Toronto Zoo

Monday we went to the Toronto Zoo. We had airmiles to use and my Dad had figured we could either get 1/2 the people up the CN Tower or all the family half-way up or everyone could go to the zoo. SO we chose the zoo.

My friend and ancestor!

Random

A zebra - in case you hadn't figured it out!

A giraffe, I've never seen them do the bending at the kness thing....looks very uncomforteable.

A big, fat lazy rhino!

They had so many signs warning of bears it was ridiculous. I mean of couse there's bears, it's a zoo!!! Hello? They made it sound like they have bears wandering all the zoo pathways and you should usually try to avoid them! Duh?


Here's the scariest of all the bears!!! Like the sideways effect? :)


Mr. Boa Constrictor!! David doing one of his favourite things.....chasing the millions upon millions of Canadian Geese that were wandering around the park.

Chris at the man-made but cool waterfalls!

Mike - I'm not sure if he's trying to give me a hug or a punch..? The latter seems more likely.

Susie in the rock caves.

Matt a sittin on the rocks.

Matt and Chris

Summer pictures...

Beautiful Tuplips, they look much nicer when you look at them for real.

Rob hitchin a ride with Dad

Susie with Maddie

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We had campfire the other night

A cool distorted picture of Chris...doesn't the garage look cool??!!

Matt gettin some strummin in...

David playing with fire...

Can you guess what Melissa's smiling at?? :)






David being silly...again!

A few more pics from yesterday...

Michael and David's fort! I don't think I mentioned it in my last post, but during Man Hun Cory was chasing me, and I had no where to go so I headed down the lane, I ran full out as long as I could (which really isn't that long) and then decided that rather than run the mile and a half to the other end of our property and to the first real hiding place I thought I'd take refuge in Michael and David's fort! Guess if I got caught or not??!! ;)

Melissa enjoying her new series of books and the warm sunshine at the same time!

Matt, Michael and David clearing a path for the four-wheeler!!

Getting About Time for a post...

So I figured some of you out there are probaly wondering when I'm going to do a real post about what' really happening in my life these days. Well I came home from my Aunt's this past Tuesday. One of this first things I did when I got home was meet our puppy Madison or Maddie for short. She's so adorable. And poor Mia gets extremely jealous of all the attention Maddie got at least for the first few days.

And for those of you who didn't know, I was unfortunatley unable to make it to OCHEC this year, one of the saddest weekends of my life. :( Well I kind of got over that a couple of weeks ago (though I'm still just as sad and mad about it) and I spent the week getting back into home life. Last week was really dreary most of the time which kind of stinked, but now that the weather's back to sunny and relatively warm I've been spending every spare moment outside.

Yesterday we had Rev. Pennings preach in our Church, and he had two excellent sermons! Apparently we've had him before but I don't remember him. And he is definately 'rememberable'! He talks in a very clear and VERY loud voice!! It was also louder because my family was like the latest we've ever been to church and we had to sit in the very front row!!

After church we quickly had lunch and then Matt, Chris, Tim walked over to Vogel to hitch a ride to the Nursing Home. After running up and down the road a few time trying to get the dogs to stay at home we finally made it to Vogels. By that time we were nice and hot and sweaty and then we got to sit in the nursing home for a 1/2 hour and then race off to church and sit in a very warm (at least to us) sanctuary for another hour or so. But who are we to complain, the warm weather is awesome!

After Church we went home again (I bet you didn't see that one coming!) :) Well it was acutally quite an event, because it was my family (10) plus my Opa, plus Melissa and Kristyn, plus Christi, plus Issac. The reason was we had coffehouse so some of the people just came home with us. It was squishy but fun! When we got home Melissa and I jammed for a while, well we jammed about as much as you can jam on a piano and flute! :) She had an awesome new piano book with her so we had tons of fun with that. We played some soccer outisde and then we had supper and then we played some more soccer. Around 7:30 most of the people were there and we started some peope. To my brother's chagrin it was quite the disorganized game and people kind of just went and came when they felt like it. He hates any kind of disorganization especialy in sports and most esepecially in baseball! Anyway he got over it and we had fun, at least I think most of us did!

After that we played a whole whack of games of Man Hunt. More disorganization. Because of the amount of people once there was a substantial group they would just start the game over and the poor people who were paitently hiding would have to discover that no one was no longer looking for them. Then halfway through the game James, Justin, and Amanda showed up! Soon after we went into the house and sang until about 10:00. Matt and James played the guitars for us! It sounded awesome! Thanks guys!

Most of the peopl left around 10, but James, Justin and Amanda stayed till about quarter till 11. My Dad showed us this DVD of this old country westers singer John Denver, who had this ridiculous back-up singer who didn't sing but danced! Amanda kept asking my Dad if she was drunk! She was so hilarious (the dancer I mean!). Then Amanda thought that it was a guy with a wig on because her face was so wierd looking. So in the end we concluded that it was John Denver's brother in a disguise! My Dad told us we'd ruined that song forever and he'll never be able to watch it without thinking of what we told him! So after we had jammed a bit more in the basement, Justin decided it was time to go home. After he had done an imitation of John Denver's 'brother's' dancing and he attempted some handstands!! He was so hyper by the time they left! Needless to say we had TONS of fun! And we've concluded that we should really try to get together more often!

Well I think this post is long enough now. I've added some pics from today, our collection of animals at the moment! Everything looks better when the sun's out and it's warm so I armed myself with the camera today and had fun. Enjoy! oh and one note guys, comment are GREATLY appreciated!!!

Mia all tired out from her 'Go Fetch' lesson!

Chicklet all shiny, thanks to Melissa hours of brushing! The horse are shedding their winter coats and they can be brushed for an hour each day!

What's a picture collection of animals without one of the cows! I even got one to look at me!!

And our ever-wet, water loving puppy Maddie!

And last and certianly least, :) the chickens enjoying the sun and their new pecking grounds!

For All The Saints...

Just thought I'd share a few things from today's service. Mentioned in the bullentin was the Virginia Tech shooting of this week, the bombing of a Bible publishing houses in India, and the killing of three Bible publishing workers in Turkey. In the light of this our message this morning was on Daniel 3: 8-18. And one of the songs that we sang that was so relevant to everything that has happened recently was this one:

For All The Saints

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For all the saints,

who from their labours rest,

Who Thee by faith before the world confessed,

Thy Name, O Jesus,

Be forever blest:

Alleluia, Alleluia.

~

Thou wast their Rock,

their Fortress and their Might;
Thou, Lord, their Captain in the well fought fight;
Thou, in the darkness drear, their one true Light.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

~

O may Thy soldiers,

faithful, true and bold,
Fight as the saints who nobly fought of old,
And win with them the victor’s crown of gold.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

~

O blest communion,

fellowship divine!
We feebly struggle, they in glory shine;
All are one in Thee, for all are Thine.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

~

And when the strife is fierce,

the warfare long,
Steals on the ear the distant triumph song,
And hearts are brave, again, and arms are strong.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

~

From earth’s wide bounds,

from ocean’s farthest coast,
Through gates of pearl streams in the countless host,
And singing to Father, Son and Holy Ghost:
Alleluia, Alleluia!

~

The Heart Is Decietfully Wicked..Who Can Know It?

For those of you who haven't heard yet these are the events that happened earlier today...
Here are some section taken from the Toronto Star...

33 die, 26 hurt in bloodbath

Gunman opened fire on campus of Virginia Tech University, then killed himself.

Apr 16, 2007 04:20 PM SUE LINDSEY
Associated PressBLACKSBURG, Va. — A gunman opened fire in a Virginia Tech University dorm this morning and then, two hours later, shot up a classroom across campus, killing 32 people in the deadliest shooting rampage in U.S. history.

- The gunman committed suicide, bringing the death toll to 33.

- The massacre took place at opposite sides of the 2,600-acre campus, beginning at about 7:15 a.m. at West Ambler Johnston, a coed dormitory that houses 895 people, and continuing at least two hours later at Norris Hall, an engineering building about a half-mile away, authorities said.
Two people were killed in a dormitory room and 31 others were killed in the engineering building, including the gunman, police said.

- “Today the university was struck with a tragedy that we consider of monumental proportions,” Steger said. “The university is shocked and indeed horrified.’’

- Up until today, the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history was in Killeen, Texas, in 1991, when George Hennard plowed his pickup truck into a Luby’s Cafeteria and shot 23 people to death, then himself.

- The massacre today took place almost eight years to the day after the Columbine High School bloodbath near Littleton, Colo. On April 20, 1999, two teenagers killed 12 fellow students and a teacher before taking their own lives.

- Founded in 1872, Virginia Tech is nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains of southwestern Virginia, about 160 miles west of Richmond. With more than 25,000 full-time students, it has the state’s largest full-time student population. The school is best known for its engineering school and its powerhouse Hokies football team.

- The rampage took place on a brisk spring day, with snow flurries swirling around the campus. The campus is centered around the Drill Field, a grassy field where military cadets — who now represent a fraction of the student body — once practiced. The dorm and the classroom building are on opposites sides of the Drill Field.

As George W. Bush said in his presedential address this afternoon, may we all keep the families affected by these tragedies in our prayers and may the God of comfort be with them.

Goodbye!

So for those of you don't know yet, I'm leaving tonight to go to my Aunt and Uncle's for a couple weeks. So if yu nottice that I'm absent from the blogging world, (at least more absent than usual) now you know why! The good thing is I get to see everybody from Nobleton on Sundays. Can't wait to see you guys! The sad thing is because I'm supposed to be helping them I probaly won't be on the internet much. Which isn't entirely a bad thing.

Anyway hope you all have a Blessed Easter. See ya in a few weeks! Bye!

Ps. Just to explain why I never got pictures up from the last SV day - my computer went nuts and deleted tons of programs along with almost all of my pics from last couple months. :( And unfortunately the 150 that were still on my camera....well my brother 'accidentely' pushed the 'Delete All' Button. So yeah no fun!

A post overdue...

Here are some pics from Snow Valley last Monday! One of the best Snow Valley days yet, especially becuase I got my blue!! I was pretty proud of myself! You should of seen me when I got home, my little brother ran in ahead of me and was yelling, 'Mom, Mom, I got my blue on the first try'. So I followed his example and my Mom looked at me kind of wierd...yah anyway, it was an awesome time. Most of you know how the day went from everybody else accounts so I'll leave this as is and try to post some pictures. This was taken to prove that Mark went on the lift with me! It was a pretty big accomplishment for him! Esepecially because he agreed to smile for the camera!!

And on of Albert, the reason he's so happy is he just woke up from his nap!! Silly guy napping during a Snow Valley day...oh well I guess he had a good reason.

- And now my computer is being sooooooo slow, that I really shouldn't tie up the phone line up for more than an 1 1/2 - yes that's how long it took me to get two pictures up. For those of you who have highspeed be extremely thankful! I'll try to get more up some other time when there is a better connection.

Hi everybody it's Karen here!Marie asked me to post some pics from last weekend when they were at our place,I'm a little late at this but enjoy anyways, their also in the wrong order,so look at the post from the bottom up:) David, Michael and Marijn.

Marie's car...no kids in the back though. Melissa had about 6 kids over the course of the game!

Melissa, Rebecca, Betinne and Rachel:)

We went to our friends house for coffee that afternoon, here all the girls are playing life. Of course everybody has to hide their face when the camera comes out:)

Here is a horse and cart going down the road.

We drove them through the Amish comunity, this is a typical Amish farm house^ At our house, playing Blurt:)

Some pics from the weekend...

For those of you who didn't know on Saurday about six of our YP went to the Hope Centre in Toronto and helped distribute pamphlets for VBS. Unfortunately I forgot to take pics most of the time and the ones I did take didn't really turn out that great. Sunday we came to Uncle Jake's and Aunt Joyce's in Aylmer. Here are a few pics I took from the weekend. Most of them didn't turn out that great...stupid camera. Here's a nice one of Melissa from at Zekveld's! The sideways effect really adds to the picture!!A random dark picture of some of the kids during supper.

A dark one of Bengi! He's so cute! (Karen told me it's spelled with a 'j' but I like the 'g' better! :)

A light one of Andrew during supper, look at the Dad's chatting behind, do they look serious enough??

Just Something Interesting...

Peoples,

I was reading this book the other day by Jane Kirkpatrick. It was called um, I forgot know and I'm to lazy to get it so whatever, anyway it was a good book. It told of three ladies who all lived in the same place in Oregon a place called Muddy Creek, but they are all in different eras. The last one takes place in 1997 with a lady who helps build a teen ranch called Wildhorse Canyon. The book is based on true stories so I decided to ehck it out on the net. THe ranch is real and you can check it out at http://sites.younglife.org/camps/Wildhorse/default.aspx Be sure to look at all the pictures of all the different activites!! THey look so awesome! I think we should book a conference there sometime. What do you think?

Mission Fest 2007!!

Here's Luke...I think this is while he and Joel were doing their song: 'Something's Gotta Give'

Some more cool light effects...this is Rebecca (right) and I think it's Joel on the left.

Some of the lights during Rebecca St. James show.

Electric guitarist from 'Hello Kelly' - he was just a bit eccentric!

Ben....I'm not quite sure what he was trying to do - I think Aaron's trying to figure it out!

To celebrate getting my G2 license I decided to go to Mission Fest last night. Well not really, I would have went even if I hadn't got my license, but getting my license sure helped make the night funner. We (Pete, Chrissy, Abby, Melissa, two other people from our church and me) left at 3:00. We spent quite a bit of time walking around in the vending hall. I think we tried every candy that was there! We needed to tell people which one was the best!! And then we talked to this guy who was giving out helium ballons! We told him we were from Bowmanville and he asked if we knew somebody named 'Frew'. I've heard of the name, so I told him maybe. And he was like 'That is so cool!' And then he proceeded to take a video of us so he could show his friend Frew! It was hilarious!

Next we walked around the whole outisde of the Congress Centre just for something to do. THen we walked to a nearby Tim Hortons and got some coffee. We spent some more time in the vending hall just walking around and looking at stuff, and just generally being hyper. By this time we've all (Melissa, Abby and I) had a coffee, a donut and who knows how many candies. We were very hyper!! Then after about asking the security guard 5 times we finally figured out where the line-up was for the concert. While in line, Melissa and ran out to Subway and got some supper. When we got back they were letting people in so we found our seat and ate our supper. Then we walked around and looked at the bands merchandise and waited for Ben and Aaron and the rest to come. Finally after like 1/2 hour of waiting Ben, Aaron, Jon, Katie and Jenny showed up just as they began the concert. First up was Kystaal. They're a band made up of three black guys. Enough said. We used the time they were up on stage to stock up on candies and get some water. Next up was 'Five O Nine'. I've never heard them before but they were amazing. I bought one of their Cd's. and got an autographed picture of them. They were so worth going for. And the wierd thing is their home church is in Port Perry which is like 1/2 hours from here or not even. I might check it out sometime. If you want to look them up they are at www.nineofiveonline.com or at www.myspace.com/nineofiveonline Next was 'Hello Kelly'. I've never heard of them before either, but they weren't that great. 'Five O Nine' was definately better. And then Rebecca St. James...she sang for about an 1 hour and 1/2. It was amazing too, I really liked the Praise and Worhsip songs she sang at the end. Her brothers, Joel and Luke also sang one song by themselves. This is Joel. They are really good too. They are working on releasing a Cd, and apparently they have a few songs you can listen too, on My Space, at www.myspace.com/joelandluke Melissa and I talked both of them after and they were pretty cool. All in all it was an awesome night. And if they have some good singers lined up for next year I'd definately consider going again. I'll try to get some more pictures up later.

I Got IT!!!

So for all of those who didn't know I went (for my 3rd time) to get my license today. And of course it has to be the day when we get the biggest ice storm all winter. I wake up at 7:15, jump up and look out my window....what a mess!! There are tree branches everywhere, the lawn is a huge mess of branches, sticks, snow, slush and ice! Great...of all days. Next I turn my radio on to trusty ol' 680 News. First thing I hear..'Environement Canada is advising all people to please stay off all roads unless absolutely nessecary, hydro poles and lines are down everywhere and it is very treacherous'! And then their list of cancellations was at least 10 mintues long! SoI get dressed, and cry for about 1/2 hour (not really:) and then finally at 8:30 I phoned the office and Yes they were open. So I went and the roads were completely clear in Oshawa and I got a huge PASS MARK!!! Now I"m so psyched!! I'm so happy!! Finally, Finally!! Anyway, I got to go.

An Update on My Life!

Hey all! Sorry to all of you who faithfully check my blog and have continually found no updates! So here I go and hopefully fill you on some of the things that have been going on in the past months or so.
We started February off with a bang when we went up to Blue Mountain on the 5th! It was bitterly cold but awesomely fun!! Most of you however either were there or heard all about it, so I won’t give you all the details. I did have some pictures from that day however for the longest time my camera wouldn’t let me upload my pictures onto my computer so unfortunately I couldn’t get them on here. Then right after I developed them and deleted them off my camera, I learned how to put the pics on my computer, a little too late for all my Snow Valley and Blue Mountain pictures though. Oh, well.
Then next came the thrilling yet horrific story of my attempts to get my license! I flew through my driving instruction with Driver’s Ed, passed my test and got a G2 test booked for the day after. I do the hour practice before hand with my instructor sit in the parking lot for like 20 minutes say hi to my not so nice looking examiner and off we go. I back out of my parking space, drive ahead to the left, stop look ahead, look right, look left, wait, wait, this is a really busy parking lot so I wait some more…now it looks clear ….so I ease off the brake start rolling ahead, turn to look back to the left, and BANG my examiner slams on her brake. Now I’m scared out of my wits, because my instructor never had to use her brake in all my lessons so by this time I have no idea what has happened to the car. Then the instructor says there was a truck coming from the left, he had the right of way. Recall, that I said I was looking back to the left as she slammed on her brake, I’m sure that I would have seen the truck and stopped but hey she’s the boss. So automatic FAIL! Except I still had to do the whole test, and I’m driving my whole test knowing I failed. It really stank, especially because I got everything else perfect. L
Now account #2: I have my test booked for Feb. 14 – Valentines Day! It’s snowing really heavy all morning, and the roads are completely covered. My instructor phones to say she’ll be somewhat late because of the road conditions. I ask her to say if I should call the Testing Area people and see if they’re running, she assures me it’s ok because if they cancel they always phone you. Can you tell what’s going to happen yet? You bet, after another practice hour of driving around Oshawa on absolutely covered, totally unplowed and unsalted roads, we get to the Ministry of Transportation and: ‘Sorry we’re cancelled today! No we can’t call everyone because there are way too many people to call in one day So please excuse me because I have to sit here on my butt all day and tell everyone who comes in that we can’t do their test. Did I mention that I’m getting paid who knows how much for this?? (I added that last little bit in). Needless to say I was getting a little frustrated by now. So now I have another test booked for another day (I’m not supposed to tell anybody, because it causes me more stress and pressure!).
Besides attempting to get my license, I’m keeping buys with wrapping up my school for the year, toastmasters (a public-speaking course), catechism and Yp, and whatever else comes along. And now I’m looking for a job. If you know anybody that’s hiring….
Well I hope that you’re all enjoying winter and not hoping for spring too much. I’d love to hear from you all, either through comments or via email. (or in person would be even better!!)

Breathtaking...

Ok, the other day, I went to the lake and I took this picture!! I love it!! It was of some random lady and her little girl but I thought it was cool! Hope you like it!

Getting About Time To Post Again...

Well I never posted on Blue Mountian but most of you have pretty much heard aoubt it by now. Cold, Awesome, and not long enough are the 4 words that pretty much sum up the day! Can't wait to SV on the 19th!! WOOT!! Although it's going to seem puny compared to the BLUE!

I'm tempted to say not a lot's been going on in my life cause that's an easy way to make an excuse for not posting, but actually it's been pretty busy. Thursday is Catechism, Friday is Toastmasters, this past week we had YP and we hosted a Seniors Dinner at the Church, I had three essays due on Thursday/Friday, we had skating this past week, the Blue and don't forget school and everything else that goes on with the rest of the family!! And because I'm not busy enough I thought I'd go to Niagra Falls today!! It was pretty cool with all the ice and stuff and we took a tour behind the falls but tomorrow I get to pay the punishment and I have to bury myself neck-deep in school work! Oh well. Anyway, just a quick update on my life, I'll try to post some pics on my other blog from Niagra. I'll try!! :)

Another Blog!

Hey guys! I got another blog set up for just random pics of anything. You can check it out at http://crazy-89-boekee-canada-photos.blogspot.com/ And it would be appreciated if you didn't link this blog. Thanks!

Snow Valley - January 19, 2007!

After two devestating dissapointments earlier in the year, weeks of anticipation, hours of driving, we finally made it to Snow Valley! Yeah!! Finally!! And for the very first time (at least at a resort) I was brave enough to enter the 'cool' and highly elite class of snowboarders!! I must say it was awesome!! It was a lot better than I expected it to be. It's definatly something I'm going to keep doing. Well just so I don't look to good, I did switch to skiis at around 1:00. Yah, I know shame on me, but I was getting tired of spending so much time off of my feet and on the ground, so I decided to take at least for the moment the easier way of travelling down a hill, though I know it's not near as 'cool'. Actually if I were speaking literally skiing would be way more cool than boarding. With boarding we spent so much energy falling down and getting up we managed to keep ourselves warm, plus you never get going fast enough to feel even the slightest breeze. But anyway, hopefully I will improve. And who knows next year I might be tackling the Terrain Park (though I wouldn't count on it if I were you). Anyway it's been an enormously (if that's a word) long day, and I'm about ready to say goodnight. I was up at 4:40 this morning, made lunches till we left, left at 6, got there around 9 and then I stretched every muscle in my body (at least it feels like it) drove home, and the joy of all joys I got to do barn chores with Matt from 7:30 till about 9:00. I had a nice hot shower, and now I'm totally ready for bed. Goodnight all and thanks for another awesome day of memories! See you all on the slopes in February!!

Back to Posting!

Hey! Sorry to be away so long, but there was really nothing to post on and I was busy with other things. Last night Pete, Matt, James, Melissa and I went to Kerby Ski Hill!! It was so awesome!! It's the first time I've been to Kerby (and it's 5 minutes away:) and it was awesome even though not all the hills were open. After much debating I decided to ski. I'm planning on boarding on Monday or at least for part of it but I decided I didn't want to spend my first time of the year falling down the hills! Well now I'm all ready and pumped for Monday!! See you all then!! Or at least a lot of you!!