Goodbye Neighbors :(

A couple of my neighbors came by for a last walk and visit of the neighborhood. It is sad to see them go but it is great to have them in the 'hood and still close enough to go visiting without a huge trip ahead (WAY better than Kelowna!). Congrats guys!!!!

Treadmill Walking!

I am very happy that I got a treadmill which is something I've been thinking about for awhile. I got it from my grandma Shadbolt who has not been able to use it lately since her knee has been bothering her. It is school manual style where you really have to be pushing to keep it going so it takes alot more work than my mom's motorized one... but it is good... very very good!

Good Times In The Field...

Well I guess this is the last weekend that Ren and the boys are going to be the neighbors :(

Kent was over and the whole fam dam came out to hang out and play some soccer.

A few of the neighborhood kids who have become the boys good friends were out playing some soccer as well.

Genitta and Tavis brough over some Boche? ball

It was good times to be had by all!

Happy 21st Kenta!

Kent turned 21 on August 24th. He wanted to go out with his friends on his birthday but the family gathered on Saturday night to have his birthday dinner. This picture of the three Koomen boys made me laugh! Jan is very happy that it is Kent's birthday and I think my dad is singing...

Rainy Day Pool Party

I heard the kids over at G's this morning when I woke up and it turned out that Ren had the day off today as well! So we had Subway and headed over to Rob's pool!

We picked up Kent, headed over to Chiko's to buy him a hat for his birthday (it was a good opportunity cause it was his birthday yesterday and I didn't get him a present yet so Ren let me go in on the hat!!). He is 21 now so we dragged him out swimming as well.

Jordie can't find his life jacket so he had to stay by the shallow end... but he did really good and we had a couple of great games of shark attack where Avery did well saving his brother from the sharks!

It was a fun day for all!

Second Day of Holidays

I went to dinner with a few of my favorite people today...

We had a very interesting drive to East Side Mario's, and Jordan had control of the camera!

We all had a gormet meal! Ren and Jordan had pasta and me and Ave had burgers and fries of course...

On the way home I came upon Ave and Cole playing war in the field. Ave did a combat rolled and crunched his plastic gun.

Well not really his... it was Cole's and Cole wasn't super impressed I must say! He did get over it very quickly however!

It was a great 2nd Day!!!

First Day of Holidays

The boys raided the house today. It was a nicky nicky nine door approach with plans to attack the unsuspecting ME who was to open the door but the plan was foiled as I spotted Cole's head in the trees behind them when they attacked. They got Genitta next door pretty good and plastered her front window with darts!

Tavis was a mastermind and finally came up with a plan to retrieve the darts from the window. Genitta had him clean the front window while he was at it... good times for all! I am truly going to miss mornings like this once the boys move to their new house in about a week. I am really lucky that we got to be so close to them for the last two years.

It's a rainy, dreary day and the cats went out this morning but did not stay out long. I have the window cracked so they are watching the (non) adventure that is unfolding outside.
I am thinking of getting dressed and going to price out hardwood laminate flooring. It may happen or it may have to wait until tomorrow...

21 Questions

Just got home from a shift on the crisis lines. It was a quiet night which was a nice change. I found this 21 Questions questionnaire online so I think I'll fill it out for all of your enjoyment!

1) grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 18, find line 4:
England and frontier North America, was profoundly influenced by

2) stretch your left arm out as far as you can. what do you touch first?
Blue remote control

3) what is the last thing you watched on TV?

Watching Big Brother right now!

4) without looking, guess what the time is?
1:56am??

5) now look at the clock, what is the actual time?
2:01am!

6) with the exception of the computer, what can you hear?
The television

7) when did you last step outside? what were you doing?
Camping with Kelly, Jon, Jill, Calvin & Deanna for Deanna's birthday camping trip. We had to climb up a mountain with all of our gear and I almost died! I begged Kelly to let me just go back to the car and go trunk camping (where your gear and beer is in the trunk parked beside the campsite) down the street with my sister and cousins from Holland since I didn't think I was going to make it up the mountain but he wouldn't give me the keys and I did eventually make it!

8) before you came to this website, what did you look at?
I was reading my favorite blogs (clublife, texan jack & others)

9) what are you wearing?
My black cords, blue striped t-shirt, and my fleece pullover cause I didn't shut the windows before I went to work and its FREEZING in here!

10) did you dream last night?
I probably did but I very rarely remember my dreams :(

11) when did you last laugh?
At work... there is always good healthy humor in the crisis centre.

12) seen anything weird lately?
Daily... but I signed a confidentiality agreement so I can't talk about it

13) last movie you saw?
Kill Bill I & II. I borrowed them from Genitta last weekend

14) if you became a multi-millionaire overnight, what would you buy first?
I think I would pay off my home, rent it and then buy an acreage outside of the city

15) tell me something about you that i don't know:
Hmmmm... i don't know who you are. Well... my birthday is the only day of the year that is a command...

16) if you could change one thing about the world, regardless of guilt or politics, what would you do?
Just give everyone on the earth what they need... we have wood so everyone should have a house, we have food so there really shouldn't be people starving. I would also eliminate cruelty but I have no idea how you could make this happen.

17) do you like to dance?
Sometimes when I'm by myself at home and a great song comes on... or with my godson Avery, I have always felt comfortable and happy dancing with my Avery

18) george bush:
American president, aggressive, corrupt upbringing, cheats

19) imagine your first child is a girl, what do you call her?
Shae Lillian, I like the name... and my mother Genia named my sister Genitta, her name with 2 t's in it, I have always thought that was really cool and SHAe is like saSHA... and Lillian after one of my favorite people my grandmother Lillian Leach

20) [same question for a boy]
This one changes continuously. I used to answer Jaiden but I have gotten over that name... maybe like Dakota or something different like that. For a middle name I've always said Phillip after my grandad. He is one of the wisest men I've even known.

21) Would you ever consider living abroad?
I would love to but would never have the guts to do it on my own.

Risk

To laugh is to risk appearing the fool,
To Weep is to risk being called sentimental.
To reach out to another is to risk involvement.
To expose feelings is to risk showing your true self.
To place your ideas and your dreams before a crowd is to risk being called naive.
To live is to risk dying.
To hope is to risk despair, and to try is to risk failure.

But risks must be taken because the greatest risk in life is to risk nothing.
The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing, is nothing, and becomes nothing.
He may avoid suffering and sorrow, but he simply cannot learn and feel and change and grow and love and live.
Chained by things that are certain,
he is a slave. He has forfeited his freedom.

(Author Unknown)

B-B-Q at G'z

My wonderful sister Genitta had a bar-b-que tonight and served some delicious beef on a bun, corn on the cob, potatoes, and ceasar salad. It was a great time.

Me and the boys had a great time posing for pics. This is Avery in the get away car!

The karate scene was pretty good! Avery came in for the kill...

Jordan jumped onto the rock and went straight for the head attempting to chop out Ave's brain!

Oh no! Jordan missed and Avery came back in for a kill!

They both fought to the deck when out of nowhere a sign came from the skies telling them to stop the fighting and peace was finally restored in the neighborhood.

The Shandler/Smeltzer's had to go home but we had a great time visiting with Candy and her new friend.

Please send your positive thoughts and prayers...

We got some news that has me quite concerned today. My cousin Rob and his girlfriend Becky are pregnant with the baby due in November. Becky started having a few complications last night and the baby may be coming way sooner than expected. I don't want to put too much personal information here since it is not my information to tell you but thank goodness Becky is alright and as far as they know the baby is alright as well, they are just not sure if Becky is going to be able to take the baby to term. At first I heard that the baby might be here in the next 48 hours but now it sounds like they are going to try to keep the baby in a little bit longer, hopefully at least two more weeks.

Please send your positive thoughts and prayers...

Just More Of The Same

I popped by Genitta's before I left for work and Genitta was heading out to get groceries. Kent was not working today so he came by to play video games with the kids while she was gone... so I got to see all the boys today!

Genitta was getting into her car at the same time as I was leaving for work (which was about 1:40pm today) so I made her stop and pose for a pic for the blog ")

Morning

Genitta has been watching the boys for the last few days do I have had the pleasure of waking up and having a visit with the boys. It's pretty cool, and it'll only be a few more days that I can look out my back window and see the boys running around so I am enjoying it!

Sir?

Well it was my first "cadet night" tonight and it was different but definitely fun. I even ended up doing some drill. I hadn't realized that it was going to be a training night (although I kind of do remember John Stewart mentioning it on a message he left) and there was a bit of a classroom meeting and then drill class. It was a blast and I was actually quite surprised by how much I remembered. As the other new guy Cameron said it shouldn't be that surprising considering it was drilled into our brains four at least an hour a week for six years. I found this really bad picture of me at annual inspection my first years in cadets. The drum major in front of me is Richard Coates and the head right behind me is Owen Deere.

And the new cadet adventures begin...

Feeling All Pukey Again

Today was a sick day. I drove into work but I didn't feel very well at all so I left at noon. I came home, sat down on the zombie box and was mezmerized for a few hours. This picture was actually taken by Genitta last night when I was feeling a little bit better and actually smiling.

Vaarwel

Sunday... The Dutch relatives are going home tomorrow so we all had a goodbye bar-b-que before they left. It was really great to see them and meet even more of the family (it was the first time I REALLY met Eef and Sofie). I guess there are plans to make a big trip to holland in the summer of 2006. I think that would be super fun and a great time for all... I think I will start saving up now!

Dank u voor komst en gelieve opnieuw spoedig te komen!

Well Look Whose Home...

The boys actually got home yesterday but I got to actually see them this morning before they headed off for the rest of the weekend with their dad.

I am pretty glad they are back since they are the two best models on the blog and it has really been lacking since they have been gone!

In fact Ren's Blog almost died altogether while they were gone. I don't think it has even been updated since early August... I was talking to Craig and he said that she even stopped cooking banana loaf while they were gone!!!

We just hung out for a bit and took tons of pictures of each other so we wouldn't forget what we all looked like.

It's really great to have them home... it's just not the same around here without them!

On The Lines

I am on the crisis lines today. In fact right now I am in the middle of a shift that will be done at 6pm tonight. It hasn't been super busy and so far the calls have been going well. I had a great addicition call where I was able to explain the different treatment options that are avaiable and had a great discussion about why the different types of treatment might be helpful. I was talking to a relative of a person who was struggling with addiction, and I think that they now have all the information they need to help out their loved one. It was a good call!. I also have a caller calling in who is not so nice and is actually banned from the lines. I am also having a good time listening to him yell and explaining that no I cannot talk to him as he is banned... oh the fun times to be had on the crisis line :)

Ren's New House!

Ronaye put a bid on this home today. It is a beautiful home by the looks of it and it is also in the neighborhood so it is a great deal and a great find! I am really going to miss being able to look out the back window and see her and the boys out in the field but I am very very happy for her and know that they needed the extra space and the move! I cannot ever put into words how proud I am of her and how much she and her boys mean to me but I believe that she knows.

I had a pretty rough day at work and have been a little depressed but I'm not ready to write about what's been going on for me or what's in my head until I work it around my own brain for a bit. Maybe it's just PMS...

On a happier note here is a great old picture I found the other day and decided to scan in for your viewing enjoyment!

The Buick Fails Again

The buick died on me again. It was RIGHT after we got home from the big road trip last night. I ran to the Co-op to get some money, some gas, and a burger from the A&W... I got the money, pulled in for the gas and the car started puttering, spitting and then died!

I was so sad but also very lucky that I was about two minutes from home, and not in a rush to get anywhere. My dad, Uncle Jan and Kent came and helped me out. We tied the buick to the suburban and they pulled me down the street to the Shell. I just walked down there and gave them the keys to my car. Looks like it's time for a new alternator :(

Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump & Frank

I took the day off today to visit with our visiting relatives from Holland. It was kind of a rainy miserable weather day so we decided to drive out to southern Alberta and visit the Head Smashed in Buffalo Jump.

It was the best day to go. It is World Indigenous Peoples Day so the admission to the Museum was free and there were some really neat things to see. This is a big hide that they would keep track of yearly events on.

We walked through the museum, checked out a few short movies about the jumps and made our way up the hill to the actual Buffalo jumps. This is my Uncle Lou, Aunt Anneke, Cousin Eef and Cousin Sofie.

At the top of the museum we walked down a path to the actual jumps. There is a jump right in the front of the picture. A second jump cliff at the back and a spiritual area right near the little hill in the top left hand corner.

This is my cute cousin Sofie at the top of the Smashed in Head Buffalo Jumps...

and her older equally cute brother Eef!

This is just a cool shot of an indian village that I shot from a model in the museum...

On the way home we headed to Frank to take a look at the Frank Slide. I guess Turtle Mountain collaped one night and 100 people were burried in their beds sleeping in their beds below. It was pretty impressive! All the huge boulders were WAY more impressive in person then they were in the pictures.

We hung around at the rocks for awhile and eventually made our way up the hill to the interpretive centre. There was a really nice view from up there.

It was a pretty nice day seeing ther local Canadian sites and showing off our country to my extremely cool relatives from Holland :)