Stapels in our life

Saturday night we enjoyed a family dinner with everyone. Brody and Carolyn are here visiting and Carolyn wanted to make supper for everyone. It was delicious - a Stapel Spaghetti ;), garlic toast, Caesar salad and ice cream. After dinner, she took each of the kids out and dressed them up in some new clothes, gifts lovingly bought in Wisconsin. Sam and Cam were pretty thrilled with their new 'digger' shirts, Kayla and Leah were happy to pose, and the younger four all got cute shirts or dresses, but I didn't get pictures.

Many books were read during the course of the evening, and we had a gezellig time visiting. It's always special to have C+B around :) Anyway, my Monday 'to-do' list is rather long, so off to it! Have a great day!

I scrapped today!

Always a good feeling to get another page done. My goal is to have our road trip done before we head off to China...hmm...only a month to go - better get busy! PS...I went birding today - by myself (well, with Chelsie)! I saw a pair of wood ducks,

among other things :) A lifer! To be continued...

Everyday Happenings

A few things from the last few days. Doorway was exciting on Wednesday - a camerawoman from shaw came and took footage of us doing our weekly thing. I was really struck this week by what wonderful people are helping out there every week - what a special way to meet new people, make new friends, and do a service to other, all at once :) For those curious, we had apple crisp this week. Next Wednesday I get to make dessert again and it's April Fool's Day...hee hee hee...see me rubbing my hands together? Any ideas?

Tuesday night I went to a card workshop in Langley - a workshop because it was technique based. We learned how to do various things with glitter. I'm not a hugely glittery person, but I learned a bit and had fun doing it :)
Yesterday was a good day in that we slept in but still got a lot accomplished. Think 6 loads of laundry (Doorway contributed 2), cleaning up the house, cleaning the kitchen, washing the sheets and hanging them on the line, etc, etc. What a good feeling! An evening with my husband was nice too :) We had a good laugh as he pulled out some marshmallows for Chelsie, placed 2 chairs just far enough apart that she couldn't reach both of them at once and 'made' her walk between them to get the next marshmallow treat! What a tease :) It was pretty funny to watch.
I have to add this picture, which was taken half-way through typing this post. Chelsie was standing under the desk, then sat down to read her book. My legs got to share their space with the little monkey :)Anyways, I'm hoping the weather will hold out so we can go for a walk and enjoy 'spring'. Hope your Friday is fabulous!

Wordless Wednesday

A few memories from 1 year ago...camping at Larrabee State Park, WA.

A successful hike - 2 sleeping kids and a couple of woodpeckers spotted :)

Our favourite activity - searching for sea creatures and birds.

Good morning Opa! How did you sleep?

A little peanut enjoying the warmth of the fire with Auntie Carolyn...
it was a damp spring vacation.

The everyday life

I've discovered that having a blog helps me take more pictures of everyday things, and it also gets my pictures on the computer faster as I need them to tell what's going on! Good things come from this blog, I tell you!
So anyways, a couple of things from the past few days. Yesterday I went to my Mom's for a few hours. Chelsie had a nap while I spring cleaned...Mom and Dad weren't home - they were flying back from Holland. From there we went to Leanne O's and enjoyed some Uno, Ice cream, snuggles and gezelligite (is that a word?!). Sam has his own idea of how I should use my cards in Uno, down to choosing what colour I should pick on a change the colour :) Funny! From there we came home to make supper and discovered that the power was out. No casserole for us. Instead we headed out to White Spot for a disappointing supper which, thanks to a kindly manager, turned out to be free! [Long story short, we waited almost an hour to receive food that had been under the warming lamp for awhile]. We weren't looking for a handout, but we did want them to know we weren't impressed.
Returning home, the power was still out. Brian headed back out to the RV show to order a new awning for the tent trailer. Chelsie and I got dressed warmly for bed, but had to take a couple of fun pictures before climbing in :) It's quite hard to take pics in the dark, but there turned out neat! The power returned at 3 am, so it was out for at least 12 hours! All of this thanks to the wind :)
Today we had a beautiful day - despite the frost in the morning, it finally felt like spring! So much so that I opened the windows and doors, let a few flies in, cleaned the garage and the Envoy, and even washed the hardwood! All of this occurred in the afternoon. Brian washed the Envoy and sheeted my garden shed at the back of his shop - it's great to see his shop coming together so nicely! He made me a nice potting bench and some shelves for pots and my gardening stuff :) Looking forward to doing some organizing now that I have a proper location for some of those things.
Chelsie enjoyed some time outside, a wagon trip courtesy of Brian,
a change of shirt due to the state of some of the backyard, and

-her favorite- even some time in the mud - it is WAY more fun
than the toys you brought out, Mom!
The morning was spent together as a family (always special)...visiting the travel agent (which got us nowhere), phoning a different travel agent (which got our China tickets put on hold until Monday when hopefully all will be verified), stopping to see the puppies at John Hylkema's (they're still really cute!) and welcoming Mom and Dad home from Holland. Mom was at home and was very happy to see us walk in the door. Dad was at his Saturday open house and was thrilled to see us drive up :) Between the visits, we made a stop for Brian at a farm...Brian headed inside to talk to someone about metal prices and Chelsie and I waited...3 cows stood directly in front of the vehicle and watched us placidly. "Cows," says my sweet talkative daughter. WHAT? You know that word too! Wow! Seriously, it seems like a new word every day. "What does a cow say, Chels?" "Boooooooooooooo," she declares :) Too too too cute. Gotta love her! (I know I do - a WHOLE lot!)

Vancouver Confusion

So yesterday Jodene, Chelsie and I headed to Vancouver to visit the Chinese consulate general to get our visas (!) so we're 'allowed' to go to China, and to meet Curtis after he finished work for supper. So, here's the story of our day...

We had debated whether we should take the sky train in from Surrey or drive in. The address I had for the Chinese CG was on Granville Street, but a 14-block walk from the nearest sky train station. So we decided to drive. Using the trusty GPS, we parked on Granville Street, got out and paid for our 30 minutes. After paying, we walked up the street to the building I assumed would be the Chinese CG. Nope. It wasn't. So we continued walking. Turned out we had parked in the 3100 block of Granville Street, but the address was 3380. So, up a steep hill we went. Arrived at the correct address and read the sign. "Chinese Consulate General." Good. Why is the gate closed? Read the next sign. "For visa inquiries, please go to West Broadway..." Oh brother. So, back down the steep hill to the Envoy. Get back in, 20 minutes have passed. So much for our $1 for parking! ;) Plug in the address given on the sign, and it's several more blocks away. Very thankful to be driving and not walking in the rain, we head over to West Broadway. Again we park without trouble, pay for our 30 minutes and head inside. This time we're in the right place - surrounded by Chinese and feeling very pale. We were the only blonde people in the entire room - talk about sticking out! Jodene commented, "Maybe this is how Dave and Trichelle feel all the time!" The whole process was a little confusing - as we entered the room, a security guard gave me a number. They were serving number 68, I was 77. Okay. So we sat down to wait...and noticed a line of people being served as the numbers changed. Okay. So do I use my number or do I join the line? By this time, number 74 is being served. I head back to the security guard and ask her if I'm supposed to line up. She looks at my number and says, "oh yes, number seventy NINE is already lined up!" So I join the line, behind number 82. Whatever! THEN the security guard from the front of our line says to the guy at the front, "what number are you?" 76. "Who's number 77?" That would be me. My reserved spot at the front of the line awaited :). Then I got to the wicket. Again a few discrepancies from the website of info on how to get a Chinese visa to the actual getting. The website: cash, money order or certified cheque only. The CCG: no cash. Money order or debit only. Good thing I took out a bunch of cash for this! After giving the last info required (apparently they need to know we're INVITED to China ;)), I asked how long it takes to receive the visas. "Oh, you have to come back Monday for them." Come back?! Seriously?! Yes. "You don't have a mailing option." "No, we don't do mail." Great. So guess what I'm doing Monday?! Maybe the whole 'send it with a designated visa courier' would have been worth it after all. Anyway, that was the CCG.

From there, Jodene and I spent hours wandering around in Metrotown and enjoying watching people. We didn't buy much but it was still fun. At 3:30 we headed on the skytrain from Metrotown to downtown again where we were to meet Curtis at his building after he finished work. Chelsie thought the sky train was pretty neat :) Look Mom, I'm holding on tight!

She had had a grand total of 10 minutes napping so far during the day, so we were thankful she was still so cheerful! She was very good. We got to Curtis' building around 4 and waited 1/2 hour for him to finish up his training. This is the landscaping (water falls) outside his building...and his building itself. He works on floors 14 and 13. The lobby had a waterfall in it - very neat.Chelsie was happy to see Uncle Curtis when he arrived. He took us out to the Keg for supper - a very nice time!
Chelsie enjoyed a lemon after her dinner...fun faces.
After dinner we all got back on the sky train. Curtis got off at Joyce Street to walk a few blocks home, and we got back in the Envoy at Metrotown for the drive home. After Curtis got off the sky train, Chelsie grabbed her teddy and was sleeping before we got off the train 2 stops later! Pretty funny. She slept the whole way home. We were thankful to get home just after 8:00 and all 3 of us went to bed pretty quickly - it had been a long day!

Wordless Wednesday

We're off to Vancouver for the day, so no words today. Enjoy the beautiful picture! And memories of warmer moments...

Craziness

So this is our crazy weather right now during SPRING break!? Melissa and John, we hope you're enjoying YOUR weather! Pictures taken by Jodene who's staying with us for a couple of days before she heads to Alberta on Friday. We went out to the library and then she treated us to Macdonalds for lunch :) Good fries, Auntie Jodene (actually, good ketchup!) Enjoy the craziness!

Fashion Statement

While Chelsie always looks cute, some days are just fun! She enjoys adding her own accessories...pirate or beauty queen?!This picture was taken when I discovered her with no pants on. 'Chelsie, where are you pants?!' 'Dere,' she said, turning and pointing to them. Hilarious :) I have to admit, they are a bit large, so they must have been easy to take off!
This picture reminded me of what a chubby face she's getting. This is in her new Primo hoodie - free advertising for her daddy :) Krista bought and 'primo'd' these for Christmas.This outfit was a special gift from Auntie Piti and the jumper is the perfect length now (she can just crawl yet :) The tights and shirt have already gotten much use, but we're excited to see the whole beautiful outfit together!
And the cutest outfit of all - ready for my bath, Mom!

Feed the Singles

Every other Tuesday, John, Marinus, Melissa and Willetta join us for dinner. I once called it 'feed the singles' night ;). It actually started because of Trichelle! John and Marinus were used to Trichelle and Dave feeding them every other Tuesday, so I continued the tradition. I've found it's good practice for me to feed more people and try new recipes. We always have a few good laughs (at least one at Chelsie) and enjoy a fun evening. Here are a couple of pictures from this past week, when we ate on Thursday night instead and enjoyed tacos with cream puffs for dessert to celebrate Marinus' birthday :). Nice faces, John and Brian!

Beautiful country and kids :)

What can I say? We live in a beautiful valley! I love the clean crisp days (although I don't love the cold so much). I am looking forward to some warmer days soon! My bulbs have been fooled into thinking it's time to grow - and they're growing indeed! The trees are getting ready to bud, but we need some serious warming before they will succeed.

And last week we enjoyed some time with extra kids here...Leanne dropped off her bunch and went to clean part of the church. Cam and Chelsie enjoyed playing together (yes that is a nice cousinly kiss!). Isn't Cam a cutie?!Cody and Cara enjoyed the various baby toys I dragged out...Gotta love Bumbo! and Leah and Sam played together upstairs the entire time, so not a picture was taken of them! We did enjoy cupcakes together, but the only evidence remaining was the icing on the faces! Now I need to get working on dinner for tonight and tomorrow, dessert for tomorrow, Friday and Sunday, and a bunch of laundry too! Living the dream! Check out these t-shirts...quite applicable on many levels! http://www.ltdchix.com/
Bye for now.....~L