It's winter in North Idaho

Hello everyone,

The weather is quite cold here in St. Maries. Today is a dreary, cloudy day with a temperature of 22F (-6C). It is forecast to start snowing again this afternoon. We did have about 8 inches (20cm) of snow outside, but a warm rainstorm came in and melted most of it. Since then, it's just been cold, with last night getting down to 14F(-10C).

Things are going well here. Hannalize's work, like always, is keeping her very busy. Joel's work has slowed a bit due to some seasonal shut-downs in the forest, but it will be starting back up again soon. He has been very busy with school, often spending 3-4 hours each night on studying. His first term of classes finished well, and he is taking accounting and marketing this term. He is enjoying the marketing much more than the accounting.

Hannalize is leaving Tuesday for Portland for a few days. She'll get back on Friday. She has several meetings and the annual Gerber Christmas party while she is there.

Both of us are getting very excited for our trip to South Africa. We're leaving on December 22, and we'll get back to St. Maries on January 14. Joel's parents will fly in and stay at the house to take care of the dogs and keep the pipes from freezing. We will attend Hannalize's sister's wedding, and visit lots of family and friends. We're also looking forward to seeing some summer weather and escaping the cold and snow. We fly Spokane-Seattle-London-Cape Town. On the way back, we fly Durban-Johannesburg-London-Seattle-Spokane.

Here's a few pictures of the dogs and the snow....

Until next time,

Joel & Hannalize

Blare, blare, blare

Hi Almal,

Dis weer sulke tyd van die jaar en die blare is al amper almal op die grond... Hierdie jaar het dit vinniger as laas jaar gegaan met die hulp van 'n bietjie wind. Kla nie juis daaroor nie, beteken ons hoef minder kere te hark! Hier is 'n foto sodat julle darem kan sien hoe baie blare ons het...


En hier is 'n foto van al die blare toe hulle nog in die boom was...


Die honde geniet ook die blare...


Verder glo Roxy dat sy nou juffrou genoeg is om tydig en ontydig op die bank te sit... As sy gedurende die dag net so stil-stil weg raak dan kan jy maar weet - sy is op die bank... Ek en Joel voel te sleg om haar "bubble" te bars. Jip, die honde is erg bederf!


Nie veel ander nuus nie. Joel se MBA hou hom erg besig, maar hy is darem al amper 14% klaar daarmee volgens hom. Ek was hierdie week weer onder in Portland.

O ja, ek en Joel is baie gemotiveerd om darem beter te lyk as ons einde van die jaar in SA aankom... Joel het al 10kg verloor en ek 6.5kg. Het nog 'n bietjie om te gaan, maar die vordering is goed genoeg om ons gemotiveerd te hou!

Nou ja, dis eers al uit 'n koue Idaho - jip, dit was vanoggend -7C en dis nog net herfs!!! Waar le die winter nog...

Groete
Joel & Hannalize

Nog nuwe foto's

Hallo almal,

Ons het uiteindelik nuwe foto's om op die blog te sit. Die somer is verby hier in Noord Idado en ons het al die eerste kaggel van die jaar gemaak - dis ten minste goedkoper as die olie waarmee die verhittingstelsel werk. Ons kon vadag ook die eerste sneeu op die berge sien - definitief baie vroeer as verlede jaar. Die weervoorspellers voorspel 'n baie swaar sneeujaar vir ons - sal lekker kan ski!

Ons het nou ook die eerste foto's van Cola, ons nuwe kat wat ons 5/6 weke terug aangeneem het. Hy is na die veearts toe gevat om uitgesit te word, maar hy is darem net te mooi om uit te sit... hy eindig toe by ons op en op hierdie stadium is hy darem al meer tuis in die huis, veral as die honde buite is. Hy sukkel nog om aan die honde gewoond te raak, maar hopelik sal hulle darem eendag in vrede kan saamleef...

Dis eers al nuus uit Idaho. Mooi bly aan almal!

Groete

Joel & Hannalize

Nuwe foto's

Hallo Almal!

Hier gaan dit goed. Ons het 'n bedrywige naweek agter die rug, maar dit lyk my dis maar hoe dit hier in St Maries gaan... Vir 'n klein dorpie is hier vreeslik baie om ons mee besig te hou. Ons het Saterdag aan die huis gewerk en het baie gedoen gekry. Sal egter nog baie naweke vat voordat die huis is soos wat ons dit wil he, maar ons maak darem vordering.

Ons was 'n paar naweke terug in Oregon vir 'n Slate familie reunie. Het baie lekker gekuier. Dit is maar ver om vir 'n naweek te gaan. Die cabin was nog net soos wat dit afgebrand het, maar binnekort sal die bouwerk aan die nuwe cabin begin...

Ons laai weer 'n paar foto's wat ons die afgelope ruk geneem het. Die bokke was by die cabin waar hulle in die kamp ingekom het om te kom eet en die boom vol skoene was erens langs die pad tussen Oregon en Idaho. Die ander twee foto's is hier by die huis geneem. Op die een foto eet die honde roomys en die ander foto is op ons dek geneem waar ons die suikerbekkies voer.

Nou ja, dis slaaptyd hier. ..

Mooi bly!

Joel & Hannalize

Uiteidelik...

Hallo almal!

Dis weer 'n slag tyd vir 'n Afrikaanse blog...

Hier gaan dit goed. Ons somer is veronderstel om al amper hier te wees, maar vandag is 'n lekker nat en koue dag. Dis 11C, maar dit klink darem of dit hierdie week lekker warm gaan wees.

Ons was so 'n ruk terug by 'n Country konsert in Spokane. Het vir Brad Paisley, Taylor Swift, Kelli Pickler en Jack Ingram gesien. Ons het natuurlik ons kamera vergeet, maar Joel het darem sy selfoon by hom gehad, so ons kon foto's daarmee neem. Ons sal 'n paar foto's op die blog sit...

Joel het hierdie week gehoor hy is aanvaar by die besigheidskool van sy keuse om sy MBA te doen. Hy gaan dit deur Indiana University doen wat 'n "Division 1" skool is. Hy moet in Augustus vir 'n week soontoe gaan, in Indianapolis. Daarna is alles oor die internet. Hy is vreeslik opgewonde en kan nie meer wag nie.

Dit gaan goed met die honde. Roxy is vandag 2 jaar oud. Kan nie glo ons het haar al so lank nie.

Hier is nie eintlik veel nuus nie. Wens ons was hierdie week in SA om saam met almal te kon gaan jag!

Groete

Joel & Hannalize

Spring is here

Hi everybody,

Sorry for the long time between updates. The weather is getting better and therefore it is getting harder and harder to stay inside. We had a couple of days in the 80's already (26C).

Hannalize is just about done with her EMT class and has been getting some good experience on the ambulance. She is looking forward to finishing up. She has also been very busy with work which never seems to slow down. Joel has been busy with work too and what seems like an endless stream of meetings.

As always, the dogs are keeping us very busy. Nika is growing very fast and now weighs 43 lbs (20kg). As we write this, Roxy is trying to eat one of her stuffed animals, which now has a big hole in the back of it's head. Fortunately, Nika has grown enough that is harder for her to escape from the yard. The 2 dogs get along very well and stay busy with each other. This is a big relief, since we no longer have to entertain Roxy 24/7.

Hannalize has done a very good job of getting our garden into shape. She has planted beautiful flowers and some tomatoes. The rest of our vegetables will go into the ground next weekend. With the nice weather, we have had a lot of fun working together outside. Due to the size of our yard, it will still be a while before we have everything the way we want it. In the mean time we are having fun!

With the weather getting better and the days getting longer, we are spending more time with friends over the weekends. Saturday night we enjoyed dinner with friends overlooking the river.

Attached are a few photos we took lately.

'Til next time...

Joel and Hannalize

Beautiful Spring Days

Hello everyone,

It is getting to be a beautiful spring in North Idaho. Today was 75F (24C). The sunshine was beautiful. Hannalize had Good Friday off, and it was also a beautiful day, so she spent the whole day working outside. The previous owners didn't do the best job of maintaining their landscaping, so it is turning into a big job to get it straightened out.

Work is going good for both of us. Joel was in Corvallis, OR this week for a conference. He got to visit with several friends from South Africa, and also many other friends and associates. Hannalize is busy with her EMT class and doing very well. She has been on duty for two shifts but hasn't had any calls yet. Joel's friday night ambulance shift has also been quite slow the last few weeks. Today, we had a class from the local helicopter ambulance on landing zone safety. Hannalize won a very nice hat in the door prize drawing.

The dogs are doing very well. Nika is growing like a weed. She has taught Roxy how to dig under the fence, so it has been a project to try to keep the yard "secure". Tonight, as we sat in the hot tub, Roxy got very wet as she attempted to get her floating toy whale out of the tub.

Hannalize has began to experiment with glass painting that looks like stained glass. The picture above is the upstairs bathroom window. I think it turned out terrific..!!! She is enjoying it.

Tomorrow, we are having easter dinner with our small group from church.

Congratulations to Anneke and Willis on their engagement. We are very happy for you, and we are looking forward to the wedding.

That's about it for now...

- Joel & Hannalize

Foto's

Hallo almal!

Joel is nie hier nie en ek vat die kans om 'n slag die blog in Afrikaans te skryf. Hier by ons is die lente definitief in die lug. Ek was hierdie week onder in Portland en daar blom die daffodille al en is die bome vol bloeisels. Hier in Idaho sal ons nog bietjie moet wag vir die daffodille en bloeisels, maar ons is oppad...

Ek laai 'n paar foto's wat ek vanmiddag van die honde geneem het. Nika is al yslik groot en sy en Roxy speel te heerlik - tot my en Joel se verligting, want voorheen moes ons vir Roxy "entertain". Die 2 honde hou van kattekwaad, het in een dag 2X my bolle uitgegrawe! Het my gedwing om 'n ander plan te maak...

Nie te veel ander nuus nie...

Groete
Hannalize

New addition to family...

Hi everybody,

This is a blog to show the new addition to our family! We picked Nika up this afternoon... She is the cutest little puppy and looks just like Roxy did at that age. We were 3rd in line for her and things worked out that we could have her. Roxy is very excited about the new pup and just wants to play. Both dogs' tails were wagging like crazy when they met each other.

The snow in St Maries melted quite a lot over the last week or so, but since this afternoon it is snowing again. It is a wet snow and hopefully won't be too thick in the morning...

Joel is going down to Eugene, Oregon this week for a logging conference. He got his Idaho engineering license last week after he passed his math course a while back. Hannalize will be starting the EMT course this week that will last until May 19.

Well, not too much other news. Just wanted to share Nika with everybody.

Joel & Hannalize

Even more snow...

Hi Everybody,

We are not feeling overly creative tonight in writing... It has been a long couple of weeks and we can't seem to get enough time to relax. There are so many things to do...

We have a few photos that we want to share of the snow we received on Friday night and most of Saturday. The snow is the deepest that it has been this year. Last week we had a very cold spell, with temperetures going as low as -14F (-25C)! We only had one pipe that froze and we were lucky enough that it didn't brake.

That is all for this week! Enjoy the pictures!

Love
Joel & Hannalize

PS Gelukkig was ek in Florida toe St Maries die erg koue weer gehad het, anders het ek net dalk my ou tassies gepak en teruggekeer na sonnige Suid-Afrika!!!

Soos julle kan sien op die foto's is daar geen sneeu op Joel se bakkie se bonnet nie. Sy bakkie word "ingeplug" en dit hou die water in die enjin warm... Sodoende kry jy die diesel enjin ten minste gestart in die koue weer.

More snow...

Hi everybody,

It is definitely still winter here in St Maries. It has been snowing a lot lately. Our snow started on Friday afternoon and it snowed 4 in. (11cm) by early Saturday morning. Saturday was a gorgeous sunny day, but the snow returned during the night with 2 more in. (5cm) last night and 2 more in. (5cm) today before it started raining. This coming week it is forecasted to be very cold.

Hannalize returned from a trip to Wisconsin on Friday and will be leaving for Florida on Tuesday (with warmer weather...) The upcoming trip will be a busy one, as it is the biggest trade show for outdoor recreation in the world. Joel has been busy with work and ambulance stuff. He will be doing his practical exams on Saturday and then must go and do the written exam after that. He is enjoying the ambulance very much! Joel finished his Calculus the day after Xmas and is now waiting on the results - he is very glad to be done!!!

We are enjoying life in St Maries and are more and more glad we made the move! We have made some really good (and nice) friends and have been able to get involved in the community. It seems like there is always new things to do, but not enough time to do everything.

With the weather as it is, we decided to buy a treadmill to stay in shape... Joel also has a nice weightlifting bench and between these two we should be able to do something about ourselves..!!

The picture with all the Xmas lights was taken at a house on the outskirts of St Maries. While we were there, there was a huge buck walking through the light displays! Our Xmas lights were not near as impesssive, but they were still fun!

We are including a few photos of the fresh snow, including one of us being brave and sitting in the hot tub. Joel was complaing that the snow is cold to walk on barefoot!

Until a next time.

Love,
Joel & Hannalize