Winter Picnic

Today we went with David and Freida Herschberger on a winter picnic. They came out to our house and we went from here by snowmobile. The children and I took a load of firewood out to a nearby lake shore point before they arrived. When they came we loaded everyone on the two snowmobiles and the sled and headed out.

After about a 10 minute ride we arrived at the lake and started the fire. Dallas and David went out with snowshoes and made a fox and geese track in the snow on the lake. After lunch we all played fox and geese for a little.

We cut some sticks and roasted smokies over the fire. We had cookies, chips and tea. It was a great lunch, but a little hard to eat with gloves or mitts on. We arrived at the lake just after noon and we left about 2:00 PM. the high temperature this afternoon was about minus 22 Celsius. It wasn't very windy, but there was a bit of a breeze which added some windchill to the temperature.

We had a fun time and everyone enjoyed the afternoon. It was a clear, sunny day and the lake was beautiful.

This afternoon after we had returned home, one of my friends from up North phoned me. He asked me what I was doing today. I told him that we had gone out for a winter picinic with David and Freida Herschberger. He said, "You did what?". I told him again that we went for a winter picnic. He asked, "Where did you go?". I told him we went by skidoo to a nearby lake and had weiners, cookies and tea. His reply was, "You white people are absolutely crazy! You're not supposed to do that kind of thing in this kind of weather!".

This is the point where we had our winter picnic.

This is lunch time. Elaine is roasting a marshmellow.

More lunch time. Dallas has his marshmellows ready to go.

This is David and Dallas getting the fox and geese course ready with their snowshoes.

Well actually, before we ate lunch the children thought the dog was getting cold, so they took him home on the skidoo. Here Dallas has him wrapped in a blanket by the fire to try and keep him warm.

Here we are getting ready for lunch.

Holiday Activities and Guests

With the past week being Christmas week, we had a lot of holiday activities and guests. Jennifer and Darren were were from Tuesday to Sunday. We really enjoyed our time with them. They are now on their way to San Francisco. Jennifer starts her job there next Monday.

On Boxing Day we had Charlotte, Angel and Patrick here for Supper. Angel is now a year old and walking around. We also were babysitting Angel on Saturday and Sunday while Charlotte was working. Elaine and Dallas enjoy playing with their little niece.

Sunday Nick and Naomi Stoltzfus came out in the afternoon with some of their family. We sent snowmobiling and did some sliding at the gravel pit.

On the left is Naomi's sister Elizabeth with Nick and Naomi's son Tyrell. On the right is Elaine with her niece, Angel.

Here are Elaine, Dallas, Charlotte, Angel and Patrick opening Christmas gifts.

Edith and Charlotte made a gingerbread house.

This is Angel wearing a Christmas outfit.

A Christmas picture of Charlotte, Patrick, Elaine, Angel and Dallas.

Christmas Day

We had a good day together today for Christmas. We opened presents in the morning. We played some games, read some books and generally relaxed. It was cold this morning (-25 with -34 wind chill), but it is supposed to get warmer over night and snow tomorrow.

Yesterday Elaine, Dallas, Darren and I took the snowmobiles in to town. We gassed them up and had coffee and hot chocolate and then returned home. We got two gas cans filled with gas to bring home. On the way home Dallas and I overturned on a hill and both of us and both of the gas cans wound up in the snow bank. Nobody was hurt and the gas cans didn't leak, so all was well.

This evening we are going in to go sliding at Blueberry Hill with Nick and Naomi Stoltzfus and Naomi's mother and sister. Nick and Naomi are visiting from Colorado, so it will be nice to see them again.

This appears to be the reading room. I actually started a fire in the fireplace today. We probably only use it once or twice a year. It was nice to have a fire for Christmas.

Dallas spent many hours today working on putting together the Lego set he received for Christmas. It has a lot of pieces and four instruction books to cover all the assembly. By late this afternoon he was almost finished with it.

Christmas Feast and Caroling

Today we had our annual Christmas feast at lunch time at church. We had a wonderful meal and a good time of fellowship. It was great to spend some time together visiting and eating. The main meat dishes were ham, turkey and moose meat. Then there was stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy and salads. I won't even mention the deserts!

After the feast we went Christmas caroling. We went to two of the homes for seniors here in Sioux Lookout, and then to both hospitals. We had a nice sized group for caroling. It was cold, about minus 25 with a windchill of minus 34. It was nice that we were not doing any outdoor caroling. I found out a few years ago that a group can sing Silent Night quite quickly when the temperature is minus 30 or below.

We are in the Christmas break from school now. The children will be working on convention projects and Dallas wants to make a few things to sell at the school auction again this year. He wants to make another train similar to the one we made last year.

Tuesday Nyal Beachy is planning to come out and go snowmobiling with us. Wednesday Jennifer and Darren are planning to arrive. We are excited about having them with us for Christmas.

Here we are getting ready to sing at the 7th Avenue Hospital.

Here are Gaetano and Walter chatting after the Christmas Feast.

This is Jessie Lyon telling me another interesting story.

Here is Edith talking with Anne Rae.

Christmas Events

We are in the series of events that normally precede Christmas. Tuesday evening we attended the Foster Parent Christmas Dinner. It was held at Moosehorn Lodge. We had a great meal and they had a singer there for entertainment after the meal. Her name is Shy-Anne Hovorka. She had been a foster child herself and is now taking a break from her teaching career to pursue a music career.

Last evening we attended the Cornerstone Christian School Christmas Program. They did the play known as, "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever". They did a good job with it. It was well attended too.

By the way, Elaine, Dallas and I all passed the Canadian Firearms Safety Course. We did the written and the practical exams on Sunday and all three passed both exams. Now we are watching for a Hunter safety course to be offered. Maybe we can all three pass that as well. Elaine and Dallas don't really need one unless they want to hunt outside of their treaty area. It might be nice for them to have it just in case they want to do that sometime.

Tomorrow the children have a Christmas party at school. Then at lunch time they are off for the Christmas break. They go back to school on January 5.

Here is the Angel of the Lord appearing to the shepherds. Dallas is the shepherd on the far left.

This is the choir singing Christmas carols.

Here are the wisemen and the shepherds at the manger with Mary and Joseph.

Saturday

Today Elaine, Dallas and I spent the day at the Canadian Firearms Safety Course. It started at 9:00 AM and went until 5:00 PM. It was actually an interesting course to take. I'm glad I decided to take it with them. I suppose handling firearms is like driving or anything else you do for years and years. A person tends to get careless with things that you should not be careless about. The course has a nice mix of lectures and practical hands on handling of guns.

We take our exams tomorrow and then find out if we actually passed the course. I think we should all three pass. There is a written exam and then a practical exam. So, by the end of tomorrow afternoon we should know if we have passed the course.

This evening we went to the Ashawaabic Ministries Christmas Feast. It was good to see a lot of people there that we do not get to see very often. The children had a youth activity last night, so they got home late and didn't get very much sleep last night. For that reason, we left the feast before the program was finished and are trying to get them to bed earlier tonight.

Another rare event happened last evening. When the children are gone Edith and I sometimes play Scrabble. The last time we played she beat me by over 100 points. I think in the last ten games we have played she has won seven of them. Last evening I got all the high counting letters except the "Z". I actually won the game! Amazing! Now, was it skill or was it simply the chance of the draw that gave me almost all the high counting letters?

Festival of Carols

Yesterday the Sioux Lookout Community Choir presented their Festival of Carols program. They had a concert at 2:00 PM and another at 7:00 PM. Edith sang in the adult choir and Elaine in the Children's choir.

It was a good program. It is encouraging that so much around Christmas still contains the basic elements of the Gospel message. The auditorium was filled for both of their programs. I had to feel that people who don't hear the Gospel message very often must have been in the audience at both concerts.

Elaine enjoyed being in the children's choir. Next year she will be old enough to be in the adult choir.

This is the Sioux Lookout Community Choir.

The children's choir was just getting ready to present their part of the program.

Canadian Firearms Safety Course

This morning I finally got Elaine, Dallas and I registered for a Canadian Firearms Safety Course. For some reason it seems really, really hard to get into these courses here in Northwestern Ontario. I have been trying for over a year and have not been able to get into a course.

In October I contacted an instructor in Thunder Bay. He holds a course every month. I wanted to register us for the course in December. He said his next available slot in a course was in March 2009. That was only possible because he was operating two courses in March.

There was also a course advertised in the paper for Hudson. When I phoned and ask to register, the lady just laughed. She said they are taking 20 students and they already have about 20 people on the waiting list.

So, when the course was advertised in the Sioux Lookout Bulletin yesterday, I rushed in this morning to register. I have never taken the course myself, so I am planning to take it as well. When the new laws came in for the Firearms Possession License I wasn't required to take the course or the test in order to own the guns I already have. Now that the children are taking the course, I might as well do it too.

Now, if I can get the children into a Hunter Safety Course then we should have two more hunters in the household. I'm not sure that will increase the amount of meat in the freezer that much. So far this year I have shot three grouse. So, if you triple that we should have nine grouse.

This week we were taking care of Arianna and Hannah, two girls from our church. Hannah is six. She wanted me to time how long she could stand still. When she managed 40 seconds she was elated. This was her comment, "Can you imagine a little kid being able to stand still for 40 seconds?"