November

Yes we disappeared again...

So when we left you, Terry Fox Day and student elections were just around the corner.  So the big news is...Kris was elected to the Student Leadership Team and Jen, along with two of her friends, donated her hair for wigs for people with cancer.  They had been growing their hair and planning this since grade five.  The hair was donated to the place where both Karen and Lynelle got their wigs, which made it all the more special.

Since then, we have been super busy with all of our activities starting up.  Kris joined the volleyball team this year and continued with hockey, Jen is now co-editor of the yearbook team and is enjoying it.  They are both continuing with curling.  Tonight Kris had his volleyball wind up and now they're both gearing up for basketball.

We spent a nice Thanksgiving weekend at the lake and closed up.  We made a long weekend for Remembrance Day and went to Minneapolis where we did lots of shopping and drove through lots of snow.

November has had its challenges, as always.  Its now been four years since Karen was diagnosed and two years since she went to the hospital.  Some days get a little emotional, but we seem to find our way.  Doug also always seems to have a lot of meetings in November just to complicate things.

But November is also report card time (which means two days off school!) and we came home with an Honours award for Kris and an Excellence award for Jen.  Other than someone working on procrastinating a little less next term, all seems to be pretty good.

Also in November, Jen decided to change her hair a little more with a purple streak as purple was Mom's favourite colour.

Amazingly November is coming to an end and we've actually started some Christmas shopping.  There'll be more of that, along with some decorating as we get ready for Christmas.  December will bring lots of music.  There will be four concerts in one weekend along with the school concert a few days later.  Should be lots of fun!

That's about it for now.  Hopefully we'll see you soon as the holidays approach.

Love Doug, Jen and Kris

Fall equinox

Time for an update (the one we promised around when school started)

Summer vacation ended far too soon, but not before we spent lots of time out in the boat.  Kris spent a lot of time on his wakeboard and Jen on her waterskis and they both did a lot of tubing and knee boarding.  Dad got to spend lots of time driving his boat and visiting the gas station!  I also got back on my waterskis after  a couple of years and even braved a tube ride with Kyle driving (and survived it all - even at my advanced age!)  The weather was great, we got in a couple of rounds of golf and also started something new, exploring some of the trails in the area on our ATV.  It's always great to spend two weeks straight at the lake - it's long enough that it gets to feel like you've moved there.

We did however have to return (only for weekdays though) and the kids went on to spend some time at Grandma's and then another week of camp - this time Jen at Camp Assiniboia and Kris back to MiniU for a soccer camp.  Both of them had a great week.  As August wound down we started the back to school shopping and this year included a trip to IKEA for the loft beds they have been hoping for for years - of course as with anything from IKEA the purchase was the easy part - the opening of the 12+ boxes and the assembly was a joy!  They also ended up with new (old) beds at the lake as a result.

One of the best parts of summer is visiting with friends and family - this summer we had Andrea and Kevin and the kids return to Winnipeg for a visit from Halifax and Lynne visited from Moscow.  From not so far we had Kris' friend Caleb and family at the lake for a day of fun on the water - Carson was a bit winded falling off the tube but all was well!  As usual at the lake we spent lots of time with Bob and Cathy too!  It was great to see everyone!

September started with a shock as the temperatures dropped and school and activities ramped up.  Jen is back to choir, piano, settling in as co-editor of the yearbook and awaiting the start of curling.  Kris has his drum set and trombone ready for band, has started volleyball and cross-country running and is getting ready for hockey as well as curling.

The first full week of school saw Dad head off to Montreal for his annual BDO conference (and some time visiting with Paul, Cat and the kids) while Grandma stayed with the kids.  Mid-week I got home and sent the kids off to Middle school fall camp (and lots of frost outside in the morning!).  We've been back to the lake to start the fall close up process and the boat is now out of the water and off to the dealer for winterizing.....that was a sad day...

Along with my partners I took the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge on Friday - we raised about $3,000 for ALS and some lucky staff got to douse their favourite partner with ice water (I got it twice!).

This week is the school's annual Terry Fox Run and also the middle school Senior Leadership Team elections (student council for those who've been out of school for a while) and there will apparently be two from this house on the ballot!  Wish them luck!

Stay tuned for more updates

Love as always
Doug, Jen and Kris

3 of 3 - SUMMER!

OK, you are almost up to date!

So June was a whirlwind of stuff - not sure where to start.

Kris and I started the month at Assiniboine Park for the Spring Sprint for the Brain Tumour Foundation - The FooFighters had another great team this year and we had a great time and the weather cooperated!  Thanks to everyone who came out and supported us.

Kris completed another swimming level, went to 2 more birthday parties at the paintball place (he started a trend!), had school field trips and more soccer.  Jen completed her diving course, studied for exams (and did well), had a school field trip and had her birthday party - 7 girls dipping chocolate at Morden's - awesome! (slightly different atmosphere than the boys!).  Dad worked :( (and watched lots of great soccer, swimming, diving, etc)

Spring finally came and we got out into the yard to plant gardens and out to the lake a couple of times as well.

The month ended with great report cards and another Excellence Award for Jen.  We were sad to say goodbye to the kid's amazing grade 3 teacher who is leaving the school but we hope to keep in touch with her.

As the month ended we headed off to the lake where we celebrated Jen's becoming a teenager (wish me luck!) with family and friends, and of course some rain.  We did manage to get the boat in the water finally though and ready for water sports.

July brought nice weather, a flooding river behind our house (the grass was just getting nice again after 2011!), quieter days and CAMPS!

Both kids have been away for a week and both have done a day camp for a week (the way it worked out they basically didn't see each other for 2 weeks (and I think might have been starting to miss each other)).  Seems like a great time was had by all - Jen at the resort - Camp Cedarwood, and Kris at something more traditional (by that I mean no wallpaper or air conditioning!) - Camp Assiniboia.  Jen worked on her badminton skills the other week while Kris developed his wakeboard skills among other "extreme adventures".

We also had a visit from our cousins from Montreal and yesterday had dinner at one of Karen's favourite restaurants and took in Ballet in the Park to mark her birthday.

Now we plan to enjoy the lake and be out on the boat together for what will hopefully be some great summer days.

We'll try and check in with you again when we start getting ready for school (not a word the kids want me to be using!)

Take care and enjoy your summer everyone - we hope to see you along the way

Love
Doug, Jen and Kris

Bonjour!

Hey everyone!  This is a really late post but Dad promised me I could have a post to myself about my school Quebec trip.

So we started our journey at the Winnipeg Airport at 3:30 am!  (no that's not a typo, we really were up that early)  When we landed in Montreal we got on our bus to go to Quebec City.  By that evening the teachers were stuck with a bunch of tired teenagers.

Wow Quebec City is really beautiful.  During our 3 days in Quebec City we did lots of walking, went to the Citadelle, the Plains of Abraham, Montmorency Falls, Ste Anne du Beaupre Basilica, a copper museum, and I'Ile d'Orleans (where we had delicious ice cream and played on the banks of the St. Lawrence River)

After 3 busy days in Quebec City we boarded our bus for Montreal.  I was lucky enough to be able to meet up with my cousins there.  In Montreal we spent almost a full day at La Ronde - the huge 6 Flags amusement park.  Two of my friends and I went on a roller coaster (twice) that had a drop that was 86 degrees (down!) - SO FUN!  In Montreal we also went to the Biodome, the Olympic Park/Tower and went shopping on rue Ste Catherine.

When we got home there was a crowd of our families waiting for us (I've always wanted to be greeted by a crowd at the airport :) !)

All in all it was a great trip!  Probably the best week of my grade 7 school year!

Love
Jen

Wow, it's been a long time

We haven't forgotten about keeping you up to date, we've just been busy (very busy it seems!)   So we have 3 posts coming together to get you from April to July

So April came to an end with an accountant busy at work and also trying to get 2 kids ready to leave for trips on May 1st.  We did get everything done to prepare them and Jen and I managed to get to the Father Daughter ball (our 4th year) while Kris had an evening with Uncle Garth and Auntie Shari.

I got the first one (that's Kris) off to the school to meet the bus at the very uncivilized hour of 4:30 am for a 5:00 am departure (thankfully the school is 2 minutes away).  The kids were surprisingly awake for that hour (not so much the parents!).  After the last goodbyes the bus was off to Calgary for the music festival.  After 16 hours on the bus they arrived at the festival opening show and after the show they met their billet families - Kris' family took 6 grade 5/6 boys into their home for the festival.  It was mostly singing until Saturday when they went to the Calgary Zoo in the snow! (May in Calgary, eh?)  Sunday was the big Stampede Breakfast and concert.  Their pianist was Cindy Klassen's sister and they met Cindy at chapel and Kris got a picture with her.  After the concert they boarded their bus and headed east through the night to Winnipeg.  Everyone awoke when the bus stopped, thinking they were home but it was 1:17 am and the driver was only stopping at Tim's.  When morning did really come, everyone sang Happy Birthday to Kris and shortly after they were back at the school. Kris thought it was cool to get the day off school on his birthday - needless to say he had a pretty quiet day after a great trip!  The day ended with the 3 of us going to Kris' favourite restaurant for a birthday dinner.

Back to Thursday, Dad didn't really get much sleep after getting back home, then it was time to do the drop off thing all over again, this time at the much more civilized time of 8:30 as Jen's choir headed off to Steinbach for a weekend tour.  It may not sound that exciting compared to Calgary but Steinbach was actually really fun.  They sang (of course) but also swam at Steinbach Pool, had fun with friends and put on skits (Jen's was about flies in people's soup - sounds crazy to me - she has the details and video).

Dad had a weekend without kids and actually was able to go to the office end of tax season party and out for dinner with friends, not to mention sleep in and get a few things done around the house - but I missed them too.

The rest of May involved lots of soccer, more swimming, diving (she's up to the 5 meter now), choir concerts and opening up the cottage.  Later in May we also had Kris' birthday party with his friends when I agreed to a paintball party for 10 boys......despite what you might be thinking right now, it turned out well, they all had a great time and escaped with only a few minor bruises.  Of course 2 of the players were on crutches and when the skies opened just as they were finishing, who do you think got soaked getting back to the building?

Kris and I also participated in the Physio Fit run/walk again this year - Kris ran the 10k with his friend and his Dad while I walked the 5k again.

May ended much like it started, getting up very early to get someone on a trip (3:30 am at the airport this time) but Jen will tell you more in the next post.

While she was away, someone defaced my front lawn with the spray painted question, "Who's 50?"  I don't know (or admit maybe) the answer, but Kris, Garth and Shari did take me out for a great birthday dinner that night!

That's about it for this post - stay tuned.......

One year

It's been a year since we gathered with family and friends to celebrate Karen's life.

In some ways it's hard to believe that a year has flown by and in others it feels like forever.

We have done so many things in the last 12 months but it also seems like Karen was just with us.

The kids have grown inches (I might have added a bit in a different direction) and they have also grown in character in so many ways including caring, concern and empathy for others - I'm so very proud of them and know Karen is too.

We are blessed to be surrounded by so many loving and caring people - thanks to all of you that have thought of us or checked in this week (and always).  Thanks also to the folks at the office that dedicated this week's denim day to Karen's memory with donations going to CancerCare again this year (I even got to be part of it this time).

As always, thanks for all the thoughts and prayers.
Love,
Doug and the gang

Hop, hop, hop...

We seem to have been hopping around a lot lately, not just because it's Easter either.

A lot has happened since we last updated you.  The kids followed up their good swimming results with good report cards from school (and Jen got a middle school Award of Excellence (average over 90%)).

We found time for a couple of ski days close to home in March, once with Maria and Lisa, and got our ski legs back in time for spring break.  On spring break we headed west.....to Whistler!!  We spent 3 days on the mountains, mostly skiing but Kris also tried snowboarding for an afternoon and Jen and Kris convinced Dad to go on the BIG zip line course!

The Eagle course (the big one not to be confused with the little Bear course) starts with a 2,500 foot dual zip line that crosses the creek valley about 350 feet above ground at the highest point.  We were in a group of 10 (8 Winnipeggers) and Jen and Kris were the 3rd pair to go.  All the kids were told to tuck for this one but Mother Nature played a little trick and had a gust of wind for Jen and Kris which stopped them a little short of the landing platform.  So the guides got to come out and pull them in and the kids enjoyed the view of the valley longer than those of us that zipped across at 80 km/hr - Jen argues they got the better deal.  The next 4 lines were less eventful, other than intentional flips upside down and leaps of faith!

The skiing was great, with mostly sunny days, lots of snow and not too many people....and no broken bones!  Kris skied in a free style terrain park a few times, checking out the jumps (some 7 ft high he estimates).  Dad skied around the jumps.  Jen made some new ski friends who gave her a hand if Dad wasn't close enough.  We met lots of Aussies, Europeans and even some Canadians with lots of cool accents.  We also checked out the Olympic landmarks and ate lots of good food and Cows ice cream.

Then we went back to Vancouver for a couple of days before we came home.  We saw some rain (who would have thought?!), saw the Olympic touch actually lit (not sure why) and ate some great seafood (ask Kris about his lobster).  Also enjoyed the hotel pool and the Science Centre.

Back in Winnipeg, school is back in full swing (with choir tours and Spring Concert preparations underway), Jen has started diving lessons (already off the 3m and planning for higher) and Kris is swimming and excited for soccer to start soon.  Kris' latest mouth piece is a (insert drum roll here.....) bright green retainer with the Jets logo on it).  Dad is busy working.....imagine that at this time of year!

The snow actually finally seems to be melting.....yay!!!  The ice still hasn't broken up on the river though so we took down our fence to avoid letting an iceberg rip it to shreds like a few years ago.  We went to see a movie Thursday evening (Heaven is for Real) as we know one of the lead characters and a number of the extras - it's a good movie - good job Lane!  Yesterday we checked out the Zoo - the boy bears were pretty lazy but at least the 2 little girls were busy.

That's about it for now....some kids need to get off to bed in hopes of finding some bunny droppings in the morning.

PS - one last thing before we close - Happy 40th Donna!

Hope everyone has a good Easter, love,
Doug, Jen and Kris

Is Spring Ever Coming?

It's been a while since our last post but we have been quite busy.  Jen had her choir concert and competed at the Winnipeg Music Festival and Kris wrapped up his hockey season with one goal and numerous assists.  Dad's just been working and driving us around.

Jen's choir was really happy to hear at the Festival that they are most likely going to Nationals (a recording not them physically) and they have been invited to sing at the Gala Concert that wraps up the Music Festival (first PTV choir ever invited!).  She's also been busy with basketball.  Though her team only won 2 games (grade 7's playing in a grade 8 league) in their season, they had lots of fun and really improved as the season progressed - the coach is looking forward to next year as they will be together again.  Jen's also been busy with swimming lessons (passed level 7 last night).

Kris had a great hockey season with 2 special extra games at an outdoor rink one of his teammate's grandfathers built in his back yard (you might have seen it on TV).  The big goal came in late February - a back hand through the five hole.  Not to be outdone by his sister, Kris also passed his swimming level tonight, surviving 10 weeks in a class of all girls except him and the instructor.

Dad's big event was a trip to Calgary Airport for a 2 day meeting (yes just the airport hotel, not any more of Calgary!)  Grandma came to stay with us and baked and cooked our favourite foods!

Last month was "I Love to Read Month" at the kids school.  The theme was Reading Olympics and the school goal was to read enough minutes to get to Sochi and back.  They exceeded the goal and the 2 classes with the highest minutes from grade 5 to 8 were Jen and Kris' classes - their prize is a bowling, pizza and pop party with the principal next week (or a BPPP as the principal calls it).

Tomorrow is the wind up for another season of curling.  The wind up will have the special addition of meeting Kaitlyn Lawes and Jill Officer from Team Jennifer Jones, with their gold medals - should be exciting!

Other than that we've pretty much been staying inside out of the cold.  We celebrated some warmth last weekend skating at The Forks and hope to get out and do some skiing soon!  Spring break is almost upon us and then we'll switch to soccer, badminton, diving and a bunch of travel for choir and school trips in the spring.

Hope everyone has survived the winter and we'll talk to you soon

Love
Doug, Jen and Kris

Return from Paradise

...Island that is, in the Bahamas.

We spent a week after Christmas enjoying the beach, water park and heat of Atlantis in the Bahamas only to return to the Manitoba deep freeze, which fortunately has started to thaw the last day or so.

But first we need to back up to mid-December and our last post.

We were busy with lots in December. We had our school Christmas concert, Jen's choir concert, curling with turkeys, Kris' hockey games and Jen's first basketball practice, not to mention shopping, baking and present wrapping.

Christmas eve was at our cousins', Christmas morn at home and Christmas dinner at Auntie Cathy`s. On Boxing Day we went on a sleigh ride with Liam`s family.

Before heading off to paradise we had a few errands to get done to wrap up the year...And for Jen and Dad a Jets game.(Jets won!)

With the cold temperatures here we got on a plane and headed south, via Toronto and fortunately our flights didn`t get cancelled.  We spent a week over New Years in the Bahamas - we spent our time swimming - swimming in the ocean, in pools, with dolphins and on water slides and lazy rivers.  We ate lots, saw some great New Year`s eve fireworks and most importantly got lots of R&R. (oh yeah and made a number of visits to Ben & Jerry`s).  We had lots of fun and would definitely recommend you go.  Despite looking at the Weather Network which told us the temps there and here were the same (except for that minus sign) we had to pack up and fly back home (again avoiding any travel problems) and were greeted by freezing cars and a snowy driveway.

It was good to see all our friends back at school (not so much the school work).  Jen`s playing basketball, back to choir and yearbook.  Kris is back to hockey (his team is 5-6-0, Kris hasn`t scored a goal yet) and they are both curling and taking swimming lessons.  That should keep us busy til spring!!!!!!

Today was Lynelle`s funeral.  Joel had told Kris not to miss his hockey game but to make a good play for Lynelle - he got an assist and blocked a shot.  Jen and I went to the funeral - there were lots of people and the service was a great tribute to Lynelle.  Jen got some ice cream this time.  We`ll keep our friends in our thoughts and prayers in the coming days as things begin to settle down at their house.

Anyway, that`s about it for now.  Things seem to be warming up so maybe we`ll be able to get out and enjoy winter for a while.

Love
Doug, Jen and Kris

An angel friend

Today we learned that Karen's good friend Lynelle, who also battled cancer has joined Karen in heaven.  Karen and Lynelle met when Jen and Jaden started kindergarten and shared many adventures and fun times.  Please keep Joel, Caroline, Jaden and Katrina in your thoughts and prayers.

We've got some updates on our holiday adventures but those will wait for another post - today we think of Lynelle.

Love
Doug, Jen and Kris