A Visit Home

As you might remember, for Christmas, Will got me a plane ticket home to see my sister for her birthday. I flew up last Thursday and got back Tuesday of this week. It was a busy six days, but it was a lot of fun. Here are some random photos from my trip:

Chilliwack. It was so good to see blue sky. 

I miss the mountains.

My first day, Erica's friend did my nails for me.

Port Mann Bridge

The Fraser River looking towards New Westminster...

and towards Maple Ridge.

We drank lots of Tim Horton's.

Going out for dinner at a Japanese restaurant

My sister

My dad

Sushi!

 Heading into Vancouver on the Skytrain

 Cool shoes we saw at The Bay

 I love ketchup chips, but spicy chili ketchup chips are even better.

 Abbotsford: the raspberry capital of Canada

 Chilliwack on the one cloudy day while I was there.

My trip wouldn't be complete without lunch at The White Spot

 Notice we eat chips (fries) with vinegar

My niece, Emily, and Erica

Erica and her cat, Annie

On my last day I got to help Erica at her library.

I thought it would be interesting to post some pictures of the border crossing. There are no fences, gates or barricades separating Canada from the United States. There is a little ditch, though.

A little monument marking the 49th parallel, the boundary between the two countries

There is a road on the Canadian side of the border, 0 Avenue, that runs along the edge of the boundary

The border crossing on the American side. They have lots of cameras and thermal imaging devices to check your vehicle before you even pull up to talk to the border patrol. The Canadians have none of this. We are far more trusting.

Mount Baker, Washington

This is the type of plane I flew in on my way up and back to Boise. This shot was taken at Sea-Tac while we were waiting to board.

Quiet January Day

January has gotten off to a slow start. Not that I'm complaining, mind you. Quiet and boring is often a good thing. This is what has been happening in our little corner of the world:

I worked really hard sewing things for Green Chutes for the Christmas season and, in return, I sold a lot. Now I'm working hard again to get things stocked up. I've been wanting to make these girls' lined fleece skirts for a while now using up leftover fleece from various projects over the years and some satin fabric that I inherited from my mother-in-law. The satin lining will help keep little bums warmer when it's cold and stop the skirt from sticking to tights and leggings. As someone who wears skirts all year long, I can tell you that bunching skirts are a nuisance.

 

 This bunny skirt is my favourite. 

 I like this kitty skirt, but I wished that I had made the face bigger. And the flower on the green skirt I crocheted myself and hand sewed it on. 

Will has started back to school again to become a nurse practitioner. Another three years of homework and tests. Yuck!

I'm working on a project for myself that will combine three of my favourite things - crochet, embroidery and sewing. I'm going to crochet myself an afghan and embroider a design on it. Then I will sew on a fabric back and edging.

We have been suffering from an inversion for quite a while now and it looks like it will be here for quite a while. The days are dark and dreary. It's a good time to crochet and stay snuggled under the blankets.

And here's Penelope waiting for me to get off the computer so she can snuggle with me on the couch. 

Happy New Year!

Another year has come and gone. It seems to have gone by fast and, yet, so much has happened that it feels like a long time. Here are a few highlights of 2013. Enjoy!

 Snowshoeing on Lake Cascade

 The chickens' new coop

 Hiking at Jump Creek

 We are always happy to see the lambs in the spring

 I graduated with a degree in Library and Information Technology

The Western Tanagers came back to our yard for about a day

 Will and Jimmy jumping off the scissor lift into the pool

 Erica and the kids came down for a visit

 Our garden did really well (thanks to Will)

 Mum and Al came down for a visit

 Hallowe'en

We saw a fox in the back field

And as for the kids:

Moira continues to do well at school. She is still playing the violin and she has been doing a lot of baking.

 

 Kyla is doing well at school and is really enjoying math. Her teacher says she is very good at helping her fellow students if they are having some troubles.

 

 This has been a big year for Liam. He graduated from preschool and started kindergarten. He is learning like crazy. He likes to count to 100 (which is funny since not too long ago he thought 20 was the highest number) and he is starting to be a good reader. 

Last night for New Year's Eve, we went to the botanical gardens to look at all the lights. 

 

 

Liam was fast asleep when we got home.

I'm looking forward to 2014.