Apple for Mom

School skating is always fun. And it’s my chance to shine as a skate tie-er. (Not sure how to spell that one! lol)   

Tony VanOort comes by for Sunday lunch after church once in a while. This time he had a surprise for us- he gave Dennis, Caleb and Luke his new logo hats, plus a tshirt. Luke thought he needed the shirt more than Dad, and so you have this picture.   

We had bulbs to plant around the apple tree. Frank Schouten loves gardening and he loves us. So even though he is in his eighties with double knee replacements, he asked if he could plant them for us. Moxi was a pain in the neck and ran off with a bag of bulbs. Frank was not impressed. lol. 

Elise had her first ever piano performance. She played The First Noel and she played it beautifully.  Sunday fun after church The kids’ choir sounded fantastic!  Elise has a little Sunday sidekick in Joan. Joan even stood with her  during the kids’ choir.   

Yes it’s possible to enjoy both sunrise and sunset beauty from our house. Granted, I see more sunsets, but there were some pretty awesome sunrises this year that I was up on time to enjoy.   

Jill came back to visit- and she and Caleb were willing to decorate our house for us. 😊 As Home Mission Committee, we wanted to reach out to our church’s neighbours. Devry Greenhouses donated 30 poinsettias to us for this purpose! I was thrilled to get this from them.  The annual John Deere Christmas party took a bit less time this year as the kids aren’t quite as fascinated as in the past. Luke had to be persuaded to even pose with Santa, but he was a good sport. And now he has a green John Deere colour changing cup to match Elise’s.😂  

Yes, November brings the stress of the yearly paperwork organization. I lost use of my big island for days. Poor dad does not love this job, so he procrastinated all year. As always.   

Somehow Elise has a face that attracts the people who hand out freebies at parades. She got tons of candy, but more notably, she got two stuffies! We made her give one away to another child to be fair, but she was thrilled to keep this bear.  Luke was given a dog food scoop and a water bottle from Petcurean, a pet food company.   

The carpet in both Luke’s and Elise’s rooms was still original from 22 years ago. When Elise developed a cough that she couldn’t shake and was put on Nasonex to shrink her adenoids and tonsils, Dad decided both kids should get new carpet. I don’t have an after photo, but they are both very happy with the new plush feel and look.  Elise is on a list for getting her adenoids and potentially also her tonsils removed. Poor girl already had her adenoids removed as a baby, but they grew back.    

Luke’s class got to try curling. They loved it!   

The girls got to shop for the needy and homeless using money donated to them and raised from selling chocolates. They had fun!   

Elise loves writing and she enjoyed making erosion and water comics.  Making herself at home in the family room.   

Since we were off to Armstrong for a dinner, we were able to haul a trailer load of stuff for Eric and Albany, who moved to Vernon the same weekend. We got to stay in a very nice hotel!   

This year, Luke still had a sore arm and wasn’t well the day we raked the leaves, so it was Elise who was the big helper. She loved trampling the leaves down in the wagon- and so did Moxi!   

Opa and Oma headed off to Smithers to witness Nathaniel’s baptism. They took Elise and me with them just for fun. In PG, their car was sideswiped by a merging truck who didn’t shoulder check. Thankfully, the driver acknowledged his guilt and in the end, they had no trouble getting the car fixed.  We had to pop in at Jared’s to say hi.  Tired girl!   Uncle Randy plastic printed an articulated lizard for Elise. She was thrilled.  A joyful day for Rick and Jaclyn as they promised to raise their son to honour his Creator and we all witnessed little Nate receive the sign of the covenant.  Cousin time! Elise and I stayed at Uncle Randy’s, while Opa and Oma stayed at Uncle Harold’s  The after party/dinner were hosted by Uncle Rick and Auntie Jaclyn but at Uncle Randy’s house due to space.