty can be just like children; if she doesn't feel like doing something, she'll do anything to get out of it!!!

Excitement and planning has been building for months as a dinner/fundraiser for the school was planned for Friday with the Aussie 'Down Under' as theme! So Thurday/Friday the school gym was transformed to a beach scene with a jetty and seagulls perched on poles. Beach balls, thongs (flip flops), towels and a hammock was another display which made you miss home!

There were items on display for both the silent and live auction. These ranged from food hampers, tools, embroidery, jewelry, tools, cakes to paintings, toy pedal tractor, bbqs, holiday vacation rentals and cute golden retriever puppies!

The food has an Australian slant ie sausage rolls, spicy chilly mussels and meat pies, marinated ribs, prawns and salads. Dessert was lamingtons, pavlova and a mini cheesecake.

It was all very well done and a great evening. A ventriloquist was flown in from California as entertainment and a local auctioneer for the live auction.

The transformed gym

Our table

Dinner

Justin and his puppet Luigi

The welcoming beach scene

The beach scene stage

Have you ever heard a real auctioneer? This one is a local and he was good! So good, you couldn't understand what he was saying half the time......or maybe it was American accent!

We had some beautiful sunsets this week (photos courtesy of Stefan)

Jaclyn got her driver's license this week and is very happy to be able to drive solo when necessary.

The stomach bug hit our house this week. Shantel copped it first and today Jaclyn and myself were hit. We are just starting to feel human again.

And to top it off, it started snowing overnight. It snowed all day and is still snowing with forecasts saying it may well snow all day Sunday. But we just saw it from our bedroom window. Steve and girls headed out and made a huge snowman! They loved it out there!

And that concludes our week. Hoping you all had a good week. Thanks for looking!

The weather and Mt Baker

This week was interesting with a range of weather. We've had sunshine, freezing weather conditions with icy roads, strong winds and rain. 

The waterfall has melted again and it's flowing with water once more.

Back in Australia, Alex and Megan had their engagement get together/farewell party. Anthea and Estelle put together a beautiful cake. They did a great job and the end result was spectacular.

The silhouette was based on Alex's proposal to Megan at the skating rink!

PS They have since left Australia and are back in Hamilton.

Jaclyn and Stefan's basketball games are wrapping up. Stefan has finished but Jaclyn is in the finals next week. She is looking forward to it!

We are currently on winter break with Thursday, Friday and Monday off. So on Friday, Steve, myself and Stefan went with Henry and his son Alec to Mt Baker and did some skiing and snowboarding. It was perfect weather conditions. No wind and it was gentling snowing all day. It was my first time on the slopes and so I spent an hour or two on the bunny run and then headed into the lodge to read a book. We had a great day!

Below is a clip of Steve and Stefan coming down the mountain. Steve is skiing and Stefan snowboarding.

Well, that about wraps it up for another week. Next week I'm on school cleaning duty. Jaclyn hopes to get her driver's license and we're all handing in our licenses!! Just joking!!

We hope you've had a good week.

Thanks for looking!

Cold weather and basketball!

The weather this week was cold, cold, cold. The wind had been blowing from 5 days straight starting Sunday night. It was below zero during the day and the wind chill was around -13. It was very deceiving because the sun was shining! We see a waterfall on the mountain from our front windows and with this week's weather, it froze over. Solid ice. Looks amazing!

Stefan and Jaclyn had more basketball games this week. Stefan had tournament games in Abbotsford Thursday, Friday and today. It was fun watching. Stefan even got quite a few hoops!

Here's a video clip of him swishing it!

The little girls and their friends all watching the game!

Next week they have their finals and then that will be the end of basketball. Right after that, volleyball starts. Stefan will give it a miss but Jaclyn has signed up.

A quiet moment after school one day with the sun streaming through the window!

Shantel has been to the post office and fire station and this week I will accompany them as a driver to the police station!

Bernice and myself have been very diligent in going to the gym. We do fitness and strength classes, zumba and even kickboxing. It's fun and our aim is to be there on time so that we can be at the back of the class so we don't make a fool of ourselves (I'll just say we're a tad uncoordinated)! We go at least 3 times a week and then try to add in some treadmill, cycling or elliptical. 

Well, that's it for this week. Next week we have Thursday, Friday off for mid-winter break and Monday is off for President day. Looking forward to a loooong weekend!

Hoping your week went well. Thanks for looking!

Six months and basketball

We noted on the calendar that it's been six months since we left home. Which follows that on the 3rd of February, we have been here in Lynden for six months too! Amazing how the time has flown by!

This week was a much quieter week! I even got to cleaning up some cupboards!

Jaclyn and Stefan have been busy playing their basketball games. In three weeks time they have their finals, so the pressure is on! They are doing really well. On Thursday Jaclyn and their team went to Credo school in Langley and played against their girls. On Friday, the teachers in the Fraser Valley had a PD day (here it is called Pro D day), so all the students had the day off. However, the Orcas Island Christian School asked if the students from Cornerstone Christian would come and play against them. So the basketball teams from years 9 to 12 together with the coaches and a few fans went to Orcas which is about 2 and half hours away including a ride on the ferry. They had a great day and played really well. They didn't win but only lost by a few points.

Here's a few photos of the day (courtesy of Bernice V!)

Jaclyn's team

Jaclyn's team huddle (she is number 4)

Stefan's team

Group photo back on the ferry

Beautiful sunset!

Mt Baker in all its glory! Majestic!

In kindergarten, Shantel's class is talking about communities. This week they visited the post office. They had to write up their own name and address on the front of the envelope and then posted it when at the post office. The next day I filmed Shantel going to our letterbox and discovering her mail! Priceless!

The girls did a craft glueing coloured wool making a rainbow.

A beautiful sunrise one day this week

Today (Saturday) was a 'no screen' day so the girls decided to dress-up. And then they did a little dance!

And some more differences:

PD day = Pro D day

Excursion = field trip

wool = yarn

Well, that's it for this week. Thanks for looking!