Yes, alive…sort of

For the many of you inquiring, “are you guys still alive?”, the answer is, “Yes, alive…sort of.”

The cliché answer is “We’ve been pretty busy.” I think the reality is that we’re both busy and tired. It’s that time of year. So in the next week or so, we’re going to take a break and get away. We haven’t taken a long weekend or a vacation since Christmas, so it’s about time to do so. Hopefully that’ll bring us back to the energy level where we’re putting stuff on this blog more consistently.

So Kaelyn is currently putting four different balls (one being a basketball) on top of Zoe. Zoe, for her part, isn’t moving. So either she’s dead or she’s a very patient dog. Oh, now the balls are being rolled over and off Zoe’s body. Oh what fun to be a child. And a dog.

So lately we’ve seen more people leave Hinton. With all the oil stuff, lots of people are coming in, and lots of people are leaving. Our friends here in Hinton have headed out to the sticks in northern B.C. where there is gold and diamonds to be mined. Gold, I tell ya! It’s “break-up” season around here, meaning oil workers are now home more consistently, making a little less money, and doing a whole lot less. My friend Josh, who works in the oil patch, spent the last two days rescrubbing his truck floor (around 10-12 times) until his inspector told him it was clean enough. I think that’s what they call “keep ‘em busy.”

As for us, we’re looking forward to the next few months. It doesn’t look like I’ll be heading to Nicaragua (or Anaheim for that matter) this year, since Michelle has finished up her tutoring job. That’s okay though, because I think there are other things in store for us coming down the pipe. We’re into our evaluation season, whatever that means, but we are going to take the next little while a little bit easier. That was supposed to start this week, but we’re helping those friends move so we’re both pretty exhausted.

Kaelyn is a huge blessing during this whole busyness. We’ve hung out all day today (at the office too). She’s now learned ‘tank ooo’ (thank you), dere ah bitta (There, all better…usually comes after a kiss), and she’s into full-repeat mode. So yes, everyone, careful how you phrase things. You will hear them again. Kaelyn’s a pretty big goof too. She’ll give kisses all day, but then when it comes to bed time, it becomes a game to try and kiss her – one that could possibly last all night if you let it. Kaelyn and I will probably head out for another walk around the town here. Daddy/daughter time is great.

Just to throw this out there for those of you who need to laugh. Courtesy of cute babies everywhere. Watch it five times and see if you don't smile.

So to the many of you inquiring what rock we’ve crawled under, we’ll try and get caught up with you and see where things are at. For now, here’s my attempt at catching up around here.

Dere. Ah bitta.