The Backyard Bear Show

We had some fascinating entertainment on Friday night, provided to us by two local black bears!  They had a great time on our deck and in our apple tree and hanging around our back yard.  Thankfully we could watch their scrounging from inside!  Mitchell was the one who first saw one come right up to the family room door!

Thanksgiving Walk

 We had a great fall walk on Thanksgiving Monday up at Forests for the World.  Ethan especially appreciates the picture of photobomber Grandma.  I like Lily and Eve stuffing their faces and Mitchell, the hobbit!!

Summer is Gone...

 Now that we've been back to school for almost 2 months, I'm finally putting up the pictures!!   Ethan started grade 4, Maren is in grade 2, and Mitchell goes to preschool on Monday mornings with Noah. 

 We had some warmer weather in September and my baskets were at their peak!!  We enjoyed our last (of very few) dinner outside.  We planted a maple tree in our front yard in June and Mitchell and Noah transformed into some friendly pirates when they played together!

Our sour cherry tree gave us a lovely harvest which turned into jam, a pie, and some leftover for the freezer. I was able to make huckleberry, raspberry, apple, and saskatoon berry preserves as well!  Will be well worth it in the winter!

Down in the Shuswap!

The must-have Shuswap family photo!

Our campsite, home for 9 nights, was the place to be, especially if you are a squirrel!   We nicknamed it "Gypsy Camp" because of all the stuff everywhere!  Jim chauffered the millions of floaties down to the beach everytime we went.  

"If you smell gas", you may want to check if Jim is in the trailer...  Site 182, you were a good place to be!

A trip to the park!  Only a smiley picture of Maren on the teetertotter this time!

We had many sunny, warm days at the beach!  Maren hardly left the water, Ethan snorkeled and swam, and Mitchell finally figured out how to use a floatie on the last day!

More beach...  I think all that bird watching tired Chris right out!

Our first ever visit to the Log Barn and it was fun!  Those goats are hilarious and those lollipops are annoyingly sticky (never getting those again).  But the sausages and butter tarts were delicious!

Couldn't pass up the go karting in Salmon Arm!  Go Team Green!

An evening stop at the beach to skip rocks!  Don't you think the headband is a great improvement over the helmet?!

Pop night??

With such a wet summer, campfires were allowed this year, so there was lots of pie and smores cooking going on!

The glowstick light show, we have to entertain ourselves with these somehow every time!

It was cloudy and drizzly after 9 days of sun (except the 2 thunderstorms), so it wasn't too hard to leave this time!  Goodbye Shuswap, see you next time!  

Cuzzins

Summer Wrap Up: Part 1

Phew! Summer's already over and the pictures are just coming! Ethan has been impatiently waiting for me to get this blog updated, mainly because he had the best summer ever, I think!

Ethan, Josh, and Micah spent 2 nights and not even 48 hours out at Ness Lake Bible Camp as cabin buddies. They said they had a great time, of course none of us were out there to see what actually went on!

I learned how to make bread from sourdough starter this summer! Frances spent an afternoon teaching Kristine and I how to make this awesome bread. I've been baking about once a week since and it never seems to be enough!

Jim and Ethan joined Carolyne & Brad & Micah, Mike & Julie, Mike & Krista, and Ken and Andrew for the week on the Rosemary T. They had a blast, Ethan manned the camera for this trip, so most of these pictures were taken by him!

Gorgeous scenery!

Fish and crab catching!

Around the boat

We took a steam train ride at Ft. George Park.

While part of the family was on the boat, we did some fun stuff with the kids. Grandpa took us to Peterbilt, got to go in a truck and tour around, and blow the horn, of course!

Luckily, it was also Thomas weekend at the PG Railway and Forest Industry Museum (my old stomping grounds!).

Once the crew returned from the boat, we had a whole family get together which included a lot of crab and other goodies!! We had an early birthday cake for Mitchell's third birthday so he could have a little party with his cousins! Then, of course, we took a family picture. What whole family event would be complete without it!! (Thanks Nikki)

Ethan participated in the YWAM hockey camp again this year, with Jim as goalie coach and speaker. He loved it and fulfilled his prediction of scoring a goal in the game on the final day! Mitchell tried to go to but apparently your legs should be longer than your hockey pants!

We had another birthday party with some of Mitchell's friends. It was one of the few beautiful sunny morning in July (maybe the only one!) so we got to enjoy being outside and celebrating!

The Swiss National holiday party found us out at Hans Ruedi and Isabel's farm for fun and good food. I think the horse thought Mitchell was good food! Christian, Annelise, Melanie, and Sabrina even flew over for it!

We took a day trip out to Barkerville, sunny but cool! It was a first for our kids and fun to see them experience it. I think the sugary treats and the gold panning were the highlights!

Cousins!

It was great to have them here again, hope to see them again soon!

Not done yet! Watch for the craziest camping trip coming in Part 2 soon!

Go Fly A Kite

We spent a warm June evening at the highschool field flying our kite, climbing and kicking the soccer ball. Wish we could get some more warm nights like this!

Random Fun!

7 Years Old Already!

Maren turned 7 years old on June 8th. We had a family cake out at Marinka's house, combined with cheering for a Canucks game! Maren had a Hawaiian birthday party with 8 of her friends and a flip flop cake, fun!

Off to the Races!

Ethan participated in 2 track and field events in May. These pictures are from the first one where he ran the relay with his buddies; Josh, Micah, and Lucas. They did great!! In the second meet, Ethan won the 400 meter run!

Frances, Chris and I ran the 1/2 marathon (21k) and Nikki ran the 5k on June 5th. It was a perfect morning and I'm thankful to have reached my under 2 hour goal and have it done!!

Good Bye Everest

Everest, our family's beautiful friend of almost 12 years left us on May 4, 2011. He was friendly, gentle, and always a little "quirky"!! He quietly laid down on our kitchen floor and closed his eyes for the last time late that night. There was nothing out of the ordinary with him that night, it was just time for his body to rest forever. We continue to miss him, writing this finds me with tears in my eyes once again. Thanks to Dezene Huber for sharing the picture that captures Everest so perfectly.

Mother's Day 2011

Mother's Day with my beautiful kiddos and some of my favorite spring blooms!