Spring Update

Hello everyone..!!

We hope things are good with you wherever you are. Spring is finally starting to show up. Today was a beautiful 70 F (22 C) day with almost no clouds. We grilled some steaks on the deck and then took the dogs to the river for a swim.

The ultrasound picture is the last one that we'll see until Week 19 (We are now only 10 weeks). The next one will certainly look different than this one. So far, Hannalize isn't showing, but she comments that her pants are getting a bit tighter and that she has "lost her middle" a bit. Overall, the pregnancy seems to be going well and we're still very excited..!!

Today, we spread some flower seeds in the garden, and the daffodils are starting to show up. Other places in town have had daffodils for as much as two weeks, but our house seems to be a bit behind schedule. With the late snowmelt this year, we probably won't plant too much of a vegetable garden. We'll probably just buy our veggies at the farmer's market (or Costco).

The baby got his or her first stuffed animal this weekend. We went into Cabela's and ended up bringing home a stuffed Golden Retriever. The dogs were very excited about it and couldn't really understand why it didn't want to play back with them.

Take care,

Joel & Hannalize

Big News from Idaho

Hello everyone,

We hope the spring has sprung wherever you live (unless you are in South Africa, in which case we hope you have a great autumn). Spring is threatening to show up here in North Idaho. We've had precisely two nice days since September. It was 75 F today, and we had a Sunday a couple of weeks ago that was 77 F. Between those two days, it has snowed, rained, hailed, and been generally not very nice. We have faith though, and we are really (REALLY) looking forward to a beautiful summer with lots of sun and blue skies.

OK, here is the big excitement. There will soon be another Slate at the corner of sixth and Washington. We are expecting him or her (we're not going to peek) to show up approximately November 29th. As you can imagine, we're very excited, and we've been looking forward to this for a long time. If it's a girl, Hannalize gets to pick the name, and if it's a boy, Joel gets to pick the name. Hannalize already has it narrowed down to two selections, while Joel has none (that have been approved).

For those of you that haven't been along this journey with us, the baby is coming to us via In-Vitro Fertilization. We are very forunate to have one of the best fertility clinics in the country located in Spokane. We've made many, many trips to Spokane in the last few months. Hannalize has had lots of blood tests and ultrasounds, and we have to be there at 7 AM, which means we must leave St. Maries just after 5 AM. Not the best time to have to drive these highways in the winter, especially since Benewah county doesn't seem to fire up their snowplows till a bit later in the morning.

When you look at these pictures, you can see one that illustrates the size of the needle that Hannalize had to have nightly injections with. We started out with the injections about 9 weeks ago, and they finally finished on Tuesday night. In fact, the picture of Hannalize injecting herself was the last shot. It was quite a process, but it's gone well so far, and we've been very blessed to have such good doctors and nurses and to have so many people who have been praying for us..!!

We've put one picture from the ultrasound on here. We haven't scanned the latest picture yet, but we'll post it as soon as we get a chance. From here on out, we won't get as many ultrasound pictures since we've been released to the care of the clinic here in St. Maries rather than the fertility clinic in Spokane.Everything else going on here seems pretty insignificant compared to the baby news, but to give everyone an update, things are going well. Work is keeping both of us very busy. Joel's new job as Roads Manager is going well, with many challenges and opportunities. Hannalize's job is busy as usual, but she hasn't had to make as many trips to Portland lately. Joel's studying is going well also, but takes more time than he would like it to. We're sure that it will be a challenge to get him to study as much as he should this summer when the weather is so nice. We both know that he should get as much schoolwork done as possible before the baby arrives..!!

OK, enough for now, we hope you enjoy the pictures and we'll keep the baby pictures coming as they arrive..!!

Love,

Joel & Hannalize (and a yet un-named Slate) & Roxy & Nika & Cola

Winter en muurpapier!

Hallo almal!

Hier gaan dit goed. Ons het 'n strawwe winter agter die rug, maar dit wil darem voorkom asof die ergste agter die rug is... Om almal darem net 'n idee te gee hoe erg ons sneeu was, moet ons vir oulaas nog sneeu foto's op die blog sit. Op 'n stadium was ons buitetafel heeltemal weg onder die sneeu.

Ek het uiteindelik begin om die aaklige plakpapier in ons kamer af te trek. Joel het die "before" foto's geneem net sodat almal kan sien wat ons bedoel met aaklig! Ons is nou amptelik klaar met duifies wat mekaar soen oor hartjies! Ek het vandag al die papier afgetrek gekry, maar soos julle in die "after" foto's kan sien sal dit my nog 'n rukkie neem om die prep werk te doen voordat ek kan begin verf. MAAR soos wat Joel se, selfs die kaal mure lyk beter as die plakpapier wat ons gehad het!

Joel is besig met sy swottings, maar die vordering is goed. Hy het hierdie komende week 'n finale eksamen vir Rekeningkunde en dan moet hy 'n groot projek inhandig vir bemarking om met die 2 vakke klaar te maak.

Nou ja, uit 'n St Maries wat stadigaan besig is om te ontdooi, groete tot 'n volgende keer!

J & H

PS. Die grond wat ontdooi veroorsaak vreeslik baie "potholes" - wil net noem dat dit vannaand die 3e storie op ons nuus was na die stories van 'n Moose wat iemand se werf sy nuwe huis gemaak het en die storie dat ons County "tugboats" gehuur het om al die ys op die rivier te kom opbreek... Duidelik het daar vandag net mooi niks hier in Noord Idaho gebeur nie!!!

Snow, Snow, and more Snow....!!!

Hello everyone..!!!

We certainly hope that wherever you are, you are having much better weather than we are. It keeps snowing here, and just getting deeper and deeper. There is about 24" (60cm) of snow on the ground and more falling right now as we type this.

We're keeping a big fire going, and trying to avoid going out any more than we have to, so we're making it just fine.

This weekend, we will be in Las Vegas. It's the annual SHOT show, and Hannalize will be working at the Gerber booth. Joel will be enjoying 14 acres of guns under one roof..!!!

We had a wonderful trip to South Africa. It was so much fun to see family and friends. Anneke's wedding was amazing, and we're very fortunate to have Willis for a new brother-in-law.!! The summer weather was a wonderful break from North Idaho. It was very nice to braai and eat and drink and visit with everyone.

School has been going well for Joel. He is enjoying his class and keeping busy studying a few hours every night. He will be starting a new quarter in February and is excited to keep learning.

We're posting a few photos of the snow. It keeps getting deeper. Hopefully, it will turn the corner soon and spring will come around. By the way, Joel is holding an icicle in that picture.

Also, if you are on Facebook, look up either Joel or Hannalize and add us as a friend. We'd love to link up..!!!

- Joel & Hannalize

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