Posts from — January 2018

Yikes……… where has the year gone and why is it every time I haven’t blogged for a long time I start the post with “Yikes”!

So, since our spring getaway to the Rockies the year has flown by.

Summer came and with it the worst forest fire season in B.C.’s history. The skies in Kamloops were smoky for weeks on end. To give you some idea, the smoke index scale goes from 1 to 10. Beijing on a bad day is at 22 on the index. Kamloops’ worst day during the summer of 2017 was 48. We could just barely see 6 blocks down the hill. It was awful.

The fires really picked up momentum the weekend of July 8th and 9th. We were down in Princeton looking after Sage and Conrad while Kevin and Tamara headed to a concert in Penticton. We had a great weekend with the kids but the road north of Princeton was blocked and we had to take the long route home. It was a Luau weekend, lots of games, contest, drinks and just fun.

Well we weren’t home too long and the forest fire situation continued to worsen so we decided to pick up Sage and Conrad and give them a break from the smokey weather. We headed to Vancouver and chance to do some different activities that they just do not get in a small town. We headed off and on the way down stopped at the Othello Tunnels and our first night was at the Hampton Inn in Chilliwack, which is a beautiful hotel, the kids had lots of fun in the pool/waterslide and of course they really enjoyed the Hampton breakfast. The next day we headed to White Rock for some beach time and then over to Mike and Rose’s for a family dinner. It was so great to see everyone and the kids had so much fun hanging out, playing video games and playing with the dog. The final day was spent shopping and then a fun activity at play centre in Langley where there was video games, pinball, skee ball, tunnels and tubes to climb through, etc. etc. The kids had a great time.

While were away in Vancouver, Brenda’s Dad had a fall and ended up in the hospital with pneumonia. He spent 4 week in the hospital before being moved to Ponderosa Lodge where he remains today waiting for a transfer to a residential care home. So a lot of our time has been spent supporting her Mom and visiting her Dad.

The last week of August was Namma and Pops summer camp in Kamloops. Zach and Oliver came for a visit while their Mom and Dad worked. We did lots of activities like the Wildlife Park and Prince Charles Park and tried to keep them busy. Unfortunately the smoke persisted so we did not spend as much time outside as we would have normally. We did find time for some handicrafts, which they always enjoy.

September arrived and we were back to Kelowna to help out with getting the kids off to the first week of school. Then right after that we were off to Princeton to look after the kids while Kevin and Tamara headed to Las Vegas.

October was a breather month trying to get caught up and still lots on the go around here. On October 1st I officially resigned from being a School Bus Driver. I only drove 2 days in the whole year and kept finding reasons not to drive. So, it was time to quit. I have made a few new friends who I know will be there for years to come.

November arrived and we headed to Kelowna and Princeton for a quick visit and to drop off some birthday presents.

This was also the month when we finally were able to get our Reunion Friends together. We met in Vancouver at the Rosedale on Robson in Yaletown, it’s a great location and lots to see and do in the area. We had a great couple days visiting, going out for dinner and we even took in the musical Jersey Boys at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre.  

We finally made it to December. We were so fortunate again this year as our entire family was together for Christmas. Both families arrived on Dec 23rd and it was wonderful mayhem in the house until they all left on Dec 26th and then “The Silence was Deafening”. Somewhere in the middle we celebrated Lindsay’s 38th birthday on December 24th and had a Christmas Luncheon with GGPA at Ponderosa. Unfortunately Tamara was very sick on Dec 24th and ended up in Emergency for a few hours. However, she recovered well for Christmas Day.

Now we look forward to the year ahead – 2018 !