Vacation Part 1 - Trip to Kelowna

**Little Note: Apparently the background I chose makes all my pictures look washed out... that sucks. Well, you get the point I suppose. Still bugs me! lol** Kelowna is about a 5.5 hour drive from Canal Flats so we stopped half way at the Enchanted Forest, which is just West of Revestoke, BC. (like you don't already know if you've ever driven Hwy #1 through the mountains!). Kev and I hadn't been there in about 7 or 8 years, on our way to visit his parents before we were even engaged. It was really fun to see all the familiar old things and check out what was all new - most of it seems to be new!! It's pretty neat actually. Riding the horse... while gazing up at the sky... good thing it's made of wood! ;) I couldn't resist. Checking out one of MANY miniature houses... I can't keep track of them all! Am I the Old Lady who lived in a shoe? Well either way I couldn't resist the slide when I saw it.. as unflattering of a photo as it is - haha:) This tree/horse has been here since they very first opened up I think... or perhaps it's been replaced a few times by now. Hard to believe it could be the same one - how many 200 lb'ers must bounce on this thing every day? Kevin and the kids easily added up to 240. Wouldn't it rot and snap after awhile?? Hmmm... a mystery. BC's tallest treehouse. Inside the treehouse there's a few tables, bunk beds, lookout windows... all miniature of course. Following the Yellow Brick Road... Visiting the Three Bears. The Skytrek Adventure Park looks super fun (BUT another $35 for adults or $15 for kids over 5yrs)!! The one thing I'll never forget is the smell of the cedar forest **sigh**. Aaaahhhhhh... so refreshing! When you smell something that good you can't help but wonder how amazing the world must have smelled when it was first created! Delicious:)

Faith

I had a hard time picking a new template for the blog... I decided to find a background appropriate for the season of our lives. So I chose something clean and new, staying away from the usual dark, rich colours like brown and red. Reason being, we've been sensing some changes (some known and mentioned in this post, some known but not yet mentioned, others still unkown) in our lives and have made some minor/major adjustments accordingly. What began this change? Well, I've been feeling in my heart that God is bringing about a new time. Little confirmations here and there seem to affirm this fact but He is only ever so slowly revealing what they are. Kevin and I both felt it important to prioritize a few things in our lives and organize our time somewhat, especially now that summer galivanting is over;) One of the things (least imporantly) is to exercise together regularily, every evening. The second and most important is to allow the Lord to speak into our lives. Thus, we've agreed to get up a half hour earlier in the mornings for devotions and to pray together (6:30 comes much too quickly!). The third thing is to get our finances in order. This one's alot bigger than you'll know (unless you know us well *wink wink*). Our financial struggles have been ongoing really.. nothing too earth shattering and quite similar to alot of others' situations I'm sure. However, I can draw a parallel between this issue and our spiritual lives. I think it's all very much related. SO. We have decided to expect and thank God, in advance, for big things. I know God wants to help us up so I choose to accept his help and take the steps to freedom. Freedom in whatever form he brings! I expect Him to provide for all of our needs without having to go into debt anymore. I hope for a future which is overflowing with blessing (not just financially) and yet I will be satisfied with any amount He chooses to bless us with! This actually leads me to the fourth thing which I (speaking for myself, though I'm sure Kevin would agree) am changing: the way I pray. Too much disapointment has lead to faithless, mundane prayers. I'm tired of speaking hopeless words. I'll admit it ten times over: it's hard to be hopeful when you're living the opposite life you want (meaning, struggling and striving intead of thriving), the opposite life God speaks of in the Bible, the opposite of which He has promised! I don't expect my life to ever be easy - infact I expect that the difficult times we've seen will only get more difficult (a hard one to swallow but something that the Bible speaks very clearly of). For that reason, I feel it very important to begin this change for my children. They need to learn how to pray in times which will be far different than anything I've seen or experienced. I want them to live with faith that doesn't sway or compromise. I want faith that CAN move mountains; faith that brings friends to life in Christ b/c they've seen His love in our lives and want nothing less for themselves; faith that heals the dying; faith that brings food to the table when there isn't money to buy any, or faith that brings an increase in wages so we don't have to look to overdraft to buy some! I guess you could call it dependancy (on God). What do we choose to depend on in our lives, big and small, that we normally don't think twice about? NIV: (Mark 23 - 24) "I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. The Message: (Mark 22-25) Jesus was matter-of-fact: "Embrace this God-life. Really embrace it, and nothing will be too much for you. This mountain, for instance: Just say, 'Go jump in the lake'—no shuffling or shilly-shallying—and it's as good as done. That's why I urge you to pray for absolutely everything, ranging from small to large. Include everything as you embrace this God-life, and you'll get God's everything. And when you assume the posture of prayer, remember that it's not all asking. If you have anything against someone, forgive—only then will your heavenly Father be inclined to also wipe your slate clean of sins." Maybe it's time to take this verse literally.

Something new... in a "do", that is:)

I LOVE my hair stylist. I think he's the best I've had yet!! Ever. Well, actually technically I have two male hair stylists;) The first one works at the hair salon which I go to (Stephen at "Bliss", in Invermere) and the second is my colour specialist... his name is Kevin and he lives with me. Lol... yes, my husband coloured my hair yesterday and I think he did a fine job=) Here's the results: You're not imagining the length change from this picture to the next... my right side is (deliberately) longer than the left. Kinda funky:)

Well why not....

Why not throw in a post before we take holidays? That's what I thought. No reason not to. So here's a little update on what we've been up to and what is to come... The above photo is of my photography cards. I had 136 different cards up. The below photo is of my friends scrapbooking cards (the right display). The Invermere Farmers Market is done for me this year. A friend and I conquered the card sales business... sort of... and from this experience I have learned that if the average person wants or needs to buy a card, they will likely do so under pressure when they are forced to face what little time they have and there happens to be one staring them in the face which labels the exact occassion on the front of it, taking away any sentiment or creativity which the recipient would have preferred in the first place. Why???? Beats the heck outta me! Human nature I suppose;) That being said, I will go where the card buyers go - straight to the gift/flower type shops - in hopes that each customers last desperate attempt to please the one they love will be met. lol... so, I hope to talk to some local stores about putting up one of my card displays! Haven't gotten to it yet but that will come:) Atalie and Aiden playing in the morning - Aiden is in the background here wearing my high heels:) Yes, they're growing up alright... Aiden has decided that perhaps speaking is beneficial after all! He now says: "book", "oh no it feo(fell) down!", "walk" (that one applies to anything outdoors or having to do with trucks...dunno), "ni ni (night night)", "yuck" (if his hands are dirty - kinda shocked to hear that one), "Ameh (Amen)" when we pray at dinner, "Out" (after a nap), and "NO! DOW! (down)" to the dog. Aiden also has a new passion for climbing. Kevin walked into the kids' bedroom a couple nights ago to put an end to a rather loud ruccuss. He went annoyed with the constant unending chaos and was ready to give the final warning, when he instead discovered Aiden half way out of his crib... when Aiden heard Daddy at the door he launched himself back into bed so fast that his feet flung straight up in the air and he did a big faceplant into the mattress. All I heard was Kevin laughing after that:) Later Aiden was found running around his bedroom looking at books and playing with his toys; and last night we heard a big THUD from the basement so Kev ran up to be greeted by Atalie at the top of the stairs, yelling "Oh no! My baby! My baby fell out of his bed!! Daddy help my baby!" ...sure enough Aiden was sitting on the floor, looking at the door and awaiting his doom;) This morning he managed to wedge himself between the frame of Atalie's bunk bed and his crib railing, which are both next to the wall. I don't know about this Hudini phase. I'm thinking it might be safer to take the railing down and just hand out some discipline for each attempted escape *sigh* but who knows. Maybe the fun will wear off?? ya, right! He's also been caught climbing the furniture and catapoulting himself over the firepalce gate to run around on the hearth. WHY??? WHY????????????????? The pic above you've seen I think (or many versions of it anyway). It's one of many camping trips we've taken so far this summer. I've counted 5 camping trips as a family and one that Kevin did with a few guys for Tyler's stag party. The first camping trip of the summer was in true camp-style (2 tents - which we shall NEVER do again!) at Premier Lake Campground with our good friends Justin and Natalie Vance; afterwards we got the TeePee and headed to Surveyors Lake (Kikomun Creek) Campground with some friends from our church; third time was to Fernie to visit Jeff and Kristy and kids (first experience in a site with hookups - a luxury to have automatic lighting, lemme tell ya!); fourth time was to Johnson Lake which is only a 10 minute drive from our house and has beautiful, warm little lake oh-so perfect for swimming; and the fifth, most recent time was to Whitetail Lake Campground, where the kids slept well for the first time while camping!!! A delightful picture of the soon-to-be-newlyweds... well, Jana looks delightful anyway;) And for more current news, WE LEAVE FOR VACATION IN 9 DAYS!!!!! We're going to Tyler and Jana's wedding in Kelowna, which is on the 29th. So excited for that! It's not every day your only sibling gets hitched after all;) After that we'll be going to visit Kev's parents in Seattle for 4 days and then head back to Kelowna for a weekend of camping. That's a grand total of 10 days away! It's one of those trips that has alot of driving and isn't really "care free" (and won't be for at least another 18 years!) but we are looking forward to it with great excitement none the less!!!!! One day we'll hit the Caribbean and Central America and all those places (with or without kids), but for now we'll stick to what works best - something close and inexpensive! We bought the Seattle City Pass booklets and will actually be doing a bit of touristy things while in Seattle too - for the first time, believe it or not! Now that the kids are at the age where they can enjoy more sights we'll take them to see some more typical tourist things, like the Aquarium, Woodland Park Zoo, the Space Needle, Science Centre/Imax, and possibly a little harbour tour. When we get home from our lovely vacation it's a quick reality check with Kevin's Carpentry Year 1 exam and a trip to the Cranbrook courthouse to fight his rediculous speeding ticket (the one he got a few months back when pulling onto the highway at 90km/h but was clocked doing an impeckible and likely impossible 122km/h - ya, that one). Then we get to look forward to 3 months without work (over Christmas) while Kevin gets his apprenticeship schooling done for good! That should be interesting;) And that's us in a big nutshell!

Mr. Celiac

Since being diagnosed with Celiac Disease a few months ago Kevin has gained back all the weight he'd lost in January, plus a few more pounds! He looks much healthier now, as you can see below;) Hahaha...

Whitetail

Another camping trip lead us to Whitetail Lake Rec Site this past weekend. It is beautiful! The lake is so clear that on a calm, sunny day you can see your shadow on the bottom of the turquoise lake. I was also relieved to notice that the other campers were all families - no rowdies or dunkards - woohoo!!! It only cost $10/night AND had the cleanest outhouses I'd ever seen. My kinda camping =) The above and first pic is how we began our trip. Aiden, about 24 hours after being stung by a wasp right between the eyes! Stupid wasp. Aiden was climbing the stairs to get up to the playhouse in the backyard when a wasp decided to land and sting for no reason. You could just see Aiden watching it, sort of wondering what was going to happen next b/c he couldn't rescue himself at that point and Kevin couldn't get there quick enough to chase it away. He's a little puffy here but it had gone down quite a bit already at that time. Night snack after arriving to our beautiful campspot. We felt like we had the area to ourselves b/c we were in the first campsite and the next two after us were empty. Everyone else piled in together around the lake-side sites so we didn't have to worry about our noise levels - phew! ;) ....also, Aiden's face is still quite puffy, even after a few doses of Benedryl! Oh, and check out Attie's technique for drinking out of a sippy cup while wearing a head lamp. haha! Stunning hey?!? We took a stroll along the lake path... Aiden only lasted so long. Heading back to camp. Naptime was a hit with everyone (except me - not a big napper). Koda has been so much happier since getting her first shave. She's so calm now! All it took for Kev was an hour of reading his Apprenticeship study books and he was out. He's reading through Yr. 1 so he can challenge the test (extreeeeemely boring material). He starts Yr. 3 & 4 back to back in November so has to get this out of the way. Atalie was the first to wake from her slumber to endulge in Nutella buns and nacho chips (how can you tell we're camping). Atalie wanted to follow Kev in for a "swim" but didn't get more than her little legs wet before she requested a trip back to shore;) The lake was cool but definately comfortable for swimming... the clouds had come out though and it wasn't very hot that day. I have NO idea what inspired this expression... Sweet little boy... I took a series of Aiden-shots b/c he was so entertaining and irresistable:) Another good camping trip. Oh - and most important of all, the kids SLEPT! They slept WELL! Both nights they were so tired that there was really no goofing around or crying at bedtime. Once their heads hit the pillows they were out. Nap time was a different story however... maybe next time;)