The Basement

Before: It was really more of a dungeon than a basement.
During: Brent and Sonia arrived Friday night with 30 packages of foam tiles and their work clothes. They fit all those packages in their little Honda Fit! And Saturday we set about transforming the dungeon into usable space.
After: What an improvement! The kids were playing down there by Saturday evening. Sunday morning they were begging to play down there before church and after church they scooted right down there with all the other kids from church!
So we're not done with improvements; in the weeks to come we plan to paint the walls and put in a ceiling but its sooo much better already!

Lily's Room

Living Room

The living room is so cozy with the new curtain up! Mom made it during their visit and now the living room feels complete.

the Boy's Room

the view from our bedroom

I unpacked the last box yesterday! There were just a few left lurking in the corners - no more! Here's some more detailed photos to give you an idea of our house. The ones of the loft don't do it justice but you get the idea.

Happy Mother's Day

I wish that I had a great old picture of Mom to post with this but the printer/scanner isn't yet set up and so we'll have to do without.
I don't where to start but my Mom is the greatest. I remember outings together as a kid when just the two of us would spend the day together or even go away for the weekend. But when I think of Mom now it's how supportive of me she's been of me all my life, particularly in adulthood. It's not been easy to watch us move to New York to go to seminary and live in a horrid basement apartment with no income. Watch us then move to an unknown city in the middle of Alberta and now move again to the interior of BC. But both her and Dad have never questioned these choices and that has been the greatest gift.
Happy Mother's Day, Mom! Thanks for teaching me to bake, cook, sew, and how to be a mom.

Scootering

The path between the church and the house is perfect for the kids to ride their scooters! And there's even room on the lawn for the swing set - a project for Dad:)

Making Progress

There are no more boxes in the kitchen! The bunk bed is assembled! We have solved some closet issues! And we've opened the bottle of brandy, yahoo.

We've Moved!

Yikes, after a long few days we're moved in. I can see the mountains from my window and I ran a load of laundry today - things are good!
Here's a link to some of the chaos.

Zoo Break

We took a scheduled break from packing to go to the zoo this morning. And the weather was perfect. We hadn't been in almost a year and the kids were so excited. The new elephant habitat was finished and it's wonderful. In the same area is a new manta ray exhibit that you can put your hands into and the rays swim over top of your hands! So awesome. John was so fun to watch, he got really excited about the monkeys babbling and pointing at them.

Gabe: You won’t see me.

Grandma: Why not?

Gabe: I’m moving to Cranbrook.

Grandma: Oh honey, of course I’ll see you! Grandma can find you in Cranbrook.

Gabe: Mm hmmm. (sob)

Grandma: You don’t need to worry. Grandma will always find you, even in Cranbrook.

Gabe: Mm hmmm. (sob) Grandpa too?

To infinity and beyond!

Gabe as Buzz Lightyear!

Crafts at St. Andrew's

During Lent the St. Andrew's church school kids are doing all kinds of fun crafts! There are about 6 stations set up and the kids rotate through them during these weeks. My kids tried to do them all in one week! It was so much fun.

The Kids

Thought maybe it was time for some pictures of the kids - enough houses and appliances already!

Clean Laundry

We are the proud owners of our own washer and dryer. It seems like a funny thing to get excited about but there you are. Anyway, we got them off Craig's List and they are so awesome. They're a couple years old but are immaculate and have so many settings! Yay!

Our New Home

It's not much to look at. But come spring hopefully the lilacs in front will fill out, the grass'll be green and I'll plant some flowers. It's a cute little house inside. Although we'll have three bedrooms the central living spaces are much smaller than we have presently. We are also thinking we need to finish the basement pronto to give us some breathing room! The fence you see goes around both the house and the church!

By the way, I guess we haven't announced officially here that we're moving. May 3 we will be moving to Cranbrook, BC to take up the mission of St. Aidan Orthodox Church.

Here is the church in Cranbrook that we will be moving to for Pascha! Cool, huh?

Lily: "I want to be a saint when I grow up."

Mom: "That's the best thing that you could be."

Gabe: "I want to be a lion."

I continue to cut up an apple. No more comments for a few moments.

Lily: "I don't want to rot in the grave."

Mom: "Oh." (Thinking hard)

Lily: "That's why I want to be a saint. Like the Bishop whose picture we saw. (Pope Kyrollos) What is rot?"

I explain that God made us (and all things) from dirt and rotting is returning to the dirt.

Lily: "Saints love God that's why they don't become dirt again. That's what I want."

Drumheller, AB
Royal Tyrrell Museum
It was a longish, very boring drive but the museum was worth it. And we had it virtually to ourselves. The kids were frightened of the dinosaurs at first but were soon fasinated.