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 our house / ons huis
We’ve had so much snow so far (1 m / 3.3 ft thick on the roof) that we wanted to get it off the roof and away from the house a bit before it would (partially) melt and cause problems if it can’t get away. We hebben zoveel sneeuw tot nog toe (1 m dik op het dak) dat we het op het dak en langs het huis weg wilden halen, voordat het (deels) kon smelten en problemen veroorzaken als het niet goed weg kan.
Time to add the last photos of 2010 to our gallery, that we still had on our computer and didn’t publish yet:
Note: our gallery still needs updates to match the new look of our site and to iron out some stuff from a software update – will be done soon!  Milan (© hyves Anneke) In the last days of 2010 we got the sad news that Milan, the son of our dear friends Anneke and Cordy (back in Holland), has passed away from a viral infection. We don’t know any more about it, but Milan has been multiple handicapped since birth with hard to control epileptic seizures and spasms day and night, despite heavy medications. Milan, you’ve been so brave for almost 6 years, now you can rest….. we wish his wonderful parents a lot of strength to deal with their loss! They will be in our thoughts, as always… In de laatste dagen van 2010 bereikte ons nog het verdrietige nieuws, dat Milan, de zoon van onze lieve vrienden Anneke en Cordy (in Nederland), overleden is aan een virusinfectie. We weten er het fijne niet van, maar Milan was meervoudig gehandicapt sinds zijn geboorte en had een moeilijk instelbare epilepsie met dag en nacht aanvallen en spasmen ondanks zware medicatie. Milan, je bent bijna 6 jaar zo dapper geweest, nu mag je rusten….. we wensen zijn geweldige ouders heel veel sterkte met hun verlies! Ze zijn, zoals altijd, in onze gedachten…
 click on the card to enlarge! 2010 was again a pretty important year for us! Many camping trips, new additions to our family and finally our permanent residency status in June! In the first part of the year we had our friend Mark from Lloydminster stay with us while he worked in Regina and were glued to the TV for two weeks when the 21st Winter Olympics in Vancouver were on. It was very special to be the hosting country, it made us very proud to be Canadian residents!! Of course we did a lot of camping in the summer, even though there have been many extreme storms causing serious flooding (we got trapped in one while camping, which was quite scary). But the best camping trip was two weeks in beautiful British Columbia! It’s camper heaven with mountains, hills and lakes and we fell in love with the Okanagan. In some years we might move there if we can afford it, but no rush, Regina is still home Another special trip was four days Las Vegas for Tim and Cortney’s wedding on 10-10-10. That was fantastic! We also enjoyed the craziness of the strip, the warm weather and the palm trees But the most important news this year was that we got our permanent visas! So we are still Dutch, but if we want to, we can apply for Canadian Citizenship in a few years. And last but not least we have some new extensions of our family: since June we’re taking care of a friend’s cat because of landlord issues. This adorable “rental” gets along with everybody and enjoyed the camping too! Then two months ago we also fell in love with a few kittens on a friends’ farm and we took two of them home. The others all play with them and take care of them. One big happy family!!! Winter started early with some big dumps of snow in November, but our home is filled with much love and joy, so we’re ready for the holidays! Merry Xmas and all the best for 2011!! Nico & Marlies photos left to right etc: » klik hier voor de Nederlandse tekst (Dutch text) van “Happy Holidays & Best Wishes for 2011!”  Sheldon and Penny It was vet time again today. The two youngins are doing great, almost 3 months now (on the 28th). Penny’s weight went from 0.5 to 1.1 kg (go girl!) and Sheldon from 0.8 to 1.3 kg. Penny still has the slight heart murmur, but we don’t have to worry too much about that. The older cats take well care of them, esp. Rider thinks he (HE!) is their mom Het was weer tijd voor de dierenarts vandaag. De jeugd doet het goed, ze zijn nu bijna 3 maanden (op de 28e). Penny’s gewicht is van 0,5 naar 1,1 kg gegaan (goed zo meissie!) en Sheldon’s van 0,8 naar 1,3 kg. Penny heeft wel nog de lichte hartruis, maar daarover hoefden we ons niet te veel zorgen te maken. De oudere katten zorgen goed voor ze, vooral Rider denkt dat hij (HIJ!) hun moeder is  our house today In the meantime winter has arrived… we’ve already had lots of snow and cold temps for November! Average would be 14 cm for this month and we already had up to 36 cm on the 24th! Coldest day was -27°C earlier this week Intussen is de winter al hier… we hebben al veel sneeuw en kou gehad voor november! Het gemiddelde voor deze maand is 14 cm en we hadden al 36 cm op de 24e! De koudste dag was -27°C eerder deze week Tim and Cortney were getting married on 10/10/10 (October 10th, 2010) in Las Vegas, so we had to be there! Initially we didn’t like spending a lot of money on a city trip (after all, we prefer the outdoors), but after we booked, got a little travel guide and checked pics on google earth, we got more and more excited to see all the lights, hotels and entertainment for ourselves. We booked pretty late and although we wanted to go on Friday, it was cheaper to leave on Saturday so that’s what we did (and went home on Wednesday), even though it meant having to miss the stag and stagette parties. Most of the friends and family that came along stayed at the Flamingo, but when we tried to book it, the Saturday was full despite a group reservation. We chose to book the Super 8 around the corner (got a super cheap online deal too, less than US$170 for 4 nights!) which turned out to be a good choice. No crowds, long line ups, just a quiet, small hotel and a very clean room, and just one block from the strip! Friday, October 9th We had an early morning flight out of Regina (6.46am), stopover in Denver (taking fingerprints and pics at customs was hardly any extra work) and after the second flight (both less than 2 hrs) we arrived in Las Vegas at 12.20pm local time. The flights were smooth, we loved the fast metro trains on both American airports and the US customs officer was the best (he even said bye in Dutch when we were done We went to the Super 8 with their airport shuttle and got a nice, clean and cool room on the 2nd floor (2105). We chilled for a few hours and around 4 we decided to go have a look on the strip and see if we could find the Roths at their pool cabana. In the 7-eleven 2 doors down we grabbed a sandwich and saw our first Elvis! For a few bucks we could take some pics and as he had me kiss his cheek he turned his head and kissed me full on the lips, yikes!!!! Oh well… guess I was in Vegas!!!
Saturday, October 10th
As the wedding party went elsewhere for a photo shoot, the rest of us took a cab back to the Flamingo and then we gladly joined Grant who had to drive to the Luxor (the Egyptian themed hotel in the big pyramid). While he took care of his reservation, we walked around and had an ice cream. Around 5.30 we got to Smith & Wollensky (near the Hard Rock cafe) for the wedding dinner. Classy food, great time, great (touching) speeches. Afterwards we hung out with part of the group at the Flamingo. What a beautiful wedding day that was! I wish Tim and Cort many happy and healthy years together with Geneva and Luke!  the wedding party Monday, October 11th We didn’t want to join the Roths to Circus Circus on the north strip today, as we had tickets to the Lion King on the very south end of the strip that night. So for us it was time to explore the south strip that day, mind you we didn’t have a rental car, so we did it all on foot (and a few parts by monorail) that day. We bought some Hard Rock cafe shirts and in MGM we first went to the lunch buffet as we hadn’t eaten yet. You may pay around 25 bucks for these good buffets, but there is so much gooooood stuff there! Highlight on this one was the smoked salmon for me. Since we had salmon and cream cheese sandwiches at Sophia and Murray’s house on our recent BC trip, I’ve had cravings for it! We continued our trip over one of the many pedestrian bridges to the other side of the Boulevard, through New York New York and Excalibur. There we hopped on the free monorail to Mandalay Bay. We first picked up our Lion King tickets and got some merchandise, then walked about 20 mins (in the same hotel…) to the Shark Reef. We enjoyed the beautiful aquarium with sharks, rays, sawfish and much more. After we walked all the way back to the main lobby, we had a beer in a lounge where we could put our feet up for a bit (man, all the walking you do on the strip!). We were still full from the buffet, so we didn’t care for food yet! At 6.30 we went to the theatre for the Lion King show. Unfortunately photo’s weren’t allowed, but the show was great! We had the cheapest seats all the way in the back ($71) but the venue isn’t so big, so we could see it all very well (and we also brought binoculars). The show was very colourful, the sound was great as well as the performance of the cast. Loved it! After the show we took the monorail back to Excalibur, got a burger in a food court and stumbled back to our hotel. Tuesday, October 12th
Wednesday, October 13th
» klik hier voor de Nederlandse tekst (Dutch text) van “Las Vegas”  meet our new family members Sheldon and Penny!
We’ve been so busy since we got back from BC, that I couldn’t keep up with the updates! PR Card We both have our Permanent Resident Cards now (I got it in August, Nico had to send in new pics and got it in October)! We need this card to get back into the country after travelling abroad and it’s of course a lovely document showing that we really belong here now Vegas baby!! For Tim and Cortney’s wedding on 10/10/10 we went to Las Vegas for 4 days. We had a blast checking out the strip and its colourful hotels and attractions, enjoyed the warm vacation weather and the wedding was just beautiful! I just put the photos online, but still have to write down our adventures and upload movies to YouTube. So stay tuned for a separate Vegas post very soon!! Visit to Fred and Jackie in Glenbain and WELCOME TO PENNY AND SHELDON!!!!!!!!! We spent a great weekend with our friends Fred and Jackie on their farm in Glenbain near Gravelbourg. We enjoyed their company, the peace and quiet, their house and yard, their animals and they took such good care of us!! And to top it all off…. we adopted two of their kittens!!!!! We named them Penny and Sheldon, after two characters of the hilarious TV sitcom ‘The Big Bang Theory’ that we love so much! Other than that life is good, although the winter has just arrived… it’s been snowing all day with very strong winds! » klik hier voor de Nederlandse tekst (Dutch text) van “several updates – meet Sheldon and Penny!!!” Finally, the photos are online! You’ll find 5 albums in the following category:
 Kelowna  As The World Turns cast A sad day in TV history. I just watched the final episode of As The World Turns after being on the air for 54 years! Impossible to understand how crappy soaps like the Bold can exist and this one can’t. It had been my favourite TV show for 20 yrs (5 days/week) and I will miss it a lot Een verdrietige dag in de TV geschiedenis. Ik heb net de laatste aflevering gekeken van As The World Turns na 54 jaar op de buis te zijn geweest! Onmogelijk te begrijpen hoe slechte soaps als de Bold kunnen bestaan en deze niet. Het is 20 jaar mijn favoriete TV programma geweest (5 dagen per week) en ik zal het erg missen  setting sun on the Rockies
Sunday September 5th, Nakusp – Kimberley A long drive through the mountains and along big lakes… a beautiful drive! But including a few small breaks, waiting time at the ferry, losing one hour going back to the mountain time zone and a great visit in Creston, it took us from 9.40am until 8.30pm to get from Nakusp to Kimberley.
It took us 2 more hours to get to Kimberley. This included turning for a ‘bear’ sighting… but it was a wooden bear in someone’s yard LOL. We did see a beautiful big elk bull crossing the street though! When we got closer to Kimberley, we could see peaks of the Rockies above the clouds in the orange-red light of the sunset! On the campground we found our spot (the sites are less spacious and private then I had expected), but forgot to ask about the internet option (didn’t find any network at the site). Monday September 6th, Kimberley
Tuesday September 7th, Kimberley BC – Taber AB
Wednesday September 8th, Taber AB – Regina SK Home! After another long drive on the prairie and lunch in Swift Current (Husky as usual) we got home around 5pm. Soooo tired and I have to work tomorrow, so I better turn in early! We had a great vacation, so many new impressions that it felt longer than 2 weeks and we’re tired from all the driving. We’ve seen amazing scenery and it was fun to meet in person with fellow Dutch immigrants Chantal and Suus, Petra (I already knew her from way back), Tontje and Joyce, Sophia (and Murray) and esp. Anja and Theo, and John and Diana! Thanks for all the hospitality, fun times, food, drinks, rides, showers and laundry!! » klik hier voor de Nederlandse tekst (Dutch text) van “BC trip – Kimberley, Taber, home!” |
  
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) The buffet was terrific though! We got out just in time to see the hourly ‘eruption’ of the volcano in front of the hotel. After that we tried to catch a glimpse of the Sirens of TI show at Treasure Island. It was so busy we hardly saw a thing and what I did see (pretty women in lingerie dancing on a ship) was pretty retarded as it didn’t have a thing to do with pirates or sirens… but oh well that’s Vegas. After 10 minutes we crossed the street to get to the Venetian. I was very curious to see the Grand Canal with the blue skies and (fake) daylight! That did look great, although after a while I couldn’t wait to get outside again – too fake after all? Or maybe we were just getting tired. Our feet were hurting and we stumbled back to the Flamingo. We didn’t have the energy anymore to try and catch a ride up in the Eiffel tower at the Paris hotel, so we decided to sit at the $2 draft bar outside the Flamingo to watch people and take in the atmosphere of the strip for the last time!
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