Time's fun when ...

History repeats itself...

Tonight before dinner I took Elijah & Davin to the river to do a little fishing - just for fun. They had a blast holding the rod and reeling the line in.

If you click on the picture above it will take you to a page where you can view these as a larger slideshow. Enjoy!

Photos from Brent & Karen's wedding

A few shots from Brent & Karen's wedding this past weekend for the aunties to enjoy...

More recent photos

Well, the Picasa thing works well and it's much easier to use for a bulk upload!

Here are some more shots - including several from our recent trip to Nanaimo for my dad's birthday.

Enjoy!

Davin's Birthday Photos

This is a trial run of embedding a Picasa slide show into my blog- here's hoping it works for everyone.

These pictures are from Davin's 3rd birthday party - with a "pirates & princesses" theme. You can watch the mini slideshow here, or click on it to go to the web album.

Enjoy!

Catching up!

Here are some (long overdue) photos from our busy spring & summer. Lots has been happening!

In the spring David & Wendy came to visit, which allowed Val and I to take a (fateful?) trip over to Gambier Island for a weekend Bed & Breakfast getaway...

Val & I enjoying the view in Gambier Harbour, with Bowen and Keats Islands in the background

Later on we paid David & Wendy a visit in Canmore...

... and I had a chance to tone up a bit by hiking "David style" - basically straight uphill. Still, the view was worth it!

We also had two opportunities to camp at Alice Lake (near Squamish) his summer - once with Shaun & Sarah, and then again with a large group of friends (our annual group camp - out).

The first trip:

The second trip:

We also decided to purchase a lot on Gambier Island this summer - it's a 1/2 acre lot with access to hydro, telephone service and on a small road network accessible by private barge. We took possession on my birthday (July 5) and, beginning in August, we've been starting to develop the land from scratch. The first order of business was barging a truck loaded with supplies over, then clearing some trees and brush, and now building a small "sleeping cabin" (read: shed) to have a place to sleep while building the actual cabin. The building process will take several years, so this wee cabin is also so we can enjoy the property in the interim.

Loading up the truck and boat for barging over - we really put the truck suspension to the test! The truck was purchased especially for use on the island - for hauling building supplies up from the dock. Gambier has a boat launch on the road system we're connected to, so the truck is used for launching the boat as well. I've already made several trips into Horseshoe Bay for picking up building supplies. It's about a 30-minute trip one way in good weather.

Here we are putting the truck and boat onto the barge (near Langdale on the Sunshine Coast). My friend Alan Randall came along to help, since he was once a faller for Canfor. That first night on Gambier was an uncomfortable one (spent sleeping on the cement floor of the neighbour's unfinished cabin), but the next day Al was hard at work felling trees.

This is a view from part way up the lot looking towards the road, after Al's hard day of work. The (then future) sleeping cabin site is just off to the right in this shot. There will be more clearing to come, but first I need to upgrade the sleeping facilities!

The cabin is only 8 x 12 feet, and stands about 12 feet from floor to peak. It will be enough space for some bunk beds and tool storage. My Dad came over for a day to help (thanks Dad!) but other than that this has been a solo building project. Next up (once the roof is done) is to put on siding, and then build another small structure for a composting toilet. Then it's time to mill some of the trees we took down in preparation for the "big" cabin. We will use what we can from our own trees for timbers (it will be a "post and beam" design).

Now you know why I've been too busy to post anything this summer! These pictures are already a bit out of date - the cabin is now in the process of being shingled, and the fascia boards/ drip edges are on too (so much for the elegant tarp roof). It's been less than one month since we started - and all the (very nice) neighbours are impressed with the speed of the construction. I'm hoping to get as much done as possible before classes start!

The trip of a (4 year old's) lifetime!

This past weekend we had a wonderful trip on the Whistler Mountaineer - "Uncle Peter's" luxury train trip from Vancouver to Whistler. This was a very special treat from the Armstrong clan for Elijah (and his entourage - mommy, daddy, Davin, and Grandma & Grandpa).

It all started last year when Val phoned Peter to ask if she could bring our train-addicted son down to the station to watch a train come in. Peter said that would be fine - but why not just go on the train to Whistler?

Elijah was in 7th heaven for the whole trip, of course. There was even an extra-special box of presents from Uncle Peter himself! Wow! (Uncle Peter, your thank-you card from Elijah is coming soon)!

My favourite part was how Elijah kept telling everyone he was on "Uncle Peter's train." Maybe he thinks every 4-year-old has an Uncle with a train.

The trip was amazing, to be sure. Val and I also were treated to the world-famous Rocky Mountaineer trip back in 2001 (before we married). That trip was also compliments of a very generous "Uncle Peter."

Here's a short video clip I shot as we gaze at the Cheakamus river gorge. (Now that Nana & Big Grandpa and Grandma and Grandpa have upgraded their computers / internet connections out of the Stone Age, I can actually post this kind of stuff without them asking for a "dial up" sized version. I'd bet most 20-year olds don't even know how to use a modem or that anyone ever used the internet over a phone line! But I digress...)

Click To Play

Here are some other pics from the weekend:

The open-air heritage car (c. 1914) was a hit with the kids!

Treats from Uncle Peter - Elijah has worn his "Rocky Mountaineer" hat pretty much non-stop since opening the box. There was also a train whistle, stuffed bears for Elijah and Davin, a backpack for Elijah, T-shirtsfor the kids, and the list goes on ... wow Uncle Peter - you spoiled us! Thank you!!

One more movie - opening presents with Grandma (~2min).

Click To Play

It's a wonderful life...

Here are the Christmas pics you've all been waiting for. We've had a wonderful holiday - Val's folks visited with us for several days before and including Christmas, and my parents came for Christmas day and have stayed on for a while as well. So, for a few days Elijah & Davin had all four grandparents at their beck and call!

Elijah making ginger cookies with Nana - various toys did double duty as cookie shapers!

Decorating the tree - Big Grandpa's long reach came in handy...

Davin hangs an ornament on the tree - and then takes it off, puts in on, takes it off, puts it on...

Nana helping keep the kids supplied with ornaments for the tree...

Val and David sprucing up the window

Opening presents Christmas morning

New friends for Elijah (Thomas) and Davin (Dora)

Grandpas getting roped into reading book after book after book...

This book - "Mike's Bike" - is one that my dad used to read to me over and over when I was little. I tracked it down on the internet and now Elijah gets to read it with Grandpa...

One of the gifts from my parents this year was a album of my childhood photos. I showed one to Elijah and asked him who it was - he looked at it for a while and said "Elijah!" I could tell he was confused because he couldn't remember where "he" was in the picture.