Happy New Year for 2007 from The Marsden's

Wow...how time flies! 2006 was a great year! We did lots of fun things, saw lots of friends, travelled to new places and enjoyed all of it. We started off in the spring when we travelled back to the okanagan to pack some more of our belongings from our Summerland home. We stopped and visited Mom and Dad then went over to Donna's farm and visited with her and Craig and Beth. In August, we sold the Summerland house and Gary and a buddy took the kids back for a visit and finished packing up the rest of our stuff.

Here's a picture of Kyra and Kurt with Mom and Dad when we visited at spring break.




We did lots of landscaping in the back yard. Hired a bobcat guy to come in and level out the back, installed sod, fabric, roses, trees, kids wooden fort, sandbox with roof, interlocking block patio, vegie garden for kids and perennials. Sure looks beautiful. 100% useable space now. We plan on installing a boardwalk along the far left of the picture where the creek runs and maybe a gazebo and some new decking along the house. Hope to paint the house and frame in the double garage. Time will tell. Reno'd the downstairs and it looks fantastic now. Made the bathroom bigger, wood stove and two extra bedrooms. Now have 5 bedrooms up and down. Having the extra rooms for office space etc is priceless.

Here's a picture of camp from up on the highway. What a wonderful place to spend weekends and days just relaxing and visiting with friends.

Here's a snapshot of Kyra and Kurt playing inside the cabin. They sure had a great summer out here and Gary and I did too! We bought them a blow-up sea-doo with a little electric motor on it and they toured around the beaches and had lots of fun. Kurt loved his fly fishing rod and practiced inside and outside the cabin. Kyra has some playmates from school stay in trailers at camp all summer so the kids were kept busy. Camping at the cabin on the beach was breathtaking some nights when the sunsets were glowing yellow and gold. How magnificent.

Kyra and Kurt rough-housing around at home on the livingroom floor and laughing like kids do. Kyra will be 7 this June and Kurt turned 4 a few weeks ago. How time flies when you have kids. Both of them are taking skating lessons. Kyra has a good handle on it but Kurt takes about 15 minutes go get from one end of the rink to the other. Not worried about him as he'll be faster than Kyra by next year. Kyra is in Sparks and has 7 of her little classmates in Sparks with her. The girls have a great time in and out of school together. Kurtis is busy with Playgroup and his little buddies. Seems I've got little feet running around me all day and night. The summer flew by and we visited with lots of family and friends. Fall arrived so quickly and Halloween was here before we knew it.

Here's a picture of Kurtis at Halloween. He couldn't decide between being Batman, Spiderman or Superman. He chose this costume because he liked to show off his "pipes". He's such a character!

Kyra wanted to be a wicked witch so this is what she ended up looking like. The kids went to the local rec center for fun night then travelled the local streets around the neighborhood. This year was Gary's turn to travel with the kids.

Well, this is the end of 2006. We did lots this year and had a really fun time. Our little home town has turned out to be a really great place to live and the kids are doing awesome. We did lots on the inside of the house and lots of landscaping in the back yard. I spent tons of time at the cabin on the lake and the kids played with their buddies and swam and fished lots. Gary was out at camp when not at work. We will be doing the same in 2007 so book some holidays and come out and join us. My business 'Buy The Hour Child Care' is doing fantastic. I've got lots of little tykes and parents that are thoroughly enjoying their time here and away. I get to spend time with my kids and have fun with the others and still have time with grown-ups too. Couldn't ask for more. I officially retired from the Federal Government after 20 years. Gary's busy with work, as usual, and things are progressing really well now. They are hoping to get a new plant installed here so time will tell. This picture is taken at Gary's work party just before Christmas.

So, hope you all have a wonderful 2007 that is filled with lots of fond memories and happy and healthy times! Take care of yourselves and your familes. With love and hugs, the Marsdens.