Derek.Steph.Katie

a perfect day

2012-01-23T15:34:00.000-08:00

Over New Years Derek had Monday off so we made the most of this and headed up the ski hill for some sliding. First we enjoyed a yummy lunch in the lounge and then spent the afternoon playing in the snow.

meet Aussie

2011-11-26T13:59:00.000-08:00

Our new puppy. Friends of ours had puppies and we couldn't resist this little guy. we named him Aussie. Katie is loving her new little friend. Derek and I are also falling in love with him. He's so gentle and already knows easy commands like come and stay.

what a big girl our Katie is now..

2011-11-21T16:05:00.000-08:00

wearing princess shoes

painting eggs with Dad

Holiday up North

2011-11-01T17:00:00.000-07:00

The beginning of September saw us taking a holiday up north. Some might think we live far enough north already but we are always up for an adventure and we love the open spaces and fresh air.
The night before we had to make the hard decision to put down our dog Max. He had the week previous attacked a salesperson and the guy was asking for us to pay for his coat. This was kinda the last straw. While Max was an excellent companion for Katie he was also a real nuisance, chewing on everything and anything. And lately he was becoming extremely defensive especially around Katie. We miss him but we also realise how much work a dog is and for now we are ok without one.

wild horses on the way to Telegraph Creek

we saw a lot of this on this trip. as fuel stations are far from each other

I gave Derek a bit of a break from all the driving

Lake Kiniskan

the first bear we spotted

Tahltan River

Watson Lake

the cabin we stayed in for two nights

Katie turned 4 while we were on holidays so the presents came along!!

the signpost forest

S.S Klondike

someone went to great lengths to be comfy...

Derek kayaking by the cabin we stayed at on Watson Lake

Bison

there was a mama bear and three cubs who were used to human contact so while the mother was eating someones supper Derek photographed this cub
the mama bear

why we ventured this far north, Liard River Hotsprings. Just amazing and so so relaxing!! it was deep enough for Kates to walk in so we stayed in here for many many hours.

goat

AC Bennet Dam

our new front deck

2011-08-31T16:54:00.000-07:00

August

2011-08-31T16:42:00.000-07:00

camping at Thyee Lake

2011-08-31T16:30:00.000-07:00

cleaning the car after camping

enjoying the summery weather in her new tube

July events

2011-08-13T16:30:00.000-07:00

our new bathroom downstairs

dinner at Boston Pizza

fishing at Dennis Lake

playing at Chicken Creek with Uncle Ed

supper at Driftwood Canyon

Ed came to visit for a week

hot cold outside water tap. love it for filling up Katie's pool

my rock garden

Camping trip

2011-07-05T13:45:00.000-07:00

We drove towards Terrace and camped for a night by Red Sand Lake. It was beautiful but unfortunately the weather wasn't that great. windy and cold. It was great to get away tho and we now know a great place to camp in the summer.

Red Sand Lake

check out my wheelbarrow!!

2011-06-22T14:49:00.000-07:00

discovering the world

2011-05-25T09:19:00.000-07:00

Ants are so exciting when you are 3 :)

Moricetown in March

2011-04-09T14:33:00.000-07:00

down by the Bulkley River in Telkwa one sunny fall afternoon

2011-02-21T20:14:00.000-08:00

Katie's 3rd birthday party

2010-12-20T16:46:00.000-08:00

playing musical pillows

and pass the parcel or hot potato as they call it here :)
Katie's Dora cake that Helma made

relaxing after the party. 12 kids and 6 adults. :)

we drove to Telkwa and had a lovely afternoon together and I got a few more shots of Katie

hiking to Crater Lake

2010-12-20T16:12:00.000-08:00

Rick Dykstra went with Helma and I up the ski hill and from there we hiked up to Crater Lake.

Hazelton

2010-12-20T15:31:00.000-08:00

Katie in Old Hazelton. The other day she was reading the paper at Mom and Dad Vandeveldes and she recognised these same fish. There was an article about Old Hazelton.

Having lunch in the sunshine on the way..

Moricetown Canyon

Driving back along the Telkwa High Road

happenings in November..

2010-12-20T13:34:00.000-08:00

Well the month started out exciting.. Ed and Chris were blessed with a healthy baby boy who they named Michael Glen. what a cutie hey!!

Katie reading with Derek a book called Katie and Grandma. She can finish all the sentences off from memory. Next step reading.

Aunt Ralpheena came to Smithers for her annual visit and we loved having her pop by whenever she got the chance. Katie loves Aunt Pheena too!!

Katie playing doctor. "are you sick Aunt Ralpheena?"

Grandma came over to visit one morning..

This is Dereks left hand. he hit it with a mallet at work and the first xray showed a break, two weeks later a subsequent one showed it was swollen tissue damage instead. In the last little bit it seems to be healing completely.

Us chatting with Dave and Julie on skype

Kara and Emma came to play one morning.

Katie only naps once a month now.. so these are now rare photos of her.

Katie helping do the dishes..

Grizzley Bears

2010-12-15T16:08:00.000-08:00

One evening after Derek finished work we ate a quick supper and drove towards Lake Babine. It ended up being a 5 hour round trip but was well worth it. We had heard there were bears out at the fish counting fence and thought we'd go see if we could see the bears. When we got there they weren't in the river. But there were ppl all over the bridge waiting for the bears. So we got out to wait too. The conservation guys were even there keeping an eye on people getting too close to the bears. And as we waited a mother bear and four cubs came out of the bushes to swim and play in the river. we kept watching and taking photos and as it got darker the bears walked all the way down stream right under the bridge we were on. I have never been that close to a bear before and these were grizzlies. It was totally safe cos they didnt come on the bridge and we stayed at that vantage point.

the quality of these pics is not the greatest but thats what you see when you zoom in.

They are coming out of the water and walking closer towards us along the bank.

in the photo above it looks like that one cub wants to go up the trail..

If you look closely the mama bear has a fish..

One last look before the mama headed off downstream.

The conservation guys told us its actually not good that these bears don't even seem to be scared the humans are this close. They are too used to humans being around. These are the bears that will be a pain at settlements like Fort Babine and will eventually be shot.

Helma comes to stay..

2010-12-15T15:45:00.000-08:00

It was really special that Helma could come visit with us in September. The week before I had my last day at work so we had tons of time together we toured around and spent lots of time catching up and renewing our friendship. When Derek and I got married I could tell Helma didnt understand why we decided to go live in the north of BC in Smithers of all places. So it was great to show her why we love living in this beautiful quiet town in Canada. And I think by the end of her trip she could see why. It was also great she could get to know Derek and Katie more as she stayed with us for 10 days.

In the first couple of days we took Helma to the river and explored here for a bit. It didnt rain but was quite cloudy

playing catchup, sorry its not in order

2010-11-15T15:16:00.000-08:00

August: Derek and I hiked to Silverking Basin. Katie stayed behind with Grandma and Grandpa

October : Our siding is completed. now the house can be insured again.

September: Derek and I drove to Prince George to pick up Helma VanHaeften who was going to stay with us for 10 days. (in the next post I will have pics of when Helms was here)
We left Katie behind with friends. This was the first time we'd been away together overnight since having Katie in September 2007.

September 4 2010. Katie turned 3!! We had friends over for supper to help celebrate. Katie was telling the shop assistants and everyone who would listen that her birthday was coming up.
Opening a gift from Auntie Helen..
posing with her dolphin balloon.
September: Steph's last day at work. She is loving being a Stay at home mum! and Katie loves having her mum around all the time :)

we took Katie to the fair. This is her holding a bunny which was going good till the mummy rabbit came to say Hi to Katie and then she just dropped the rabbit. thankfully there was straw underneath.
Our house is heated by a wood stove in our basement so on Dereks days off in the Fall we spent alot of time doing this. This year Katie was really content to stay in the cab of the truck and read books or play for hours on end. This made our job so much easier.

July: our timber frame porch entry was installed.

Uncle Dave and Aunt Julie come to visit. Katie loves her Uncle Dave!!

rare pic with mummy out for supper

even Lucy came with us for supper :) (Katie's doll has been named Lucy)

many an evening was spent watching the world cup soccer in South Africa. Dissapointment big time when the Dutch didnt win the final again :(

Summer: Saw Derek and I planing all the trim in preparation for staining.

June : we visited a friends farm and Katie got to pet the animals.

Summer : enjoying the hot summer weather and loving having the pool in the front lawn.

May : My little girl is growing up.. her hair can now be styled with clips and pony tails..

July : Removing the old window and replacing it with two bigger ones.
the two new windows installed
May : Derek built this skookum entertainment/bookshelf/fish tank shelf/toy cupboard

August: we headed to Terrace for two nites with friends who have a girl the same age as Katie and 2 year old twin boys. We camped at a beautiful place by a glacier fed river that Derek and I swam in everyday. Derek even got head freeze cos it was so cold. It was so relaxing to be away from the busyness of life and the renovation.

In July we spent many many hot afternoons at Chicken Creek. Katie would splash in the creek and play for hours little imaginative games. Derek would float down the river a ways and I just enjoyed soaking in the sun. I haven't swam in the Bulkley River yet. Just a dip every so often when it gets too hot :)

June: we had friends over to enjoy the long sunny sunday afternoon. We have afternoon church at 2.30 pm. So many Sunday evenings are spent relaxing with great company.
August: a sunday evening stroll by the river..

Vancouver and Katie's hospital stay

2010-10-23T11:45:00.000-07:00

On our way back home from Aus we had a stopover in Vancouver and had to wait all day before catching a plane to Smithers in the evening. Julie and Dave picked us up and we enjoyed a day with them in Vancouver. We were very jetlagged but still managed to talk lots and really enjoy each others company again.

We arrived home on the 30th March. And slept like logs the first nite in our own beds. The next nite at around mignight Katie started throwing up and got really sick. By morning she wasn't keeping anything down and at lunch time we realised we would probably be bringing her in to be checked but for the next few hours she began playing and looked like she was getting better. A few hours later was a totally different story by this time she was totally dehydrated and wasn't responding anymore just sleeping and waking up to be sick. In the ER they put her on IV and told us to be ready to stay the night. They put us in a private room and we ended up staying for two nites.
Katie and her cricket bat as Steph liked to call it

Still feeling quite sick and very tired

slowly getting better reading stories again.

Yah the cricket bat is off my hand.. freedom again!! it was hard to keep a 2.5 year old still and quiet in the hospital. By Friday afternoon we had all had enough and just wanted to go home. We could see our place from Katie's room we were so close to being home again. We were released from hospital with strict orders to return if things went bad again. Once Katie started drinking again and eating she never looked back. That weekend she was still really tired and often I would find her sleeping watching her dvds. The pediatrician said this is normal after such an experience and expected her to be that tired still for two weeks. As the days went on Katie kept improving and by the next week we had our little girl back again. She was laughing and singing and playing again too. We are so thankful this happened to Katie when we were back in Canada and not while we were in Sydney or on the long flight between Aus and Canada. God has us in His care and we saw that especially during Katie's dehydration. All thanks be to God!!

Sydney

2010-10-01T20:09:00.000-07:00

I bet everyone has given up on checking our blog for updates. I know its been too long. I have a no. of excuses if you want to hear them.. The biggest one being that my computer has been on the blink for almost a year now and towards the end it wasn't even uploading photos anymore and whats a blog post without pictures. Second we've had the best summer since I moved here weather wise so I havent been spending a lot of time indoors or behind the computer. Instead we've been at the creek, river and lake soaking up the sun and cooling off. Third we've been working on the renovations around here. This summer we focussed on the outside of the house. We hope to get the siding on before the snow flies. a subsequent post will get you all updated on the reno. For now we have to complete the trilogy and give you the last post on Australia.. we left WA on Friday the 26th March and spent the weekend in Sydney with an old work colleague from Steph.

parting was difficult again..

Katie posing by the Sydney Harbour Bridge

out for supper with Craig and Sylvie. Our awesome hosts in Sydney.

Katie eating the biggest chip she has ever seen :)

Derek climbed the Sydney Harbour Bridge tower and took this pic. Katie and I stayed down the bottom with the stroller. We hired a stroller in Sydney and that meant we could go everywhere we wanted with Katie in the stroller. She even slept in the stroller..

It was so hot and busy in Sydney sometimes the only cool, calm part of the day was taking the ferry to the next location. we loved it on the water!!

On a walk from Manley Beach to Little Beach past these natural rock pools

we took the Ferry to Watsons Point and then walked to the Heads an hour walk with an amazing view.

we checked out the Aquarium. spent quite a few hours here watching the amazing creatures our God has made.

I think Dugongs are one of the most beautiful and graceful animals I have ever seen.. could have stayed here all day..

Katie playing by this water feature at Darling Harbour. This was in front of a resturant overlooking the harbour. The girl in the picture with Katie was absolutely soaked. I guess thats how they cool down on a hot muggy day in Sydney

brain freeze :)

the view from Craig and Sylvies aparment where we stayed in Sydney

When we left Smithers Katie was always wanting to be carried onto and off the plane and while we were changing planes. The difference of a few weeks is amazing when we left Perth she wanted to carry her own backpack and walked the whole time we were waiting for a cab at the airport which was over an hour wait.

enjoying kids shows on the plane.

We thank God for giving us such an amazing holiday and visit with family and friends. We feel very blessed that we were able to travel in safety back to Aus and be reunited with many wonderful people. You will always hold a special place in our hearts and you are most welcome to come visit us in Smithers!!

This is what we were welcomed with when we returned home. Beth and kids had decorated a welcome home sign.

There's no place like home!!

GSL: post no. 2 the order is the other way around

2010-05-06T14:43:00.000-07:00

Uncle Cor with Katie

Katie with Opa and Oma

We explored Albany's Whale World

We spent the morning with Ed before heading to Albany again, a walk in Roleystone and lunch at Roleys on the Ridge

Helma is now living in Australia so we saw her on and off she really hit off with Katie

Spent a day with Richard and headed up the coast past some beaches towards Yanchep National Park

Had supper with Ruth and Phil. It was really great to see Katie getting along so well with their kids.. Here's Phil reading all the kids a story.

Had lunch with my old work mates, this is Marsha's gorgeous little girl, Estelle

Katie's first train ride :)

reading curious George with Amanda Swarts

Sure was fun meeting up with Christina Vanderkooij

Derek used to live in Alberta and thats where he met Tyson Voorhorst, this is his fiancee Christina Vanderven

One evening we couldn't find Katie and this is where we found her watching tv with Brad VanRaalte

Katie loved the escalators

we drove into Perth one day and checked out the apartments Derek had worked on many years ago.

We stayed with John, Rosanne and Samuel Torenvliet for two nights and what a great time we had together.

John and Rosanne offered to babysit and sent us to enjoy some time in one of our old haunts Fremantle. the above picture is the Fremantle Harbour at night.

Derek and Katie enjoying the sand

Samuel looks very much like his Dad

Rosanne and I at the class reunion

Katie playing with Samuel Torenvliet

Supper on the Mandurah foreshore

From Busselton we drove up to Cooinda where a dear friend lives and we spent the better part of the afternoon there. Katie loved playing with Clive as you can see on the pictures..

Katie did a lot of this every afternoon

Great Southern Land

2010-03-17T02:15:00.000-07:00

Our trip to Australia

was quite the experience. Katie did really well considering. Gravol works wonders :) she wasn't even too scared of the bathrooms on board the aeroplane. She was quite scared of the first aeroplane in Smithers when we left but we took out the portable dvd player right away and put on the Koala Brothers a movie she has about Australian animals and she settled right down. She slept the most out of all of us and even slept at Sydney airport where we had to wait for most of the next day. In Perth Steph's parents were there to pick us up on a 42 degree day and we were dressed in our jeans and had sweaters and jackets with us so it felt awful. Didnt sleep much the first few nights but figured it would begin to get better once we settled in. Katie is still waking up at 7 am every morning and is napping almost every day, which is unsual.

We drove down to Albany a few days after arriving in W.A and spent lovely relaxing days there with Stephs parents, trying to get out most days and see the sights. Ed and Richard came down and stayed with us for the weekend. On the 8th March we left Albany and drove via the South West to Busselton and stayed here for two nights.

This is the car Derek bought :)

Katie feeding our resident duck

Enjoying supper while watching the sunset at Busselton

A kookaburra at Meelup

digging a hole and channel to the water at Meelup Beach

There are lots of these cows around Margaret River painted in all different colours and designs.

In the pool with Mum at the resort we stayed at in Busselton

Chairs made out of Jarrah, one tree for one chair

Walpole Inlet

Circular Pool

Now thats a huge Tingle Tree

The deck at Steph's parents place

exploring Opa and Oma's backyard

overlooking the harbour from Marine Drive

Checking out the sights with Uncle Ed.

walking along the boardwalk, Albany

playing on the beach at William Bay

Katie at the beach

2010-03-01T05:35:00.000-08:00

getting ready to go..

2010-02-19T21:01:00.000-08:00

Late last year when we booked our tickets February 23rd 2010 seemed so far away.. but now its in 4 days time. Katie kept saying "2 weeks" whenever we would ask her anything about Australia. We have a book about aeroplanes and we've been reading this to her to prepare her for the big event. But I don't think she totally understands what is going to happen.
The last week its been perfect weather here in the Bulkley Valley, sunshine everyday and warm temperatures too. Derek was lucky enough to go up snow boarding yesterday and he really enjoyed the beautiful conditions.. Ive been making the most of the spring like weather and have been taking walks in the sun on a regular basis. My last day of work is tomorrow and Derek will still work on Monday and take Tuesday off seeing as we leave on Tuesday evening.
The most exciting news in the past few weeks was the birth of a baby son to my brother Colin and his wife Mirella, who live in Sweden. Out of the family I was the only sibling who was at home when he called with the exciting news of Oliver's birth. So we got to chat for quite a while and I was given quite the details about the event.. :) Steph became a blood aunt for the first time and Katie got her first cousin on that side of the family. We've even seen Oliver in real on Skype, what a cute baby!!
My next post will probably be about Australia, I might even post something while we are down there..

hot tubbing at Richard and Arlene's our babies went to bed and we were pretty wrinkly looking when we finally got out :)

my sister in law Mirella and Oliver

the Bulkley River all iced over

this is how I found Katie one afternoon..

2010

2010-01-09T11:11:00.000-08:00

Wow we can't quite believe its already the Year of our Lord 2010.. where did 2009 go? It seems like yesterday we were preparing to lift up our house back in early 2009. I guess when you renovate life is busy... at the end of 2009 Dave and Julie were up in Smithers for a holiday and also for Dave to work on our electrical in the basement. They were at our house every single day although they didn't stay at our house, they may as well of :) we had a lot of fun with them around and Katie thought it was the greatest showing Julie her new bed every time they arrived. Yes we no longer have a crib in the house Katie is now in a toddler bed and is loving it.. It was quite the realisation for us that she is no longer a baby anymore. I think the first time I totally realised it when Katie was holding Myca from Glen and Ivy and this took me back to when Katie was a baby and she was being held in the same way by Jody and Jillian from Gerry and Beth.
Two more babies were born into our extended family in the last few months.. Daniel from Roze and Phil and Emily from Steve and Cece. We are thankful that all babies and mothers are doing great, despite there being some concerns with Cece. The Lord protected her and things are looking on the up again.
Now we are eagerly awaiting the birth of Colin and Mirella's first born in Sweden. We pray that things may go well at the time of delivery. This will make Steph a blood Aunt for the first time and will be Katie's first cousin on that side of the family. So we hope and pray that we may soon get together but we leave this in God's hands.
Derek had some time off during Christmas and New Year and we used these times to get out snowmobiling, icefishing and gting. It sure is great to get outside at this time of the year and we have learnt to really bundle up against the cold.
We are really counting down now.. only 6ish weeks till we leave for Australia, Lord Willing. We are watching the news broadcasts with interest particulary the ones concerning the extra security measures. We are sure most of you heard about the bomb scare on Christmas Day the guy that tried to blow up a plane going to the US. Because of this there were extra baggage limitations regarding carry on luggage and they have also implement full body scanners in many airports around the world. We will be leaving at the heightened time of security surrounding the Winter Olympics which are being held in Vancouver. It does give pause for thought but we also know all of our lives are in God's hands and we can rest secure in this thought.
We have been explaining to Katie that she will be going on an aeroplane to Australia to see Opa and Oma and Uncle Ed and Uncle Rick and in order for her not to be looking forward to it everyday we saw but not today. And now Katie has been saying "I'm going to Australia. But not today!!" She comes out with the funniest things, we can't wait till everyone in Aus will get to meet her finally. And we look forward to her interacting with our friends kids over there..

here are some pics of the last few months..

Jamie, Katie and Bradley
Katie holding Myca

Katie in her new big bed!!

Dereks sister Roze and their baby Daniel
Emily from Steven and Cece (pictures are so small cos I stole them :)

Aunt Ralpheena came to visit
some framing getting done

Derek working on the closet for our computer

Aunt Julie and Katie

Dave doing the wiring

We snowmobiled down to the river from Mom and Dads place, were taking friends for a tour of the area

the gorgeous babine mountains, the mountain on the right is the Onion, this is where we go snowmobiling..

our new front door.

2009-11-21T19:06:00.001-08:00

In the last month we've been busy again with this and that.. in early November we installed our new front door and painted and stained the door and trim. Earlier then that we received our first snowfall of the year. When Derek got home from work he and Katie made a snowman. The snow was perfect for this and it ended up being quite a tall one.. Katie thought it was just the coolest thing and kept saying "Katie likes snow.. "
The last few weeks we have been busy planning our trip to Australia. We have now booked our tickets and hope to arrive DV, February 23rd 2010 and spend four weeks there before leaving Perth March 26th for Sydney here we will spend 3 days before leaving Sydney for Vancouver and home 30th March. We are very thankful and excited to be going back finally, its been a long time now since we've been in WA.
The days are getting shorter now and there is definately less sunlight but this just means we have to make the most of the sun we do have, like this morning Katie and I walked up town and got the mail and did a few errands.
We are very excited together with Derek's brother Steve and his wife Cece with the birth of their long awaited second child a daughter, Emily Janina. And we praise the Lord for this miracle of new life. Now we are waiting on Roze (Derek's sister) who is also due soon..
A month before this Ivy (Derek's sister in law) had a baby girl Myca Rachelle. So the family is definately growing!!!

the door before it was stained and painted..

our front door, stained and painted..

Its Fall and we are nearly done our renovation!!

2009-09-30T11:31:00.000-07:00

don't you just love the pink walls??

tearing apart our old laudry room

writing a cheque already!!

eating lunch on the deck..
this is what lunch looks like after Katie's been at it :)

enjoying the sun..

on the tractor at the fair

one Sunday afternoon with some friends we drove up to Silvern Lakes and hiked the last part..

it was gorgeous up there!!

oh there's the rest of our house!!

a rare photo of me with my darling daughter, I'm always the one taking the photos!!

feeding her baby, whenever she asks for a bottle I tell her to feed her baby a bottle instead.. its worked so far..

we joined some friends out at Babine Lake for the day

Katie's 2nd Birthday!!!

opening the pressies

sitting with Jillian, her family came over to help us celebrate!!

Monday Sept 7- the day we installed stairs, the front doorway and also made the front of the house presentable

taking out out our old front door.. Katie got quite upset about this, she kept saying, "Why the door" wheres the door going? .. kinda understandable seeing as its been her door for as long as she can remember..

house wrap..

our only entry at the moment..

using our stairs!!

Katie lying on the couch like we do..

putting in some windows, we currently have 4 out of the 8 ordered, the rest should arrive any day..

getting a bigger bedroom..

handing Daddy a screw.. she's our regular little helper

Awesome August

2009-08-23T15:16:00.000-07:00

getting rid of our brick chimney it cracked in the whole lifting process

Katie in her car, gotta love garage sales

our deck with the temporary railing Derek made

jack hammering the chimney base away

Derek and Dad V lowering the sewer pipe

We camped at Fulton Lakes with Marc and Jody Schouten

Derek trying out the tube behind the dingy

One glorious afternoon we floated down the river in a friends Zodiak

packing the crush in preparation for concrete

Mulder Concrete came with a truck one Thursday morning

Some Boonstra guy helicopting the concrete

Camping at Thyee Lake with Gerry and Beth Devries & kids and John and Sheila Vanveldhuizen & kids

Katie enjoying the beach with Alicia Vanveldhuizen

Katie playing on the finished concrete

July 2009

2009-08-23T14:17:00.000-07:00

Katie enjoys colouring

Watching Little Bear with her cousin Jamie

Aww, my tired darlings..

making the footings

Surveying our front deck which has to go..

Katie loves Cooper and Bella the two neighbour dogs. She said their names before she said Max

This way in the Fall Katie can help too..

the posts and footings

The new beam holding up the middle of the house..

trench Derek dug by hand to lower our sewer pipe

Camping out by Doris Lake

Katie loves throwing rocks in the water

getting some loads of crush..

staining the fence

raking smooth the crush, next step concrete

the walls are up!! the house is all level again :)

2009-06-08T21:21:00.000-07:00

the view from the basement into our backyard

Steph helping to measure

Gerry DeVries putting our wall

Dad Vandevelde working on shifting the house over to its original position, we did this with jacks and a huge beam. It had moved 1 inch off the concrete wall but when you think about all the lifting we did thats not even bad. We did manage to move the house back into its original spot.

Derek surveying all the work

the finished walls.. next step, concrete floors, plumbing and electricity
and then we should put in our steps and front door.. we are changing our top level so that when you walk in at the very front of the house then there will be a landing and stairs going up or down.. thats how many houses are done in Canada.

for all you non facebook users -photos of the big reno..

2009-05-29T10:35:00.000-07:00

Katie playing around in the basement

The huge cottonwood logs we used in the jacking up process

this is the wood we bought so that the house would remain level..

how we got the wood into the basement

Mom Vandevelde came most days to help

Dad Vandevelde and Derek working away

Aunt Ivy and Katie

Us posing in our basement to be..

The ramp/step leading into our house

Derek showing how tall our basement is already

View of the house from the road

We are lifting our deck at the same time..

view towards the road from the basement

the huge cottonwood log supporting the corner of the house

Ivy Vandevelde delivering wood for our walls

Lifting the house and putting in a basement..

2009-05-28T16:07:00.000-07:00

Seeing as I began this blog to post about momentous events in our lives.. I had better tell you what we have been up to lately..
Last week Thursday we began the huge renovation of lifting our entire house and deck and putting in a full basement. Dad Vandevelde had the idea of using huge logs and beams and doing the job ourselves.. so far it is going really well. Most nites the house is completely level, the one nite it wasn't we slept with our heads at the foot of our bed so as not to have the blood rush to our heads..
The house feels really solid becos they are supporting the house with huge cottonwood logs on the corners and the edges are supported by using the concrete path at the front of the house.
For pictures see my facebook site.. if you don't have facebook please let me know and I will post pictures here especially for you!!
It will turn our small 2 bedroom, 1 bath home into a 4 bedroom, 2 bath home with a recroom downstairs as well.. We are really looking forward to the extra space!!

Veddar Falls

2009-03-27T10:54:00.000-07:00

We visited here last year sometime with Gerry and Beth and kids.. the whole idea was to take them to the natural hot springs in the bush near Terrace. It was a great day out!!

family shot

2009-01-26T19:26:00.000-08:00

Ed and Helen come to visit..

2009-01-26T19:08:00.000-08:00

Uncle Ed and Katie playing with the ipod..

Katie and Auntie Helen..

camping at Taltzen Lake

2008-07-07T21:30:00.001-07:00

more pics

2008-04-07T11:35:00.001-07:00

relaxing with mum

in the jolly jumper

crawling!!

2008-04-07T11:26:00.000-07:00

seven months..

2008-04-07T10:52:00.000-07:00

Our new addition..

2008-01-18T17:40:00.001-08:00

she's getting big!! 4 months already..

2008-01-08T16:21:00.001-08:00

wanting to help DAD out already :-)

Dad dressed Katie this morning..

cuddles with Auntie Julie

nap time with mum

hi everyone!!

What a miracle!!

2007-10-17T15:07:00.000-07:00

We have been blessed and entrusted with a beautiful baby girl who we have named Katie Evelien..
Here are the promised pics!!

the waiting game..

2007-08-30T14:22:00.000-07:00

Its now the 30th August.. my first due date has come and gone :)

Thought i'd post some pre baby pics for you all.. taken prolly four weeks ago in the fields of flowers on Tatlow Road.

Dont we live in a special place!!

on a sad note our beloved Rocky got run over 2 weeks ago. That was very upsetting for both of us particularly for Derek as he got him as a pup five years ago.. we are now adjusting to life without him and one day hope to again have another dog..

For now we await with growing eagerness our precious child

ultrasound and pregnancy update..

2007-04-16T19:51:00.000-07:00

Hello again,

I will be using this blog only to get across momentous events in our lives. So today I am posting the first picture of our baby. Isnt modern technology amazing!!!
By now hopefully all of you have heard we are expecting a baby come beginning of September.
well heres the ultrasound pic i hope you can make something from the photo.. its a front view shot , he/she is looking straight at you, so if you look carefully you should be able to see a face shape by the word head. And then nose, eyes, and the hands and belly.. the legs arent on the pic but we've seen them on the ultrasound.
Mum is coming this way late July and staying with us until the babe is born and then Dad will join her end of August and we'll find them their own place to stay for another month.. I am so excited they will both be here for this amazing experience!!
I am over my morning sickness and feeling really energised once again. Which is good cos at the moment I am working full time. Its also nice to have the energy to do stuff around the house and go for long walks.. I am now 21 weeks (5 and a bit months).. its really going by fast!!

2006-12-22T15:56:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends and Family

Derek and I, would like to wish you all a blessed time celebrating the birth of our Saviour and a Happy and Safe New Year. We’d also like to thank all of you still for your generosity and love shown on our wedding day. It was an amazing day and one we’ll never forget. The amount of cards, phonecalls, money and gifts we received made it impossible to reply to each of you individually so we hope you see this as your personal thankyou from us to you..
I’ve definitely settled into life here in Smithers, as you know I have been working at the local credit union in town as a bank teller. The job is going great!! It was initially only supposed to be part time but I’ve been working full time hours for the first few months.
Now its slowing down again and I’ll be working 3 ½ days a week till early January. I never thought I’d work in a bank that’s for sure. Especially back in school when I didn’t do real well at math. But hey they have good adding machines and I even find my math improving!!
I managed to get my BC drivers license after driving Dereks little Ranger truck (ute) around for a few months. It ended up being a really easy and short driving test. I guess the driving instructer figured I could drive already seeing as I had a license from Aus. I didn’t even have to parallel park after Dereks effort in teaching me..
The last few weeks/months I have been filling in my permanent residency application. That sure takes time the amount of things they want to know about you is incredible.. They want to know where we met, and they also want a list of all my friends and family and when they all met Derek.

About a month ago we had some unusual fall/autumn weather it began to snow one morning early and didn’t stop all day and we had quite the dump. It kept snowing all night in fact and the next morning being Saturday I had to work from 9-1pm and it had snowed so much that we couldn’t get out of our driveway with the car. And even if we had gotten out of our driveway the roads werent even plowed yet so we wouldn’t have been getting too far in the car.
It was a quiet day at work, most of the work colleagues from out of town couldn’t even get out of their driveways, Telkwa is 15 km away btw.And the only members/customers that made it in were those who walked..Here are some pics of the snow!!

Derek sweeping snow off the car.

Our driveway. Our Ranger to the left
(its still stuck in the snow) and the car to the right..

This also meant that tons of snow was falling on the nearby mountains and the Onion where we go snowmobiling had more then it had the entire winter last year. So seeing as Remembrance Day fell on a Saturday and we all had off we got together and went up in the afternoon. Once up there we headed to a place called the chicken run and this is where the real fun starts. Derek, Glen and Dad Vandevelde try get up the hill so that they can take us on the back of the sled and we can board down. Because this year there was tons of snow it was impossible to get a really good run up the hill so we ended up walking up. Have you ever walked up sand dunes.. well this is way worse.. you sink into the snow with every step.. crazy stuff..

Derek trying out the sled he fixed

Glen V and Steph boarding

We spend quite a bit of time with Dereks family. Every Sunday evening we head up to Dad and Mom Vandevelde after Sunday afternoon church. We have supper and then enjoy a relaxing evening together. Sometimes we play games and in the summer go for a walk somewhere together. Glen and Ivy have a little girl called Sarah she was born around the same time we got married so she’s already 8 months old!! And such a cutie!!

Christy and Ed Verhelst, Dereks sister and brother in law have a little girl too. She was born early October. So she’s really tiny still.

Glen and Ivys little girl. Sarah Marie

Ed and Christy with Jamie

Glen, Ivy and Sarah

A few weeks ago Dereks Aunt Ralphena
was up here for a holiday.
She's very special to both of us!!

Aunt Ralphena and Steph

Dad and Mom relaxing on a Sunday eve

In July Julie V and I headed down to Vernon.Derek had to stay behind and work.

It was a really hot week even Canada can get hot!! We stayed in Pete and Marilyns basement.

Steph with Asher (Pete and Marilyn Vanderdeens youngest)
Marilyn is Dereks oldest sister.

At thanksgiving we were blessed with a visit from Helen. She flew from Toronto to Vancouver and then onto Prince George. Derek and I went down a day early in order to get some shopping in. Helen spent a little less then a week with us twas a wonderful time!! The week before she came and the week after were both weeks of rain but while she was in Smithers we had beautiful weather everyday!!

Derek, Steph and Rocky

Helen on the way up to Harvey Mountain

On the Saturday after work we took Helen to the fossil beds. An area with tons of fossils in the rock from leaves to spiders. We found some really interesting leaf patterns.
After this we took a hike up to Harvey Mountain it was further and took longer then we thought it would but it was worth the wait for the view. For the rest we enjoyed a fabulous thanksgiving dinner with Dereks family and on Monday we went grouse hunting.

Hudson Bay at sunset

Helen and Steph, Harvey Mountain

We’ve been busy renovating bits of our house too.. in the summer we worked outside on the back fence and now we’re putting in wood laminate in our kitchen/dining area. It looks really flash!!

The dresser we bought with
some of the money received
at our wedding.

Our new laminate floor!!

In the summer we often went on hikes together with Rocky, our Rottweiler/Labrador. This was taken at Crater Lake on the way up to the peak of the Hudson Bay.

As you can see from these photos we are doing well. God has blessed us immensely with a safe comfortable home, an incredible church community, jobs we enjoy and loving friends and family.
Hoping this finds all of you well and safe in our Fathers care
Lots of love Derek and Steph