Crazy Times

Every time I write a blog I always think 'hey, this is pretty easy, I will totally start doing this more often!' Yeah, sure. Who am I kidding? I always have such good intentions that never come to be so we may just have to live with this quarterly blog post. Which I'm sure is not a huge surprise to anyone who knows me.

Moving right along then, these past few weeks have been a little crazy to say the least. For anyone who doesn't know, my sister Lesha had to go in for emergency brain surgery to remove a tumor that has been hanging in her frontal cortex for a good few years. Who knew! She had been having really intense migraines for a few weeks before hand that were so bad she was throwing up. Our first thought was that she was pregnant because that seems to be happening a lot lately. But nope, it was a brain tumor. So she had it removed this past week and seems to be doing quite well all things considered. They expect her to be home today or tomorrow I believe.

So needless to say James and I and the Little headed down to the Valley to see it through and be with the family. It was actually kind of nice to have a little family time, as stressful as it has been. James could only afford to take a week off so Gwen and I stayed an extra week to wait for the surgery to happen and flew back home on Friday.

It has been some crazy times and now I am exhausted so I'm looking forward to just spending some quiet time at home and enjoying the Spring that has finally arrived up here in the Kootenays.

Here are some pics of the past few weeks adventures.

Gassing up in Revelstoke. Gwen's turn to drive

Everyone hanging out with Lesha on the grass outside the hospital. Pre surgery.

City lights

Not quite sure what to make of her first Pirate Pack

First time using crayons!

Gwen got to visit the Aquarium for the first time. We went with Jenna, it was lots of fun even thought we only got there and hour before it closed.

Out for dinner with the in-laws at the Greek Islands. Gwen sure loves tzatziki!

Taking a much needed break on the drive home from the Calgary airport

Pretty mountains in Banff.

Stirring

So according to the Elves there are six seasons; Spring, Summer, Autumn, Fading, Winter and Stirring. Well we are in Stirring right now up here in the mountains. The weather is beautiful, the rising sun is slowly climbing higher up the ridge to the east and I heard the Spring Bird (as I call it) the other morning. You know the one with the two note song, a high note followed by a lower note. Can anyone tell me what that bird is called?

It has still been pretty cold in the morning, sometimes as low as -10, but the sun is so warm, and it comes in my south facing windows all day long. Everything seems to be stirring. The squirrels are scampering about the still naked tree branches, the deer are sunning themselves in the front yard and I'm sure the bears are awake by now. Most of the snow has yet to melt, but the sun will see to that.

Luckily I have to make a trip to the post office again today so it's a wonderful excuse to walk into town. Not that I need one, but I like my walks to have a point. Not sure why, I guess it just makes them more meaningful and I feel like I'm actually accomplishing something.

Speaking of accomplishing things I had my best sale yet at my etsy store on Sunday (hence the post office trip). I sold my lovely green velvet elvish shrug along with a pair of cuffs.

I'm very happy and slightly surprised at how well my etsy shop is doing in the two months I've been actively working on it. I can't seem to keep my new listings up with my sales. I should make that my new goal.

We had a great last few weeks as well. The hubby's family came for a visit last weekend and that was great fun. It's good for Gwen to have her grandparents and uncle around for a while, and they miss her so much. I really wish they could all live closer for that reason. I loved growing up close to my grandparents and it makes me sad to think she may not have that.

This past weekend we went to the local dog sled races with our friends. There were lots of crazy, hyper, barking dogs and Gwen thought it was great. Anything to do with animals she loves. And the weather was beautiful of course, so it was nice to get out in the sun and soak up that vitamin D.

I haven't been taking many photos lately, so I must remedy that soon, but enjoy these few.

Go doggies, go!

A woodpecker going crazy on the hydro pole outside

Gwen learning to stand. She is practicing so hard. I'm so proud of her :)

Belated Holiday Post

Ok, I can't even remember what has been going on since the last time I posted on here. I'd better go check...

All right, so I never even updated Christmas, so here goes.

If we are still up here in Kimberley by next Christmas (I really hope so) I think we will stay home. Not that I don't love seeing everyone and catching up, but Christmas time is hard enough for me as it is, just adding in all the running around, the gatherings, the parties, the trying to visit everyone of the face of the planet within the time of 8 - 10 days is just crazy! And then adding a 1 year old into the mix just makes it even more exhausting. So next year, we are staying home and anyone is welcome to come visit us and spend Christmas in our beautiful little mountain winter wonderland where Christmases are always white ^_^

So, needless to say Christmas was fun, but equally exhausting and we all came home with colds. Poor little Gwen had to spend her first Christmas with a cold. But it was lots of fun too, I just wish it could have been fun and restful. Oh well.

It was great to see most of you of course! And meet all the new babies. That was great. I'm really looking forward to maybe heading back in the summer to spend more time with the family in good weather.

Gwen had her birthday last Saturday, and it was very low key. We had a party for her just after Christmas with all the gramma's and grampas so we felt like we had already done all those rituals of cake and presents. So for her actual birthday we just went out for breakfast, and she got her very own order of toast and fruit. And then we went swimming which was lots of fun as always. She had a little mini party with her baby friends on Monday so that was fun as well.

It's a little odd to think of her as one year old, but then it's been one very eventful year. Even though it feels like it has gone fast, I look back and realize how much has happened and how far we have all come as a family. I love being a family, it feels so right for us. Makes me want a bigger family, but that can wait a bit :p

Gwen and her cousin Karma

Gwen being eaten by Georgia

All the Ratzlaff great grandchildren

Georgia, Gwen, Jacob, Robbie and Ben

Gwendalyn's chocolate vegan banana cake with tofu and maple syrup frosting

She loved it, but it wasn't quite messy enough :P

Gwen with her birthday toys

-------Fast forward to a week later. I think I'd better just post this thing before I forget again :P

This next pics are from when we are back in Kimberley after Christmas.

Eating her first Christmas orange. It was very messy. And there were lots of silly faces.

Talking a walk on Wasa Lake

Our new Rav4!

Yes, we are leasing a brand new 2010 Toyota Rav4. I always said I would never buy or lease a brand new vehicle because its usually a waist of money. But even if we got one a few years old it would have only cost about two grand less. So when you are already paying over 20 grand you may as well get a new one with all the warranties. Yay for Toyotas!

Gwen had a little birthday party with her friends Amelie and Jack.

Of course they like to help her open her presents :)

An Update

Woah, long time no blog O_o

Lets see, what has happened. I will start with the present and move into the past I think.

Gwendalyn is crawling! We were on the phone with grandma Lindsay last night and all of a sudden she crawled! She has been sitting up and twisting around for ages, and we knew it was only a matter of time. We quickly tested it out again by putting something she normally is not allowed to have across the room, and lo and behold she was off to get it. She was so proud of herself! And we of her. I'm so glad that Daddy was around to see it, as he hasn't been able to spend much time with her because he works such long hours.

So that was a great little surprise from Gwen.

I had my 27th birthday this past Tuesday too. I got some really good locally made chocolate and two pretty beaded bracelet/ring things from James. I also had two friends up from Cranbrook, Amy and Rachel and their babies Amelie and Jack for the afternoon. Amy cut my hair for free as a surprise, so that was awesome because I hadn't had a trim in over a year. And Gwen had so much fun with Amelie and Jack. And I think they really inspired her to crawl.

In some not so good news, James got laid off from his job. Apparently it happens a lot this time of year. There a few other places that he has a good chance of being hired at if they don't hire him back in the spring. And we will do just fine money wise with EI and my business starting up again. I think it will be good to have him home more often. He was working such long hours that we hardly saw him during the week. So it will be nice for him to spend more time with Gwen until he can find new work. And then I will have more time to sew :)

Grandma Sawatsky was up for five days a few weeks ago, so that was great. We has all these plans for projects and things, but we mainly ended up just playing with Gwendalyn and drinking tea. Though we did do some shopping and she helped me organize my studio which was a HUGE help. She also cooked and did dishes while she was here. I love you Mom! And of course Gwen just loved having Grandma around.

Lets see, what else...

The weather has been pretty cold here for the last few weeks. We don't have much snow (about 6-8") but is was around -20 to -15 for a while there (where James was working it got down to -32). It warmed up to about -3 yesterday and it was beautiful! I took Gwen to town in the backpack and I only had to wear a sweater! It was lovely. And of course it's usually sunny up here so that helps too.

Other then that, we are flying out to the Coast tomorrow for Christmas! We were going to drive our new car, but with the layoff we couldn't afford it right away so Mom and Terry found us a really great seat sale with Air Canada. Yay, no 12 hour drive in the snow with a baby!!

I can't wait to see everyone at home, and meet all the new babies! And of course it's Gwen's first Christmas so it will be tons of fun.

Jack, Amelie and Gwen

Eating snow

Best Friends

Making a B-line for the cheerio.

Our neighbours enjoying our front yard.

And our backyard in the morning.

Little Cute in the Sled

Just a quick little post.

We bought a sled at the awesome consignment store in town, and she just loves it! I need to rig up a little harness for her, because she likes to lean over and try to eat the snow.

And yes, I normally put a hat and snowsuit one her when we play in the snow. But it was actually quite warm outside that day :p

New Things

We are finally more or less settled into our new place in Kimberley. It's been a very crazy Fall so far, but now I'm feeling like I can relax and get into the rhythm of things.

Our rental house is great. It's not to big, and not too small. It has three stories and four bedrooms, and it looks just like a little European chalet. It's in a great location too. Five minute walk to the Overwaitea, and 15 min walk to what they call the Platzl (a little outdoor mall). Kimberley (pop 6,000) is a very cute and touristy little town, both for summer and winter. It used to be an old mining town but when that closed in the 90s they turned into a Bavarian village. It also hosts Canada's largest free standing cuckoo clock. Pretty exciting! :p

Anyway, it has a lot more charm then Cranbrook. And less hicks too.

However, because it is rather high up in the mountains, we seemed to have left Autumn behind before it even got a chance. We have about 4 inches of snow as I write, and last week we got about 6 inches. The poor leaves haven't even had a chance to change colour and fall off, they are just wilting on the branches under the snow. It's a little depressing because I love Fall so much. But that's what we get for moving to a mountain ski village. At least it's pretty, and the snow is soft and fluffy and not wet.

Cecil has taken to his winter routine without a problem. All he does is sleep on our bed all day long. Lazy fair weather cat.

Gwendalyn thought the snow was pretty interesting though. She found it very fascinating to eat. Though anything you can put in your mouth and swallow is awesome in her books.

She is adjusting very well to her new house and routine. She has been is such a good mood lately. She just loves having Cecil around. Although he did bite her the other day because she pulled his fur rather hard before I could stop her. It was good for both of them though, and now she respects his boundaries much better. And I have been teaching her to be "gentle" with him, so she understands she can't go around pulling out his fur and whiskers. He is such a good cat with her though. He really puts up with a lot.

Gwendalyn still isn't quite crawling yet, which is just fine by me. She is starting to get her first tooth, which I can just see the top of.

And James is enjoying his job, though the days are very long. At least he gets to be outside most of time. But because of his long days, I am becoming quite the housewife. I am learning to cook! I even have his dinner ready when he gets home from work most days! Go me!

We also had a great Thanksgiving. Rob and Brad (James' brother and good friend) drove up and spent the weekend. It was pretty chill. We just hung out, had a simple dinner of bought roasted chicken, oven baked stuffing, and mashed potatoes. Then we played the most awesomest Star Trek board game ever and drank sake. It was excellent.

Our fast and easy Thanksgiving dinner.

Gwendalyn stuffing her face with stuffing.

After Rob and Brad left we took a little hike on the trails up behind our house. The view is great from up there. The weather was sunny but pretty cold.

The view looking East from the ridge above our house.

That's about all for now. My next project will be setting up my studio. I have a great little loft room on the top floor with so much storage I could stash all the fabric I've ever owned up there. Hahahaha!!!

Well, here's some pics of our cute little house and snowy yard :)

Changes Come

Well I'm sure most of you Facebook users know that we are moving to Cranbrook by now, so I thought I'd better write up a thorough explanation.  

Just this past Monday James got a call from one of the Forestry companies he has been applying for for the last 8 months.  He then had a phone interview with Maple Leaf Forestry in Cranbrook on Tuesday and then got a call back Wednesday telling him he had the job and when could he start.  He was very excited to tell Rona that his last day of work was going to be Saturday because he has to start work on the 14th of Sept at the latest.  So it's all been very fast.  

We are excited to finally have a decent job again, and in a desirable part of the province.  For those of you who don't know where Cranbrook is, it's in the east Kootenays.  About a nine or ten hour drive from Chilliwack, two hours or so from Calgary, and only an hour and half from Nelson!  It's also pretty close to Waterton National Park in the Rockies, so it really is in a lovely area.  

It's all very exciting, but also bittersweet.  I have really enjoyed being close to our families this  past year, especially with Gwen.  They have been so supportive.  I'm really going to miss being so close.  So that part will be quite an adjustment.   But it's nothing we can't handle.  

James really needs to find a place to stay for a few weeks  this month before I can come up and find a place for Oct 1st.   So if anyone knows of anyone with a room to spare, or rent for the rest of September, please let us know.  And if you know of any 2 or 3 bedroom places to rent, please let us know as well.  

I will probably be going up the weekend after next to start looking.  But I will not be moving up there with Gwendalyn until the beginning of October at the earliest.   All depending on whether or not I can find a suitable and clean place to live.

I'll try and keep this blog updated a bit more often with our plans :)