Catching Up!

I have not disappeared! I promise.  Instead, we have kept life interesting and continued on our gypsy ways.  But it's coming to an end...

3......................MORE........................SLEEPS

On Thursday, July 31st, we get posession of our very little, but bigger than the trailer, house!  It is a 1 bedroom, 700 sq ft box of a house.  I do not have pictures yet, but will try to follow up with some soon (sooner rather than later).

So why did we buy a 1 bedroom house? I am sure it is hard for many of you to understand why we would do that when we have 2 girls.  Well, there is a large walk in closet that will easily fit a bunk bed, so for now that is where the girls will sleep.  Maybe in the near future, we will build a small addition off the back to make another bedroom. Back to why?...  John's dream, which quickly became our dream, has been to build a house.  It has not been feasible yet.  So when, we put our house in CHilliwack on the market, we started looking for houses in Dawson Creek.  We had a price range, a very low price range, keeping in mind of the possibility of either renovating an older house, or being able to tear down existing structure and build a new one.  Well, between JOhn and I, we looked at between 10-15 houses.  All, but 2 were not livable, as in needing thousands of dollars of renovating.  Most had foundation issues, which we weren't willing to deal with.  So back to the final 2.  THey are basically across the road from each other.  The lots are the same size.
--One lot is subdividable, the other lot is not.
--One has a 3 bedroom old and outdated smelly house.  The other has a 1 bedroom well kept small house
--One is on a busy street, but backs onto  a quite street.  The other is on a quiet street (the same quiet street as the other backs onto) and backs onto a green space that will never have houses on it.

So, we decided to start small.  Rather than buying the subdividable property and deal with building 2 different houses right away, we chose the 1 bedroom property (it really wasn't a hard choice for me)

What we hope to do is to build a house right behind that existing house. The garage of the new house would go where the old house is. The city really didn't like this idea as then there would be 2 single dwelling homes on one title.  But they have talked amongst themselves, labeled us "those guys" and have figured out a way that we will be able to get it done.

It is very exciting! VERY exciting!

After Kelowna

So after we left Kelowna, we went to Chilliwack.  This was the last weekend in May.  We got there on  Friday night. We visited with some family before heading to bed early.  Saturday we spent all day working at our house.  The plan was to redo the basement concrete floor and work on the flower beds so that we could put it ON THE MARKET!!  This was very exciting for us.  We owned this house for just shy of 4 years, a long time for us :).  I was sad that I wouldn't be able to enjoy my kitchen anymore, but it took up so much time almost every time we came back to visit in Chilliwack.
John worked on it on Monday (I did not as I was preparing for my birthday dinner BBQ), we both worked half days on Tuesday and Wednesday, and left for Quesnel on Thursday.  Our wonderful and amazing brother in law of a realtor (!!) listed the house on Thursday.  By Saturday we had 4 showings, and by MOnday night/TUesday morning, we had an accepted offer.  Less than 4 weeks later, the house was no longer ours.  It will feel strange driving in the neighborhood, and not being able to stop by.
So, back to Quesnel.  We were still living in our trailer.  We wanted to make sure that the job would work our before we rented a house.  Well, it didnt.  The boss made several promises of excavator work that never happened, so after 2 days on the job, and a few days catching up with friends, we headed north back to Dawson Creek.  John had "secured" a job there before we left, so we were comfortable going, knowing there was work.  But a few days in, and we realized that they were just putting him off.  So, John went on a job hunt.  He got the name of a few businesses, one being the company he is at now.  He went in on Tuesday morning with his resume.  They asked him to come back in the afternoon so that John could show them how experienced he was on the excavator.  They thought he had potential, and asked him to come back Wednesday morning at 9:30 for an orientation.  8:30 on Wednesday morning, JOhn gets a phone call from the boss.  "Please come with your bags packed as you are heading out to work right after orientation.!" And that was that! Within an hour, he was gone.  And it's been going good since.  He has had lots of machine time, and the boss really likes him and says that JOhn has been operating like hes got thousands of hours under his belt, not just hundreds!  The only negative thing about this job is that he is in camp.  We were hoping to be able to get away from it, but we need to be satisfied that he has a job. He is hearing from guys that he went to school in Kelowna with, that they are not able to find a job.

Now for a picture overload.  I don't have much, but I will give you what I got- Emmy's birthday.

Her requested birthday cake.  A home made peanut butter icecream cake.  On the bottom is Nuttin Butter icecream.  Then it has chopped up Reece's, then vanilla icecream topped with chocolate syrup and peanut butter.   

Miss animal lover :)   

What you do to not have to pay $3 every time you want a load of laundry dried!  It's bad enough having to pay that every time you need it washed! 

Enjoy your day friends!

Time in Kelowna

I can not believe that it has been a month since my last post? Where does time go? You would think that with all this time that I have on my hands, the days would drag. But I have found more than enough to keep me busy and am not looking forward to moving into a house and having to keep it up ;) I will look forward to moving into a house and having room to live on rainy days :)

I am going to back peddle to the last post of pictures and update you as much as I can:

So we did end up going to the suspensions bridges.  The buildings themselves are very fancy, as you can see by the picture of the bathroom.  The bridges themselves and the walkway were quite disapointing as the carpentry was very careless and sloppy. (Trust me, when you are with a perfectionist carpenter all the time, you start to notice these things too!)

A cool little cave that you could have lunch in if you pleased 

a sundial- unfortunately it was cloudy so I couldn't show the girls how it worked

the view from the top 

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There were several platforms between the bridges.  This was one that had nice table and chairs where you could also have lunch

we found out that Sadie is afraid of heights :)

This is the cable that runs along the top of each bridge

I would want to get married again (to JOhn of course) just so I could get married here..with a view like this wouldn't you??!!

So all in all, it was cool to go here.  But definitely not worth the price to recommend it to anyone.  Maybe if the weather wouldve been nicer, we would have enjoyed it more? I don't know, but it will be awhile before we go back, if ever.

Mckennas birthday fun

The weekend before Mckenna's birthday, she was so excited to have her favorite cousin and best friend, Dana and family come spend a few nights with us.  As crowded as it was to have 9 of us sleeping in the trailer, it was a blast!  All the kids had endless fun, and the adults did too, with a few different wine tastings, and a visit to the hunting store in town ;)

They spoiled her rotten with a "spa" kit and....

birthday party icecream!!

Must be related.  :) 

Then comes birthday morning.  This picture was taken within 5 minutes of both of them being out of bed.  For some reason, Mckenna was super excited about this birthday.  And she had every reason to..

From walkie-talkies to.... 

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a long dress ( by the way Aunty Melinda, Mckenna loved your long jean skirt and was asking for one for her birthday) 

and the glitter tattoo kit that she has been eyeing up at Walmart, but it was SOOOO expensive, too expensive to spend her own money on :)

And to top it off, we surprised her with an hour lesson on a horse.  THis girl LOVES horses and everytime we drive by a ranch, or riding centre, she ooohs and awwws over the horses.  So this is how we let her know about this lesson.  

She was all done opening presents when we told her that we had one more surprise but that we couldn't show her.  She looks a little puzzled.  So then I go ahead and tell her that I made a few phone calls and that I was able to arrange an hour lesson on a horse for her.  She started out by giggling, which soon turned to tears of joy and she hopped up to give us both a hug, while tears start pooling in our eyes, as we didn't expect this kind of reaction :)  

So I took her to Bridalwood Riding Centre.  It was FABULOUS! The lady let Mckenna do mostly everything right from the start.  She hooked the lead, and led her to the brushing station. 

These horses are let out in the wild for the winter, so this one had quite a few burs in it's mane.  

their special step for little ones to use for mounting

and she's on...

and away!

LOVE...LOVE...LOVE this picture

Once we get settled down, I think I will print it large and frame it for her room

That's the story of her 10th birthday!

A typical day in Kelowna

                          We are being major bums, living the lifestyle here.
                                              I am thoroughly enjoying it.
                                                           
                       Like R.E.A.L.L.Y appreciating not having to clean a large house, having the hubby home every night, no big commitments, and yet still enjoying visits with new friends and some family members. And on top of that, spending so much quality time with the girls.

       Here is how a typical day goes:
7:00- John and I wake up and sometimes get out of bed
7:30- we are both out of bed drinking our first cup of coffee, eggs might be frying or oatmeal a cookin' for                breakfast
8:00-8:15- girls usually haul themselves out of bed
8:30- John leaves for work
9:15- girls are dressed, eaten breakfast and head out for a quick bike ride or play at the playground
9:30-9:45- school starts.  They usually do Bible and 1 other subject before going for another break
12:00-lunch.  We are usually done school by then (we are only focusing on Bible, LA and science right now.
1:00-5:00- we do whatever our heart desires: biking to see the turtles, get the newspaper, rainbow loom, scrapbook, ride the skelter, watch a movie, read a book, go to town, play some tennis, throw the ball for Sadie, etc.
5:30 is dinner
After that we once again get to do whatever we want.

This park is a gated park, about 10 minutes out of Kelowna, very quiet, very secure, and filled with old(er) people.  The girls have alot of freedom here. They are well like and well known by many people here, as they are the only kids here right now!  One of the security guys has made friends with Mckenna and gifted her (him and a lady from the office) with a gift card to Claire's for her bday!  They also got to ride the skelter for free for an hour too!
They are doing that right now, and their time is almost up.  They are both hot and sweaty and I told them that they could swim for a bit before supper, and so I gotta run and get their stuff ready.  I will post some pics next time I have time ;)

So far... in Kelowna

So we have settled into our home on wheels.  When people ask us where we live, I tell them that we are house-less, but we definitely aren't homeless.  For those that have never experienced having their husbands away for weeks at a time, having to go to church without them...appreciate having your hubby home.  I do!! It's SO awesome to look forward to having him walk through the door.. EVERY DAY! We sure have treasured this last week, that's for sure.  The first weekend we were here, our plan was to find Kelowna Suspension Bridges and see if we were brave enough to try them. Check them out for yourselves here: http://kelownamountain.com/kmc-content/tourism.  John had heard that we could go in for free, since they weren't open officially yet. But, they stopped us, so we will have to return another time.  Here is a pic that I got:

Hopefully I will have better pictures for you when we do end up going!

On the way home, we stopped at a winery and were privileged to taste some fine wine (pure apple juice for the girls).

I really don't blame the girls when you ask them where they live and they really don't know what to tell you ;) "Well, we lived most of our life in Chilliwack, a little in Quesnel, and hardly anytime in Dawson Creek, and now we are in Kelowna." They really are good sports for putting up with our adventures!

(p.s. they really don't say that, I was just trying to put a caption to this picture)

Ready to drink the whole glass! 

I sure love the people I am with♥ 

The cool lights that were in the winery 

Where the good stuff is made 

Mr. Handsome himself, posing in front of the door that took you in 

Queen of this world! 

Or is she? 

Wine storage

The next day, was just as sunny, so we went for a hike.  We chose Knox Mountain as a recommendation from a local.  It was quite a steep hike to the first lookout, and later in the day, so it was a short, but butt kicking workout for the girls. (That might or might not include me!) Not surprisingly, Kenna could have run up the whole thing and still run down again :)

Lunch before we headed up.  

Enjoying the shade 

Our view... Okanogan  Lake.. Sorry for the pitiful picture quality.. They were taken with my iphone.

See the steam boat?

The floating bridge that you must cross to get into Kelowna from the south 

Enjoying the view 

This is hard to see, but the jet boat went right through a flock of ducks.   

It's us again! I think we have take more selfies in the last month, than we have in the last 10 years! 

Next time I post, it will be just a general post, of where we are privileged to live for the next 2 months, and some things that the girls have been doing also.  Enjoy your spring! We are, although it is wet today.