This 'n That

There were several things lately that I wanted to blog about, but I was busy, and I misplaced the camera for a while, and then we moved the office twice in order to lay the carpets and I didn't have the card reader hooked up for a while. So, in no particular order, here are a few things I wanted to share with you!



Thanksgiving weekend the Greeks came to visit us - and they brought their Segways! All of us except Janelle took a turn or two toodling around the neighbourhood. Calvin loved it the most - he and Shawn went all over town, through the cemetary(!), to the corner store for slurpies. Here's Calvin getting ready to take off. I'm not sure why I have that look on my face with my hands on my hips! Probably giving one of those motherly "be careful" lectures!


This is our mountain ash tree in the backyard. Andy thought it was so beautiful he took a picture of it. This was only a couple of weeks ago, and now it's completely bare. Fall is gorgeous here but way too short!


A couple of weeks ago Janelle went with the youth group on a "photo rally" at West Edmonton Mall (WEM for all us locals). They had to follow a series of clues to find certain stores and then take a picture of the storefront to prove they found the right one. This is Janelle with her friend and partner for the game, Marissa. They obviously were taking photos of more than just the stores they were supposed to! She had a really fun time with Marissa, who was one of the first girls she met the first Sunday we were at church. They're the same age, in the same grade, and live about a block from each other on the same street!

So how was YOUR morning??

This is what we woke up to today! Ain't Alberta grand?

He Cooks, He Cleans -- We'll Keep Him!

Tonight James made dinner for the family. He offered to do it, and I was happy to say yes! He walked to the store and bought the ingredients himself - steak done on the BBQ, couscous, rosemary foccacia bread with vinegar & oil, and chicken gumbo soup. Wow! Yesterday after dinner he got up and just starting cleaning up, including emptying the dishwasher and reloading it. And all James has to do is look at Calvin and Calvin jumps up to help him!

I could get used to having a James around here!

A Very Large Surprise Package

Today after I picked up Calvin from school I told him we had to drive to Nisku/Leduc to pick up a package. He was a bit confused, but I kept him from asking too many questions by distracting him with lots of questions about school. When we turned off the highway and headed for the airport, he said, "Okay, tell me what's going on." I said, "You guess, and I'll tell you if you're right." He replied with one word: "James." Yep, James Greek was coming to stay. We had a very large surprise package to pick up!

When the Greeks came to visit for Thanksgiving, James asked about moving here to live with us, getting a job, and starting a new life in Edmonton. We were open to the idea. Calvin was ecstatic. After the Greeks returned home to Salmon Arm, we adults had several conversations working out the details and deciding if this idea would work - if it would be the best thing to do. Then came confirmation in a couple of ways: the day after James returned home, he was laid off at his job, and the next day I discovered a seat sale on West Jet - $75 from Kelowna to Edmonton. He booked his ticket that day.

Then came the tricky part: keeping all this a secret from Calvin! Calvin was calling James every single day and telling him, "You HAVE to move here!" I finally told him to stop bugging James. Of course, by then the flight was already booked, but Calvin didn't know that!

James bought a one-way ticket, but has a general plan of staying for a couple of weeks, checking out the jobs and the community, and deciding if this is the life for him.

I'm thrilled to have one of my "other" sons here - or maybe he's a nephew? And Calvin's happiness level has just improved 100%/!

I Voted!!

This picture is from when I became a Canadian citizen this spring. Today I put my new citizenship to use and voted in Canada for the first time in our municipal elections. It was a very proud moment for me! After all these years of telling Andy how to vote, I got to do it myself.

Yep, We're Still Alive

I understand if you all stopped checking my blog! I'd give up too if the blog stayed the same for a whole month! I really have no excuse, but I do apologize!

At the moment I can't locate my camera, so this will be a photo-less blog. Here's a few highlights from the last few weeks:

- Emma came to stay with us for about 10 days, which meant we also got to see her parents briefly. We had so much fun with Emma - going to a kids' carnival at our church, jumping on the trampoline, playing at the park, going on the rides at West Edmonton Mall. We miss her and already want her to come back!

- We made new friends! I met a family at the church when they were registering their son for our children's program. After they'd come for three weeks in a row, I thought, "Somebody better invite them over so they feel welcome here!" And I thought that "somebody" should be me. We got along so well with them! I love making new friends.

- The following day we were invited to the home of more new friends, also from the church. They have a beautiful new home on a lake nearby. They own a large acreage with lots of trails and places to explore. We brought our canoe and ended up leaving it there. They can use it any time they want, and it gives us an excuse to invite ourselves over again! They also invited over another couple at the same time - a couple with a baby girl! Aahhh, my baby fix for the day....

- Janelle started a new babysitting job once a week for two little kids. It gives her a steady income of $20 a week.

- I'm totally loving fall in Alberta! It's sunshiny and crisp but not cold, and there are way more deciduous trees here than in Abbotsford, so it's beautiful. I never really cared for fall before, but I like fall here better than summer! Kind of nice not to have rain and wind and clouds. On the missing camera are photos Andy took of our trees in our yard - I'll post them soon.

So there's a bit of an update! Don't give up reading my blog - I promise to be more punctual!

Life in Beaumont

I thought I'd give you a glimpse of some of the important places in our town that make up the routine of September for us.

This is the center of our life - our house! I planted the lovely flowers in the front myself (quite a feat for me; I'm not a gardener!). Our house is a constant "work in progress". This week Janelle painted the gate to our backyard, and we bought light fixtures for downstairs. Carpet for the basement is next!

This is the reason we moved specifically to the town of Beaumont. This is our church, Eaglemont Christian Church. The building in the picture is phase one. It's our sanctuary/gym for now, and eventually we'll build an actual sanctuary in between the gym and the road at the front of the picture. This is where I work for a few hours a week typing for our pastor. Andy is on a committe planning a men's retreat, and on the rotation for setting up and taking down chairs each week (the pleasures of meeting in a gym!). Janelle has just taken over leadership of a new department created within Children's Ministries, "Tots Town" for children ages 18 months to 3 years. She was able to choose what toys to stock the room with, and each week prepares the story & craft for either her or one of the other teachers to use. She absolutely LOVES what she's doing! Calvin helps out in Janelle's class or mine, which is "Kidz City" for grades 1-6. Both kids attend the youth group, and I've recently joined together with several other ladies to begin "Connections: Coffee & Conversation", a morning coffee time for ladies. We love our church and love being a part of it. Next on our involvement: joining a small group in the next couple of weeks (just trying to decide which one).

This is "the" church in town, the Catholic church around which this town was built in the late 1880's. This is the focal point of Beaumont. It sits on the "beau mont" (beautiful mountain), which is a slight rise in elevation compared to the surrounding wheat fields! When people give directions in Beaumont, they always start by saying, "From the church you go...." and everyone knows which church they mean!

And finally, Janelle's favourite place - the high school. I took a picture of Calvin's school too, but it didn't turn out. Janelle has liked school (for the most part) since we moved here. She made friends quickly, but complains that the kids in Beaumont don't take their studies seriously enough. She came from a school of 1600 in Abbotsford to a school of 800 here, and finds that the casual atmosphere here isn't as conducive to learning. Calvin struggled with school when we moved here; the move has been a huge adjustment for him. After much prayer, I am relieved that he is off to a good start this year. He had one good friend he hung around with all summer, who is also in his class (there's only one Grade 8 French Immersion class at his school, with only 14 kids!). That made the start to the school year much easier. The first day he made friends with the only 3 girls in his class, one of whom is new to the school this year. He's very excited about some of his classes, especially Outdoor Education - biking, building snow forts, rock climbing, curling, archery, skiing, etc. He still has his moments of being sad and wanting to go "home" to Abbotsford, but he seems to be more enthusiastic about life here in Beaumont.

And there you have it - a "small" glimpse of life in Beaumont!