I just downloaded some more pictures from my camera and thought I would share...As Christmas gift to each other (with the Martin side) we decided to do another winter getaway. This year we decided Big White. We found a huge condo that would fit all of us. We picked a weekend far enough before the baby would be born that we wouldn't be putting Kim or the baby at risk - after all it was only an hour out of town. But as life would be God had a different plan. Little Sydney came way earlier than expected and Steph and Kim were not able to come as Sydney was still in hospital. We got up to Big White on Friday night and it was soooooo....cold! We went for a short walk around the village and then back to the condo for the start of what would be the longest game of "Life" that has ever been played. The next morning Grandpa Martin strapped on his boots and went skiing. In the afternoon the girls, Darren and Grandma took to the ice and impressed me with their skating skills! Again it was cold but they were troopers! That night we went for dinner at the Swiss Bear - which was very good!! Overall we did lots of relaxing, lots of eating, some more relaxing with some skating, game playing and movie watching. I felt so rested when I got home! It was a great weekend. I think for me the funnest part was seeing my mom on skates - she did awesome!

In other exciting news at the Withers household...Mickala turned 10 on January 21st. That night we had a nice dinner here with friends and family and then on Saturday we pulled a Marathon day of Birthday party (Laser Tag) and then a friends wedding an hour and a half latter. A little crazy but that's our style.

Pictures to come.

I'm here! I'm here! We have been having some computer issues and it hasn't been letting me do much of anything on the Blog...well enough complaining.

One of the cool new things in my life is that I have a new niece. Sydney Claire Martin!!! She is beautiful...now I might be a little biased but I'll post a few pics so you can decide for yourself. She came very early and was only 3.5 lbs when born in Kamloops (back in KGH now!) But I have only seen her once...I can't wait till she's home...never thought I would love someone so much that I have only met once! Here's also a few pics of the proud Mom and Dad (Kim and Steph).

Grandpa Martin in Makenna's poncho...maybe we should call him "Big Green Giant".
And Grandma Martin and Makenna making sure the table cloth does not catch fire!

I think I can say now the holiday season is over! The tree is down and put away, the food is eaten and Darren goes back to work tommorrow. The girls and I still have another week off but it's is full of things like dentist appointments...we are hoping to go up to Big White and have a day of skating and fun...also maybe one more day of snowmobiling before the kids go back to school!

Christmas is usually more stressful than I like (as you can tell from my previous posts) but once Christmas arrived it was very good to us. Here's the highlights...Christmas eve. over to Darren's sister Jen's for a little celebrating and gift giving. Then over to Steph and Kims for some visiting and eating. The girls fit in some games and a hot tub and it was very nice to see Kim's family. Christmas morning Roberta (aka. Ma Bear) came over to open gifts with us and share some breakfast - we felt very spoiled to have her with us! She made the girls camp ponchos that they love! Christmas dinner was here at our house with my parents joining us. It wouldn't be Christmas dinner without "La Buche de Noel" however there were no table cloth fires this year...next year we'll need to plan some entertainment being that the "Buche fires" now seem to be resolved. Boxing day started early with Mickala Makenna and myself heading of to Orchard Park to beat the crowds...we made it in to the mall and out in 45 minutes - it was good when we got there but there was a huge line up to leave the mall when we left at 10 am. Darren and the girls went snowmobiling one day without me as I went to a friends mom's funeral...Friday nt Al, Tracy and the kids came into Kelowna shared some Martini's with us and helped us laugh over a fondue that kept comming up with challenging situations...it was the first time I had fondued with our kids...next time I think I would get them to eat first then the adults...but it was a fun night! Saturday we were off to McCoulloch for more sleding 6 sleds and 16 of Darren's family. My highlights of that day were how much fun Mickala and Makenna had snowmobiling and playing with their cousins, Aunts, Uncles and of course Grandma. Grandma even got towed on the Gt Racer behind the snowmobile...I hope her bruises heal quickly :)

The hard part of the holidays was having my sister in law, Kim be admitted to the hospital...she is expecting in the middle of Feb but is having preclampsia...she thought she might get out New Years Eve for a night at home but the doctors changed their minds and decided they wanted to continue to monitor her...She is doing well considering how much it sucks to be in the hospital...

New Years Eve we went for a walk with the girls...caught a movie...out for dinner...popped by the hospital so Kim could kick Mickala and my butt at Harry Potter Scene It then over to Jen and Jim's for some more food and some "Wii" (way to much fun!)...we were home by 11pm - let the girls stay up till midnight then all fell asleep quickly!

So that's all folks...hope you all stayed awake for the play by play! Hope you all had a wonderful holiday as well! Happy New Year to you all!

I'll post some Christmas pictures
(Picture comments: Top to bottom - Cody in the powder
- "Ma Bear" and one of her grandkids wiping out on the GT racer
- "Ma Bear" recovering after the wipe out
-Darren and "Ma Bear" Christmas morning
- Girls with Blankets I made them - Christmas morning
- Girls with gifts they gave each other
- Mickala as "Little Red Riding HOOD" that Ma Bear made her...I'll need to post a few more seperatly...

So here we are December 23rd, presents are wrapped and under the tree, house is vacuumed but not so clean yet...but I feel way better than I did two days ago...from here on in if it isn't done it probably won't be...and that's okay...we are off to have a evening bonfire and weiner roast with some friends maybe sing a few songs...we'll see how many once they hear my singing (hee hee). Tomorrow morning we'll go to church and house hop for some visiting...this will be a little different for x mas eve as usually we do it at our house or mom and dad's but I'm feeling good with the change!

The girls had their x-mas play on Thur nt at the Community Theatre...other than a few sound tech problems it was wonderful! The girls both did amazing...their confidence on stage has totally gone up a notch this year!

We'll just in case I get busy over the next few days with my family..which is what my idea of x-mas is after all...Merry Christmas to everyone!

I have a huge list of things I should be doing to get ready for Christmas...but I'm procrastinating! It has been a challenging couple of days for all four of us! I think it is partially the winter blues, partially the Christmas pressure I put on myself and just a whole bunch of small things that have been piling up!

I had applied for two jobs...one has decided not to hire until February the other chose someone else that I know and love - she is a great pick...not sure that that makes it any easier...the reality is that God has a different plan for me - I just wish I knew what it was!

Darren is almost done his third year of school ...only a few more days left! But I can see in his eyes how tired he is.

We are also struggling with the expectations of Christmas vs. the reality of what we can actually accomplish. Not just the gift giving part of it...the baking, card writting, house cleaning, company hosting....It's not a wonder getting to work is feeling so hard when I feel like I have so many unfinished things at home.

So a bah humbug for tonight to myself and hopefully I will figure out how to create "opportunity" from my "crisis" by tommorrow!

Okay time for some updating....first - today is my Birthday! Yes, 21 again! Isn't it wonderful to look so old yet really be so young?!

We picked up a tree last Friday nt...to our dismay...the needles started falling off once the lights were on but before the decorations went on...so tonight we went down and thought we would try it again...different kind of tree this time!

Darren is 1/2 way thru his third year of carpentry (the school part)...his marks so far are all in the 90's he's been studying very hard! I am so proud of him!!!

Kids also got their report cards and are both doing very well - again very proud of them too!!!

On a harder note...we just past the one year mark from when we lost Darren's dad....some days seem easier than others...the whole thing still seems very surreal! Doesn't feel right...doesn't feel fair!!! Still miss him more than I ever could have imagined!

It has now been three months since I started working of Rise and Run Mfg. It has been a challenging experience in many ways...trying to figure out if this is just growth or if it is time to move onto the next challenge...we'll see what God's plans are - hopefully that will be clear sooner than latter!

It is Christmas party season...and the celebrations have already begun! This weekend we have 4 different christmas things...Fri nt party, Sat nt party, Sun day xmas play practice, Sun nt Home for the holidays tour with Darren's mom...all of which I'm looking forward to...just not sure when I'm going to fit in the 4 hours of work I need to do between Friday and Sunday nt...

Hope all is well for you Blog readers...here's some notes to a few of you that I'm thinking of...Nat - hope you and Just are recovering! Send you both a big hug! Kathy - thanks for your extra help (with both jobs) so nice to see you! Jen P. Thanks for the visit a few weeks ago - I love shopping with you! Denise and the Family - think of you more than you know - you all continue to be in my prayers! Lori - you live so close yet I see you so little! so glad I have your Blog to check in with. Bob and Kathy - you inspire me! thanks for the call tonight! Jen and Trevor - hope all is well in that rainy wet part of the world...we think of you both often!

Oh ya one last thing...here are a few of my cool birthday gifts...a new sweater (it's very cool!), a plastersine rainbow and a CD series "Inspired by the Bible Experience" it is awesome!

May God continue to show us all the blessings in our lives everyday - even in the little things! Night!

Part 2 of the Disney Adventures

I think that if you were to ask Darren and the girls they would all say that as great as Disneyland itself was California Adventure was where we had the most fun as a family. The crowds were smaller and the pace a little slower. At Disneyland we saw castles, went on rides, met the Fairy God Mother herself, met Mickey and Minnie, and shopped but it was very busy and crowded.

Two of our favorite rides at California were Soaring over California and The Grizzly River Run. Once again I got soaked on the river ride and I had to go on the Ferris Wheel (I'm not the best in high places) with Makenna to get her to come on with us on the River Run. Soaring over California is like a mix of Imax and handgliding. It feels like you are going to dip your feet in the river and touch the leaves on the orange trees...all while your in a seat 45 feet in the air facing the screen. I swear I could smell the ocean and oranges as we flew over the different areas.

Another silly highlight was the Tortilla factory. They show you how they make the tortillas and then you get to taste a warm one right out of the oven...yum!

It was also in California Adventure that we went to Arial's Grotto for lunch and met 5 or so princesses. The food was average for the kids...probably the most well rounded meal I had all week...but the mac'n cheese tasted like flour. Service was great - kids loved it - expensive but worth it.

In Calif. Adv. there was an area set up like the Boardwalk's of California which included amusemant games. Darren won 4 stuffies for the girls and I got Tinkerbell painted on my cheek.

Oh yeah...and The Aladdin show is a live theatre show. There are two balconies, Aladdin and Jasmine fly thru the air on a magic carpet....the show was amazing!!!!!! Definatly a must see!

One of Mickala's favorite parts was Animation School. That's where actual Disney animators taught us to draw Goofy, Mickey and _____________.

So that's part 2 I think I have enough for a part 3...I'll be blogging again.

We'll we are back! Had a wonderful time in California...a little weird coming home to leaves and cool weather but it's all good.

Here's the trip scoop...Flew into LA on Friday. Spent over an hour at Hertz...finally decided to not go for the Hummer that I thought would be fun but instead went with the practical Uplander (don't buy one...we didn't like it) - it had a DVD for the kids. Off to San Diego right in the middle of LA's rush hour...got to San Diego around 8pm - not bad considering it was suppose to be a 2 1/2 hour drive and we flew into LA at 1:30pm. Freeway driving was a little more stressful than I bargained for but it did get easier by the end of the week.

Saturday morning got up at a good time. After some driving around we found Sea World...or maybe I should say we found the exit to Sea World (We could see Sea World all of the six times we drove by it - we just had a little trouble finding the exit). Had a BLAST! Makenna got us on the Atantis ride (click on the link to see the ride) http://4adventure.com/SWC/attractions_home.aspx
and we sat in the "soak zone" for all the shows...I was the wettest of all - I would ring out my sweater and it gushed with water. The Believe show was also a huge highlight with Shamu truly winning our hearts! We got there at 8 am and we left at close (8pm). It was a great day!!!!

Sunday we went to Tijuanna. The idea was to show the girls a small piece of what Darren and I have done when we have gone to build houses and hopefully give them a little bit of a view of what goes on in the world outside of themselves and Canada. The smog was the thick (from the garbage they burn), we were approached by a little girl about 2 selling bracelets and then swarmed by kids up to 8. We picked up a very colorful hammock and then headed back for the boarder crossing...the line up was over 2 1/2 km outside of the US Crossing building. It took us over an hour to just get in the building! Then we hit a couple factory outlets for the kids back to school clothes and then headed back to Anaheim.

Monday went to Disneyland!!! After all the hype of how cool it was I was worried that I would be let down...but no such thing happened! It was truly magical. Another family from Victoria was in line behind us...and gave us another 3 days worth of tickets for Disneyland as they had miss puchased their tickets...they wouldn't take any $ for them..this is just one example of people's generosity while we were away...God so blessed us over and over again.

After the Atlantis ride in San Diego Makenna was not willing to jump on any big rollercoaster type rides...it scared her pretty good! Mickala on the other hand was pumped and ready to drag anyone she could convice to go on any wild ride she could find. I think Indiana Jones was her favorite...Space Mountain was my favorite at Disneyland but I'll tell you latter what my overall favorite was.

We'll I'll leave you hanging there with part 1 and will give you more latter...I'll also try and add some pics.

After someone called to see if we were okay - "It had been a while since you had blogged" - I thought I should do a little post to update everyone.

It has been a little overwhelming over the last few weeks...we finished off the summer with a wonderful camping trip to Fintry. Met some new friends and spent some time with old friends as well as family. It was a wonderful way to end the summer. Only problem is I really didn't want the summer break to end (other than my deserate feeling to replenish my bank account) it was wonderful to be home with the girls...I'm even questioning if $ was not such an issue if I would be staying home with them and giving home school a shot. Any way no need to live in the what if's this is where God seems to want me right now..so here I am...trying to figure out what exactly I am suppose to be learning along this journey called life.

Kids are back to school...I'm back to work and the days seem to be flying by. We are preparing for Disneyland and Darren's going back to school in October...Well we are off to a pick nick trying to enjoy every last moment of the good weather before it gets to cold and dreary...

Bye for now.

Makenna's birthday. Probably the best kids party we have had yet. "Fish" was the theme. So I made the fish cake (check out the pic! pretty good huh?!). We made fish necklaces, tackle boxes, fished for money, swam, jumped on the tramp, ate cake and opened presents. The kids had fun but were not flying around all high on sugar. Everyone did what they wanted and I was okay with that. There were a few friends missing but we made it so we would see them at differnet times.

Over a week...better get to updating....

Annaliis's family is back from Europe and our family is getting back to some normalcy. I'm loving being home with the girls again! I was finding the running around between her house and ours very time consuming. Also trying to be with her downstairs and the girls upstairs was impossible.

Darren worked this morning to make up some hours he'll be missing Monday for a funeral. Sue, Vaughn's (Darren's little Brother thru Big Bro's) mom passed away after a battle with Cancer. Vaughn is now 20 but I get that this will wear on him in it's own unique way that lossing someone we love does in all of us.

Makenna and Mickala both had friends over. Shanti is staying for a sleepover. So we ventured into our first time of "streaking" the hair for the two of them. I panicked a little and Mickala's barely show so far.... Makenna has been starting all of her craft kits she got for her birthday...painting away.

I would tell you Tiggy is starting to mellow but that would just bring on a bought of "hyper cat". We tried not putting her in the basement so we could sleep but she kept insisting that lights being turned off actually means play time. That must be cat language. As you can tell I'm still in training.

Nt for now.

Is it Friday already? Where did the week go...oh ya...shopping with Diane...

Today has been nice and easy going...my friend Kathy's 3 kids, my two and
Annaliis helping where she can...I have made soap with them (using a very easy cheater kit from Michaels - now there would be my not so good place to work as I would spend all if not more than my share of my pay cheque!). Made some french toast and turkey sausage for lunch...peaches - yum! Doing laundry galore...mine plus Annaliis's as she just got back from camp.

Went to see Cat's last nt...it was a rehearsal nt and Annaliis had invited all four of us to go with her...I thought "not a bad way to spend my anniversary" after all we are currently on empty in the $ department after last weeks shopping extravaganza. Did I mention that I really had not thought out the whole picture...the part where Makenna has not been feeling 100% and that the kids attention span - although better than some kids is not that of adults yet...they wormed they kicked, they talked, they asked a million times if it was over yet...so when the first intermission hit...I tried to talk to them about their behaviour but was remprimanded by some nice woman in front of me that tried to tell me that it's okay they are just learning and they will basically grow up to be well adjusted adults who will not be mass murders. So Darren and I took about 30 seconds to discuss the fact that there was at least another 50 minutes left...and we decided that for our children to live to see the light of day it was best that we let them leave (as they were asking). Darren took them to DQ for a treat - I stayed with Annaliis thinking of how nice it would be to feel that oh so soft Gap cotton of his t-shirt (Diane - he really liked it!). Once home and in bed we decided we should try our anniversary date night another time.

So here I sit another late nt...after my Mon and Wed swims I somehow feel more inspired to post...

Diane (my girlfriend who I have known since I was 3) has been here since Friday for the big "20 year George Pringle Secondary Grad reunion"....we have been shopping, visiting, dancing, eating, shopping, more shopping, more eating and more shopping...(get the picture?)...well today we went down memory lane and visited our old stomping grounds where we hung out when we were teenagers...thought it would be fun for our kids to see what the moms did when they were growing up...so off to "Mariners Reef Waterslide" we went...you know your old when you tell the kids you used to be able to buy a season's pass for $25. bucks - now a day admission is $18....the girls refused to go down the "River Ride" which was the best part when we were teens...But that's okay because instead of getting "tube burn" I hurt my foot! (can you hear the whining in my voice?) - going down one of the kiddy slides!

The grad reunion was nice...a little bit more challenging as I was fighting a chest infection and decided I should try it sober...but nice to see everyone...some have changed others have not...everyone tells me I look exactly the same...not sure if that's a compliment or an insult but I'll take it as I still look very young (hee hee). It was an opportunity to tie up a loose end with a friend I felt I had let down years before...and to touch base with others I have often thought about.

Nite.

Another late night rant...survived another day!!!

What does it say about your life when you go see the doctor and she's all full of sarcasm? (In the nicest of ways!) I told her I had quit my job with LES...she wanted to know what I was going to be doing...so I explained ...working for a stair manufacturer...front office type stuff...shipping, receiving, quoting customers...etc...she responds with ..."WOW that will be great!!! But do you think you can handle a job with no to little stress where you arn't saving the world?" Guess that is her way of saying she feels I made a good choice...after all no one's life depends on if the stair quote gets done at that very moment!! Oh - I'm so looking forward to the new job...even if it is low key!

It's 10:07pm Wed nt...Just got home from Aquafit...it has been a long week and it's only hump day! I hope I sleep well today!

On a more positive note...I had an awesome day (stong on the "day" word) with Mickala...Makenna spent the day with her friend and Mickala had the choice of hanging with a friend or hanging with me and she decided to hang with me...it was nice just being with her - not mediating between her and Makenna...not riding her to do this and that just being...definatly my high for the day! I so crave more one on one time with the girls...I love just hearing about their ideas, I want to know what makes their hearts sing.

Yesterday Mickala asked me about the people protesting in front of the hospital - it was a great door opener for us to talk about abortion..and hopefully she'll keep asking others for their input..that was her challenge of the week.

Dreading my 20 year reunion this weekend but so looking forward to seeing a few choice friends...

Just booked a camping spot for Sept long weekend!! Yeah!!!

Well I'm off to bed more insights and thoughts latter...nt

This is for you Jennie...she doesn't look all to happy but that is because the flash woke her up. "Sling kitty" - loves cuddling at the computer.

Finding it hard to write here when I'm not feeling 100%...don't want to come across as negative...so here's my note to say I'm not 100% and it's okay!!