Apple for Mom

 Luke was quite traumatized by so many family members moving away. He had stomach aches every day as well as headaches and trouble sleeping.  Roxy also wasn’t okay.  Dad didn’t want a puppy that might chew on his house and destroy things and dig. But I couldn’t take Luke’s pain and Roxy’s anxiety anymore, so I pulled rank and said we would get a new dog.  Dad agreed… 😊 Luke first wanted another Bernese, but I made him research other breeds and think about it a few days, while checking Kijiji regularly. He decided on a yellow lab and lo and behold, a 3/4 Bernese, 1/4 yellow lab litter was being sold from southern Alberta. Luke chose Maple, a beautiful brown male pup. A trucker drove the puppy to Chilliwack Otter Coop for us, and a week after buying him, we got to go pick him up. Luke named him Ranger, and he dove straight into our hearts, even Dad’s. Lol. He’s a very calm puppy so far and hasn’t chewed up anything he shouldn’t. Doesn’t jump on us too much either. Qui...

  Elise had complained for months that she couldn’t see properly and everything was blurry. She claimed my reading glasses helped her with distance sight. So I finally took her to the optometrist in the summer. Result: no glasses needed. As we walked out, she said, “ Well, that’s the worst eye doctor ever! She doesn’t even recognize a half blind person when she sees one!”  This made me realize how much you wanted glasses. When Stephanie’s family came to visit, Mrs. Feenstra asked if she could send you a pair of clear glasses. Since I wasn’t sure how long that would take, I bought you a pair of blue light filtering ones from Stapkes. So now you have two pairs, and you almost never forget to wear them. Auntie  Dar says you leave them on all day at school, too. You look cute! 

Brice, who lives on our property, got permission from Dad to build a dirt bike track beside the manure storage. He had some friends over and two days later the track was ready. He invited Luke to try it, as well as Dad. Super fun!   

Micah’s beloved dog Charlie died in August, shortly before he moved away. We were really sad, but it did seem kind of fitting for her life to end as her owner left. Elise had such a soft heart for Roxy and spent hours and hours with her. Roxy did struggle and both cried and dug to help herself cope. She needed Elise’s love.  Roxy was so despondent she actually spent a day in the house with me. She very politely stayed on the mat. I couldn’t handle her sad face staring at me through the door, so she got lucky.  Elise wrote a tribute book about Charlie and Micah. She gave it to Micah as a keepsake. ❤️  

  Summer flew by and it was time for school to start. Luke had a fresh haircut. I drove them for the opening assembly. This year Luke gets Megan Slaa and Mr. Raap, while Elise has her beloved Auntie Darlene. Both are very happy with that. 

 Since we have a few small fields around the buildings, Dad enjoys haying the grass now that the sheep are gone. This year, he has had good success with making and selling round bales, square bales and more round bales. Luke got to help by driving the truck and trailer to load them up. Dad added fourteen acres from the neighbours and their neighbours to his crops. Great weather for it! The corn grew well, too. Although, after over 80 days of sunshine with only one slight sprinkle at the 55 day mark, the ground is very dry. 

Dad is well known in the chicken farming community. He was asked if our family would be willing to get our photo taken for some advertising. Everyone was on board, but when the shoot was done, Micah and Caleb were gone. I think Stepping Stones Bible Camp is where they were, busy being counsellors.  A film crew arrived, with four guys, plus an industry rep named Cheryl who brought a catered dinner. We had to pose as a group, walk as a group, pose as individuals, pairs, with the dogs… so many requests! But it was fun and we all had a great time.  The biggest surprise was that we were actually put in a BC Chicken commercial on YouTube. We had thought maybe a chicken calendar was the plan, so this was much grander than we anticipated. We are practically famous now. 

 This old sleeping bag was one of the two Dad and I bought for our honeymoon. Since then, it has been used and abused many, many times. I’ve patched massive rips a few times, and now, well, it was just time to let it go.  The patch fabrics were leftovers from Caleb’s baby blanket, my playpen sheet, and matching pajamas for Micah and Caleb. Even the patches are more than 15 years old! 

 Luke grew a small vegetable garden near our pavement pad, with cucumbers, carrots, radishes, dill, and I’m not sure what else planted. He faithfully watered it, and after our return from buying our fifth wheel in Edmonton, was pleased and proud to find it had food to harvest. His cucumbers had bitter peels but were delicious inside. His carrots were amazing. However, his radishes grew into a bush with pepper-like fruit and absolutely no sign of a radish root. Quite fascinating, but the little peppers, although edible, were not super good.  Luke made a pickle brine and pickled his own cucumbers. .

This new blog is to help keep us in touch and to show what our lives here in Chilliwack look like.  A few weeks ago, Nathan and Nelly-Jayne moved to Lethbridge. They were living in the upstairs suite. Four days ago, Micah made the final move to Lethbridge, after spending a weekend there with Luke hauling his stuff in our trailer. He was still living at home with us. And yesterday we made the trip to Kelowna to help Stacy and Braedan move. This leaves only Caleb, Luke and Elise at home with us. We will miss everyone!  We will carry on with life and it’s busy times. Today was back to school shopping, haying, and haircut day. Luke was off to Mission with Dad, where they bought a sprayer to kill weeds in the field. We have been actively puppy seeking online, which brings a lot of excitement.  Bonds can stay strong over distance, right? Our beautiful newlyweds heading out with excitement.  Brothers Micah took Luke with him to Lethbridge, but then had to return him.  ...