At the top of the world...well, the Rockies anyways.

So this is what we busted out backs, strained our joints, lost most of our hearing and almost all of our sanity and all of our sleep over...amazing! There aren't words to describe this. So when is the next trip?
Berg Glacier. This was taken from our tent. I lay awake all night pulling Meshach back into a comfortable position and listening to all the creaks, groans and booms of the avelanches! It was amazing.

So those are some scenery pictures I thought you might enjoy.

More Roson pics

Yummy rice! Kids aren't really "bear friendly" on trips I found out. Rice everywhere, chocolate drooled down shirts, trail mix dumped beside the tent. Bear heaven! Fortunately we didn't see any. His screaming must have scared them off. Good job Meshach!
Kisses to keep him entertained on the trail. There were so many waterfalls we kept him going by telling him that we wer e going to find another. When that didn't work anymore we used chocolate covered raisins!
What a cute little puffy blue marshmellow!
Happy camper....
Angry camper!

It has been way too long.

Heres a brief over view of our summer. Of course lots more happened but I havn't been on top of things here on the computer. So here we are at Summit Lake enjoying the early summer sun and warm water...
Mmmmmm whatermelon! Always a summer fave.
His first pony ride at the Hubble homestead. He wouldn't go on unless I came too. However he was more than happy about the train ride. Such a boy! Mommy likes the pretty horses and Meshach prefers the trucks! Whatever will we do?
Ah. Horses again. This time he wasn't as scared. He kept giving me the hay so that I would feed them.
I'll have to add some more pics but here we are at Mt. Robson. This is the first night and he has worked up an appetite for sushi rice! Mmmmm sushi! Nothn' like eating sushi, looking at mountain tops, listening to the waterfall and putting your feet up after a long day!

At the Beach!

For being June the water was amazingly warm and Meshach enjoyed pouring water into a hole someone dug for a clambake and watching the speed boats.

Mmmmmm. Watermelon! A new favorite that quicky evolved into an outside food only.

I once had a dream...several in fact, but this one has permiated my existance since I entered that blessed (and long awaited) final year of high school. Tired of getting headaches over algebra and chemistry, I decided that my goal as a marine biologist should have died long ago, when I was 8, and realized that there was more to it that swimming with the whales, taking their pictures and documenting their sounds. Actually I lie. I didn't figure that out until I was in grade 12 and loosing sleep because I couldn't make x=13.89! I'm not the brightest person on the planet. Not because I couldn't make x equal some obscure number but because it took me that long to figure out marine biologists spend more time figuring out what x equals than having fun in the water. So my grade 12 year was spent dropping chemistry and taking as many art courses as possible. That, and taking as many spares as possible. My focus switched from achadamia to the arts. I wanted to become and artist! Well, its taken me 8 years and I'm finally doing it! I mean I'm no Michaelangelo or Ansel Adams but I did get a call from PG's art studio today telling me that I'm going to be a part of their art bazzar on June 16th! At that moment I may as well have been Michaelangelo! Only now as I write this am I starting to come off cloud 9 and am realizing how much work I have to do before then! So there we have it...dreams can come true!

Meshach's feeling better

Now that the cold is over and teething is almost done we have all been feeling alot better! Meshach even helped us plant the garden...well sort of. Now the trick is to keep him out of the dirt. And now that we've taught him how to pick dandylions not to pick the other flowers...so we built a fence!

Mommy I don't feel so well...

Isn't he the cutest, most pathetic looking sick kid. Love those cuddles! Hes on the mend now. This was taken on his worst day.

Wheeeeee!

Its an older picture but I thought the blog needed an update. He certainly wasn't doing any of this kind of activity today. Poor guy is teething and got sick...the two seem to go hand in hand for him. This time it got him good. I've never seen him so cuddly, even when he was a baby! He spent the whole day in my arms with his head on my shoulder, he had 3 naps and went to bed at 8. I guess hes making up for the 2 hours of sleep he gave me last night. Well, regardless of myself napping twice today I'm done in. I think I'm going to head to bed too and try and get a head start in sleeping before he wakes up. G'night!

I just have to take a sec to tell you all a very funny story. Meshach, in his usual unpredictable style, woke up quite early this morning. I thought that rather than waiting around for two hours to go to Church we could go to the early service. My plans got terminated as I spent about a half an hour after breakfast looking for my toothbrush. I searched high and low until I remembered something. Meshach had been helping me make breakfast and had been playing with it. I looked behind the stove, under the stove, in the garbage, in the sink, in the toaster, behind the cutting board...I sank down in despair on the couch. By this time I was pushing for time and it was slowly occurring to me that the early service was out. Actually it was starting in 15 mins and Meshach was still in his PJs. Then it hit me. He had been playing with the lid to the milk container (we have the screw on kind). I ran to the fridge, grabbed the milk and lo and behold...there was my toothbrush, wallowing in the creamy (and now minty) goodness. The relief! Of course I found it after I brushed my teeth with my mom's toothbrush. So the remainder of the time we had before the first service I spent trying to figure out how to get it out of the milk container. I finally had to pour the milk in the teapot until the toothbrush came out of the hole then replace the milk in the container...no sense wasting! So that's my story that had me laughing all the way to the late service. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

They're finished!

Well, here they are. Lighthouses. Hope that satisfies your curiosity Becky ;0)

I might do a few touch ups still but basically this is what they look like.

Now I have to figure out somethng else to do.

Play date at the park

"I'm getting dizzy mom!"

He looks like hes going to loose his cookies on that merry go 'round.

Meshach and Ciana double dating on the swings.
Not quite big enough to go alone. He did manage to climb all those stairs by himself (with mom right behind him of course).

Visit to Great Grandma's house

Meshach, me, grandpa and great grandma.

Its summer in Kelowna!

Meshach and I had a bit of a road trip last week. What a good traveller that little guy is. We made it to Kelowna in one piece and still in a semi coherent state of mind! Here are some pics of him in the park. I'll post some more later...there are many!

Run, run as fast as you can. You can't catch me, I'm...well it doesn't matter anyhow because I'm going so fast you can't catch me...or see me for that matter!

Lucky Cat!

Isn't Meshach good at sharing? At least he ate some cereal before letting the cat drink the milk.

Story time with Great Grandpa

This scene was probably the cutest thing I've seen in a long time. Great Grandpa sitting with Meshach tucked up under his arm reading one of his favorite books. Meshach was showing him how the tabs work (makes the tail wag) and Great Grandpa was showing him all the different kinds of dogs and asking him questions that he clearly didn't understand. Despite my massive headache I just had to run (more of a quick stumble really) and get my camera. You don't get much sweeter than this!

two down one to go...well almost

Some of you out there have been asking about what I've been doing in my spare time. First of all I'd like to ask what spare time they're talking about and how I can get some. Ok, I have had a little and here are the goods to show for it. Here are the two completed light houses and half of the third. I'm not sure the top one will fit so I might do a fourth. We'll see. As many of you know I can have a short attention span and I'm not so excited about light houses anymore...especially since I've been making plans with some new canvasses I got :0)
Heres the start of the third. Sorry about the flash, it was a quick pic.

Still as busy as ever!

Aaaah! Spring is here, and with it the ever loved puddle jumping. Aaaah laundry!

Its kindof nice now that he can play in the snow and I don't have to rescue him every 10 seconds. Its a lot easier to shovel the driveway.

Playing in boxes...always fun. Now that I've started teaching art lessons I've had to order a bunch of stuff. Lucky for Meshach!

GOT MILK?

We do! I had almost forgotten what it tasted like! To be honest it took a while to get over the aftertaste. But it sure beats the soy drink! My apologies to those of you who like it. So how is it that I can drink milk again? Well, its still not quite from the cow type stuff. I get the extra refined, extra processed beverage that is also lactose free with added vitamins. I'm not sure how much of it is really milk or chemically separated white liquidy stuff with added vitamins and milk flavoring but I sure am enjoying it. As it turns out Meshach isn't allergic to milk, just lactose intolerant...as am I after spending 15 or so months drinking a bean beverage and staring longingly at the chocolate milk in the store. It has been a good discovery. Even Meshach is enjoying it!

Bubba Baloos

What a name for a kid's play place! Anyways, yesterday was cheap day...I like cheap days! $2 to go play in balls, tunnels, slides and stare at beautiful flashing lights and obnoxious sounds of the arcades. Its almost more than a kid can handle! After pulling Meshach away from trying to climb into one of the arcade games and coaxing him into the pen of balls here are some of the pics I got. He was running around so fast it was hard to keep up, get a picture and not smash my camera against the colorful plastic.

Ball pen was definitely a fav. He liked burying himself then popping back up again.
Oh ya, did I mention this was a play date? Here is Meshach playing with Marie (12 mos). There were a few moments when chaos slowed down and Leanne and I could chat but these moments were pretty sporadic.
Such a brave little tyke. He was climbing up and through and sliding down things! It was amazing. Definitely a natural! Although the mesh tubes 15 ft in the air made him a little nervous. Especially since it moves and he got his hand caught in the mesh. All in all it was a fun day...complete with McDonald's nuggets and fries at the end (ugh! The things you eat for your kids...or is that let your kids eat?).

So you know how they say children learn by example...I'm afraid my sister's dog has taught Meshach some, um...interesting tricks. The dog, nicknamed "ditsy", has been taught to spin whenever she wants a treat. Well, I found Meshach spinning desperately in front of the fridge today. I'm not really sure what to think of this other than to laugh my head off!

A trekking we will go...

Juanita, Meshach and I went snowshoeing the other day. It was so much fun! There would have been more pictures but it was getting dark and my batteries died. So here we are before it got dark. Definitely a good work out with a kid on your back! I was thankful for finding some skidoo tracks. The snow was pretty deep. Even with showshoes I was sinking almost to my knees (I'm sure having a Meshach laden backpack contributed as well).

Of Mice and Paint

So for those of you who have been asking of my recent paintings here are those that are finished. And for those of you who have come to be entertained here's a little story for you:

Lately I had been quite pleasantly surprised at how easily the car had been starting in -15 weather (I have a diesel for those who didn't know). Well yesterday I found out why. I had opened the hood to check the oil and lo and behold I found the engine to be nicely insulated by a rather large mouse's nest...I was wondering where my scarf went and how my toque had gotten a hole in it. And I blamed it on poor craftsmanship! I'm not sure if I brought the mice with me from Nordegg or if Prince George is infested as well. Fortunately I didn't find any mice while I was clearing out fist fulls of my late scarf.

Sunflower

(oil)

Lighthouse in Newfoundland

(also in oil)

Photo Essay "cookies"

Although Valentines Day has come and gone I thought I would add this little Valentines adventure. Yes, cookie making! A dangerous undertaking with a not quite 11/2 year old, and....icing. Oh the ups and downs of sugar highs. So on we go with our tale.

Like most heroic endeavours, it began with an idea..."hey, lets make some Valentines cookies" thought the over ambitious mother of an over energetic little boy. He thought it was a good idea too. Really who can blame him. The combination of getting really messy, playing in dough and eating sugar is too much of a temptation for a little kid. There really is no question here.
Being a of the fairly creative sort (and needing a little water to tone down the sugar intake) the main character of our story bravely mixes the dough into his cup and partakes in his newly invented beverage...unbaked cookie water. Mmmmm.
"Cheers!"
Onto cleanup time (almost as fun as making cookies). Water, water everywhere...at least the dishes got done, the floor moped, the walls washed, the counters cleaned and the cupboards wiped down. A little more than mom was bargaining for but by now she was in survival mode so a little mopping really didn't make a difference. I'm not even sure she really remembered it.
Time for bed. The cookies are baked and we'll leave the rest of the icing for another day's sugar high. Meshach slept well that night (once his mother got him to bed that is).

The End

Here we are...finally the awaited Meshach pictures! Sorry for all you deprived Meshach fans out there (Jess).

Snack time has become more interesting now. Who knew they made Cheerios snack books. Very fun! Highly recommended...can you help the monkeys juggle?

Singn' in the bath, justa singn' in the bath!

mmmmmwahh!

Yup Meshach has learned to give kisses now. Quite cute when he wakes up from his nap and plants a big drooly sloppy kiss right on your mouth and wakes you up.

This past Saturday I found myself hiding behind a feathery mask and wearing a very fun red (and sparkly) dress. And where was I? Would you believe it was at a Church function...and a Mennonite function at that! Oh how I love my new Church! Westwood's young adults group hosted a masquerade ball and it was a fantastic event. As I was perusing through my pictures I realized that I didn't have one of myself or really a whole lot of people I knew for that matter. I guess the one behind the camera never gets documented. Oh well, I don't mind, just wanted to show off my dress is all. So since I can't show mine here are a couple of other fabulously dressed individuals. Enjoy!

Ava and Gord enjoying her, count them, three desserts!

Young adults pastor, Craig, and his wife (sorry I can't remember her name right now) rippn' up the dance floor. Yes, the rest of us got put to shame. It did make for some good pics though, what with all the twirling and all.

So that's the story of my night!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

I know its a little late but here are some more recent pictures of Meshach. He has since had another hair cut but otherwise this is what he looks like and what hes been up to...

Playing outside (and lovn' it)
Building stuff!
And getting into everything (litterally)!