Fabric

On our trip to and from BC we stopped at quite a few quilt stores (well more than a few, but usually only one a day ;o) Anyway, I collected all different yellow and blue fat quarters that I hope to make a quilt with using a pattern called Bento Box. Here's one of the quilt stores we stopped at. This one's in South Amana, (I can't even rememer the state right now...) The best thing about all these stores is that most of them didn't look like much but then you walk in and it's so full of colour! Another thing, I don't think we once went out of our way, other than going down a side street, for a quilt store. Most of the time we'd be driving through a little town (with me looking both ways in case I saw the word "quilt") and there it would be... "Quilt Shop" or something similar. Needless to say, it would make my day :).

When we were in BC I had a day out with my sister Alisa. We went to Quilt Essentials in Abbotsford and they had a couple tables full of fabric samples that you could buy by the pound! It was like we had found gold! We went a little crazy stuffing things into our bags - it was so much fun. I mostly collected brights for a nice kid quilt one day.

We hit Fabricland at the end of the day too and I picked up some fabric to make a bag. I was inspired to make one by the bags my sister-in-law made. Should be fun (when I get around to it).

Before I came to BC Alisa sent me a couple fat quarters. She also had the same ones and we both made something with them and other fabric without telling each other what we were doing. It was a really neat thing to do. Alisa's is a pillow and mine a table runner that is still in progress as I'm hand quilting it.

Home Again

We arrived back home on Saturday around 4 in the afternoon. I can't believe it's already Thursday. Coming home always takes some adjustment after staying in my parents' big and bright home. It sure is nice though to be back in our own beds and home after six nights in hotels! I must say though, I like the guestroom bed at Dad and Mom's better than ours! The trip went really well again. It's amazing how much kids will tolerate. We didn't have as nice weather and it wasn't as picturesque of a landscape but still very beautiful! Here's a beautiful picture taken just before a huge storm. Thankfully we were all safe and warm in a hotel before it hit.

We did get stuck in Chicago because of all the flooding - part of the I-80 was closed. We had no idea about all the flooding until we finally got off the highway after an hour, and maybe going 1 km, when we asked at a hotel what the problem was. We stayed there that night and then in the morning it still took an hour to get out of that area.

When Conrad makes another album of our trip home we'll send a link out. If anyone's reading this who didn't get the links for the other pictures and would like to see them let me know.

I'll make another entry about all the fabric I got :)

We've arrived!

(...in BC that is :-) ) We got to my parents place around 11 on Monday night. We stopped in Banff for a few hours and visited with Conrad's family who are camping there for the week. We're very thankful to have arrived safely after so much driving. Now we're ready to relax and visit with family and friends. I wish I could post some pictures of the trip across but I'm not sure I can do that from here so I might have to wait until we get back.

In Calgary

We arrived in Calgary around 10:30 last night after a very long day. We'll spend the weekend with my two brothers and their families and then on Monday drive to Banff, spend sometime with Conrad's family who are camping there and then arrive to the Valley Monday night or Tuesday some time.

It has been a beautiful drive! The best part is driving through all the different landscapes. It's forever changing, from dry grassy dunes to hilly bluffs, through forest, then the badlands, through bushy bluffs, and then mountains. It's a gorgeous country!

The trip has gone really well. The kids are being really good travellers! We had two little mishaps on the way.... On Thursday our engine light went on and the engine was revving really high when we were going through the Big Horn Mountains. After turning the van off and back on it was working better but the engine light was still on so we stopped at a mechanic. It was stuck in second gear. It's been fine since so that's good. And...yesterday we had to drive back an hour and fifteen minutes because we forgot our camera in a park! That was the longest drive, wondering if our camera was still there. So we drove an extra 2 1/2 hours on what was already going to be a long day! But the camera was there so it was worth it.

Day 1

We're in Madison, WI for the night! Today went really well. We left home at 4:30 and arrived here around 5 (4:00) local time. The kids were really good. Tessa had a bit of a rough time off and on but every time we stopped (3 times I think) she was happy again. Anneke's not feeling very well (the reason we were awake at 3:30 already :-p). She's coughing a lot again... We're starting to think she might have athsma (sp?) or something. Hopefully she doesn't get any worse. Tomorrow we're on to Mitchell SD (I think - I can't even remember what state it's in anymore...) Off to bed now. It's only 7:00 here but we're tired and if we can go early in the morning that's great because we really enjoyed driving in the early hours.

Today

We were busy today getting some things done before we leave on Monday. Conrad brought all his books back to the library, he applied for a passport, I did a few last minute errands and also finished Anneke's dress. Remember that fabric a few posts ago? Well, here's the end result. It's a bit big and the skirt part of it ended up waaaay wider than I thought but I think it's still cute and hopefully it'll fit her next year too :) It's also really good for spinning...

Here's a couple pictures of the kids from a few days ago. They were sitting in front of our house watching the portable washer truck clean the garbage hut. So very facinating!

Over the past couple of months I helped Erin with a quilt for their new baby, Noah. We finished it just a week or so before he arrived. We used that minky stuff which is a polyestor or something and it's very soft and cute but hard to sew without it stretching. It was fun to do together, although I'm not much of a teacher... I think you should take a class some time Erin :)

Introducing...

Dr. Conrad!!!

Things went well today and with a little editing Conrad will be finished with his thesis and officially finished his PhD. Wow! We have been very blessed with the opportunity for Conrad to complete his studies here. The Lord has provided us with all that we needed, and so much more. All thanks to Him alone!

D-Day

Today is the day of Conrad's defense. Conrad is pretty nervous and we're looking forward to having it over. We're up early...couldn't sleep anymore anyways although I think that was a lot to do with the fact that it's pretty warm and humid. I wanted to go in and listen/watch but that's not allowed, which is too bad, so I'm going to meet Conrad before the defense and wait for him. M. kindly offered to take the kids for us - thankyou!

I'll update later with how it went. I hope you all have a good day!

Happy Birthday Dad!

I think I'll try calling you now...

A nice day...

Today was a beautiful summer day! After 40 degree weather yesterday today was really fresh. We stayed home today and it was wonderful. I got all the laundry done and dried outside, cleaned the kitchen and bathroom, did a little quilting and started working on a dress for Anneke. Oh yea...I also took care of the kids :)


Here're my loaded lines - Mom, look how beautiful the geraniums are!

This is the quilt I pieced in a class about a year and a half ago that I'm hand quilting. It's been stored away for a few months but I took it out a few weeks ago again. I really enjoy hand quilting but I think I'll be practicing on the machine, otherwise I'll never finish anything!

And...a peak at the fabric for Anneke's dress. It's been a while since I've sewn something like this so it's a challenge, but I got all the pieces cut out tonight.

Ellen's Quilt

Today we gave Ellen her quilt. She is the grade 3/4 teacher at the elementary school and is moving back to Holland after being here for 4 years. The quilt is made up a squares from the church and school community and then we (I say we but I didn't actually do all that much quilting on it) put it together for her. Anyway, the teachers and students surprised her with an afternoon presentation/social. It was very nice. I think everyone here will miss Ellen very much. Here are a couple pictures of her receiving the quilt and the kids singing goodbye. Hopefully I can get a good close-up shot of it on Friday at the graduation. (click on the pictures to get a closer look)

Tessa's Walking!

Our baby isn't a baby anymore :-( It's still very exciting though! She has been taking steps for a few weeks now and then on Sunday she decided she could do it and I haven't seen her crawl since. If she falls down she just gets right back up again even if she's only a foot from where she wants to go.

Here she goes...

She's getting so big - trying to colour with the other kids...

and she loves to put things on. Here she is with Anneke's helmet and a little back pack, walking around as if she has places to go :)

Water

This past week has been nice and warm and the kids have been playing outside in the water a lot. On Wednesday we went to the splash pad for playgroup and on Thursday Chantal and Alyssa came over for the day and they were all playing in the little pool. Here are some pictures...

At the splash pad

Cooling off

Chantal

Alyssa

Anneke

Lukas

Planning our trip

Yes that's right...we're really planning to go out to BC this summer! Yea!! We've decided to drive across and make it a long holiday. I'm a bit nervous how the drive will go with 3 little kids but Conrad is confident it'll go fine :). We'll see...
We joined CAA and are figuring out which way to go. We'll go both ways through the states as it's faster and we've driven through Canada 5 years ago when we moved out here. If all goes well with Conrad's defense on July 9 then we hope, DV, to leave on the 16th.

Thesis Done!

Conrad has just sent off the final copy of his thesis to his defence team! Yea!! His defence is set for July 9. Time to go out for dinner and celebrate (just a little)!

Tessa

Today was Tessa's first birthday! Time sure flies...and that year went fast. Where did our baby go? She is a beautiful and very happy, easy baby. She didn't get a decorated cake and party but a couple friends still came by this morning and I iced some cupcakes so she could have fun with it and I could take a picture :). We bought her a "noisy toy" - don't ask me why as I think it might get put downstairs soon if the kids don't tire of putting it on all day long. Here are some pictures of her today. Is there such a thing as taking too many pictures??

"Are these for me??" She is the first child I know who doesn't like the crinkly paper...




"I don't really know what's going on here..."


"...but I know exactly what to do with this!"


"It's prickly on my legs!"

Lukas

Happy Birthday to Lukas! Today he turned 3!! He was pretty excited about his birthday after Anneke's and the week was very, very long for him. Well, May 25th came and he knew exactly what to do when it came to presents and he's very pleased to be 3. It's a fun age to be don't you think?

Victoria Day

On Monday we spent the day with friends, playing games, playing outside, relaxing and enjoying a barbeque together. It was a beautiful day!

Quilting

Every Tuesday morning a bunch of ladies from church get together to quilt or do other handwork. Over the past couple of months we've been working on a quilt for a teacher from the elementary school who will be moving back to Holland this year. All the school families as well as families from church made a square and we are quilting it. Here's a picture of 3 of us at the frame (I'm not on of course:)). It was a really neat experience and it really was a community effort. I can't wait to give it to her!



And here are all the little people, having a great time playing. You can kinda see some more people sitting around in the background working on different projects.



And finally....I've finished something!! What a feeling of satisfaction to complete a project. I know it's May and snowmen are out of season but I still have it hanging on my wall, just for a week or two, until I put it away for until December.

Anneke

Happy 4th Birthday Anneke!! It's hard to believe our first baby is 4 already. We celebrated this morning with friends from church. Conrad isn't here because he's at a conference in Philidelphia. Two birthday's in a row that he's gone... Maybe I'll have to go away on his :) We gave Anneke her presents on Tuesday night so that he could be here.The birthday girl with her butterfly cake.
Blowing out the candles. The party was for Anneke and Mckenna who turned 2 today!
Mckenna
Tessa and Evan

It was a full house this morning but a lot of fun and the girls were spoiled. Next week we get to do it again...for Lukas!