We have been busy being tourists in our own city for this year’s tourism challenge. So far we have visited many of Vancouver’s attractions and it’s always nice to remember how beautiful the city really is! The challenge: We have the month of May to visit at least 15 attractions and 5 hotels, once we get all the stamps at those locations we will have free admittance to tourist attractions for a year.

We’ve spent the last few weekends on the Sunshine Coast with my mom & Bob.

Kerstin and the kids flew down from Prince Rupert. Evan and I picked them up at the airport, and we somehow fit everyone/everything in the car. While Kerstin stayed at the Coast for nearly 3 weeks, I only stayed for the weekends and went back every week to work (or not – the faculty was on strike for a few days, but that’s another story….).

Doris arrived here in Vancouver the following week. I picked her up at the airport and we had ourselves the nicest day together. We started off with a nice lunch, were welcomed by streets lined with cherry trees in full bloom, and went on a big hike here in the forest.

Now everyone is back at home and we’re planning the next visit 😉

Easter nests on the Sunshine Coast looks a little different 😉

Hiking home after work, breathing clean air, admiring the first signs of Spring. That’s life on the North Shore. It took well over a year to adjust and I was always prepared to run away to find something better. Turns out, it isn’t so bad after all.

About 4 years ago I was in the middle of my graduating project, a book club with my coworkers at Pooh Corner. I had beautiful conversations not only at work, but also with the other grad students at Capilano University. If you had told me back then that within a few years I would join a book club with my (now) colleagues at Cap, I probably wouldn’t have believed you. And yet, here I am on a Saturday morning on the rainy North Shore preparing for our first book club meeting next week. Life just keeps getting better.

Still as happy as 9 1/2 years ago. We had a great weekend, enjoyed the sunshine and each other’s company, and even played the guitar/ukulele!

I think I finally arrived in Canada.

We basically spent the whole month of February with Amie and Jared, our best people.

They will be in the Cook Islands for the next few months for missionary work. We will miss them often 🙁