A New Photo Blog

I've been working on a new photo blog to document my excursions outdoors. If you go to seasonsinsmithers.wordpress.com you'll see some of the images I've made. It's been a fun little project to work on and challenge my creativity.

Anyways, I hope you like the images. I hope to update it on a regular basis, so make sure you bookmark the site and check back every once and a while.

Isaac at AWANA

I caught the tail end of Isaac's AWANA program last night. He quite enjoyed getting some more little awards for his memory work and the different things he has to do in his workbook. The last image is of Isaac and his friend that he's brought the past couple of weeks.

Early morning images

Frost on leaf


Through the clouds - it was quite misty this morning, and so I waited until the mist/clouds had moved away enough so that I could glimpse at least a bit of the mountain.

Good news

It's been a good week so far. I got a phone call a couple of days ago, saying that I had a choice of 3 of the 5 positions I had applied for. I made my choice, and now have a temporary full time line! It will be nice knowing ahead of time which shifts I'll be working each week, instead of getting those early morning wake-up calls, like I did yesterday. (My new position starts today with two days off!) Of course, it's hard to know just how long I'll have this position, but I'm thankful for it anyways. God is good!

From summer till fall, a lot to be thankful for

It seems my posts get more and more sporadic. Thankfully you have Curtis to keep you a little more updated on our lives!

Looking back, I last posted in July, a mere three months ago. So what have I been up to, you ask? Well, besides work, which has taken up most of my weekends, it seems, so that I'm seldom able to get to church, I've managed to keep busy. There were a couple of mornings in July when Curtis and I would drop Isaac off at day camp and then head up to Twin Falls so Curtis could take some photos. It was a good way to spend some time together, get some exercise, and enjoy the beauty of God's creation.

Isaac and I made our (almost) annual trip to Penticton to spend time with my family and some friends for a week or so the second week of August. We had better weather this year than last, and thankfully it was an accident-free trip as far as I and the van were concerned! Isaac enjoyed showing his cousins how he could ride his bigger bike all week, as well as testing out his super soaker on Papa Vern and others. He didn't want to try water skiing this year, but enjoyed a couple of tube rides and boat rides. I was glad to be able to spend some time with Jann and her family the first couple of days we were there, which were their last days. We all rode our bikes along the canal from one lake to the other one morning. I was impressed that Isaac managed it as well as he did, as it was quite a distance for such short legs. Later in the week, Isaac and I took a day trip to Kelowna to visit my friends Ross and Angela and their two boys for supper, and also dropped in to see our friends Katie and Jason's new baby girl Trinity at the hospital on our way out of town.

I tried to keep up with my gardens when I had the time, and was rewarded with better carrots and peas than last year. My spinach didn't do so well, but the lettuce, while not abundant, kept us provided with salad for most of the summer. The strawberries did better, and the raspberries, while very small, did well, too. I also planted quite a few beets, and had some larger ones, but mostly smaller. I planted the zucchini too late to get more than a couple of very small zucchinis before the frost hit. However, my sister-in-law shared from her abundance - a couple of very large largo zucchinis. (I think Curtis may have posted a photo of Isaac with one of them around his neck). The potatoes got planted later too, for some reason, so most of that crop was small, but tasty nonetheless. Apart from my gardens, I also picked some strawberries at a farm, and some saskatoons across the road. Someone from work brought in some apples to give away, and since no one else seemed to be interested, after a few days I took them home. I have made some applesauce, and a couple of apple crisps so far.

A friend of mine introduced me to the Perimeter Trail here in Smithers this summer, so I've had a few occasions to walk or ride along at least part of it. I would like to do that more often, I think. It's a beautiful trail. I'm still trying to keep up my Curves workouts three times a week, but since getting a cold at the end of last month, my workouts have suffered. I think I'm nearly back to full health, though, and should be able to get back on track.

On Tuesday we celebrated Curtis' 40th birthday. We had one couple in for supper - turkey dinner without the stuffing - as well as Curtis' parents, with several others coming by later. On Thursday, my parents arrived for the weekend. Curtis' parents joined us for supper again that evening, and we had a good time. Curtis even took some group photos for us. On Friday morning we woke up to snow on the ground, and very chilly temperatures, but Mom, Dad, Isaac and I braved the weather and walked to Isaac's school so Mom and Dad could see it, then walked by my cousin's house (There was no one at home). From there we decided to warm up at Tim Horton's and check out the new renovations there. Looks nice, although it's not finished yet. We made a couple more stops before heading home for lunch. That evening the four of us went out to visit with Dad's cousins at Mom and Dad C's while Curtis stayed home. Dad and Eunice Penner are cousins, and her brother Abe Zaccharias and his wife Anne were visiting from Saskatchewan, so we had fun catching up with all of them. I had at first thought to leave Isaac at home so he could get to bed on time, but he was so sad to miss any time with Gramma and Papa Vern, that I allowed him to come. Matthew Penner was there too (Ken and Eunice's grandson), so Isaac had someone to play with. It was another late night for him, though.

On Saturday morning, we decided to take a drive to Hazelton (It was my idea, as I'd been wanting to take Curtis there, too. I'd already been a couple of times.) The day was sunny, but not warm, especially not as we walked across the bridge towards Old Hazelton. There we were hit by an icy wind, but the view was spectacular. It was warmer when we walked down by the river, where there were lots of interesting rocks to look at. From there we went down by the paddlewheeler and I took a couple more photos, then headed back to New Hazelton for lunch before returning to Smithers. Mom and I did a bit of shopping in the afternoon, and then spent the rest of the afternoon and evening at home. After Isaac was in bed, Mom, Dad and I started a game of canasta.

On Sunday morning we went to church, then came home for lunch and a relaxing afternoon. My cousin Elaine came by for awhile mid-afternoon, and we had a good visit. Mom and Dad, Isaac and I went out for supper at Curtis' suggestion (he wasn't feeling well himself, so he just stayed home). We went to the Aspen, and were all pleased with our meals. When we returned, Isaac did a little reading for Gramma and Papa, and showed them his yearbook from last year before going to bed. He was quite sad to realize this was their last evening here, and made us promise that we'd wake him in the morning to give them hugs and kisses before they left. When Mom returned from putting Isaac to bed, she and I and Dad finished our canasta game, and started but didn't finish a new one. It was a great long weekend, but too short, if you know what I mean.

Mom and Dad left early this morning, and had a great trip home, Mom called to tell me. Curtis' parents left yesterday for Alberta, and arrived safely at Morfar's, we heard, so prayers were answered. Today we had a somewhat quiet, somewhat lazy day at home together, just the three of us, and my heart is thankful for it all. Happy Thanksgiving, and God bless you all!

Visit from Gramma and Papa

Bonnie's parents were up for the long weekend (having just left this morning at 6), and so Isaac had quite an enjoyable time playing, laughing and tickling with them for a few days. He was pretty sad after they left, but he's busy with Lego now, so I don't think he's doing too bad.

This is the family photo we took on Thursday night when my mom and dad were over for dinner.



Saturday we took a drive out to Old Hazelton and found our way out to the river by the Ksan campground. We enjoyed the interesting beach for a while and then eventually made our way back home.

Here's a shot of us on the beach.



Last night Isaac was happy to show Gramma and Papa his yearbook from school last year. This was right after he read some from his AWANA book to them.

What do you think this is?

Comment with your guesses.

Awana

Last week at Awana, Isaac, along with one other girl in grade 2, were recognized for being the first ones to memorize the first verse the entire group of AWANA kids were working on. He also received the workbook that all kids will eventually get. Bonnie and I were pretty proud parents that night.

Upcoming 2010 exhibitions

Within the past two weeks I have received confirmation of two solo exhibitions of my fine art photography. The first exhibition will be here in Smithers in April at the Smithers Art Gallery.

The second one will be at the Museum of Northern BC in Prince Rupert. The curator there still has to confirm the exact dates for this show, but it should be sometime around July. There sounds like there's a lot of potential for this show as the time of year when it's going to be on is right in the middle of the tourist season there. There are large tour boats that bring in thousands of tourists each week from all around the world to the port in Prince Rupert. So at the very least I'm hoping to get some great international exposure out of it.

I'm planning on focusing my exhibition on scenic images of the North in and around Smithers.

Family-A-Fair

I spent the day in the banquet room at the Hudson Bay Lodge for the Smithers Genealogical Society's Family-A-Fair. I was approached to have a table and feature the portrait side of my business along with a new venture, Photo Restoration.

Bonnie helped me finish my display this morning and then I spent from 9-5 talking with quite a few different people about a variety of possible work opportunities. I have several good leads to follow up with next week.



At one of the times when Bonnie and Isaac came to visit, Isaac asked for $0.25 to go spend at the candy store they had set up at one end of the banquet room. It brought back memories of my childhood when I did the very same sort of thing.

From Isaac's day at school

Isaac's class went skating this afternoon and I went a little early as I was unsure exactly what time the bus came to pick them up at school for the trip over to the rink. But it was fun for me to sit in the class for 20 minutes or so just observing Isaac as he interacted with classmates during playtime, lunch time, and then free time before they left.

Isaac engrossed in a book. I could see him mouthing out the words that he was reading.


Here's a couple of Isaac out on the ice.




He did pretty good for not having been on skates for several months. He tried his skates on last night and it was immediately apparent to me how much stronger his ankles were from earlier in the year. No apparent wobbling at all.
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Then after school was over, Isaac's friend Jesse came over and played for a couple of hours. It was nice to hear the two of them laughing and playing together. That is, when they weren't telling me they were either bored or hungry!