Through the field -- Kindergarten field trip

Through the field, originally uploaded by Rosedale Annie.

The cool thing about going to school in the country is that you can go on a field trip... to a field, or at least cut through one on the way to the farm you are going to visit. That's the ubiquitous Mount Cheam in the background. It watches over us all over East Chilliwack.

Goodbye to Sophie

Goodbye to Sophie, originally uploaded by Rosedale Annie.

Sophie was with us for 12 years, arriving as a stray kitten with a cranky attitude. She was always beautiful and always moody – didn’t much like other cats or most people. She had a kink in her tail that she hated to have touched and was also very averse to belly rubs. She wasn’t afraid to growl, scratch, or bite. But she and I developed a mutually trusting and affectionate relationship after a few years. She liked having her back, chin, head, and mouth stroked. She liked lying on me and purring. She was even friendly with the kids at times, and enjoyed sleeping on their beds. She sometimes liked to play friskily with toys. She had a love affair with Thomas the cat for the few years he was with us and also carried on secretly with Barney the dog (not realizing we were watching them out the window).

In our current configuration of cats she was the scapegoat, always being picked on, to the extent that she had a constant open wound on her shoulder. When we heard of an old lady who was looking for an old lady cat, we arranged a transfer. I hope she is happy there. I hear they’ve reached the purring and snuggling-on-laps stage after 10 days.

Hope you're happy in your retirement, Sophie dear!

Not so bleak January

Sea of dried cornstalks, originally uploaded by Rosedale Annie.

The weather has improved, which has cheered folks up considerably!

Bleak January

Bleak January, originally uploaded by Rosedale Annie.

Torrential rains after heavy snows make for waterlogged fields and damp basements in Chilliwack! Sad to see so many people adversely affected.

What George did today....

What George did today...., originally uploaded by Rosedale Annie.

What he does every day. While the rest of us returned to school and work after a lengthy and restful break, he kept the couch warm for us and awaited our return.

Gotta love it when even the trampoline's covered in snow!

Snow cutie, originally uploaded by Rosedale Annie.

We've had more snow in the past month than any time since the Blizzard of '96, which Molly doesn't remember and the others weren't born yet for, so the kids are amazed about how much snow we've been gettting, and enjoying it too, when we can tear them away from the new Wii that Christmas brought!

New Year's Eve -- Hope River looking west

New Year's Eve -- Hope River looking west, originally uploaded by Rosedale Annie.

Merry Christmas from the Russell-Roses -- 2008

Merry Christmas from the Russell-Roses – 2008

Hey, I’m getting this letter done BEFORE Christmas this year, which is an improvement over the Jan 6 effort of last Christmas.

And I’m writing from a snowy Chilliwack, which is fairly unusual at Christmas time. I always tell the girls, when they wish for a white Christmas, that it’s not necessarily the best scenario, as it throws all travel plans into disarray. Will family make it out to our house Christmas Eve and Christmas Day? Will we make it to the big Russell party on Boxing Day? All of that remains to be seen, depending on whether the weather cooperates, or if we get more blizzard-like conditions right when we want to be driving.

Because as all seasoned Fraser Valley drivers know, you don’t want to be on the freeway between Abbotsford and Chilliwack in a blowing howling snowstorm. Has to be experienced to be believed. I guess Daryl needed a refresher course, as he boldly drove into Burnaby last Wednesday and got stuck crawling along in near-white-out conditions on the way home.

We hope to see everyone when we’re supposed to over Christmas, but we’ve decided to just take things as they come and if that means snow delays us seeing folks until a few days later, we’ll enjoy their company when the fates allow us to do so.

We’re happy to have each other in our lovely home and a gas fireplace to snuggle up to and four cats to drape on our laps if we need to keep warm. Daryl and Molly and I quite enjoyed sitting in our great room and watching the howling winds blow the snow horizontally the other night.

The first half of this year was filled with more travel than the Russell-Rose family usually does. We spent a very relaxing few days on Hornby Island with our friends Sharon and Rudy Rogalsky at spring break. Sharon gave us a very thorough insider’s experience of Hornby, complete with hikes, beach walks, craft fairs, evenings in the community hall, and a tour of the famous composting toilet. It was just what we needed and we are very grateful to them. We saw (and I got to photograph) eagles and seals on this trip too.

It seemed that almost every weekend in spring was consumed by some activity for Emma – Destination Imagination competitions, a skipping championship, and a soccer tournament. Then when her DI team won the provincials we decided to go to the global finals in Knoxville, Tennessee, which meant a few more weekends of fundraising by selling raffle tickets at the mall.

However, the fundraising was worth it, as Emma and four other girls and five of us mums had a fun-filled and educational trip to the University of Tennessee campus (and Dollywood!) for a five-day festival experience completed geared to the thousands of participating kids enjoying themselves (with a little creative problem-solving competition thrown in along the way).

We also spent a weekend with our longtime friend Linda and her family in Olympia, Washington, stopping in Seattle along the way. This included a real American 4th of July, with their neighbourhood turning into a pseudo-battle zone, as each family set off a personal pile of fireworks. A fun contrast to the orderly, gather-in-a-public place-and-watch-sanctioned-fireworks experience we had in Canada on July 1.

Then it was off to Victoria for our friend Nicky’s very fun wedding to Justin. We tied the traditional Victoria experience into the weekend, including the provincial museum, with its very excellent exhibit commemorating B.C.’s 150th anniversary, and Miniature World. It was neat to see my friend Cheryl Claibourne’s grandma featured as one of the BC 150 historically significant people.

(It was quite a year for a museum aficionado like myself, as I also got to the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville and the Experience Music Project in Seattle.)

From Victoria we went to a provincial park near Sooke, where we spent a few days camping and day-tripping to beaches. Was a bit chilly for July there, but we still enjoyed it once we got decked out in warm clothes. (Note to self: don’t forget to pack pants for the boy for a summer camping trip.)

Our final trip was to the Cariboo. Emma had an adventure camp for a few days up there, and Miles and I stayed with our friend Tara and her kids at their log house at 108 Mile during that time. Then Daryl brought Molly up to join us once she finished her own summer camp, and I ventured with the kids to see the Williams Lake Russells. This included a side trip to Barkerville, so I really got a good dose of B.C. history in this historic year.

Our kids continue to thrive. Molly is doing very well in French immersion at middle school and also enjoying being on a new soccer team with two young women coaches who work her quite hard. She’s actually proud of her ability to do pushups now, much to her mum’s delight. She’s also playing basketball at school, on a small team that struggles against some of the other powerhouses. She and two friends recently wrote their own version of lyrics to a French pop song to reflect a social studies assignment and then made a music video of themselves performing it, editing it on our computer and handing it in as a DVD. We certainly weren’t doing that in Grade 8! I also admired the strength, compassion, and maturity she showed when supporting a friend through a family tragedy.

Emma had a very exciting year, what with the Destination Imagination trip where she got to experience southern U.S. culture, meet kids from around the world, and carry the B.C. flag in the opening parade. She’s also keeping busy with soccer, school, volleyball, DI, and skipping club. She’s happy to have the “not so much homework” teacher for Grade 5 this year.

Miles finally got to enroll in the school he’s been visiting since he was in the womb, and became a kindergartner this year. He also got off the sidelines and onto the soccer field, where he played with surprising gusto. He’s a real stickler for the rules though, and has been known to stop the ref to tell him/her that another player pushed him, and that that’s not allowed! As he matures, his funny ways of expressing himself are not as common as they used to be, although he did say, when faced with the prospect of going to sleep during a power outage last week, “I like a little light with my dark.”

Daryl continues to keep his clients happy, to hit the gym a lot, and to keep order around this house and in the kitchen. Now that he’s not busy both day and night with work (just days now generally) he’s actually tapping into the Rose family hockey gene, which has been latent until now, and watching the Canucks regularly.

I continue to be frazzled by the competing demands of work and family, spending a lot of my post-work hours getting kids to activities. But I enjoy watching them, and very much value my home time when I get it. And I love my job, and enjoyed the small role I played in communicating about our transition from university college to university this year. And it was invigorating to once again be part of the Rosedale Rockers old-women’s soccer team. This year we formed our own Over-30 league so we wouldn’t have to play the young girls, and we actually won a few games. And I continued to take lots of photos everywhere I went.

We count ourselves lucky to be surrounded by the love of family and friends. We celebrated my eldest brother Brian’s 50th birthday (with more 50ths to come in the Russells for the next few years!), and a triple 40th for some Chilliwack friends, and attended lots of other delightful social events, including a rip-roaring Halloween bash for which we dressed up for the first time in years.

All in all, we’re happy to be here and happy to know y’all (hey, there’s a holdover from my Tennessee visit).

If you want to see the year in photos, go here for family and cat photos
, and here for my favourite scenics!

Love,

Anne, Daryl, Emma, Miles, and Molly
(mixing up the order a bit so as to be fair!)

The things you see on a cold country road

Cold bald eagle, originally uploaded by Rosedale Annie.

I love the details of this eagle's feathers.

Some people think it's fun to jump off Mt. Cheam

Paraglider, originally uploaded by Rosedale Annie.

Fresh snow on Mt Cheam

Fresh snow on Mt Cheam , originally uploaded by Rosedale Annie.

Who can resist a shot like this?

Magnificent Mt. Baker

Magnificent Mt. Baker, originally uploaded by Rosedale Annie.

My favourite volcano! Just had to stop and grab some shots of Mt. Baker while I was driving through the Fraser Valley the other day. Don't see it from Chilliwack, but there are some great views of it from Maple Ridge, Abbotsford, and Mission. This one is from South Parallel Road, just off Sumas Way, in Abbotsford.

Mt. Cheam in Autumn

Cheam from Jesperson Road, originally uploaded by Rosedale Annie.

A family I know has had a very tough few months following a tragedy. It offers some comfort that they are surrounded by nature's beauty. This is the view from their front yard.

How to be famous on Flickr

Full relax George, originally uploaded by Rosedale Annie.

So usually I'm content if I shot I'm proud of hits 25 views after a few days on Flickr, but this one of George is at 100 views and still going strong after nine hours. Apparently the key to popularity is to post a cat crotch shot to the Cat Bellies group. Very well viewed group!

A new view... of the Chilliwack River

Chilliwack River view, originally uploaded by Rosedale Annie.

The Riverstone Heights subdivision, accessible off the road to Cultus Lake, has opened up new vistas of the Chilliwack River.

The dahlia and the spider

The dahlia and the spider, originally uploaded by Rosedale Annie.

The sort of shot that gets recorded on a fall morning when I have to turn back to home because I forgot something and I have the camera handy and it's beautiful light and I take the moment...

Chilliwack from Marble Hill

Chilliwack from Marble Hill, originally uploaded by Rosedale Annie.

I've picked the boy up from his daycare family many times, but rarely have the camera with me, and it's rarely early in the morning. So when he slept over, I thought it would be a good opportunity to capture the magnificent view at morning time.

Digging for the ball

Digging for the ball, originally uploaded by Rosedale Annie.

Yes, we finally had to let Miles know that he could play soccer too. We dreaded the logistics of three kids in soccer -- a total of five practices and three games a week (not counting Emma's school soccer), but we are enjoying watching the game at three different levels, including the very basic and enthusiastic "chase and run" version enjoyed by these five-year-olds.

Harvest Moon -- Sept 15

Harvest Moon -- Sept 15, originally uploaded by Rosedale Annie.

So nice to get good moon shots!

Hip Hip Hooray!!!

DSC_0116, originally uploaded by Rosedale Annie.

It took two seasons and at least 16 games for us to achieve victory, which we did against the Killer Kleats on May 1, after achieving the greater victory of creating our own spring league for women over 30 (we found competing against the young gals last year a bit much!).