Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

Over the past couple of weeks, we have been experiencing snowfalls now and again. This week they've happened more often, and so it looks like the snow may be here to stay. It sure makes the trees look pretty, especially the ones that have lost their leaves. The other day I noticed some trees with red berry clusters covered in snow, and stopped to take a few photos. I thought the berry clusters were quite striking against the snow.


Here's one that I took.


Curtis took this one.

I keep hearing people complain about the snow, but I enjoy the look of it (except the dirty stuff on the roads), and don't mind the weather, as long as I'm dressed warm enough. Being chilled to the bone is not much fun, I'll admit. I'm grateful for the fires Curtis usually has going in our fireplace downstairs. I'm also glad we got the snow tires put on the van this week.

I haven't see the moose family around since Curtis took their photos. Do you think they're camera shy? Speaking of families and photos, Curtis took some fun photos of our little family yesterday. Here's one of them:



I haven't started my Christmas baking yet, but I've been thinking about it, and so must the store owners, as I've seen lots of baking items out.

I've done a little bit of Christmas shopping, but today I goofed. I left the gift I'd picked up for Isaac this morning in the van, so he caught a glimpse of it when I went to pick him up from school. I don't suppose there's any chance of him forgetting what he saw between now and Christmas? He made a few comments about it this evening, so at least I know I made a good choice in the gift. I think what I'd like for Christmas is a memory that doesn't forget so often!

I think we're going to start a zoo

After supper tonight we had some more visitors in our front yard. This time the momma decided to join her babies and have a snack of frozen flowers.

Backyard Visitors

We had some more uninvited guests in our back yard this afternoon. It's hard to believe these beasts were babies!

Backyard Visitor

Last week I was awakened at around 3 am one morning by a sound I'd never heard before - something like a cross between a loud quack and a moan. After listening to it a few times and not being able to place it, I finally got up and looked out the bedroom window to see if I could locate the source. To my surprise, it was a young (I think) moose in our back yard, nibbling at my raspberry canes, with another moose on the other side of the fence. I puzzled for a bit as to how it got into the yard (I found out later they do jump), and wondered if we had left the gate open and it had wandered in. I tried to make my way quietly downstairs so as not to disturb my sleeping family, but was unsuccessful in that I woke Curtis. When I explained why I was up, he got his camera to try to capture a photo of our visitor. I had thought to open the gate if it was closed, so it could get out again, but decided against it. By the time I'd made my way upstairs again, it had found its own way out.

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.
_____________

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!

Spelling

1. pest
2. tap
3. pin
4. is
5. pit
6. snap
7. in
8. man
9. red
10. dip

• words that Isaac has to spell for his Grade 1 spelling test on Friday.

1. us
2. sad
3. flag
4. this
5. with
6. that
7. thank
8. me
9. we
10. thinking

• words that Isaac's fellow Grade 2 classmembers have to spell on Friday.
• words that Isaac also spelled to Bonnie and me tonight as we practiced for Friday's test.
  

More photos from this morning

Early Morning Photos

I went for a drive this morning and captured these images as the sun slowly burned off the early morning mist.

New Stairs

Over the past couple of days we've had a contractor come and replace the old, creaky stairs we've been walking up and down since we moved in 2 1/2 years ago. This morning he finished putting the stain on the treads and touching up the paint on the risers. It's nice have it finally done as we've been wanting this for quite some time now.

Here's a progression of shots from before he started until after he finished.

Isaac's joy

Isaac went to his first night of AWANA at our church last night. I don't know very much about it, but from what I briefly saw last night as I picked him up at 8, it certainly seemed like an excellent program for Isaac to be involved in. He had expressed some hesitation about going prior to Bonnie taking him, but he came home all excited about all the things he's involved in. So each Tuesday night from 6:30-8 Isaac will be playing games, interacting, singing songs, learning bible verses and participating with other kids in a variety of other activities. He's got a booklet that Bonnie and I can help him work through to help memorize scripture as well. I think it will be a good supplement to the environment here in our home that we're trying to raise Isaac in.

Then last night after Bonnie put him to bed, she came out and told me something else Isaac had said. Apparently he asked her to put her ear to his chest to see if she could hear his heart beating. Then he said something to the effect of, "that's my heart beating with love for you". That certainly made Bonnie smile!

Today's excitement

This afternoon we had the contractor come who is going to be replacing our front staircase this week. He wanted to confirm the measurements before he starts cutting etc. So anyways, when I showed Isaac the motorbike, he got all excited, and Jason, the contractor asked if he wanted a ride. So after Jason was finished, he took Isaac for a little ride. It obviously made an impression as Isaac talked about it quite a bit after it was over.

The difference a week makes

Last week I wrote about Isaac's hesitancy with colouring. Well tonight after supper I suggested that he try to colour the sheet that his teacher sent home with him after school today. This past weekend, and tonight as well, I asked him in such a way as to try and make it a fun activity rather than something he would dread. I guess it worked.

They've been reading about Curious George at school, and the teacher sent home a full-page cartoon of the monkey for him to colour, and I was quite pleasantly surprised when he finished the whole thing in less than 1/2 an hour. I was especially impressed at how well he stayed within the lines. Then as he was finishing, he told me that he was glad that I had encouraged him to practice colouring, because now he really enjoyed it. The fact that he acknowledged this was tremendously satisfying.

I think this whole experience thus far was a small taste of the feeling I had tried to describe to myself earlier, even before Isaac was in school. Somehow, eventhough I knew that things wouldn't always go easy, I was always looking forward to helping Isaac with his schoolwork. A lot of it I believe was because I enjoyed school. There's also that natural parental pride in seeing your child achieve something after working hard to get there. Like other parents I'm sure, I want my child to do well. I hope that Isaac finds the environment in which Bonnie and I are trying to help him, an encouraging one.

Anyways, here's the result of his work tonight.

A fun perspective

Yesterday afternoon as we were relaxing in our front yard, Isaac wanted me to take some photos of him jumping off a ramp that we had painted earlier in the day. I got right down on the ground with my camera mere inches off the grass and tried to time my exposure for the instant that he was in frame (it was tricky to guess as I wasn't able to watch him run up).

Anyways the whole point of this exercise (apart from having fun with Isaac), was to see what a different perspective from the normal profile shot would result it.

This is the best image I captured. I like how the perspective gives the illusion that he is much higher off the ground than he actually is.

Our day today

The rain went away for the day which was nice. To see the sun again, and some blue sky was a welcome change from the cold and dampness of the past few days.

And my fatigue wasn't so bad today so I managed to finish painting the front deck railing this afternoon. I'm glad to get it done, considering I put the first brush to wood back in May! It's interesting how life just takes over and a variety of things prevent you from getting things done. The back deck needs to get done now, but I haven't decided if I'll attempt to paint those railings this year or not.

Isaac and I rode Bonnie to work this afternoon and then continued on around town for about an hour or so. Seeing as it was such a nice day, it was a pleasant escape from being cooped up in the house. We stopped at Kokopelli's (a local coffee-shop) and sat outside in the sun enjoying a cool drink. Isaac wanted to show me a full-face racing helmet he wanted me to buy for bike riding, but I assured him that I didn't need such an expensive piece of protection.

After riding back home we played basketball for a while and then laid on the grass for a while looking up at the clouds. I asked Isaac what he saw in the clouds, and he talked about space ships! Which wasn't really that surprising considering that's all he talks about when he's playing and building with Lego these days.

After supper I suggested we do some colouring (really to practice his school work, but I tried to make it sound like a fun activity for Isaac). Something must have worked because he did really well, and stayed at it for about an hour. THAT made me really happy.

We also played some video games on the computer and then read a couple of stories from some of the library books we picked up this afternoon as well.

Bedtime was around 8 and then I worked on some things in the office for an hour and a half or so.

All in all it was a very good day.

First Week at School Summary

Well Isaac's first week went by without any major incidents. Surprisingly it hasn't been difficult (at least so far) getting him out of bed in the morning either. I think there were only a couple times that he said that he didn't want to go to school after breakfast, but regardless, once he got to school, he went running out to the playground to play with his friends, so I think he's adjusting alright.

The only hesitation I've experienced with him is in the "work" he has to finish at home. He tends to get distracted really easily and so doesn't finish his colouring exercises while he's at school. We're trying to let him play a little while once he gets home from school, and then ask him to finish what he started during the day. One day this week, it took him till 6:30 to finish colouring. So I hope that with practice he'll be able to develop a bit more sticktoitiveness.

But all in all, it's been a good experience for everyone. It's actually helped me spend more focused time with Isaac once he gets home from school. I'm able to get more of my work done during the day, and look forward to the time he's back so we can play together.

Isaac's First Day in Grade One

Isaac is in a class with grade's 1 and 2 together.




After getting settled in their class, the whole school marched off to the gymnasium for...


...a pancake breakfast!