November

Eden decided to go out and break a toe so now shes in a cast for a few weeks. Duct tape is to waterproof it.

Out with the old and in with the new.

Tanya in Rogers Pass on the way home from Lynden.

Chris on Front Street in Lynden.

Quick October Update

OK, no pics this time but just wanted to update y'all on work. Like I said last time, I didn't plan on working in Ponoka long, just till something better came up. And thankfully it did. Once word got out that I was no longer with Impact Drilling people began calling and low and behold I got offers from a good company. At first they offered me a rotational job oversees for $1100 a day , 30 days of work, and 30 home, but I knew better than to even mention that one to Tanya. But I did accept another job offer from them to run once of their big fabrication shops in Nisku (south of Edmonton). Only bad thing is that I have a 45 minute drive to work, and that wont be nice with winter around the corner. Now I know I will have to buy a new truck soon as the 14 year old Toyota is getting tired. The company is giving me a good bit of money to cover my fuel bill each month. But the money is good, great benefits etc, and I get to travel to Louisiana once in awhile. We are definitely going to be in Lynden for 4 days at the end of the month. Can't wait to see all the family down there again. Take care, bye for now. www.victoryrig.com

September Update

Our woodshed completed. Wont be a lot of room for the tractor by winter time as we will begin cutting our wood soon for the next couple of years. Some weirdo showed up on a bike and wanted to stay a few days. Even had to lend him dress clothes for church.

Deere power- clearing the road for the wood shed and eventually a shop. Eden after her summer shave

Tigo after his summer shave. We have him on a special diet now for the last 8 months. He has lost 30 lbs. and the vet figures it saved his life

Our self portrait for our 10 year anniversary trip back to the east coast.

Tanya by the wild lupins that grow everywhere in the ditches on the island.

Chris on the ferry from Nova Scotia to Prince Edward Island.

Hello again. Well, my work situation has finally come to end. The company finally agreed to meet my demands and put an end to it all. They have terminated my employment and paid me my severance package. It was a sad end to 9 years of a very enjoyable and rewarding career, but in the end Tanya and I feel it was the best thing to happen. We can move along with our lives and not worry about where I will be working. I have obtained a new full time job as a shop supervisor in Ponoka, where I have been working for 3 weeks now. A good place, very good boss but I don't think it will be the place I will be at for a long time. Not quite what I am looking for, but due to the nature of the industry up here right now Tanya and I are very thankful that I have a job at all. I will stick this job out as long as it takes to obtain something else more suited for me. We both wish to thank you for all your thoughts, comments and prayers over the last few months. We were blessed with a short visit from little Dwight earlier this month. It was great to see him again, and hopefully we will be making a short trip to Lynden near the end of October. Heres a few pics from the last few months of our lives. Take care, you all. PS This note was supposed to be on top, not under the pics. I couldnt be bothered to try fix it.

August Update

Greetings all. Hope all is well for everyone. I have good news and bad news this time. The good news is that we finally have high speed at home. Had to go wireless card with a laptop, but at least new I can sit upstairs and play online. The bad news is that I am still not working. The company brought me back for a day and a half and gave me another 59 day layoff. I wont put it into words what they are being like, but they wont terminate me cause they don't want to pay me a severance package. So they lay me off and hope I quit and walk away from everything including stock options. But Im stubborn and refuse to walk away from 9 years of working my butt off without anything. I was not working for 3 weeks but now have a one month job welding for a business associate. After that I'm not sure, but the company has to bring me back to work by Sept 14 or they terminate me. So we will see. I will try and post some new pics this weekend of our trip to the east coast and off course our children. And whoever reads this please email me your email addresses as I lost mine when my big computer crashed last week.

July Update

Hello again. Just a quick note again. We just got back from our 10 year anniversary trip to the East Coast. We spent a week in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. Had lots of fun but it was nice to get home again. Still swinging a hammer for work, but I am supposed to find out this week when I go back to work or if they are going to terminate me and give me a severance package. Will let you know what happens sooner or later. Other than that, nothing new up here. Love you all, take care.

A Slow Time

Just a quick note for you all. As some of you already know, I was laid off from my job last Wednesday. Came as quite a shock as I just took a 22% salary cut 1 1/2 months ago to avoid this, but apparently it was not enough. The Canadian oil patch is very slow and in bad shape right now, and my company is not in a good position right now. The layoff is supposed to be a temporary layoff for a max. of 59 days. I am still considered an employee of the company, receiving full benefits during the next 2 months, and can be called back any time. So in the meantime I am staying busy making a bit of money building houses with the guys who built our house. Lots of fun working with these guys again, just wish it was under different circumstances. So for the next while I will not be posting pics on our blog as I do not have high speed internet at home. And please do not email us anything but text in any emails as they will take forever to download. Take care, all and dont forget about us up here just because I dont post any nice pics of tractors, quads and pets. Love Chris and Tanya

May Update

Our new family member- 30 HP model 790 John Deere with front end loader, tiller and rear scraper. We finally found the one we wanted for a reasonable price after looking for 7 years. And yes, its a real tractor, no spark plugs in this baby. Just pure diesel power. Funny how 2 tractors ended up in our families blogs on the same week. They are much nicer to look at than motorcycles, eh?

Baby foxes near our acreage. 4 pups in total.

A few winter pics from around our place.

The easy way to cut firewood

This stupid cat thinks he has to take a look at everything that comes into the yard.

I took the work loader home to move the 70 foot logs this time. Lots easier on the back.

More 2008 Christmas shots

One of the more serious moments.

I think the only reason Tanya wanted a deck is so we would have more places for Xmas lights.

Warm Winter Days

Hauling more firewood for ourselves and the inlaws.

They actually get along once in awhile

A Break From Work

A couple of us guys needed a break from work so we went to Nashville Tennessse for 4 days. We took in a NFL play off game between Baltimore and Tennessee, and a NHL game between Nashville and Chicago. Had lots of fun and saw lots of neat places from the historical music business like the Grand Ole Opry.

Fishing off Vancouver Island in 2006.

Brother in law ice fishing on Pigeon Lake.