Yes, I know, we should be doing these more regularly anyway, but for all of the people who keep commenting on how we never seem to update our blog anymore have now just been able to replace their commenting time with reading time :). Anyway... It is finally warming up, but Big White still has over 200cm base of snow to ski on, which is great, but the warmer weather is making it a little less powdery and more icy, which is not so good. Today they had @ 5cm whilst we were there tubing with the Goelsts, so should be good boarding in the next couple of days :). Average temp here through the days for the past week have been +10 to +14 one day! The nights get down to the minuses, but we are sound alseep, and as long as the central heating does its job, we dont notice at all.
Well, thats the weather - seems odd, but really is quite a large part of our lives over here as it changes so much - onto the people stuff.
The boys and Samuel and Jacob Goelst have all been having lots of fun, with late bedtimes and early rises, they are making the most of their time here together. Watching the Suite Life of Zac and Cody, playing Nintendo DS and club Penguin are all favourites. Weekends are great, and we have taken them to go snowboarding for the final night session for this season, and they all did really well. Nyah and Isabelle have been having lots of fun also, with plenty of "widdiggles" (wiggles) and Hi-5 to keep them dancing.
Andrew and Jacqueline took a couple of days out earlier this week to head to Banff and absolutely loved it. We kept their boys here and they got the opportunity to find out what homeschooling was like. They seemed to like it enough, though I am not sure they will be trying to convince Jacqueline that they want her to take it on when they get back to Tassie ;). Darlene and Terry have headed to Palm Springs for a couple of weeks, and lent us their car whilst they have been away. It has been such a blessing, and we have had the pleasure of dog-sitting Ollie. He is a funny little dog, full of personality and loved by all. The first thing Nyah used to ask for when she woke up was mum or dad, now it is Ollie, or occasionally "mitmey" (Brittany, Darlene and Terry's daughter). I am not sure if she will have separation anxiety when he has to return home tomorrow, but thankfully she has plenty of other people here to help take her attention off the fact that her morning buddy has gone. I am sure Ollie will be thankful of the rest going back home, as living in a house with so many people with lots of different games and noises from all the kids must be driving him insane (sorry Terry and Darlene if he is scarred for life!).
We managed to get onto a tour of Club Penguin this week also (thanks again to Darlene), and the kids all LOVED it! They all got free puffles (including the little girls) which they were stoked about (and Nyah sleeps with hers - yes Bart, her other bedtime favourite now has a companion). They also got to give them ideas for what they wanted to see in the game, and to amaze the staff with their vast knowledge of everything related to Club Penguin. Elijah was the only one who could tell them the actual day they started up (October 24, 2005), though he said October 25th, which was incorrect here, but being from Australia, it actually was the 25th in Australia when it started (which they had not thought of, so E was quite pleased).
Diabra got her hair cut yesterday (first one in 8 months) - yay, but the hairdresser wouldnt listen to what she wanted - boo, but it ended up looking great anyway - and the peasants rejoiced :). She has been doing the usual cooking up a storm for everyone here as she does so well, and teaching the boys. They have done their first project on Canada naming the provinces and tracing a map, with some lines written about things in Canada. Calebs reading and spelling are coming along well finally, and Elijah is also doing well.
Work for me has been going really well. Anderson Morgan Kelowna has been officially running since December 16 2008. Fred Brown is the man who will be responsible for everything over here when I leave, and is excited to be a part of the Anderson Morgan family. Since we have started we have had the privilege of performing a lot of non-core Anderson Morgan work, such as the largest audit of a data server power usage performed to date in BC, and assisting in a large scale migration of Exchange to Domino Server for a large international company. I have been quite surprised to find that the general levels of service in the IT industry here are atrocious, which is fantastic for us, as this is an area we pride ourselves in doing well. They also appear to be behind in their methods of support, and whilst they have the marketing side of things down to a tea, their follow through with actually achieving results appears to be lacking. Once again, good for us. I am sure there are exceptions to this rule, but the industry in general feels to be at the stage we were at in Australia about 5 years ago, which is insane. Since starting up, word has spread, and I have recently been approached by another IT company in Chilliwack asking if they can become an Anderson Morgan site, which is nice, but we shall see what they have to offer, and vice versa. Office space is currently elduing us as there are a lot of vacant offices on the market due in part to a lot of companies downsizing in the current economic climate, but agents dont appear to be willing to put reasonable offers in for spaces we have been looking at. In general they seem to be trying to keep the image that business is strong, and there is lots of competition for the space, but I have been actively looking for the past 3 months, and the same spaces are all vacant, with more coming up as companies downsize, so I am happy to bide my time to find the right place at the right price. So we continue to work from home and communicate via Skype and IP phones, which is working OK for the moment, but is not a long term solution as we get larger.
Well, its about time I went and woke Andrew up to play an obligatory game of Age 3 before bed, so I will sign off for now, and update sometime again in the future.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Monday, March 23, 2009
Sleepover madness
The Goelst family arrived safely last Wednesday. They were already at the airport by the time we got there as I (Diabra) actually drove (way to slowly, ie the lateness) to go get them. Our boys had barely slept the previous two nights, as excitement overwhelmed sleepiness. Friendships were picked up where they were left off, I must say, as usual! While we don't see a load of each other we remain close, and it is a delight to see the kids friendships grow too. Nyah and Isabelle have grown so much. Shyness was quickly overcome by a shared love of tutus and Wiggles. The men and boys headed up to Big White for the last Friday night ski session for the season. It was a success, with no injuries. We also managed to get tickets for the ice hockey playoffs. The Rockets won, so one more game and they are in the final. Andrew, Jacqueline, Rosemary and Isabelle have headed off to Banff for a couple of nights, and have managed to hit beautiful weather for it. The boys are enjoying spring break, as neighbouring kids can come and play as well. A rousing game of chases continued until 7pm tonight, and it was warm (a relative term) enough for it to be played outside. Yah! As for the title of this post, lets just say that the children have been sleeping "lightly" to say the least!
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
weather musings
We are having a beautiful sunshiney day. Looking outside you would almost be convinced that it is warm, well perhaps if you look past all the snow on the ground. It has still been -11 a couple of mornings lately, so still too cold to go out much. I think that in Australia we talk about the weather as small talk, but here in Canada it is a true subject matter that pertains to daily life. I'm enjoying the seasons here. Summer was hot and dry, with bulbous peaches filling our kitchen with lusciousness. Autumn beautifully coloured and crisp, pumpkins and apples perfumed the air. Winter has been bright and really exciting for the boys with snowboarding each weekend. There have also been many dreary grey days, and also magical snow days where the snow clings to every little surface creating a winter wonderland that we Australians only ever see on Christmas cards. I often look around me and think how much it all looks like a corny amatuer painting, but it's real! Lamp posts especially make me think of this. The snow isn't knocked off by the wind (there is hardly any wind ever), and it clings to the side of the post where it has blown sideways onto it. I'm trying to enjoy the snow, I have a feeling it is about to melt away at an alarming speed. On the upside spring should be right around the corner :-)
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
December, January, February, and what, March!
Well it has been a long time between posts, but I'll attempt to catch up now.
Hayley arrived on the coldest day we have had here, -28 degrees. We thoroughly enjoyed the snow globe world that the weather provided us. It is nice to experience it the once, but can understand why people here don't embrace with joy the snow, it makes life just that much harder. We had Christmas day here with my family and our friends Terry, Darlene, and Brittney. It was a fun day. Christmas Eve, we went to Trinity Baptist, who put on an amazing service. It completely floored me. Even Nyah was mesmerised. It included puppets and birds on long poles sweeping over the audience. It told of creation, the fall, and new life found in Jesus. Beautifully portrayed. Bec arrived a couple of days after Christmas, and we let her recover from the journey for one miserly day before having a new years party at our house. Also a very fun night, full of food (thanks to all the cooks), sing star (oh my!!) and finishing with us all sort of missing the new year moment, and all the little boys having a hot tub and making snow angels. Then our family head off before us to Jasper and we met them in Banff. They had a fantastic time by all accounts walking on a glacier and going in some ice caves. Unfortunately there were avalanches on the road we were meant to take, and had to be diverted. Some of it was pretty scary, the dark, snow drifts, the wind, driving, no other cars around, the Rockies massive beside us with all the avalanche signs abounding. 14 hours of driving later we arrived in Banff. Next day we went to Lake Louise, and the others went iceskating. There was a pretty ice castle on the lake too. Nyah, Dad and I went inside the famous hotel to warm up and look longingly at the swank dining area with the arched windows. That night we went to The Grizzly House for 'supper' (how Canadian am I!!!!). We went full out with the touristy thing and had the exotic plate hot stone meal. We had fondue (vegetable one much nicer than the cheese one) and an assortment of cool meats. We had shark (Sort of funny as we eat it all the time in Australia), Alligator, Rattlesnake, Ostrich, Frogs Legs, Buffalo and Venison. The snake was really tough, but definately the meat to boast about having tried. Next day we went to Calgary, and Dad and I took the kids to the science centre while Raoul worked. Kids really enjoyed it, I enjoyed the interactive room that made music as you stepped on different areas. Much easier than attempting to play the piano, that's for sure. Next day we did the trip home, with only one avalanche delay. It is a beautiful trip through the Rockies. Check out the photos (I took a couple of hundred :-), much better than words to describe. The girls went on with their trip to Toronto, Niagara, Quebec and Montreal, finishing back with us 2 weeks later. We had to say bye to Hayley first as she had to get back to work. Bec next, and finally Dad and Amanda. Goodbyes are not good. Unfortunately after crying for a full day and packing and repacking their cases, Amanda and Dad got to the airport and lined up and were then told the airport was snowed in. So back we went home. We were lucky that Darlene and Terry had also helped get us all out to the airport as Darlene was able to help (in a major way) Amanda rebook all there hotels and flights home. Two days later it was much easier to say bye. We really enjoyed having them all here, and feel priviledged that they could take the time and money to see us. . . and Canada! Since then we have just been getting back into the rhythm of our life.
Nyah is 21 months old now, and becoming very much a little girl over baby. She loves the "Wiggeddedegelles", dancing, talking on the phone, twirling, reading books, doing 'school', the John Denver song 'Sunshine on my shoulders', wearing dresses, cups of tea, playing with her dolls, Ollie, and porridge. Caleb is 7 and a half. He loves snowboarding, especially on blue runs, is reading (Yah!!!), clearing the driveway of snow, The Suite Life, Ripleys believe it or not book, talking useing skype, actually just talking(!), salad, the dollar store, ribs, and writing in his journal. Elijah is 9 and a half. He loves anything with a screen, Club Penguin, iceskating, tobogganing, tricking us, jokes, pokemon, friends, going in the hot tub, spicy bagels, soccer and reading. The boys miss there friends from Tasmania alot. Raoul's business is going well over here, still looking for office space to settle in though. Homeschooling is continuing to go well. The main reason I haven't written much is that I feel like our life is just schooling, cleaning, cooking, and cleaning some more, the same as at home! So feel free to write to us, it may prompt our thinking.
Hayley arrived on the coldest day we have had here, -28 degrees. We thoroughly enjoyed the snow globe world that the weather provided us. It is nice to experience it the once, but can understand why people here don't embrace with joy the snow, it makes life just that much harder. We had Christmas day here with my family and our friends Terry, Darlene, and Brittney. It was a fun day. Christmas Eve, we went to Trinity Baptist, who put on an amazing service. It completely floored me. Even Nyah was mesmerised. It included puppets and birds on long poles sweeping over the audience. It told of creation, the fall, and new life found in Jesus. Beautifully portrayed. Bec arrived a couple of days after Christmas, and we let her recover from the journey for one miserly day before having a new years party at our house. Also a very fun night, full of food (thanks to all the cooks), sing star (oh my!!) and finishing with us all sort of missing the new year moment, and all the little boys having a hot tub and making snow angels. Then our family head off before us to Jasper and we met them in Banff. They had a fantastic time by all accounts walking on a glacier and going in some ice caves. Unfortunately there were avalanches on the road we were meant to take, and had to be diverted. Some of it was pretty scary, the dark, snow drifts, the wind, driving, no other cars around, the Rockies massive beside us with all the avalanche signs abounding. 14 hours of driving later we arrived in Banff. Next day we went to Lake Louise, and the others went iceskating. There was a pretty ice castle on the lake too. Nyah, Dad and I went inside the famous hotel to warm up and look longingly at the swank dining area with the arched windows. That night we went to The Grizzly House for 'supper' (how Canadian am I!!!!). We went full out with the touristy thing and had the exotic plate hot stone meal. We had fondue (vegetable one much nicer than the cheese one) and an assortment of cool meats. We had shark (Sort of funny as we eat it all the time in Australia), Alligator, Rattlesnake, Ostrich, Frogs Legs, Buffalo and Venison. The snake was really tough, but definately the meat to boast about having tried. Next day we went to Calgary, and Dad and I took the kids to the science centre while Raoul worked. Kids really enjoyed it, I enjoyed the interactive room that made music as you stepped on different areas. Much easier than attempting to play the piano, that's for sure. Next day we did the trip home, with only one avalanche delay. It is a beautiful trip through the Rockies. Check out the photos (I took a couple of hundred :-), much better than words to describe. The girls went on with their trip to Toronto, Niagara, Quebec and Montreal, finishing back with us 2 weeks later. We had to say bye to Hayley first as she had to get back to work. Bec next, and finally Dad and Amanda. Goodbyes are not good. Unfortunately after crying for a full day and packing and repacking their cases, Amanda and Dad got to the airport and lined up and were then told the airport was snowed in. So back we went home. We were lucky that Darlene and Terry had also helped get us all out to the airport as Darlene was able to help (in a major way) Amanda rebook all there hotels and flights home. Two days later it was much easier to say bye. We really enjoyed having them all here, and feel priviledged that they could take the time and money to see us. . . and Canada! Since then we have just been getting back into the rhythm of our life.
Nyah is 21 months old now, and becoming very much a little girl over baby. She loves the "Wiggeddedegelles", dancing, talking on the phone, twirling, reading books, doing 'school', the John Denver song 'Sunshine on my shoulders', wearing dresses, cups of tea, playing with her dolls, Ollie, and porridge. Caleb is 7 and a half. He loves snowboarding, especially on blue runs, is reading (Yah!!!), clearing the driveway of snow, The Suite Life, Ripleys believe it or not book, talking useing skype, actually just talking(!), salad, the dollar store, ribs, and writing in his journal. Elijah is 9 and a half. He loves anything with a screen, Club Penguin, iceskating, tobogganing, tricking us, jokes, pokemon, friends, going in the hot tub, spicy bagels, soccer and reading. The boys miss there friends from Tasmania alot. Raoul's business is going well over here, still looking for office space to settle in though. Homeschooling is continuing to go well. The main reason I haven't written much is that I feel like our life is just schooling, cleaning, cooking, and cleaning some more, the same as at home! So feel free to write to us, it may prompt our thinking.
Monday, December 15, 2008
Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas to all our friends and family.
For a while there we didn't think we would ever see the snow, but it certainly looks like we will have the much anticipated white christmas we have dreamt about. Amanda and Dad arrived last Thursday to see the bleak landscape, and awoke Friday to the snow falling. You can't get much better timing than that! It is powder snow, so useless for snowmen and snowballs, but great for skiing. The rest of the crew have headed to Big White today to have a go at snowboarding (will post photos soon), Nyah and I are having a quiet home day. One child is so quiet! Back to snow news, it takes effort to clear the driveway, and we now understand why houses are so close to the street! It is hard to feel like it is Christmas time without the big wrap up for the year and no looming summer. The kids here get a 2 week break, but then everything continues as per normal. Our boys have finished gymnastics for a while and will continue with soccer in the new year. We are looking forward to seeing Hayley next Saturday, and then it's Christmas.
For a while there we didn't think we would ever see the snow, but it certainly looks like we will have the much anticipated white christmas we have dreamt about. Amanda and Dad arrived last Thursday to see the bleak landscape, and awoke Friday to the snow falling. You can't get much better timing than that! It is powder snow, so useless for snowmen and snowballs, but great for skiing. The rest of the crew have headed to Big White today to have a go at snowboarding (will post photos soon), Nyah and I are having a quiet home day. One child is so quiet! Back to snow news, it takes effort to clear the driveway, and we now understand why houses are so close to the street! It is hard to feel like it is Christmas time without the big wrap up for the year and no looming summer. The kids here get a 2 week break, but then everything continues as per normal. Our boys have finished gymnastics for a while and will continue with soccer in the new year. We are looking forward to seeing Hayley next Saturday, and then it's Christmas.
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Yay its snowing
Well, the snow season is not quite here, but it has started snowing. We have uploaded a few shots from our day at Silverstar, where we went today. The official season starts 27th November, but it looked like it had some snow to play in up there on their webcam today so we thought we should at least go and check it out. Now there was some, but not a whole lot, and our canadian friends were horrified that we would be putting photos out there for everyone to see that depicted so little snow at one of their well known ski hills. So in the interest of ensuring you do not get the wrong idea back home, this is only after 1 day of snow, and is apparently not the standard level of snow you should expect to see at such a nice hill. There was enough snow in our yard for the boys to make snow men, but unfortunately the rain the following day has pretty much decimated it by now, and all traces of snow at our house have gone. Not a lot else to report at this stage, but stay tuned for some more news in the next few weeks, and pics of our first day at Big White (when we get there!). So basically, all is well, enjoy the extra pics from Silverstar, and the message of the day is - dont judge Canadian snow levels from our pics that are only 1 day of snow old. Enough said.
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Halloween
Hi Everyone and welcome to our post-halloween blog. For all our Australian friends, it is true, just like the movies, kids go door to door and are given candy. Loads, heaps, and tonnes of candy. Check out the photos, our kids did very well on the candy front, and I think it will be a treasured memory for a very long time to come. Nyah, while apprehensive to begin, quickly understood the concept and started running between houses and dragging Raoul up to the door to get her lolly. Very cute and VERY sticky. Elijah dressed up as Indiana Jones, Caleb as Spiderman, and Nyah as a butterfly. We went with another family from Kuipers Crescent, our boys have been regularly playing with them, so lots of fun. Afterwards we had pancakes back at the house with Darlene and Terry, who I'm starting to suspect just hang out with us to laugh at (or I'm hoping with;-) us. They confirmed that the massive pile of candy was indeed alot by Canadian standards. So sugar coma ahead, we let the kids knock themselves out and eat as much as they wanted for one night, that night is over so it is back to being rationed, killjoys that we are. We also really enjoyed pumpkin carving for the first time. Some we saw out were amazing and intricate. For ours, we stuck to a stencil pattern, but had a lot of (slightly freezing) fun.
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