Why do they do that?

While out for our walk along the river on Sat. evening I (Dan) had to use the facilities... or at least I tried. When I finally found an outhouse it was boarded up! Really, what IS the point in that? I thought that the purpose of outhouses was to keep folks from using the world at large as a toilet, but this doesn't seem to cross the minds to whoever runs the park.

And this is the damage that I got for trying to go in the bush. A big stick in the foot for my trouble and all this so I wouldn't get a charge of public indecency for peeing just anywhere along the trail. Not fair I tell you, not fair at all.

And for those of you who know me well, you may be asking why I didn't try and pee on the door out of frustration...well, there were too many people on the trail for me to try it-otherwise it would have felt my wrath poured out upon it!!!

I love this town!

Wake up and smell the cow poo! This town is awesome! Where else can you wake up and get this view? I love Mt. Baker in the background, crystal clear!

Fraser River Walk

After dinner, we went for a walk down by the Fraser River. Dan threw stones into the river. (perhaps he didn't have enough fishing earlier and was trying to catch himself a sturgeon.)

Amy sits on a rock, playing with grass. I just like this photo. So relaxed!

Fareedah poses in front of the Mission Bridge.

Our entire group by the river. We sure had a relaxing and enjoyable day. (minus the part where we walked near the sewage treatment plant. Are they trying to kill the pregnant woman?)

Our Fish Dinner

Fareedah BBQ's our fish!

We had one cedar plank trout, one brown sugar trout and one lemon and herb trout. All were tasty.

Serve the fish with a bit of wild rice, salad and garlicked asparagus.....delicious!

Can't get enough of it!

Dan and Dan cleaning fish

Dan cleans the fish and does a demonstration on how its done. (Don't worry dad, I taught him everything he knows!)

Dan tries his hand at cleaning a fish.

He seems to enjoy it...

...perhaps a little too much!

Fareedah's First Fish Cleaning Experience

I love Fareedah's face as she cleans her fish. She doesn't seem impressed by it all. Who can blame her though? She went from not wanting to hurt the fish in the early afternoon to gutting it later that same day.

Chopping off its head was not her favorite task.

Her finished fish, gutted and ready for the BBQ!

I just love how sad Fareedah is and how Dan is laughing in the background. One of my favorite shots!

Nothing brings a caregroup closer.....

...than murder! Good old fashioned murdering Mennonites we are! So much for peaceful living! Okay, reality check. We killed four unsuspecting rainbow trout from Silverbrook U-Catch. Boy, were they tasty!
Apparently Dan and Amy, our lovely American friends thought they would fish from the fishing tree. They didn't catch many fish. Just a few splinters and branches. We had to inform them that fishing involves water!

Fareedah and Amy get up close and personal with a fish. Fareedah took quite a liking to the fish that she kissed him hoping that he would turn into a prince. All she got was fishy smelling lips.

Here is our care group after a fun day of fishing. We caught four fish and enjoyed them for dinner later that evening.

Fareedah's First Fishing Trip

This past Saturday, our care group went to Silverbrook U-Catch for a fishing trip. It was our friend, Fareedah's first time fishing. She is visiting from Jordan for a year, and will return back to her home in July. As a sort of goodbye to her, we took her fishing.

Fareedah baits her hook for the first time.
"That's for the fish to eat!" Fareedah holds up her fish, still attached to her line.

Fareedah's first fish!

Fareedah says: "Don't hurt the fish! I hope he will be okay." Amanda says: "Uhhh. Actually we are going to kill it." Amy says: "And eat it for dinner."

What is eating my plants?

Some sort of bug is chewing away my garden. I have NO idea what it is, or how to get rid of it. But all I know is that I am losing my crop to this bug. One day I have 3 plants, the next I only have 2. This bug works fast. Its eating my zucchini, peas, spinach, beans, lettuce, radishes and lettuce faster than I can keep up. Before long I'll be left with only tomatoes, onions and some pepper plants that haven't already died due to the bad weather. Its been a hard year on these poor plants. If only I knew a safe way to kill the bugs....

Finding The New Normal

This is a new coin phrase that our family has adopted in the last two weeks. You see, my Grandma J had a bit of a health scare and was hospitalized for 3 days. The doctors have (finally) realized that she is sicker than they thought and that she needs more care. But with her sickness comes the joy of finding the new normal. Let me give you a bit of a visualization on this on. For instance, she used to be able to get up out of bed and start her day. Now, her new normal is sitting up slowly for a few minutes, then standing for a few moments before she can begin her day (this is done so she doesn't pass out.) Another example: she used to take her walker to the trunk of the car and walk carefully to the front seat and sit. Now, her new normal is taking her walker to the front seat and sitting down while someone else puts her walker in the trunk. Her new normal is about finding adjustments that she has to make in her life and realizing that these adjustments may not be temporary. They are permanent until the next adjustment needs to be made.
Personally, I have been finding myself realizing that I have a new normal. Being pregnant has not been comfortable or pleasurable. My new normal is sitting up slowly from bed, taking a few breaths, equalizing my blood pressure and then standing up so that I don't pass out. My new normal involves a lot of running to the bathroom to puke and feeling nauseous all day. It also involves taking a lot of anti-nausea drugs to try keep the vomit at bay. My new normal involves a list of top 5 worst things to puke (for those who are wondering: bananas, apple sauce, hot dogs, cheerios and jalapenos top the list). My new normal also includes a lot of naps, exhaustion and early bedtimes. It involves swollen feet and hands, visiting the little girl's room frequently and having my pants fit one day and not the next. And I'm sure as the weeks turn to months, there will be somethings that return to "normal" and other things that become a new normal.

Bake-a-thon

Thursday night, Matt and Rachel came over for dinner, a midwife appointment and what is becoming a regular event; our bake-a-thon. We begin the evening with dinner and conversation, always a pleasant start. Once our bellies are full, we start baking...and baking...and baking. We each chose a recipe and start making it with ingredients contributed by both parties. Eventually, we are just waiting for things to go in and out of the oven and toaster oven. (it sure gets a good workout!) Then, we start our midwife appointment. Yesterday we heard the baby's heartbeat going strong at 170 beats per minute!

Our last bake-a-thon, lasting from dinner to clean-up was 4.5 hours. In that time, we made 25 multigrain bagels. They taste sooo delicious straight out of the oven!

We also made a couple dozen peanut butter cookies,

a batch of peanut butter granola, and some peanut butter balls (do you sense a theme here?). We also made some strawberry white chocolate scones which Matt describes as "EPIC!" We are not quite sure exactly where this comes from, but we take it to mean that he likes them quite a bit. Perhaps the old adage is true, the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. Rach....you can keep him forever if you just keep baking!