To start with we decided to pull Elijah back to 1 day a week of Gym after they wanted us to only have 1 weeks off in 52, and also give them 36 hours of volunteer work. No that we would object if we actually lived here full time, but given we want to be able to go snowboarding etc, it was a no-brainer. So both boys are now doing Gym Monday nights 6:30 - 8pm, which works well.
Indoor soccer had a bit of a delay, and Elijah finally started today, and his team won 5 - 3, which he was stoked about, especially as he assisted with one of the goals. Caleb starts on Monday, and plays alternating Mondays and Tuesdays at 4pm. The roster takes them through to the end of March, and is played on an indoor court that is an ice-skating rink the rest of its life (they pull up the artificial turf and put down some water and crank up the refrigeration unit under the slab - all very cool!). There are 2 indoor fields, which would be similar size (slightly smaller) to the outdoor fields he was playing on back home.
Today Terry (our neighbour), Caleb, Elijah and myself went ski and snowboard shopping, and came across a swap-meet hosted by the Kelowna Ski Club. Basically everyone who is a member of the club takes their old gear there and put it up for sale. There is some old rubbishy stuff there, but a lot of it is quite new and still decent condition, with a lot of kids gear that they have grown out of from last season. Elijah, Terry and I all got a snowboard, bindings and boots for @ 20-30% of what we would have paid had we gotten new gear, which was fantastic. Caleb got some ice skates and snowboard boots. He already has a beginners snowboard which he purchased with his allowance from a garage sale a few weeks ago. So apart from some goggles for Caleb (Elijah got some at the garage sale) and some snowboarding trousers for me, we are good to go! Nyah even has a cute little purple all in one outfit to go in the snow.
Working back through the past few weeks we have celebrated Thanksgiving with our neighbours Terry and Darlene (and daughter Britney) which was fun. Big turkey, lots of food, and no real reason other than they just do it because it is an excuse for another day off! Though just to ensure people dont think they are copying the States, they have it a month earlier - go figure. We have been attending 2 churches - New Life of a Sunday morning, and Trinity Baptist of a Saturday night. Both are quite contemporary, and I am also attending a mens breakfast study group with the Baptists every Wednesday where I have met a few new people which has been good. Wednesday nights I am attending a mens group from New Life, so it is an interesting day, with many varied people to talk to. Last post we mentioned the couple with a daughter similar in age to Nyah. Their names are Micheal and Emma Donley, and are really nice. Mike is a rock star (I hope he gets to read this :P), no seriously - he is the guitarist for a Canadian band called Sled Dogs - and they rock! Seriously, check their website out - sleddogs.ca I think, and listen to their songs on You Tube. They gave me their latest CD and a tuke (I think thats how you spell it) which is what they call a beanie. We ended up going to a place called Montanas Steak house, which had great ribs - not so sure about their steak as I didnt have one - though I dont hold out great hope, so far every steak I have had here has been aweful - we are very lucky with our meat in Tassie! Speaking of meat - Lamb is hard to find (and expensive) and Pork roasts are tiny, and dont have the crackling!!! RIPPED OFF - we have asked a few people just to get confirmation that we just havent looked hard enough, but seriously, nobody has heard of it!! So we are going to see if we can find a good butcher, who might be able to cut it specially for us to have at christmas time.
I digress a little, but some of the things over here are just unbelievable!
Mike has kindly loaned me a telecaster to have a play with whilst I am here which has been great. We have also been having movie nights of a Friday night, and have just completed the Lord of The Rings trilogy. We had a few other guys around (Terry, Me, Mike, Aaron and his son Liam) to watch it, and it was a lot of fun - Diabra is dreading he upcoming Star Wars set that we are planning :).
Our pool has now been winterized (half tide, with extra chamicals and a cover to prevent freezing and damage) and the temperature range is between -2 in the early morning to 13 degrees or thereabouts through the top of the day, so is cooling off quite quickly. The official ski season starts on November 27, so we are told it will snow here very soon, which we are all excited about, and the locals all just think we are crazy.
Last week we went to Bertram Park with our neighbours Marshall and Vesna. They have 2 young boys - 4 & 2yo, which was a lot of fun, though with the current temperature, we only stayed for @ 45 mins before having to head back home. Another item on our weekly agenda is to go to Terry and Darlenes place every Sunday night @ 5pm to watch the new series of the Amazin Race, over an informal tea (supper). It has been a great way to end the week, spending time with friends and preparing for the next week.
Today we went to the 20th annual Okanagan Apple Fair where the boys got to paint a birdhouse each, got a toffee and caramel apple each and carved an apple person head thing that will dry over the next few weeks, which they enjoyed.
I am sure there is more I could add, but right now, (11:30pm Saturday night) my mind is starting to tell me I should be asleep, and I am sure Diabra will add some more soon as well.
We are missing everyone a lot, though phone calls have been good, and make it feel a bit like we are just around the corner (though we have to make sure we time them right to avoid waking people up in the early hours of the morning. Love this technology.
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