Juliana and I try to go for a weekly swim at our local community pool. With each splash she gets more confident and gains new aquatic skills. Here is a clip of us on our backs. She hasn't been able to figure out how to move white on her front but she can move on her back. So she'll size up her target, flip over, and kick like crazy till she is there.

Oh Boy

So after ignoring my wife's suggestions that I should hurry up and get some stuff on here, which was aided with pleas from various high ranking friends and family members, is my first post of 2011 and exactly 335 days since my last post. So in other words no one will see this with out us telling you to as everyone knows I just don't do anything anymore. So on the occasion of this momentous blog post here are 3 of Juliana's favorite songs in her own rendition featuring Angela. 'Baa Baa Black Sheep', 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star', and 'ABC.'

Happy Birthday Baba

Hey All, Here is a clip of Juliana singing Happy Birthday to Baba!

SORRY!!!!

I know it's now 3 months and you have not been well informed about what's been going on. Tommorrow I will put up a better posting, but for now here is Juliana.

Our New Home (part2)

So it has been a long freaking time since I last put up a post. A lot has happened over here in such a short time, we have many projects constantly on the go as we want to get as much checked off our list before the weather turns for the worst. I believe I had left off after the arrival in the new house (too lazy to go and look back). So after our first night sleep in our new home the first daunting task was to unload the truck. It wasn't all that bad, it got unloaded without damage or injury and in decent time, I had backed it right up to the house and pulled the loading ramp right onto the top step going in to the house. I had it planned that as we unloaded the truck, the boxes and furniture would end up in the rooms they were to go in for easy unpacking. Most of it just ended up in the living room and had to be moved around which in hindsight was ok because we needed the room elsewhere. I was happy to have the help that we had as it would have taken Angela and I 3 times as long to unload it by ourselves. The first task I under took was probably the most important, no self respecting guy would have hesitated any longer to set up the TV/DVD/Game systems. Yes Angela was not working off the same priority list as I was but I had a job to do and I did it. With that out of the way my brother and sister could have something to keep them occupied in a house with nothing for them to do. What to do next, there were so many boxes that I had no idea what to unpack, couldn't do the kitchen because the drawers and cupboards needed a little TLC and cleaning before we stocked them up, the bathroom required the same, my family inhabited Juliana's room so we couldn't do anything in there and there was just way to much in the spare room to sort through. So naturally we did our room, set up the bed moved the dressers around and put the drawers in. But not my dresser nope I had to fix my dresser. So I gave up and played some halo with William and Richelle. We BBQ some hot dogs and corn for lunch and ate outside, Angela had managed to clean enough counter space to work off of for us to be able to eat, then Mom and Dad went shopping for us while Angela and I moved furniture in to Juliana's room. When they got back Mom went down for a nap while Dad, William, and I went to return the truck. The rest of the night was pretty relaxing and Angela and I thoroughly enjoyed the thought of sleeping in our bed again, because we were using Maria's bed while at the Loeppky's house it had been over a month since we slept on out bed. Then there came night thus the second day.

Our New Home (Part 1)

As I posted we are now in our new home. The move went exceptionally well. On Sunday June 27 I picked up the 16' moving truck from Budget, (free plug; I am extremely pleased with the service and vehicle from Budget. It was clean, smooth driving, handled nicely, and didn't break down. I will definitely use them again.) An army of Veters and friends came over to the Loeppky's and under the guidance of the Veters family patriarch the truck was loaded and ready to go in less than 3 hours. Afterwards the Loeppky's hosted a birthday supper for me as I will not in Abbotsford. I managed to keep the tears back and enjoy the food, cake, and presents. I was spoiled with DVD's, bug zappers (very cool), Scope covers (see video), hunting magazines, licorice, Edmonton trivia book, Wii (although it came early), and a socket set. It felt more like Christmas than a birthday. We got up around 6:30 am on Monday ate breakfast said our goodbyes and drove over to the Veters to meet up with my family as they accompanied us on our trip. The drive was good, a bit of rain here and there but for the most part it was ideal driving conditions. We ruled the road in our little caravan of traveling Veters, I took up the front leading the way, Angela and Juliana were close behind and my family taking up the rear. For the most part I felt like a big rig sitting high above the open road, but I was constantly reminded that I was no bigger that any other Ford pickup on the road. But I still felt the urge to honk and wave at the other passing Budget Trucks. We finally pulled in around 10:30 pm. Angela and I got into the city about 20 min ahead of my parents but due to road work on the #16 they beat us to the house, something to do with being in this city and knowing how to get around. They were very kind and let the 3 of us go in first and take a good walk around. Now Angela has never seen this place before apart from MLS pictures, so my heart was racing and I was almost expecting some kind of "I'm disappointed in you this is a horrible place, not what I wanted at all!" But it never came, she loved it and Juliana spent the next 20 min voicing her opinions as well(I will try to get her to make the same sound she did then and post it). When we finally jumped in to bed (which was on the floor as all of our stuf was still in the truck) Angela and I laid listening to Juliana playing peek a boo with her self till she wore out. Yes finally made it, we were now home. The pictures will be in the 'Album' link on the right

We Made It

I can't blog right now, but we made it all is well and we're unpacking. I will have something soon

CFL Video

CFL Video
Amazing CFL Video. It makes one a little misty eyed.

Such a Sad Day

A while ago I Blogged about our 'week of lasts.' Well we started our last week and will be ending our last week with two of our biggest passions, prison and football. Angela and I love football and have been ticket holders of the BC Lions since before we got married. This past Sunday, June 20, we went to our last Lions game complements of Paul Jelinski, which just so happened to be the Lions first game at Empire Stadium. Amazing way to experience a last football game, even thought the Lions lost to the Edmonton Eskimos, the seats and atmosphere was out standing. We were so close to the field that I could spit on the players from my seat with out effort, no exaggeration. My head was no more than 10 feet above the field, it was like we were standing with the players on the side lines; We could here the conversations they were having with each other, the instructions from the coaches, and the orders being called out on the field from the QB. I so am going to miss that experience, a football game will never be the same again. That was the start of our last week, we will finish it with our last visit to the prison where we volunteer. That I know we will miss the most. We cherish each and every visit we make and always look forward to the next one. This last visit will be all that more heart wrenching as we got permission to bring Juliana in so the guys will get a chance to meet her. Unfortunately we won't be able to get a picture with her and the guys but she'll get to meet the guys that we visit with and they will get to meet her. The power and impact that a young innocent life has on the guys in prison is very moving and peaceful. For some of them it will be the first and only time they get to see a baby. An experience that they will cherish for the rest of their lives. It will be sad leaving it all but we will ultimately be rewarded for moving forward with our lives.

The Home Strech

It's now six days left till the move and I'm left to ponder the time spent with my In-Laws. After the decision was made to move into the Loeppky’s house I began to think of what I’d do to keep myself occupied during the day as I no longer have a job. I imagined rolling out of bed around 10 eat a leisurely breakfast, play with Juliana, watch some TV with Dennis and then enjoy a scrumptious supper prepared by my lovely wife. I figured it was a great way to rest up before the big move. What I didn’t picture is getting a honey-do list from my Mother and Sister in Law combined with my list I get from Angela. Am I complaining? Of course not! I am never bored, I always feel wanted, and gives me the chance to try things out before I implement them in our new house (this way if things go wrong I’ll have the practice so I don’t screw up in the new place), and I get all the baking I want. I know that the Loeppky's are very grateful for the time that they have with me as a lot has gotten done that just wouldn't get done if I weren't here. It will be weird not being here on a semi-permanent basis but that's just where Skype comes in and I expect a lot of calls.

2 Week Notice

It has been some time since I have posted, having some blogging blahs. It has been a week of lasts for us, as we get closer to the Big Move there are more and more things that become our last. Our final good bye will be on June 26 at Mill Lake Park at 5pm. Hope you can come! Other than that I've been pretty busy with phone calls to lawyers, banks, mortgage brokers, financial advisors, gas, internet, electricity, water, moving trucks and so on. How does one stay sane? Wii, yes we bought a Wii and I'm loving it, hence why I haven't been on here. But I have been training a replacement and hopefully she will be able to ramble off babblings like a chip off the (not so) old block. I think I will call her Mini Me

Just For You Aaron

 

Not the greatest pictures but it's all I had. Yes I was there!

Reporting from Downtown Edmomton

Here I sit cooking my food at the GoBackpackers hostel in Downtown Edmonton. Today has been a crazy busy day; I got a job working for 3D Fire, saw our new place and observed the home inspection. I basically went to Edmonton with nothing and am leaving with a house and a job. Now I get to rest up for my drive home. Why drive? Because we saved about $400 in plane tickets and no I don't mind the drive. It was very overwhelming to be standing in our new house, but it was a very sad overwhelming feeling because Angela wasn't there. I know enough of the sappy stuff, but damm it I miss her. It's a nice house, a couple of minor touch ups and personal preference changes, other than that it's our home. My job interview went very well, thank you for your prayers. I start at the beginning of July, 3D does inspecting and testing of fire systems and alarms, with me on the job they now also do repairs to sprinkler systems. I drove by Angela's school, it's still under construction, but looks pretty damm good, I know she is excited about starting. Well my food is ready, I am going to eat, sleep, and go home.

Survivor Balfour

Well week one is in the bag and we are all still alive. I don't know if we have adjusted well to the Loeppky way of life or if they have adjusted to the Veters way of life? But what I do know is that all of our worldly possessions have integrated themselves into the nooks and crannies of the Loeppky house as if they were all ways there.
We had a system where the items we needed access to were packed and stored in open areas. So you'd think that we would know where to find things, my new favorite question is 'Where is it?' I have no idea what was put in the boxes or where they even ended up except that there all there and we should be happy about that :)

So far it seems that we all have immunity and can't be eliminated yet. I know who I want to get voted off! Do you?

Gone for Good

Today was the last day we had ownership of our condo. The buyer gets the keys tomorrow and will start her life in the place our family started. When I called our Realtor to make arrangements for key drop off he said to spend some time and not rush out of there. Little did he know that I was already gone, but after I hung up the phone I thought about it and started to get a little misty eyed. There are 4 years of memories in that place, Angela and I started our marriage there, Juliana became part of our family there, many friends and family shared food, wine, and laughter as well as tears and sorrow all in our little wooden box. I never will forget that place and the pivotal roll it played in our life, but all good things must come to an end, and as our Realtor said to me earlier today, 'Time to move on to bigger and better things.'

Juliana's Last Nap

Grandma Loeppky told us we had to take a picture of Juliana's first bedroom. As strange as it is for me to wrap my head around the fact that I'll never sleep here again, Juliana will not have any memory of this place at all. So I snuck in to take a picture of her in her first bedroom during her last nap here. Shhhhhhhhhh

Got Shoes?

Shoes! Shoes! Oh Glorious Shoes!
Angela and I decided to take a picture of all our shoes before we packed them. We are short 4 pairs that have already been packed, other than that they are all here. Total count 51 pairs(including the ones that are packed); 39 for Angela and 12 for me.

Packing

Well here I sit looking upon the emptiness that will soon no longer be our house. It's weird that after Friday I'll never step foot in this place again. Packing is a lot more stressful than I can remember, 'pack this no don't pack it', 'bigger box', 'smaller box', 'more boxes', 'get rid of this', 'try and sell that', we only have a two bedroom condo!

Packing should be like this;
1- Take stuff and put in box.
2- Continue to repeat step one till the entire contents of the house is all in boxes.
3- Place box in van.
4- Repeat step 3 till all the boxes are in the van.

But no, its not like that. First you go out to every liquor and produce store in town, stuff your van with their boxes, and drive home. Then you spend an entire day, or two, packing boxes, upon boxes, upon boxes of stuff till all mental and physical energy is spent. Only to realize that you used up all of the boxes and managed to just get the china cabinet packed. Exaggeration? Maybe, but I think it paints a pretty good picture of what actually happens.

I'm so glad I have Angela, otherwise I would have thrown everything off the balcony and bought it all new in Edmonton. I've moved 13 times in my life and never was it like this. Mind you my Mom and Dad were the ones responsible to make sure that everything was all packed and ready to move. Maybe it always was like this and as a kid I just didn't care? But we are blessed and eternally grateful for all that Angela's family has done for us. We've taken over their garage and Maria's bedroom for a month as a temporary place till the big move. It's been good in that we were able to move things over when we want (borrowing my Dad's trailer has been a big help) as opposed to doing it all in one massive move. Now all we have left here is our beds, toiletries, and a few kitchen items.
Look out Loeppkys, here we come!

To Facebook Or Not To Facebook

In the past week about 3 million people have told us that we have to get on facebook. Angela and I refuse to bend to the will of the masses. So we have decided to start our very own blog. Yes I do realize that all we did was opt for one social media craze over another, the difference is that no one told us we had to blog. Either way we knew we had to give in to something. Many adventures await us in Edmonton, so come follow us on our Great Eastern Migration !!!