Our Adventures

Yes, I know, I am a blogging slacker. But since it looks like this outside...



and I have nowhere to go I am motivated to sit down and write a little something.

Let's start on January 19th. We were going over to my parents house for supper and lo and behold a whole bunch of our friends were there to give me a belated surprise birthday party. I didn't even see it coming which is pretty impressive for Chris because he usually slips on those sorts of things or I figure them out before they happen. So we had a splendid evening of pigging out on pizza and ice cream cake and playing all sorts of games, which of course the girls won most of. Thanks for coming guys, it was a great surprise!

Jamie and I
Carmen and Eric playing Apples to Apples (which I won both rounds of)
A re-creation of the surprise I had walking into the kitchen
It's hard to see but we sported some lovely fingernail stickers courtesy of the card Josh and Cassy gave me

So let's see, what else have we been up to. These past couple weeks have been a long waiting game for me once again as I have applied to many places for work but have not heard back from any yet. I keep thinking they lost my resume in the shuffle or something but I guess I'll just have to keep waiting and applying for more jobs that come up. Chris has been told by the teacher whose job he is filling this year that she doesn't want it back next year so we'll see if he gets it for next year too which we are hoping will happen. I've sent off all my paperwork for the PDP program and now I get to wait until the end of April to hear back if I made it in. About two weeks ago my dad went in for another major surgery like he had last year on his left leg but this time it was on his right. He got to come home after only 2 and half days in the hospital and has been doing really good recovering, some of his white hair has even turned back to gray, whatever that means. Now hopefully he'll be able to be up and about more without any pain and he won't need any more surgeries. In other news, Chris and I have been using our gym passes at the Rec center about 3 times a week. I've been swimming, trying to swim 1km each time and Chris has been running and doing weight training stuff. It has been really good, we're enjoying feeling like we're getting back in shape and also having something better to do than watch t.v. We also just finished up a series on Wednesdays nights with our church called Vineyard Vision. It was for three weeks and the pastor led a group of us explaining about what the vineyard church is about and where they're coming from, it was really good to get that information so we can base our decision on staying on more than just the services. So I think we have decided to stick around there, it's a really welcoming church, their goal is to have half of the church come from non-churched backgrounds so there is definitely a mix of people there. We have already been invited for supper to one of the middle aged couples house this weekend and have been randomly prayed for a few times by some of the adults in the church. We definitely feel welcomed there and are excited to see what God has in store for us at that church. That's all I can think of about what's been going on around here. Back to watching the snow fall...

Well, we're back from our splendid time out in Saskatchewan. Seeing as how I didn't post about our Christmas here in Chilliwack before we left this may turn into a really long post. Alright, let's start from the beginning.

Our Christmas on Dec 22nd
We decided to have our Christmas early because we were having Christmas with my parents the next day and Chris wanted me to have my present before I took pictures of Jen's family on Christmas Eve. So we slept in and had some brunch and then got to the fun part. Opening presents. I opened mine first. I knew what I was getting because Chris wanted to get the right one so even though there was no surprise I was very happy with what I got. I upgraded my camera with a new lens that is better quality and has a bigger zoom than the one it came with. Chris also got me a bigger camera bag to hold other accessories such as my old lens and perhaps a flash in the future. Then he tried to surprise me with a calendar he made on the computer but the receipt for it showed up in our email and I saw it but it is the thought that counts. I surprised Chris with a new PS2 and Madden '08. I told him I would never get him one but I caved and he has enjoyed it so far. The rest of the day we spent playing with our new toys and just relaxing before all the partying began.

Sitting by our tree
My new lens and bag
Chris with his new toy
Christmas with my family and party with friends on Dec 23rd
The next day we headed to my parents house to open presents and have breakfast. We were once again spoiled with things such as gym passes to the leisure center, a waffle maker and many new games. My mom even snuck in a NHL '08 game for Chris which she bought after she found out I got him the PS2. I didn't even have to tell her what the game was called so that was pretty impressive. After opening gifts and playing a rousing game of Dutch Blitz we headed back home for the afternoon and then went back to my parents for supper later on. That evening we had some friends over for games because it was the only time we could see them before we headed out to Herbert. We had a fun time playing a variety of games and just chatting and catching up.

Chris and I ready to open presents
Jamie, Paul, Jen and Chris
Laurie, Bonnie and Jon
Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve was spent packing for our trip and in the afternoon I headed out to the lake with Jen's family to take some family photos. It was much more windy than expected but we tried our best to keep hair under control and hopefully there's a few shots they can keep. That evening we went to the Christmas Eve service at my old church and then went to Jen's place and played some Catch Phrase and some intense guitar hero which Jen has the pictures of. Then we went to bed early because we had to be up early for our flight leaving from Vancouver.

Jen's family photos




Christmas in Herbert
Christmas morning we drove into Vancouver with my dad for our flight. There were no delays and we got to Saskatoon a bit early with our bags being some of the firsts coming on the carousel, which never happens. We were picked up by Ryan and Dad and then we headed to Herbert. Once we got there we had a delicious ham supper and then opened some presents. We all got new PJ's which the boys just had to try them on right then so we took a classic shot of them by the tree as if they were 5 years old. We got the Belichick hoody for dad because he's a big fan of the Patriots, I think he liked it quite a bit. The rest of the evening was spent playing Quelf where we got to witness Kevin's version of belly dancing which looked a lot more like stripping. It was pretty funny.

Bill Belichick
The boys in their new PJ pants
The next day we went to Grandma and Grandpa Falk's for another Christmas supper and played some games with the fam. I was feeling pretty sick by that time so I sat out for the round of Quelf that night. The day after that we spent out at the farm playing games, doing my puzzle and the boys went to play basketball at the gym with a bunch of Herbertians. Then we were off to a camp north of regina for the Braun gathering.

Braun Gathering Dec 28-30
We rented out a camp lodge for a few days and almost everyone from the Braun side made it so there were lots of people and lots of games to play. We got there around supper time and then did the big gift exchange. I scored an electronic Suduko game and Chris got a power convertor for our car. After that we busted out the Quelf. I decided to take pictures of the stupid things people had to do such as taping targets on their body in a place where if other people looked they would get a penalty. Or playing oh canada with your nose as a trumpet. The best though was Andrew and Curtis having to be golf announcers for Tori and Chris' turn throughout the game.

Ryan, Andrew and Chris during the gift exchange
Curtis and Andrew the golf announcers
Janette with a target on her head and Colin being Darth Vader
Ryan and Randi trying to bring Tim to tears
Tori and Chris
Ryan, Randi, Tim and Ty
Oh Canada with trumpet nose Kevin
The next day was spent hanging out with baby Josh and doing puzzles. Some people braved the weather and tried to play hockey on the frozen lake. It wasn't quite smooth enough for skates so they played in their big winter boots. I didn't get any photo evidence of this because I was too involved in my puzzle. I also made it my prerogative to capture how cute Josh is so here is my ode to Josh...

Josh you are so cute...
Even when you chew on wood...
And smoosh your face...
But especially when you try to walk and give big smiles
You never stop smiling even when it's late
And so I prove that Josh is cute
Yup, he's a cutie. I was a little obsessed with him but hey, I only get to see him twice a year. It's understandable right? When I wasn't taking Josh away from people I was working on a circular puzzle with some fellow puzzle makers. It took us a good 5 hours to finish and some ridicule along the way but we pulled through and showed those people the success of our struggles. In the midst of puzzle making we were told to come outside and see the northern lights which turned out to be a fireworks show put on by some of our uncles. It was quite impressive.

Playing some Crokinole (yes that's how you spell it)
The puzzle making crew (and some posers)
Putting on the lights show
Ooooh, aaahh
Ryan and Randi
So we had a really good time out at the camp, playing lots of games and catching up with family. The rest of our time in Saskatchewan we spent at the farm playing more games, the boys watching football, dad obsessively playing a hunting game on Ryan's xbox and of course, eating lots of food. It was so great to be back out there and see everyone for a good chunk of time. We're glad to be back home now and to get back into a routine again. Chris starts school on monday and I'll be back at Evan's volunteering as much as I can in the next couple weeks so I have it on my resume for applying for PDP. Then hopefully I'll find a full time job soon after that which will keep me busy until school starts in September. Okay, this is the longest post ever so I'm just going to end it. Happy new year everyone, hope your holidays were as good as ours!