Annual Girls Ski Trip

Every February for the last four years, four of us gals have packed up our gear and become ski bunnies for the weekend. There is always good fun, food, laughs and wine involved! This year we rented a lovely condo right at the base of Mount Baker for three nights. One night we went out for burger and beers at Graham's, which is really the only place to go out there. The other nights we all contribute something and usually end up eating like kings, in this case like queens. :) We stay up and talk about all sorts of things...the men in our lives, scriptures, dreams of the future, hurts of the past...everything. We all definitely look forward to our annual ski trip! The weather did not cooperate this year, but we were determined to have fun anyways...you can see us trying to have a tail gate party in a blizzard. That's just the type of gals we are...we make fun out of anything and everything!

We also had extra fun this year showing our Olympic pride!

Chris Turns 40!

February was a busy month...mostly with planning Chris's surprise casino party for his 40th birthday. As far as I know, he really was surprised and everyone had a great time because they were talking about it for days afterwards. My cousin Paul and my brother Scott were our dealers and they did a great job. One of the hi-lites of the evening was my gift to Chris...the movie montage of his life so far that I worked on for hours, days and weeks. Unfortunately, I could not get it burned on to a CD, nor could we get it to play on the TV (even with all the techies in the house!), so we all piled in to the computer room to watch.

Here is a little glimpse in to the last 40 years of Chris's life....


Wishing you lots of happiness in the next 40 years!

Busy Times!

Wow! Once again, I have let my blogging slip and haven't blogged since January! I really do enjoy blogging, but I've been a little short on time these days. I'm really loving school and am currently doing my first practicum over at Peace Arch Hospital. We are learning so much every day...on the job experience and doing lots and lots of research! My plan is to go back and share a few special milestones from over the last few months and then try to keep up with all the summer madness ahead!

Hockey Night in Abbotsford!

I've been trying to mix a little fun in with all my studying, so when my dad asked me to go to one of the biggest games of the season, I definitely said "yes". It was my first chance to see the new sports complex that Abbotsford built last year. I was really impressed and thought it was well done. Dad and I had planned to check out the new restaurant next door as well, but apparently everyone in Abbotsford had the same great idea and there was a line up out the door! We were told that if we weren't in the first half of the line we would not be served before the start of the game. That meant we proceeded to Plan B. We grabbed a burger and fries at the concession, and it was good!

Now it was time to watch the warm up and get all psyched to watch the Manitoba Moose (the Canucks farm team) face off against the Abbotsford Heat.

Father and Daughter bonding time...I had a great time with you Dad!!

My dad surprised me with this Abbotsford Heat scarf last night...he must have noticed how much I liked it, but they were sold out the night we went...I love it!

Back to School!

This week I embarked on a new adventure...well, two really.

Firstly, after 15 years, I have become a student once again. On Tuesday I started the Licensed Practical Nurse program. This means for the next year and a bit I will be attending classes at Vancouver Community College. It feels good to know that I am doing something to challenge and improve myself. It's going to be so much work, especially since I will still be working part time and hope to see my family and friends once in a while, but I know it will be worth it next year!

The view from campus window...

The biggest adventure for me this week has been the commute. From my front door to the school's front door is about 2 hours! I drive to Mission, then take the West Coast Express. Once I get to Waterfront in Vancouver I hop on to two different skytrains before I get to the campus. So far, it's been kind of exciting navigating my way through the big city. I really feel like a professional traveller since my books are so heavy that I have to use a suitcase on wheels to lug them around!

I'm sure the novelty will wear off quickly...but for now I'm just enjoying the journey!

Run For Water

Just one last update from an event this spring/summer and then hopefully I'll be able to find something interesting and current.

One of Kenton's favourite sports is track and running. I also took up running a few years back, although I've been doing it less and less lately, so it was time Kenton and I entered an event together. The Run For Water was perfect...it was 10k, in Abbotsford and was for a great cause.

Camping Trip #3

Camping Trip #3 was a girls-only camping trip. There were supposed to be four of us, but two weren't able to make it, so it ended up being just Dana and I. No problem there, since we are the life of the party anyways!
We stayed at Golden Ears Provincial Park...beautiful!! This is definitely a park I plan to camp at again, in fact I plan to make all my reservations here next summer. A beautiful lake, secret little spots in the woods, hiking, trails and lots of trees!
We went for a good long hike every day, played games and enjoyed crantinis...so relaxing and fun...just what us girls needed.

Dana and I on one of our daily hikes

One of our secret spots...a beautiful creek set back in the woods


The bridge between campsites...we definitely stayed in one of the nicer ones!

Can't wait to do it all again next year!

Camping Trip #2

The second camping trip we did this year happened to be during our biggest heat wave of the year. This means no fires and many trips to the Lake throughout the day. My brother and his wife just bought a tent trailer this year, so we went out to Rolley Lake with them. I've been wanting to camp here for awhile now and really liked it. The lake was a nice temperature and size for swimming in, although the beach was a little bit rocky. We love provincial campsites...they don't offer power, but all the big trees and space make it so beautiful. I hope this camping trip turns into an annual event because I had a great time!

The men planning out something...

The kids...probably waiting to go to the lake

Scott, Krystie, Peyton and Zoe chowing down

Awww...Christopher and his little cousin, Peyton

Everyone's cutie...Zoe

Camping Trip #1

The highlight of my summer is always our camping trips. The biggest one (and the best) is when we go camping with the Larnder family. This year we went to Maple Bay out at Cultus Lake. There are some things that are guaranteed when we all get together...such as laughing, card playing and a nice slushy drink, or two...
Other things, such as going to the beach and having a fire, depend on the weather. This year we were lucky enough to do both.

Heading to the beach

Chris tossing the frisbee around

Me and Kenton relaxing on our floaties

Christopher and his friend Dylan eating breakfast

Our annual round of mini golf

Well, that's a quick overview of Camping Trip #1. Can't wait to do it again next year!

Getting Back Into It

Well, now that summer is over and everyone is getting back to being on a schedule, it's time to make an attempt at this blogging thing again. I'm in the process of getting some of my recent pics downloaded and then hope to do a bit of a recap of our summer. Hope to see you soon!

My BFF

It always amazes me how there can be one person in your life who you will not be in touch with for weeks at a time, but when you finally meet up again, wether it be in person, online or via telephone, it's like time hasn't gone by at all since the last time. That would perfectly describe the relationship between myself and my Best Friend since childhood. I try to always be a positive, happy person, but in those rare moments when I feel discouraged or a little down there is one person who can always bring not only a smile to my face, but a laugh into the room. She is a happy, positive, easy-going, giving, loving, inspiring, Godly woman...and she is my BFF...Sonya. Thanks for all the great times girl, and to many, many more!! ;)

Adventures in Babysitting

This weekend, one of my cousins is getting married in Vegas. My brother was asked to be in the wedding party, so I volunteered to look after my two little nieces. They are three and one. So far, they've been perfect angels...

Baking!

We've done a fair bit of baking in the last few days...chocolate chip cookies, banana bread and peanut butter cookies. The boys have said they wouldn't mind if their cousins came over more often!

Extra! Extra!

This morning when you open up your papers, you will see a familiar face.
It was like Christmas morning for Kenton when he went to the front door to grab the morning paper. :)
On Thursday morning, I went to take Kenton to the Abbotsford News office to submit his speech as a letter to the editor. I hadn't even been home for five minutes when the phone rang and a voice said, "This is Vicki Hopes from the Abbotsford News and we'd like to do an exclusive interview with Kenton." It was explained to him that if he decided to do the exclusive, he could not submit his letter to all the other papers...it didn't take him long to decide!
So, off we went to the News office for Kenton's interview. Later that afternoon, they sent a photographer by to shoot a few pictures. They wanted the shot by the cameras since Kenton mentions it in his speech, so to get a good shot Kenton had to stand on the photographers Jeep. It was very interesting.
We were out for the day when the article was posted to the internet, but when we got home there was a message from Global TV asking if they could do an interview.

*Since then, Kenton has been on the front page of the Province and has met MP Ed Fast and Senator Yonah Martin. Way to go Kenton!

"Bacon is nice...but these guys are not..."

This year, for Grade 6 speeches, my eleven-year old's topic was "The Notorious Bacons". He made it to the quarter-finals, which meant that he presented his speech to the entire gymnasium. He received a beautiful ribbon for his efforts and caught the attention of a few influential persons in our city. A few of our local law enforcement officers heard his speech and asked to forward it to the chief of police and also asked him if he would please consider forwarding it to all the local newspapers, including the Vancouver Province and Sun. We are extremely proud of him!

Tonight, at Sunday dinner, he got up the courage to ask our personal surveillance/swat/bodyguard team for a photo-op!