Recent Happenings

Okanagan Camping Trip

June 30 - July 2, 2007

A few weeks before the Canada long weekend, Shannon and I were talking about what we wanted to do. We've been wanting to do more camping this summer, so we decided to do a camping trip through the Okanagan. I'd never been to that area before, so it was a neat place to explore. Unfortunately, because we were planning a little bit last minute and didn't reserve a camp site, it was a little stressful finding places to stay each night. But, we ended up having a wonderful time anyways, and even got to try some Okanagan wine! Here's some pictures from our trip.

Gulf Islands Bike Trip

Apr 2007

Shannon and I have always wanted to take a long bike trip. The most we had done so far was bike from Ottawa to Cornwall, which took about 6 hours. So, we decided to take a break between Shannon's semesters and go for a multi-day bike trip. We stayed in Bed and Breakfasts along the way, so that we didn't have to drag camping equipment on our bikes. And, we explored a beautiful part of BC that we hadn't gotten to see before - the Gulf Islands. Check out our pictures here.

Trip to Northern BC

Feb 2007

While the rest of Shannon's class-mates were heading to Florida and Hawaii for spring break, we went somewhere even better - northern BC! We got to experience the small town life, invigorating cold weather, and tons of snow. We started off visiting Jenn and Vince in Burn's Lake (Jenn is a long-time friend of Shannon's, who she meet at camp growing up). We then trekked across to Dawson Lake to visit Mel, and meet Chad (finally!). Check out pictures here.

Winter & Christmas

Dec 2006

Here are a few pictures from winter in BC. We had a surprising amount of snow and cold weather this year. I enjoyed it immensely, as it brought back memories of the snow in Ontario. I even bought a crazy carpet!

 

Shannon's Birthday

Nov 5, 2006

Shannon celebrated her 22nd birthday this year. We went for dinner with her family at the Cactus Club, and then headed back to Chris and Erin's place for "dessert and maybe cards". Unknown to Shannon, I had arranged for a bunch of friends to be waiting for her there as a bit of a surprise. We had a great time hanging out, eating, and watching Shannon open her new espresso machine! Check out the pictures here.

Trip to Ontario

Aug 15-30, 2006

Rock Sands Cottage
This is where we spent the first 4 days of our vacation in Ontario. We go with cousins, aunts and uncles on my mom's side of the family, and it's a riot!
(download zip of album images - 12 Mb)

Charleston Lake
After a brief stay in Ontario, and a day-trip to Montreal, we went camping with my immediate family at our favourite spot, Charleston Lake. It's a great place for canoeing, and cliff jumping (pictures of that soon to come, or check out the cliff jumping website Ryan is working on).

Day at Cultus Lake

July 3, 2006

On the holiday Monday from the long weekend, we went out to Cultus lake. Two families from our church were camping out there, and we met up with several other young adults as well. We had a great day chilling at the beach, and also helping Callum McKay construct (and test) a zip-line! Download the video here (it's 15 Mb, so will take a few minutes to download even at high-speed).

Hike up the Stawamus Chief

May 21, 2006

Shannon and I like a good steep hike that gets your heart going. We tried the famous Grouse Grind last year, and thought that was alright. Recently, though, someone told Shannon about the Stawamus Chief hike up near Squamish. They said it's got a lot of vertical climbing, like the Grouse Grind, but a much better view. And, the view was phenomenal! Check out the pictures here (and click on the panorama above to get a bigger version).

Trip to Oregon

May 12-14, 2006

My sister Cheryl's boyfriend Tom is studying at Portland Bible College right now, in Portland Oregon (about a 6 hour drive south of Vancouver). She was going to fly out here and visit him, so she asked if she could fly into Vancouver and visit us first. We thought that would be great fun, so we hung out with her and then drove her down to Portland. Tom showed us around the city, and Shannon and I took our time coming back by camping along the scenic Oregon coast. Check out the pictures here.

Holland Days Festival in Lynden, WA

May 6, 2006

The town of Lynden, Washington is just a 20 minute drive south of the border. I guess the town has a large population of dutch people, and so every year they have a dutch festival. Since I'm pure-bred dutch, Shannon's dad thought they should take us down to the festival. It was actually quite fun, with a parade and clog dancing! You could check out some pictures here.

Trip to Colorado and Wisconsin

April 21-30, 2006

Shannon's extended family is scattered around the US and Canada. Some relatives she hasn't seen in years! So, this was an awesome opportunity to reconnect. We took a little over a week to fly down to Colorado with Shannon's mom and visit relatives there, and then drove with one uncle to Wisconsin to visit more relatives. There was a lot of travelling (something like 45 hours worth), but it was worthwhile. Check out the pictures here.

Shannon's got a blog!

April 7, 2006

Yes, it's true, Shannon has entered the new world of blogging. This will be a great way for her to express herself in the way she loves to: writing! Check it out at my-genesis.blogspot.com.

Day Hike at Bunzen Lake

March 4, 2006

On Saturday, we went up to one of our favourite spots to enjoy nature - Bunzen Lake. It was a beautiful day, so that made it extra nice! One of the main reasons we wanted to get up there was to get refreshed. Shannon and I have both learned that nature is something that refreshes and inspires us, and so we like feeding ourselves regular doses! We even took some time to just sit by the water and read. You can check out the pictures here.

Weekend Away at Manning Park

February 11-12, 2006

Shannon and I got our first weekend away since our honeymoon! It was an ideal time - right at the start of Shannon's reading week, and near Valentine's too. We decided to go skiing/snowboarding at Manning Park, about 2 and a half hours away from our place in New Westminster. The weather was beautiful, and that night we stayed at a very comfortable, cozy, bed and breakfast. Check out the pictures here.