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

Winter Time...

Hi everyone,

It sure is winter here! Since we last wrote, we have had lots of snow and ice. It was below freezing for 2 weeks straight. The snow was about 11 in. (27.5cm). This last week we had warmer weather and the snow is settling. We got the deck cleared off and now have snow of about hip heigth all along the side of the deck. Our days are nice and sunny and we are enjoying every moment of it. We really do not miss the Oregon rain and clouds. As can be seen in one of the pictures, we had quite large icicles on the side of the house.

Yesterday, to celebrate our 2nd anniversary, we drove out to the woods and cut down a Xmas tree. It was a lot of fun looking for the one that we want. Since the trees in the wild have not been manicured like the ones at a Xmas tree farm, it is not as thick. We decided on a Grand Fir. All our Xmas lights are up on the house, although we still need to put some outside lights up, but haven't had the chance yet.

As I am writing this, Roxy is sleeping on Joel's lap and is snoring loudly!!! Definitely an only child and enjoying every moment of it!

Joel got to go on his first ambulance call last Friday morning at 3am. He enjoyed it a lot and had to take the patients blood pressure and assist him with oxygen. Joel is looking forward to being done with the EMT class in mid January.

Hannalize is going down to Portland this week for meetings and the company Xmas party. Joel and Roxy will keep each other company...

We are posting some photos that we took while out to find the Xmas tree.

Love,
Joel and Hannalize

Thanksgiving

Hi everybody!

It's been a snowy Thanksgiving weekend here in Northern Idaho. Our snowfall started at 4 pm on Thursday and it feels as if it is snowing ever since. We have about 5 in. (12.5cm) on the ground by the house and heavy snow is forecast for tonight. The tempereature will drop to 0F (-18C) on Tuesday. Fortunately we have lots of firewood and the house is well insulated. We are enjoying the snow and Roxy is too!

Thanksgiving dinner was very good. We enjoyed a ham instead of a turkey this year. The ham came from our pig that we bought at the County Fair. We have been busy finding new ways to use leftover ham in the last few days...

We had to make a trip to the Emergency Room this afternoon for Joel. Joel took on a Gerber camp axe, but came in second... It was a pretty bad cut and he needed stiches. We are now praying that the end of his finger will reatach itself again. He will see the surgeon on Tuesday morning for a follow-up to see how the finger is doing. According to Joel it sounds a lot worse than it is... The bone was missed, so it is only a flesh wound.

We had some ice this morning. For those of you in South Africa, the ice on the road was over a cm thick and the roads are then very slippery. There has been non-stop accidents today of people slipping off the road into ditches. With the ice on the roads, we couldn't even get to church and were stuck at the house the whole day - until we had to drive to the hospital!!!

Thats is all for this week.. We are attaching a few photos again. Enjoy!

Love
Joel and Hannalize

Hunting season is on..!!

Hello everyone,

Things are moving along here in North Idaho. Hannalize just got back from a week in Portland at her head office. She had lots of meetings and got to stay at a fancy hotel. It's sure nice to have her home, though. Joel has been busy with work and a few classes that he is taking. He's looking forward to next week's 4-day weekend for the Thanksgiving Holiday.

Hannalize is trying to get her buck. Hunting season runs until December 1st and the animals are rutting right now, so hopefully tomorrow will be the big day. The picture above is from last weekend's hunting trip up in the snow. We saw 10 does, but Hannalize passed up on all of them since she is looking for the big one.

The weather is nice this weekend. We had some very cold and snowy weather the last few weeks, but it's nice right now. It has been quite cold at night and we have had a very nice fire burning most days and nights. One nice thing about Joel working in the timber industry is that we have no shortage of free firewood.

Today, we worked in the garden and built a nice flowerbed that will go on the side of the house. After we got done working in the garden, we drove into Coeur d'Alene and did some grocery shopping....with a lot of impulse shopping also. Tonight, we're just going to relax in front of the TV.

Enjoy the pictures and we'll post some of Hannalize's big buck soon...!!

- Joel & Hannalize

Empty House...

Hallo everybody!

It's been a while since we last visited and lots has happened. The house seems very quiet now after Hannalize's parents were here for a visit. They were here with us for just over 3 weeks and a busy 3 weeks it was. We showed them around St Maries and North Idaho, before we took a trip down to Oregon. We visited with Joel's parents at the cabin and made a trip to the Cowboy Dinner Tree for their world famous giant steaks. We were thankful that we went to the cabin, because unfortunately the cabin burned down the next weekend. Thankfully, no one was there and no one got hurt.

With the labour that was flown in from South Africa, we were able to get a number of projects done around the house. Several more rooms have been painted, new shelves have been put up and large amounts of leaves were raked.

Here in Idaho, hunting is in full swing. Both Joel and Hannalize's dad shot Whitetail Deer and Joel has shot many Grouse. After hanging for a few days, the deer were cut up and lots of biltong has been made and is hanging in the garage. the rest of the meat is in the freezer, either in the form of mince meat ("hamburger") or boerewors (sausages). The venison makes wonderful biltong and wors and we have been indulging in it. For the Americans reading this, biltong is a South African type of dried meat, similar to jerky, but also different....very, very good..!!!

As can be seen in the above photo, Hannalize's dad and Roxy both enjoyed watching the History Channel very, very much while they were here visiting. We're not sure if Roxy was as interested in the program content as much as she was interested in the cheez-its that were located next to the couch.

On Oct 30th, we woke up to a white St Maries. The first snowfall of the season, while light, was quite beautiful. We had a week of very cold weather, as cold as -13C/9F. Is has warmed up and has started raining, but more snow is expected by the end of the week. We have been burning a lot of firewood... Joel got his new weather station installed today and we can now measure temp, wind speed, rainfall, and barometric pressure from the warmth of our dining room.

Hannalize will be traveling back to Oregon next week for work. Joel has been busy with ambulance training and his math class that he must do to get his Idaho Engineering license. Not too much other news, but keep checking back and we will have some pictures of the first big snowfall soon...

Joel and Hannalize

Before and After.....Grasshopper Wing...

Hello everyone,

Well, we've been busy putting "our" touches on the house....There are plenty of projects for us to do, and we have been trying to prioritize them. We've painted the walk-in closet and put up nice wire shelves, Hannalize painted the laundry room and it looks far, far better. She has also been very busy taking down wallpaper in the kitchen and dining room. As can be imagined, several layers of wallpaper can cover up some interesting "repairs" to the walls...It's very interesting what some people consider an acceptable repair job. Overall, the house is in very good shape, there are just a number of cosmetic things that we want to change.

Last weekend, Hannalize totally repainted the sitting room. It was a boring white with some old, dirty very frilly and lacy curtains. Since that wasn't really our style, Hannalize decided to do some work....You'll find some before and after pictures above. The new color is called "Grasshopper Wing"...It really has brought out the character of the living room. It should go very well with the colors for the dining room and kitchen. They will be painted "Buttercup" with maroon accessories. The house should be a lot more lively from now on.

This weekend has been quite busy. Friday night, we were both worn out from a very busy work week, so we just relaxed by the house. Saturday, we went into Coeur D'Alene and had a full day of shopping. We went to Lowe's, Sears, Wal-Mart, and Costco. For our friends and family in South Africa, Lowe's is a giant DIY center, Sears is a department store with the best appliances and the ultimate tool section. Wal-Mart is a giant discount store that carries everything for very cheap, and Costco is a warehouse store like Makro. We came back home with a car that was stacked full to the roof. Poor Roxy barely had any space to lay down in the back.

Hannalize leaves early Monday morning (she must be out of the house by 4:15 AM) for a trip to Springfield, Missouri. She'll be back on Wednesday afternoon.

We're really looking forward to Hannalize's parents arriving on October 5th. They will be here until October 28th. We have a ton of stuff planned for their visit. We're going to make a quick trip over to Oregon and see our old house, visit Joel's parents, and go to the cabin. Hannalize's dad and Joel will be busy doing lots of hunting, and we will do lots of sightseeing. We can hardly wait.

We are both very glad that Genevieve is doing well and is back home. Our thoughts and prayers have been with her and her family since Thursday and we're very thankful for her speedy recovery.

Until next time, keep well and God Bless....

Joel & Hannalize

Paul Bunyon Days...!!!

Hello everyone,

It's been a while since our last post and we have to apologize. Things have been very busy getting settled into the new house. We're really enjoying it, and we never seem to run out of projects to do around the house.

First things first, this weekend has been Paul Bunyon Days here in St. Maries. For those of you who didn't grow up in America, Paul Bunyon is a story character who is a giant lumberjack who cleared huge swaths of land with his axe to make way for civilization. He also has a giant Blue Ox named Babe. Since St. Maries is a logging and lumber town, every labor day weekend, the town pays homage to the legendary Paul Bunyon. Remember, St. Maries is a town of 2,653 people, and during Paul Bunyon Days, there might be as many as 10,000 people here. There is four days of events and celebration. The highlight was a HUGE fireworks show on Sunday night. There was also the "Largest Topless Bar in Idaho". It was a large outside beer garden without a roof. Yesterday, there were various logging competitions in the city pool where people would roll on a log and try to roll the other one off, there were competitions where people were jousting in canoes and all kinds of fun things that guarantee everyone will end up in the water. Today was the competitions with the chainsaws, axe throwing, and pole climbing. There was also lots of music, dances, carnival rides and games, and a huge parade. We both rode on the back of one of the fire trucks and threw candy to all of the kids. Most kids had bags that were stuffed full of candy.....Every child's dream.

We've attached a few pictures of the house, including one that shows the view from the deck. It is quite smoky in this picture from the nearby forest fires, but it really is a beautiful view of the St. Joe River Valley. Hannalize is busy taking off lots of wallpaper and Joel is busy organizing everything in the shop (in America, a shop is a garage that is larger than normal and has workspace). We're also enjoying the hot tub that came with the house..that will be very nice this winter..!!

Joel's parents are up visiting right now. They came up to help us with some projects and enjoy Paul Bunyon Days. Roxy is enjoying all of the extra attention from grandma and grandpa....

It's only about 5 more weeks before Hannalize's parents get here. We are really looking forward to their visit. Her dad will get to go deer hunting with Joel. We'll show them around and give them the quick tour of the Pacific Northwest (and maybe a special surprise...)

Enjoy the pictures and we look forward to hearing from everyone.

- Joel & Hannalize