a day in summer

Hello.
These are some shots from our trip into Penticton and Summerland last Mon.
A self-portrait of me cause I wanted a record that A. and S. didn't just do the trip alone and hire a photographer :) Andy and Sarah near Skaha Lake where we reheated soup we'd brought along for supper. Also, Sarah enjoyed a few playgrounds this day.

Mom and Dads, what follows is bits and pieces from an email I sent you earlier, so just a warning, if you think you've read this before, you have! :)

We had a good shopping/playing day in Summerland and Penticton
S. and I went out for coffee with a friend who was
lifeguarding here last summer in Summerland.
S. and I found a park and later where picked up by Andy after he had done some garden store hunting. Then to Penticton and to the health food store and thrift store. The weather was very summery. Such good weather I kept saying we should be camping, staying overnight. It was windy in the evening, but nice.

We met (S. and I) a man playing saxophone in the park. He played 'pop goes the weasel' for Sarah. He was probably 65 yrs. old, wearing black t-shirt and jeans (also black). I imagined the shirt was from some live jazz player he'd seen. He had his 4 inch pile of music propped up on his 'gary fisher' (nice bike) bicycle seat which was leaning against the cement wall of the public bathroom (outside). He had silvery hair. His skateboarder helmet hung from his bike handle bars.

We skipped naps so were pretty out of it for some of the day(S. and I) which included S. crying during dinner cause curious ducks were coming to close and making her 'frustrated' as she said. Also, she fell while walking in the not-in-use waterpark and got a couple of scrapes and a bruise from the big rocks in the cement.

I enjoyed a nice break while A. and S. shopped on their own primarily in the health food store while I did my own collecting there.

two from a bit ago

Hi. Camp blog has lots of pics from our workday. Andy and Sarah near the barn and Sarah playing with rocks near the dining hall one day when the 'digger' came to excavation.

New haircut from front and back

Sarah relaxing on Dad on the deck and getting a lesson from Grandad about how to figure out which foot goes in which shoe. He drew a circle on the shoe over each big toe. Here Sarah is looking at the line he drew on the bottom of the shoe to see if the pen works. You can see the 'before haircut' picture in the shot of Sarah and I on the swing :)

Easter etc.

Hi. Here is Andy and Sarah at the Easter egg hunt at Oma and Opa's (my Dad's parents). Then, Sarah in her new hat from Grma A. and "Great is the Lord" shirt from Grma K.
Sarah and I in Abraham's backyard and Steve Schulz and cousin Anna on Good Friday.

updated links and news from lately

I've updated my links finally...added some family members and others. If you are a family member and I don't have you on my links, let me know.
Been feeling really tired of being tired all the time. Never waking up refreshed. Andy's been quite busy lately (see camp blog). You can pray for me that I focus on the right things and try not to do too much when I feel so tired and wake up sad or in tears and feeling down.
Enjoyed a gym night our church held on Fri. at the secondary school - floor hocky, badminton and volleyball. Loved the hockey. Brought Sarah. We had a rental group in and Andy's not huge into organized sports so he stayed back. Our pastor entertained Sarah for a while with a badminton raquet and a birdie that would fall off again and again.
Andy's been busy helping plants and chickens to grow...preparing a new home for the chickens in the barn.
Andy's Dad came for a little visit...was in the area viewing stars. That was nice to have him.
Andy is out in Penticton helping the Skinners return a rental car and pick up some groceries for us...the list is very long. We've been 'using up what's in the house' for sometime now, and buying just necessities and fresh veggies and apples. This time I put a star beside cocoa powder because I am really missing chocolate :) We are thrilled with God's provision though...government cheques arriving just in time, a relative buying our groceries one Sat. when we had a chance meeting in our local Overwaitea, etc. Our car - some of you may have heard, was fixed in town but the fellow who did it didn't finish up the job very well. He left some things unattached and our car was gussling (sp?) gas for a while (leaking) and running rough. Got a second opinion at our trusted mechanic (Arvid's-A&L Auto Sales) in Abb. on Easter Monday and they fixed our mainfold exhaust problem as well. Yeah! So the car is running well now. Thank you Lord.
Had Daniel over Fri. morning and we did some music. We both write our own songs and he is very encouraging to 'share my gift.'
Yesterday evening Sarah and I tried to go to care group but it was cancelled. We visited a few people in town and checked the mail instead. This was nice. Beautiful drive, Sarah was extra tired cause of no nap that day also.
We got a new to us small tv from the Schulzs so we can watch VHS without lugging around the 'oh-so-hard' to move TV we borrow from camp. Thanks guys.
Easter was nice, staying at the Abrahams and doing all sorts of family gatherings...lots going on.
I think that's it for now.
Rough night last night with me having trouble falling asleep, then being up for over an hour in the middle of the night etc.
Gave Sarah a haircut on Fri. and I think she looks beautiful. Yes, pics coming one day. Andy was a little shocked I didn't ask him but he warmed up to it. He likes her' long' hair (it tooks so long to come in) but it was so straggely and I said, "Now it actually looks like we care for her apperance, like with her a proper haircut." It will grow out more evenly now.

Garden day and indoor tent

Hi. These pics were taken the weekend before Easter. We spent the Sat. morning in the garden. I'm picking rocks. Sarah is playing, we made a few dirt castles and Andy was continuing to work on building our 8 foot deer (dear) fence. You can see him in the background of one of these pictures. Sarah loved 'collecting' this ropes that she found and playing with sawed off fence post pieces. I made an indoor tent for Sarah with a bedsheet over the indoor clothesline and her cabinet. We enjoyed reading stories in here and she has been found laying a bunch of animals and dolls in the tent, then herself and asking me to cover them with blankets. Can't wait for summer and real tenting!

chicks

We ordered some Chicks from Rochester Hatchery in Westlock Alberta. They came through the local feed store, through the mail. The minimum order was 25 so that's what we ordered. Andy's dad will take a few off our hands and we keep the rest. We will have lots of eggs and will use some of the birds for meat (I'll have to learn to like chicken - I've been eating free-range eggs and a tiny bit of 'happy meat' from time ot time - no hormones, well treated animals).
So, these little guys came in an expedited parcel box - quite amazing. They are now just over a week old and have grown so much. We ordered a few varieties so there are actually different colored ones - black, brown, yellow.
They live in the laundry room. Sarah likes them. It was a very special morning when we got them. She was so excited. She had been talking about holding one 'in her arms, like this' before they came. Well, so far, it's just Mom holding and Sarah petting. She likes them. She often asks, "What's that cheeping sound, Mama?" I love the picture of the sleeping chick...makes me sleepy and peaceful just looking at it.

music time

So, my clarinet was discovered by Sarah and she asked me to play my 'whistle' - to play 'Christmas songs,' which was the last time I really played. So she had her little emergency whistle from her Dad and played along too, helped me press some 'buttons' on my clarinet and even tried blowing in it. It was fun to play again - I got out my old theroy book from lessons my Grandpa Wellunscheg used to give me when I was growing up. I remember hurredly cleaning up my room every Sat. morning before he came over for the 9 am lesson where we sat on the end of my bed with our music stand in front of us.
I think S. and I did this music time 2 days in a row after her nap. I did play one Christmas song - Jingle bells - for her :)