Merry Christmas!

Well, it's here and gone. The presents were wrapped and under the tree, they've been recieved and delivered, and oohed and ahhed over. It was a great Christmas. The kids love the Wii, I love my 1 TB HD, and Dar loved her Wii-fit thing.
Now for the long dark of winter.
My Snow blower is up to par, I don't have a course till spring, Maybe, just maybe I'll get some woods time in, or river time.
God bless you all.
Good Night

Back again

Well, for you few who read this, here's another post. We've been swamped with both rain and busyness. I'll be relieved when I can drop some of my auxiliary ministries and settle down to just church, FD and doctorate stuff. (Well, that and Association too).
Havn't gotten out hunting much yet, but hopefully after Nov. 11th, I can see my way into the woods more. Feeling a bit like Bilbo, "Like butter spread over too much toast".
On a brighter note, I really got a lot out of my first DMIN course on preaching! Guess you can teach old dogs new tricks.

Ms. Novemeber

Hey all, there she is, Ms. November. I cannot see and deer buying this one!

Life is good, hiking is better, canoe is best

So much has happened since convention. I got my workload from ADC, Connor and I took the Tramleys, (Dave and Jacob) on an overnight hike, we were introduced to "Reggie Burgers". We found an organist, and a treasurer for the Church. And to cap it all off, the kids go back to school tomorrow!
Life is full, and that is the way life should be.

Oasis this week

So, This week is convention. We're headed to Sackville, and it's like old home week for us, all our friends are gathered there. So hope to see a lot of good people. The kids like convention too for the same reasons, there is a kids program, and they look forward to it every year.

Good to be home

Well, I havn't updated for some time, so here goes. We're back, and survived the vacation, (barely). Infected jaws, fainting spells, jammed fingers. It was interesting. I'm glad to be back to work, we hiked the hayward pinnicle today, and Megan did great! After a slow start, she turned into a hiking machine. Way to go honey!
More later.

on vacation

So, we're officially on break now. The Dunns just left today, we did Kings landing, despicible me, and Magic Mountain. A full three days. Now, we're preparing to head to NS. Gathering geocaches, packing, and realizing that Megan didn't tell me she needs chicken food - Argh!
The geocaches should be fun. We usually pick up a few on the way down to break up the trip, and moew in Yarmouth and Bridgewater. Dave placed the travel bug we sent off with him in vancouver, and that went well. Bloocanoe, (our travel bug), is still in Portugal.
I still hope to get a few days for Connor and I to hike the Dobson. We're both pretty stoked for it.

long time no see

It's hard to believe how time flies. I hate saying how busy I am all the time, people must think I'm making excuses. Vacation is coming, and I hope that Connor and I can hike the Dobson Trail at some point.
Vbs is going well, but tiring.
more to follow

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's off to work I go...

We had a great visit with Dave and Holly, it was excellent that they got to see Connor's recognition night at school. Dar is doing good, and Megan passed her swimming lessons. All is calm, all is bright. Now, it's just off to work tomorrow, (Churc and SS, extre preaching at Steeves settlement, evening service).
I'm going to have to find some time for hiking or paddling soon.

The Kehoes are coming

So, the whole family is on pins and needles anticipating Uncle Dave and Aunt Holly's visit. Connor and Megan are talking about showing them around, and paddleing, and shooting, and hiking, and and and...
Connor's and my Cold steel knives arrived, Connor is suitably impressed. Dar is doing great on her recovery, there is still pain, but she's got good strength and mobility.
Megan was at Girl Guide camp this weekend. She got to tent in the rain. Seemed to go over OK though.

getting back on track

With Dar home now, we're slowly getting back on track. I got some out in the community work done yesterday, and will get some more today. Dar is doing good, homw seems to be more conducive to rest for her. The kids are back on track with swimming and band etc. I'm wiped but anticipate Friday afternoon, or Saturday afternoon as holding some "me" time.
Connor and I are eagerly watching the mail box, awaiting the arrival of our Cold Steel Bushman Bowies. We've both wanted a big chopper for our web gear like what Ron Hood has.

Dar is home!

Yay!, Dar is home, and will continue to recover here. Pray for her that each day is a little better than the one before. Thanks to all the people who have gone above and beyond. (You know who you are.)

Possible homecoming?

Dar is doing a little better today, more walks in the hall. Trying to steady out pain meds. Hopefully she'll come home tommorrow. The kids and I are hoping, but not as hard as she is. Pray for her, she really wants to come home, but I think she's a little nervous about pain management

Update

Sorry this has been a while coming, but you know, life comes at you fast, especially where gravity is involved. Dar fell, (Most of you know this). She was crack filling the ceiling, and fell off an 8' ladder. Broke her left humerous, (she assures me this is NOT funny). She also demolished her elbow. Layed in emergency's hallway for 24 hours, fasting and awaiting surgery. Got a five hour surgery, a rod down the broken bone, a new elbow, rerouted nerves, and a heck of a lot of pain. As of today, (saturday night), she is recovering in the hosp.
A big thanks to all our friends at Five Points. People have painted, cleaned, sent cards, flowers and prayers. Dar will come home to a finished living room/great room. People have watched,(and fed, no small feat with connor) the kids, and have lightend my load, allowing me to take care of Dar. God is good to have put us here.

Online life

Well, we're sure settling in well to online life. Facebook and e-mail are checked regularly, and I've even had occassion to chat with Dave twice this month. I feel connected. On another note, Connor and I have been fishing some lately, (yes, dad, I got a license). But have been frustrated trying to get the trout to take bait.
So, Online I go, and I found a neato rig for fly fishing with a casting setup. We were gonna try it tonight, but Dar drove off in my car and throds are in the trunk. Basically, you weight a bobber, and have a 2-3' leader beyond that to attach the fly to. Cast it out and let it drift downstream into position.

The "Joys" of running

About 6 years ago, I used to be a runner. It all started as a bid to pass the Cdn Forces PT requirements. So, last week when Connor stated an interest in the Army as a career, (He's 10, so it's not like he's been talking to a recruiter yet), we decided to teach him to do some research. He's reading "Starship Troopers", we watched "Platoon", and are going to watch "Full Metal Jacket". And we started running together at 6:30 in the morning.
Alas, 38 is not 17. I have since gotten some new running shoes, (I messed up my knee when I fell the second day). Connor is a machine, loving it, and pushing himself. He runs, and we're gasping and wheezing, and he'll say, "I can make it to the next driveway".
Right now, we're still running/walking the 2 Km. We're hoping next week or the week after to be able to run the whole distance.
The best part of Running in my opinion is stopping.
(But we're gonna keep on doing it)

Just another update

So, I have an e-book reader now. My only complaint is that I don't want to read it in the tub, (I might drop it). I have all kinds of great books, and am enjoying reading some old favorites, (LOTR, Hornblower, Etc.) and have discovered some new ones, (Brian Aldiss, John Ringo).
I also can read PDFs, so scans fo backwoodsman magazine, and other stuff works great too. I'm amazed at the battery life! 24 hours constant use.

Post Spring Forth

Well, Spring Forth has come and gone again. I really enjoyed presenting a workshop called, "Finding confidance". Had great attendances, and good participation from the kids. Connor and the Jrs. had a great first experience. All are home and tired now. Good speakers, good worship, great to catch up with a lot of old friends.
Tomorrow is mother's day, and the kids have gone all out for their Mom. I'm proud of them, and they're excited to celebrate her tomorrow. French toast!
Well, to bed! and tomorrow, to worship! Life is good.

Getting ready for a busy weekend

This weekend we have spring forth, and Mother's day. Yes, I'll be wearing my daffodail on Sunday in honor of Mom. Going to try and get out on the Yamaha tomorrow. We sawa school of brown trout on Saturday, and so Connor and I are hoping friday to try and catch some. A friend told me they caught the biggest brown trout they'd ever seen today out of our little coverdale river.

Fiddlehead fever

We decided to try an early run looking for fiddleheads, this year, Mother's day weekend is always difficult. So, Sat being fine and all of us having the day free, we loaded up the canoe and headed to Pakindale.
There was low water, and we scraped up the hull of the canoe quite a bit, but, bonanza, we found a couple of really good sites for fiddleheads. The kids and I love these, Dar not so much. She likes picking them though. I was surprised at having a strong bow paddler again, who could steer the canoe too. I'm used to having an engine up there, and I do all the steering. Dar was seeing rocks, prying or drawing, and we were by them before I knew of them - What a pleasure!
We enjoyed lunch on the river, saw a school of what were I presume sea trout, and startled a pair of bald Eagles.
Hah! Connor is over there cleaning fiddleheads now, He wants to sell em, he can do the grunt work.

The weeks roll around

Man, is it just me or does it seems like weeks go by like days! Every time i turn around, the week is almost done. Connor and are going to go down the little colpitts river fiddleheading the next fine day we have. Megan is saying she wants some river time too (yay, there was a time when she would scream the whole time she was on the water).
I'll put up pic over the next few weeks, I'm going to build Dar a greenhouse. Hopefully It'll look and work good.

Pollet river run!

What a great day! Connor, and his buddy Ryan and I went on the annual pollet river run. Loaded up the 17' green canoe, and put in at 11:00 AM. We had a bracing good breakfast in Nixon at our men's breakfast to start, that made us late. Rafts were bouncing along in the shallow water. All the people, (though very drunk) were really glad to see the boys, and immediatly cleaned up the language as soon as they saw us.
After the first half of the river, everyone else pulls off at a big party and mud fest, but I always keep on going all the way down the river to Salisbury. After the crowds, we saw eagles, geese, and a little red fox. In all it took us 7 hours to go from Elgin NB to Salisbury NB. Google earth it, and you'll see that we paddled about twice as far as the crow flies.

Back again

Yup, Dave got a new computer, I got a new keyboard. Oh well, we got the interweb at home now, so I'll be able to be more regular at this kind of stuff, (The river is high though). Saturday is the Pollet river run, and the boy and I will be canoeing it. Gotta keep my presence up if I am to continue to state that it is MY river.
Trying to get insurance on the three wheeler. Gonna cost more than the bike did. Imagine, licence it, insure it, and you still can't drive it on the road. Cleaned out the old chicken coop, the new one later on (maybe next week).

getting nagged by Dad

Well, I hope Dad had a great birthday, pizza and singing last I heard. I never thought I'd see the day when my Dad would be nagging me about updating my blog more. Sigh, well, these parents do grow up after all.
All is well, (and warm) in NB. I had a full weekend with a funeral where they played "They're coming to take me away" as the recessional, and several church people hospitalized. We had a delightful St Paddy's day tea after church (the church folk use it as an excuse to throw me a birthday party. It was really nice.
So, this week is regular with the addition of a pastor's prayer retreat I am hosting on Friday night. I am looking forward to an e-book reader for my birthday, one we found a costco. It takes sd cards, and is lcd not e-ink. (I like this.)
Well Dad, here it is, I'll try to be better at this, but the river did break open this week, so I'm off to see what's new there.

not much happening

Well, march break was last week, we tried to make it to Yarmouth, but the weather didn't cooperate. Sorry Mom and Dad, didn't mean to get your hopes up. The kids and us went skating, swimming and caught a movie during the week. I was off for a week's vacation, sort of a staycation I guess.
Now it's back to work. I'm planning a pastors prayer retreat for next week, and am looking forward to hosting it at a chalet in Albert county.

Snow day!

Woke up this morning, and it was snowing again. Actually this is only the second day this winter that school was cancelled. Got to sleep in, played monopoly with Megan, and now am at the library. I like days when everything gets cancelled. It makes a breather hole in my schedule. I may decide to take the three wheeler to church tonight for Bible study.
Actually the roads aren't too bad. It's kind of mild, and the snow is real packy. We've been watching the olympics some too, that's a really cool thing to do on a snow day.

Finally a break in the weather

Things are melting. I was beginning to think it would never happen, but the bone numbing stupid cold of the last two weeks is finally gone. Sunday, me and two friends hit the trail on the bikes, and had a good run in the hard packed snow trails. New tires were excellent.
Connor and I have started competing our way through Starcraft. He's enjoying it, it was after all one of those classic great games that he's never played yet.
I'm gonna keep the beard for another few weeks until I know the snow and cold are gone, mostly for good. Megan and Dar are at me to get rid of it, but I have to confess it is nice not the shave.

three wheels go boom

So, here is the picture of my new bike. I was out on it just after Dar took this picture, and on my return trip, I ditched it as I spun out at the top of a snowy, icy hill. I bailed just as the bike went backwards off into a ravine.
So, before you start worrying too much. My buddies and I lifted and pushed it back up, I wrecked the left brake lever, and bent the back carrying racks a little. I drove it home. I love these little bikes, I can lift it up and move it around. I can put it on or off the back of a pick up without ramps etc.
Connor and I were cleaning off a skating area for the youth group when I did this, and are looking forward to the youth group's skating party this friday.

finally pics of the yamaha

So, I finally had a picture taken of the new bike. Then I saddled up, and Connor and I went off to clear a skating rink. On the way back, I had to drive up a steep, snowy hill with a ravine on one side. By myself, I started up, and near the top, spun out. I jumped off the bike just as it went over the side in to the ravine, (about a 25' drop onto dead trees.)
Not to worry, the bike is tough. The bike is good. I bent the rear rack, and destroyed the left brake puller thing. All repairable, the plastic is all good. I'm also OK. Lessons learned. Had some amazing friends with me thathelped to lift and push the bike back to the trail.
So, Dave, here's the picture you were looking for...

still no pictures of the ATC

I have pictures of the new bike on my phone. I lent my adapter sd card thingy to a friend. I just found my digital camera the other day, it's hard to do a self portrait on the bike by one's self.
That said, I've really been enjoying the snow this year. I thought I'd try and motivate myself to get out and enjoy winter this year, (beyond shovelling). The ATC goes through just about any amount of snow. (New tires helped with this.)
Our annual meeting went really well, and I continue to be excited about where God is leading this congregation. We have a vision. We are in harmony. These are good things.

biker chick

So, yesterday after church I thought I'd take little megan out for a run on the ATV. She's decided that it's really cool to go out on it with me. She sat up ahead of me with her mittens on the handlebars as we were freezing along a snowmobile trail and asked when she could get an ATV of her own, 'cause she could really use it to go to school.
Megan is so awesome. She is a really good little girl, and really girly, like dresses and dollies etc. Sometimes it takes me completly by surprise to hear this come from her. I love it, and her!