Transitions

It's good to be home, and it's still bitter sweet.  To live a year without deadlines and community commitments is refreshing to say the least, but all are glad to be home....

 .....hanging with friends...

 ...hiking near Nakusp...

 ...camping in a different way

 ...down sizing....

 ...and more.

Here is the property we've been blessed to live on for nearly 8 years ( the one with the bush and the field).  You can see one reason we looked forward to being back home.  Our year was truly amazing!  We saw and did so many once in a lifetime type things, and we met so many wonderful people.  We are humbled to think of how blessed we've been to have taken this journey.  I know we've grown closer as a family, and I thank God for how he's kept us through this time.

 From here to Cape Spear, and fairly far south, what a wonderful land

Thanks for following our blog.
Brent

Vancouver Island

Jake's birthday was at home and friends were willing to party on short notice.

We got taxes finished and headed for Vancouver Island.

 Waiting in line for the Nanaimo ferry we met a techno gull.....We thought it was a male but then it read the instructions and blew our theory.......

 and on the back of a moving truck there was a guy with a skin issue.

 We met with Yvette's brothers family, and all of us were invited to the Hollenbergs' for supper.

 Their kids entertained ours with their potato canon.

We had a great visit and lots of good food before heading out.

 The mountains near Campbell River look like they belong to the island.
Token favourite car.

 It was great to see Yvette's bro and family.

 They were able to come with us to our legislature....

 which is definitely one of the most beautiful.

 The gold guy is Captain Vancouver.  I vote for him as the new captain for the canucks.

 Janna got to meet Queen Victoria...

 ...and Sir James Douglas.

Cousins wait patiently while siblings fight to the death for the first drink at the fountain.

 The man from Grenada was fine on the steel drums

 Meanwhile over in Costa Rica....

 Tori was enjoying a whole different culture.

 And not enjoying the jellyfish stings.

 But enjoying a good torrential downpour.

 and rush hour traffic

 and sunsets

and feeding crocs.

 and avoiding potholes.

 and seeing leatherbacks come up the beach to lay their eggs.

 We finally got complete as a family again on July 10th.

 We checked out Siwash rock,  met with several old friends including Maria and Tina....

... and then home again home again jiggety jig.
But not before getting a little car in Nanaimo.
We go back to the farm tomorrow (July 29th) and we do finally feel ready to live in a home with no wheels again.  We've gone from 1 to 4 insured vehicles at present.  Anyone want to buy a great truck and trailer?  Isn't it high time you took a year off?

About one more entry to come.

Through Jasper and Mt. Robson

We got to visit old friends in Hinton, and then it was on to Jasper for some sights and light hikes.

 Jasper the bear is not the original.

 A walk at Maligne Canyon.

Is this cable really safe?

We feel such liberty being in the mountains again!

Inukshuks are easier to build dead than alive.

The original Jasper bear is at the bottom of the tram.

We stayed overnight at Mt. Robson so we could get in a walk to Kinney Lk.

Rainy, but beautiful.

Lots of dogwoods welcomed us home to BC.

Camping at Barriere Lk.

We got home on July 1, 15 minutes into the parade.  The kids didn't want to miss our own Canada Day thing.

I have to admit I enjoy it too.

Jake got to play hamster and try to knock over his mom.

I've got a couple more entries because we're not quite there.  I'll be blogging about our own Vancouver Island, Tori's side trip to Costa Rica, and transitioning back into real life.  This is a bitter sweet time.