Happy Spring!
April is here and the kids just finished their spring break after 19 days off school. Back to their studies the house is quiet during the day so it is time to start moving my fingers once again cross these keys.
From the beginning of the year we have had a full calendar (as always..haha.. but love it!) Counting our blessing each and every day.
(Heading to Sunday Brunch, the kids all decked out… such amazing kids with their own unique styles ~ love it)
(Everett’s class was learning and celebrating different nationalities from around the world. The kids were to bring in a food from their home country. When we looked up Canada, our great land is known for either pancakes with maple syrup, poutine fries or nanaimo bars… Nanaimo bars were the choice and a sweet one at that)
~ Trent’s parents came to visit ~
Trent’s Mom and Dad came to visit at the end of January for a week.
(Mr. and Mrs. Schmuland experiencing their first Thai foot massage)
(No visitor can come without the kids showing them their favorite snake show)
(A trip to the Royal Flora Flower Festival. This event reminded me of Epcot Centre at Disney World showcasing all the different countries around the world. We found Canada which was a bit disappointing compared to other countries, but it did have a few totem poles and waffles were being sold)
(a trip to Warorot Market (one of my favorites) to show Trent’s parents around before they left. Thanks for coming)
Since the beginning of the year we have had the pleasure of having some other visitors stop by. We had the opportunity to spend some time with Neil and Gardia from Klub Kal as well as the Lukinuk family during their tour through Thailand. We love showing people where and how we live, it is funny how it always surprises everyone (in a good way) 😀
(Emma cooking dinner for us. At school during one of her day outs (another name for a fun day at school) she went to the market to buy all the ingredients and learned how to make one of my favorite dishes Pad See Ew… yummy!)
(A night out at the Four Seasons. The decorations, food, and wine were great this night. The dinner was hosted by an Australian Winery ~ as always it was a delectable evening)
~ Cupid was born ~
(Here Everett is holding Cupid the newest addition to the school farm, a baby goat. The kids watched Cupid come into the world as her Mom plopped her out (as Ev said)
(The kids named her Cupid because she was born on Valentines Day)
(Emma is so proud of her chickens that keep multiplying. These chicks were hatched from a chicken Em got at Christmas. What started as – 1 hen and 2 chicks has now turned into 13 chickens rooming our yard, with more on the way Emma told me)
~ Grade 6 Camp Week….
Our baby is on her way ~
(Em all packed and ready for her adventure week at Gr. 6 camp. This week consisted of hiking, cooking, surveying local rivers, setting up her own camp and a homestay with a hilltribe family. Oh did I miss my girl but I had a great week with all my boys)
(The Girls ~ Emma, Sally, Sara, Rigpi, Mikayla)
(Em’s Grade 6 class of 2012 @ PREM)
(Emma’s homestay family. She had her own Thai Mom and Dad who cared for her in their home. Such a great experience)
(A hilltribe baby Emma bonded with. Em you have such a giving and caring heart. Love you)
Emma’s recount of her Camp Week was picked out of all the senior students in school to be published in the school paper. So proud of you chicky! Find below Em’s published story…
Hightlight of Camp Week…. by Emma Schmuland
My favorite part of my whole camp week was the homestay. The homestay village was called Mae Kam Pong Homestay. Every part of the homestay was fun. I was nervous about staying in somebody else’s house but when I met the parents I felt more comfortable because they were very kind and welcoming. I was sharing a room with Miyu, Sara, Pam and A.Kate. The room we stayed in was big: it had two mattresses, two long dinning tables and a colorful couch with three flowered cushions on top. On our beds we had 2 pillows and 2 blankets each. I felt that the parents were very generous to give us such a nice room to stay in, they also gave us food to eat. Our dinner was so good. The mom made us a soup that had vegetables and bits of chicken in it, steamed rice, omelet, and the best dish was a green vegetable that I have never tried before with some sauce she mixed in with it. The dish was so good that I was glad I tried it without judging it on how it looks.
That night we helped cook the dinner. We got to chop the vegetables. The mom showed us first on the ways to chop them then we put them into a big bowl.
The village that our house was in had the sweetest people and dogs. Some of the welcoming villagers had cute little babies that I could hold. Our family’s house had 1 mom, 1 dad, and 2 little boys that looked about 9 years old. I went to a couple of shops down the road and saw that the lady who worked there was sifting some coffee beans that I thought was interesting because I had never seen somebody sifting coffee beans before. It was their main income at the store other than cookies, chips, nuts, and other snacks. I would love to go back to stay with the village again and would recommend it to other people. I thought it was a wonderful experience.
Emma Schmuland
~ Jr. Track Meet 2012 ~
(Our jr. school track team who competed with such heart… Great job kids)
(Ev is a fierce competitor, giving it his all. The boys relay team kicked butt!)
(Ev came in first in all his races in his age division. Some mighty fast kids he was up against… Great job buddy)
(Easton represented his school in shot put. Man oh Man does this boy have power… Awesome job Pal)
(Ev came home with a neck full of medals. Ev won second over all in his age group among all the other international participants, a great accomplishment)
~ My U13 Basketball Team 2012 ~
(Another season under our belt. So proud of my girls!!! Kicked butt and love all your hard work and dedication, very honored to be called your Coach)
(Rigpi, Sally, Irene, Lena, Mikayla, Sara, Dedee, Emma, Selden, Emma, and Coach Jody)
(Rigpi, Sally, Irene, Lena, Mikayla, Sara, Dedee, Emma, Selden, Emma, and Coach Jody)
~ An unexpected trip back to Canada ~
My sister called very early one morning to tell me the sad news that our Grandfather Ken Edmundson had slipped into a coma and the prognosis did not look good. My family was all gathering around Ken and with Trent’s blessing I jumped on a plane to get back to Edmonton.
Ken passed away peacefully after many days of the whole family surrounding him telling stories, sharing many laughs and tears. It was a great send off to an amazing man who was loved, respected and honored by so many.
It was gift being back in Canada to help plan his memorial, spend time with everyone and meet so many people whom Ken touched. Ken served the Edmonton Fire Department retiring as District Chief in 1985. To pay respects Ken’s service consisted of many active and retired fireman who joined us in honoring my wonderful Ken. It is very special and amazing the brotherhood the Fireman carry with them always.
I want to thank Trent and the kids for being so supportive and my Sister, Mom, all my Aunts, Uncles and cousins for taking me in and for the special time we spent together.
(Ken will be sorely missed, he was so special to all of us. Happy he is reunited with my Gramma, Aunty Wendy and Dad though. Lots of Love Ken, thank you for teaching me and inspiring me so much)
(At the Memorial, station #8 came to honor a former leader)
(The men in uniform was such a great tribute)
(All my little cousins ~ well maybe not so little anymore but they will always be to me 🙂 Love you guys!)
~ Ken’s tribute slideshow ~
(For all who missed it or want to see again, here is Ken’s tribute of some wonderful memories.
Enjoy! ~ press play)
~ Back Home ~
After just over 2 weeks in Canada it was time to head back home. The night before I was leaving I went to get some treats to take back with me. The best presents I ever could have crossed the globe with where Hockey Sticks!
(Umoe our wonderful gardener/ builder constructed two hockey nets for the boys and hockey is happening non stop around here. 6 am some mornings the boys are out taking shots and as soon as they get home from school they grab their sticks. Awesome they can enjoy their birth countries national sport minus the equipment, ice and cold 😀
(If they are not playing hockey or in the pool they are fishing in our pond. Trent has been training the fish to come when he slaps a stick hard… Like a little kid some days 🙂
(Authors Week ~ During this week at school many authors visit the school reading to the kids or giving advice on story writing. On the last day of this week the kids are to dress up as a book character. This year Ev chose Indiana Jones – he looked awesome!)
(Easton dressed up as Percy Jackson from one of our favorite series, he had a scar on his forehead and all)
~ Hiking Doi Luang Chiang Dao
…. it was a long day and worth every step ~
…. it was a long day and worth every step ~
(The last weekend before the National Park closed Trent, myself along with our Canadian friends Sean and Tiffany Heally decided to hike Doi Luang Chiang Dao. Normally this trek is done in 2 days but we decided to push it, climbing up and down in one day. Some called us crazy but it was a great challenge. The summit was 2245m)
(My funny guy. If you look around Trent you can see we had to walk through some foliage that the local people had burned during the smokey season)
(We made it! It took us about 6 hours to reach the summit. Enjoyed a simple picnic lunch, rested our legs for 30 min, then headed back down before sunset. Great job everyone)
(I love my husband and I love even more that he is so supportive of doing things together that he does not always want to do. ~this was a tough climb. It was the delicious dinner and cold bevies at the bottom of the mountain that kept him going…haha)
(Made it back down the mountain, exhausted but thrilled we conquered it. Until the next mountain, right babe 🙂
~ Elliott our new addition ~
As some of you already know we have had an unexpected addition join us. Meet Elliott, the Owl. Elliott was on our truck running board very early one morning, which Essie spotted and barked non stop at. Elliott let Moe scoop him up no problem.
We inspected Elliott and could not determine if there was anything wrong with him, then all of a sudden Elliott fell over and we thought he died. The kids planned a burial for him and we went on our way getting ready for school. As we were about to jump in the truck to head to school, Emma yelled “Elliott is alive!” Low and behold Elliott was perched upright and completely alive. After reading up more on Owls we found out they play dead as a defence mechanism… he sure got us ;D
A few days later Elliott was reunited with him Mom and sibling but we could see Elliott up in our roof line. We were happy for Elliott but sad we could not spend more time with him. Forward a few days ~ as I was walking up the stairs I was startled to find Elliott perched on a bench. Elliott has decided to hang around and it is pretty special and we feel so blessed to be experiencing this amazing bird.
~ A must see Video ~
(Trent feeding Elliott the owl like a baby with a fork ~ super cool)
Well that is it for now. I will have some pictures up soon of Langkawi Malaysia, our spring break adventure.
Lots of love…
Emma. Easton. Everett. Essie. Eddie. Elliott. + all the chickens, tokays and gecko’s that roam our house. Not forgetting the parents who feed all these, Trent and Jody 😀
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