Settling In

Uncle Jack was our very first overnight guest. He stayed overnight on his way up to Calgary. Our first install was this clothesline. I miss the clothesline from when I was a kid and I thought it would be a good energy saver. I love watching the sheets flapping in the wind. It rained on this day. Oops!

Our second change was making a vegetable garden. We got in a big load of dirt and built raised beds. The girls planted peas and corn on this day.

Pea world

We have had a few visitors. This guy liked to perch here and on the Sequoia we have in the year. Such a bright orange that you could see him from quite a distance.

Ah Yes, rural life also brings the less desireables as well. This one was most likely killed by our blog's namesake, Meeko. we ended up killing about another four in traps. We figured they were coming in the dryer duct and furnace input and outputs on the side of the house. We fixed that. Hopefully.

Some more planting

When we moved in, the frogs were so loud. It sounded like all the windows were open inside the house but they were all closed. We learned we moved in during mating season. Heather had trouble sleeping, it was so loud and took some getting used to. These little guys ended up hatching in our pond and have brought the girls and their friends plenty of hours of entertainment.

Bought some new patio furniture for the big deck. Still need a new table and chairs set but that will have to wait another year I think.

Jigs Getting Better

Our Jigs was barely a year old when he got a tumor under his chin. Boxers are known for getting tumors and cancer. He had it removed and is doing well. The tumor was cancerous but was enclosed inside the tumor itself. Lets hope that's the last of it. He is really enjoying the new yard but it is really hard to keep him out of the sun. He loves sunning himself but it is not good for him.

Moving Day

This was the listing pictures on the house we bought in January. We finally got to move in at the end of April. It will be a long time before we take pictures of the inside with our stuff. We will be living around with boxes for a long time to come. This is the front of the log house that was built 8-10 years ago. We bought 2.5 acres. The house is about 3500 square feet including the unfinished basement. The back of the house

The back yard and septic field

The other backyard

Side of the house. The tanks collect rain water for the inground sprinkler system

The kitchen

The livingroom

The master bedroom

The stairs to the upper bedrooms

Vanessa's future room

The guest room

The girls' bathroom

Heather's future bedroom

The move went really well. It took us four hours to move out of the old house and two hours to move in. We tried to be very organized and we had lots of help from family and friends. Thank you.

Easter Fun

Coloring Easter Eggs is always fun. This year the girls tried painting them.

We made carrot cookies for the Easter Bunny

Jigs relaxing on Easter Sunday

The last Easter egg hunt in this house

It was so nice outside that the Easter Bunny even hid eggs outside this year. I think he is getting the girls used to the idea for the new house.

Our annual Easter Egg Hunt at our friends in Maple Ridge. 7 years running now. The camera started to act up so some of the pictures are blurry.

Loving sisters...

Brownie Badge

Heather decided to work on her cooking badge for Brownies. She made coleslaw, Kraft dinner and chocolate strawberry shortcake. She invited a couple of the neighbor kids over to eat.

It was yummy!

Spring Break 2011

For Spring Break we used the last of our time share points for Whistler. We stopped at the Britannia Mines on the way up. They have done a lot to the museum in the last little while and it was great to learn all about the mine and the community that developed there at the time. Britannia mine was mostly a copper mine. The community that was built as a result had many community events including the crowning of the Copper Queen. This is the original throne.
My other Copper Queen

Inside the processing and grinding part of the mine.

Waiting for our ride into the tunnels

Here we go

You can see all the oxidized copper on the walls of the tunnel

Oh my!

Had to use air compressed drills to avoid explosions

Can anyone guess what the "honey pot" was used for?

That is one big truck!

At Whistler, we decided to take a sleigh ride

Fun in the snow

Hot chocolate, a play in the snow and a warm fire at the half way point.

We ended the night with a fondue dinner

Vanessa enjoying chocolate fondue

Heather not wanting to get out of the hot tub at the resort

We stopped at the train museum in Squamish on the way home. royal Hudson is being preserved inside a newly built round house. Very impressive.

Lots of trains and cars to explore

Round-a-bout

Here is a video of our sleigh ride including the jingle bells.