Golf, anyone?

Ella has taken a liking to an old golf ball that rolled out of the cupboard. She doesn't chew on it or, even play with it; she just puts it in her mouth and brings it to wherever she decides to lie down. It's quite funny. Anyway, I figure it's the Veldkamp side that's influencing her behavior!

A trip to the local Falconer

The boys and I were thrilled to visit the Halifax airport a couple of weeks ago and meet the falconer who is in charge of bird control on the runways. His name is Derek Forrest and he has a red-tailed hawk that Ethan is doing a project on at school. He was very kind to have us come by during his work day and he spent an half hour telling us all kinds of interesting things about hawks and falcons. Did you know that the falcon hunts in the air and the hawk hunts off the ground? And, the falcon humanely kills it's prey with a small puncture from the tip of his beak and the hawk tends to "play" with his food before consuming. Hmmmmmm.....who knew? Anyway, the picture speaks for itself.

We're moving out West...yeehaw!!

Yes, indeed, the FOR SALE sign has been erected in the front yard! After some agonizing decision-making, we have decided to begin a new chapter in our lives and move to the Edmonton area. Nova Scotia has been our home for 15 years and we have been privileged to have met many wonderful friends that have become our surrogate family (hence, the agonizing nature of our decision). But, our extended family are a good reason to supplant ourselves, and we're looking forward to getting to know all our cousins, nephews and nieces, aunts and uncles and grandparents even better. Keep posted...so far the house has been on the market for 2 weeks and we've had 7 showings (realestate lingo for: strangers wandering through your home poking through the closets)...hopefully it won't take too long.

Ethan lost a tooth!!

Ethan lost his first tooth the other day after a week of it teetering on the edge of his gum. It took a gentle nudge from Walt, and then it was out! Very exciting. The tooth fairy left a significant sum for the tiny tooth setting a worrying precedent for the next couple of years.

Ski Day

Last week Wednesday we all played hooky from our daily schedule and spent a terrific day on the ski hill with the entire family...plus one...Kevin, Lucas' friend. Lucas is the only snowboarder in the family so we felt bad leaving him in our dust all day!

The temperature was well below freezing, but the ski was blue and clear and there was a decent amount of snow. It felt great to be outside, enjoying the beautiful scenery and each other. I have to admit, it took a lot of effort to get everyone geared up for skiing, but it has been worth it.

Hope you're able to enjoy the winter too!

Happy New Year

Is is now January 3rd and the past two weeks have been a great mix of spending time with friends that we haven't seen in awhile and also some lovely quiet days (not so quiet, really, just nothing-on-the-agenda days) that gave us some family time to watch a movie, play a game, or just eat. Speaking of eating, our holiday gathering was our annual oliebollen feast which is enjoyed on our back deck on New Years Eve day. Walt made 178 oliebollen and after having friends drop by and help us celebrate, we still have a few leftover.
But they make good leftovers and we've had them for breakfast and lunch over the past few days.

New Years Eve night we had some friends over too and Walt made a delicious peanut sate with chicken and pork with salad, fresh bread and wine. We set off some fireworks to celebrate the Dutch New Year since we are too old and weary to make it to midnight. It's amazing how a few fireworks bought at the local gas station can cause us to be so transfixed!

Christmas Greetings and a little update

Greetings from the East Coast!

We all survived 2007 with limbs intact and only a few trips to the emergency department for stitches and broken bones. Walter has had a few stitches due to occupational hazards and Spencer broke his arm in June due to a bike stunt that didn't quite turn out the way he had planned. This was a real disappointment since, first of all, it was his left arm (he's right-handed) and secondly, he couldn't participate in his favorite summer sport, paddling, at the local Cheema Paddling club summer camps. He was very grown-up about the entire situation, however, and had the later half of the summer to look forward to with a trip to Alberta and BC to visit family and do some sight seeing.

Leona, Lucas and Ethan remained free of any serious injury this year although Lucas' basketball gives him some fairly painful scrapes and bruises. Lucas continues to grow at an alarming rate (he's in grade six and 5'7") and he's the tallest kid in his school of 640 students. He enjoys any sport and is also a very good student, plays alto saxophone in the school band, and is a great help at home. Walter's home business has given Lucas an opportunity to help out on some jobs in the summer to make a little extra money from Dad, or on a trip to Home Depot, which they both enjoy.

Spencer is doing very well in school. He is well-liked and conscientious and I have always, over the years, received positive comments from adults about his cheerfulness and social graces. He is a fanatical (that is not an overstatement) reader and has been continuing his fencing at a local club this Fall. He has also joined the ski club at his junior high, which starts in January, and they go to a local hill over the ski season. Due to his high interest in skiing and Lucas' persistance over the last two years in learning to snowboard, we've decided to gear ourselves up for doing some family ski outings since Ethan has also started skiing last year. Maybe we'll be able to enjoy some Alberta and BC skiing in future!

Ethan is in grade one and is an enthusiastic and engaged student. He's reaching all the benchmarks and learning to read. It's always the writing that takes a bit longer...and, he's still working on our last name...give the kid a break! He played soccer this summer and was their top scorer. Ethan and I also enjoyed a lovely vacation in early May to the Dominican Republic for a week of R&R with a very good friend and her son, Noah. We had a very nice time and really enjoyed the tropical temperatures and beautiful beach.

And, well, Leona has been running the entire affair and also trying to keep one foot in the jewellery production business. She's persisted in keeping up with silver smithing courses which she enjoys very much and is learning a lot. It also gives her a chance to get out of Fall River since the Art College is right in downtown Halifax in an ancient building and the ambience adds to a nice break from my usual routine. On our trip to Vancouver Island this summer we found a wonderful beach on the Island that was loaded with beach glass which has been an inspiration for some recent jewellery. The entire family spent an hour picking up as much glass as they could!

Our big trip this year was motivated by attending Walter's brother, Rikk's, wedding to Valerie St. Cyr in Victoria, BC. We flew into Edmonton and spent a few days visiting family and then drove to Vancouver Island with Walt's younger brother, Henry and his family. The drive through the Rockies was spectacular and also gave us a chance to see some friends from William's Lake that we hadn't seen for a few years. On the Island, we rented a beautiful home on a lake near Langford for the week which became the main attraction for all the kids. The wedding was beautiful and the entire week gave us a chance to catch up with Walt's family since it had been a long time that we have all been together.

Walter's handyman/renovation business has been going well and we are thankful for God's blessings in keeping us all safe and sound. We pray that with all the ups and downs of living that you continue to count your blessings. Our family is particularly grateful that Leona's Dad is slowly recovering from osteomyletis in his spine although he still struggles with some foot issues that we pray will get better soon. Mom has been a wonderful support and caregiver through all this and took a little break recently to come and visit us for a few days, which was much enjoyed.

Most of all, we wish all of you a very blessed Christmas and New Year and hope to be in touch with you, one way or another, in 2009. If you like to check in with us every once in a while, we will be trying to keep this blog up to date. God bless.