Almost all the Russells

Almost all the Russells, originally uploaded by Rosedale Annie.

Olympic spirit

DSC_0053, originally uploaded by Rosedale Annie.

After the corn harvest -- image from a mild midwinter

After the corn harvest, originally uploaded by Rosedale Annie.

Now that I work full-time again, opportunities for daylight photography don't much abound. Sometimes I'll find myself rushing by a compelling scene while driving kids from place to place without my camera. But today I found a magic 15 minutes. Had gone to work early so I could leave early to bottle wine. That finished quickly so rushed out to easternmost East Chilliwack to hit Emma's volleyball game, only to discover that it was in town. So found myself going down Chilliwack Central at a leisurely pace and enjoying all the reflection scenes.

See more here, along with some dog-walk along the Fraser shots.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rosedaleannie/sets/72157623253159748/

Gomez in the grass

Dog in the trees, originally uploaded by Rosedale Annie.

It's all about the dog now. Sometimes, anyways. Having had a dog in the family for most of my life, I was well aware that they can dominate your free time, requiring walks, outings, and in-your-face attention. And we'd been okay without those demands for the last three years. Sometimes it's nice to go skiing or on a bike ride without worrying about the dog you've left behind. But now that he's here, we've been enjoying rediscovering places to take a dog for an afternoon adventure in Chilliwack.

Fraser River reflected

Fraser River reflected, originally uploaded by Rosedale Annie.

The Fraser can be so serene this time of year. Love the blues, beiges, and browns together without the greens to interfere (thanks to my new colleague Carol for this observation). Really enjoyed going off alone with just boy and dog for some one-on-one (and canine friend) time.

Merry Ukrainian Christmas from the Russell-Roses

Okay, it’s January 3, 2010, and I’m still on holidays so I guess I’m making the Christmas letter deadline just under the wire. I always find the build-up to Christmas so darn busy that it’s hard to find time for the kind of reflection that this kind of project requires. Plus, it took until Dec 24 for us to have all three kids together in one place during daylight hours long enough to snap a nice portrait of them. And, I have to fight them for computer time now that they have memberships to their favourite websites.

But most of all, 2009 just wasn’t the kind of year that we want to spend a lot of time reflecting upon or celebrating, unless we’re celebrating that we survived it and reflecting on the fact that we have the love of family and friends to sustain us. They say that health and wealth are two of the cornerstones of contentment, and we were tested on both fronts this year.

We started the year with a nice snowfall, but a rapid warming trend after that saw flooding in Chilliwack, including in our neighbourhood. While our neighbours experienced actual flooding, our new house is high enough up that we were able to escape with some seepage. Our good friends the Gadsby-Haners rushed over to help us move furniture upstairs in a hurry in case it did flood, and we called upon the generosity of our East Chilliwack friends to collect seven shop vacs within a couple of hours, which we set up at various spots downstairs and kept going all night long, moving from one to another to empty them in a sort of zombie assembly line. Not much sleep for us that night. But now that our house has got through the worst flood the farmer up the year has seen in 50 years with just a little seepage, we’re feeling pretty good about its ability to withstand the elements.

Then there was this little problem called an economic downturn. Like many people in B.C., Daryl’s business depends on a healthy real estate market, and like many, we suffered when the economy took a huge dive in late 2008. We’d regularly see reports of condo developments that were clients of his going under, and the newspaper advertising promoting these developments that is the bulk of his business really dropped off.

Just as we were watching the news on January 10 about the flooding in Chilliwack, the other big story was the financial problems with the Olympic Village, and the City of Vancouver having to bail out the developer. Given that this was one of his biggest clients, that was a pretty depressing newscast. Oh, and during the newscast and ambulance came and took our elderly neighbour away with heart problems as he was so stressed about the flood.

The good news on this front is that things did pick up a bit during the second half of the year, he was eventually paid by most of this clients, and other clients and projects did emerge to help keep us afloat. But we did have to severely curtail our spending after a few years of relative prosperity, and learned new skills such as negotiating with Canada Revenue Service.

But in some ways it was nice to dial it back, stay home, and cocoon. We had each other, our pets, the Wii, books, DVD movies, and the ever-present computer to amuse us.

As always, our family kept very busy with school, work, and sports, so busy that our time together as a whole family was brief, except for the dinner hour, which we try to have together regularly. June is an especially hectic month. With four of us in spring soccer, we had seven soccer games a week going for a while, along with field trips, UFV convocation-related activity, and two kids’ birthdays.

So it took a day spent together in Vancouver on June 14 as a family to really notice that something was not quite right with Molly, who turned 14 in April. We spent Emma’s 11th birthday at the beach, strolling Commercial Drive during a festival, and going for dinner, and noticed that Molly needed to use the washroom with extreme frequency.

I figured it was a simple bladder infection and took her to our doctor. She had Molly do a urine test and then ordered a blood test, as she was concerned about Molly’s high sugar levels. We didn’t hurry to the blood test as it didn’t seem urgent (I guess I was in denial that it could really be something serious).

I took the other kids on a camping trip with several mums and 17 kids to Rathtrevor (lots of fun!), and then stayed on the Island on business for a couple of days, so it was July 3 before we got the blood test done, and July 9 before we visited our doctor for the results: Type 1 Diabetes.

Here’s some advice: If you’re taking your child for what could be calamitous medical news, don’t arrange to meet your husband in Starbucks right after. I was quietly crying into my coffee that morning.

We found out on a Thursday and were told that we’d have to take her to Children’s Hospital for three days, but our local doctor gave us the green light to take our trip to Long Beach on Vancouver Island first, as Molly’s blood sugar levels weren’t dangerously high yet (we caught it early).

So that’s how we found ourselves on a beach, cooking hot dogs on the fire, looking out at whales cavorting in the water, when the endocrinologist called, saying “We need to see Molly right away.”

Once we explained that we were in Tofino, dude, like, watching the whales, you know, he reluctantly let us stay, as long as Molly had a very low carb diet that week, andtook it really easy. He also said to rush her to Port Alberni Hospital if anything went wrong. “Please take good care of Maahhlly,” he urged us in his American accent.

So we had an uneasy yet relaxing few days on the beach, cooking lots of bacon and eggs and other high protein foods for Molly, watching whales from the beach (in more abundance than we’d ever seen them there) and trying to enjoy our usual beach hikes, campfires, and ocean swims (well, I was the only one crazy enough to actually swim much in the cold water).

Then on Monday morning, the other kids farmed out, we reported to Children’s Hospital where the extremely kind and competent doctors, nurses, and dieticians (and a life-sized cut-out of fellow diabetic Nick Jonas of the Jonas Brothers) helped Molly start her new life, which includes 14 tasks a day for a 14-year-old to deal with and us to bug her about: six carefully planned and timed meals or snacks, four finger-pricking blood sugar tests, and four shots of insulin. It also includes serious things to consider such as avoiding blood sugar ‘lows’, which can be harmful now, and ‘highs’, which can lead to long-term severe health consequences, and deciding appropriate levels of insulin to take. Way more serious stuff than a teenager should have to be worried about. Not as bad as some other things that can happen to you, but not good either.

To say this has added stress to our lives would be an extreme understatement, but we are all coping. Despite the fact that sometimes we have to nag her, and that we all hate the fact that she now has this lifelong condition for which there is treatment but no cure, Molly has showed extreme maturity in dealing with this blow. Her life isn’t as carefree as it should be any more, but she still gets to do all of her former activities.

And unlike Type 2 Diabetes, she can’t prevent or cure it through diet and exercise alone. She will need insulin for the rest of her life unless a cure is found. Essentially, her pancreas has ceased to function properly on its own due to an autoimmune disorder.

Daryl and I often catch ourselves feeling that we’ve done this before, having endured the pain and hardship and fear of having a child with a serious medical condition when Miles went through his multiple emergency hospitalizations for asthma as a toddler. It’s like: hey, we passed that test, endured that trial, why do we have to go through it again, and this time for a condition that’s not going to get better, and will trouble us all (especially Molly) for the rest of our lives? But something that you learn as you get older is that life is just not fair. We led a charmed one for a long time, but that doesn’t mean we had a free pass to trouble-free times forever.

And as much as I can say this has been hard on her parents and siblings, Molly often wisely and correctly reminds us that it’s even harder on her.

And as the months have gone by she has proved herself generally very competent at handling her condition, so much so that we are, with some trepidation, allowing her to travel to Europe on a 10-day school field trip without us this March.

Oh, and did I mention the emergency quadruple bypass my dad had in May? That was intense and scary. It was difficult to visit him so frail and dependent on medical technology and expertise in the hospital after he was the doctor for so long , but he has come out of hit very well and we are delighted to still be enjoying his company. He’s back to walking the dog two times a day, mowing the lawn, and enjoying some travel with Mum.

Within this bummer of a year where the bad news seemed to just keep coming, there was also routine, and fun, and regular accomplishments.

I kept working at UFV, in fact returned to fulltime employment (had been 80 percent) thanks to the benevolence of my employer. That helped on the financial front, but made juggling all those kids’ activities even more difficult. I’m often tearing home just in time to turn around and drive them to something, but we find that sports are very good for them, and just because a boy is the third child and you’re tired of carting them to swimming lessons, that doesn’t mean that a boy doesn’t need to learn how to swim! (And once I get in the pool and do my lengths while he’s in lessons, it feels pretty good to me too!) I continue to enjoy my work and have especially liked working on the history of UFV project, interviewing veteran and retired faculty and staff. I also played women’s soccer again in the spring, with a bunch of mostly over-40 ladies who love leaving our troubles behind and hitting the turf for some kicks. That, combined with badminton, cycling, the gym and now Wii fit, keeps me active (not to mention dog walks -- that’s a bit of foreshadowing).

Daryl kept plugging away at his work, going to the gym, and enjoying his newfound enthusiasm for watching hockey. This fall, his midlife crisis took the form of playing ball hockey in a league. So twice a week, he goes out and chases younger men around the gym, stick in hand. He also bought hiking gear with hopes of doing some overnight trips, but only managed a few day trips as our summer turned out to be so busy. He also seeded and planted a very nice front yard for us. No more meadow. And he’s working on a “dry river” concept for the area leading to the front steps.

Emma got to play school sports for the first time this year, so she added volleyball and basketball to her repertoire as well as soccer. (She also got a bonus unexpected trip to summer camp when Molly had to go to the hospital.) She is growing up, on the cusp of early teenager, and wishes she could fit the clothes at American Eagle, but is still stuck buying her jeans in girl sizes for awhile longer. She keeps busy with sports, playing with friends, and being a fashion maven on the Stardoll website. She’s also serving as an apprentice babysitter, helping Molly on some of her assignments, and she enjoys that very much. She gives us very little trouble, as always, and her weak spot is allowing herself to be bothered by her very bothersome (to her) brother Miles. She’s doing very well in grade six, and will be off to middle school (and uniforms) at Rosedale Middle next year.

Miles is now 6 and in grade one, and the world is one big collection of words waiting to be deciphered. He’s reading menus, signs, packages, newspaper headlines, and of course, books with us in the evenings. He’s also quite good with numbers. He enjoyed playing soccer again this fall on a team with a lot of his buddies from school, and is finally getting the knack of swimming, after several sets of lessons. But most of all he loves his screens – computer (he’s gone from Club Penguin to Moshi Monsters website), Wii (loves his Super Mario), and now his Nintendo DS handheld gameplayer. We have to force, cajole, or bargain him off screen time regularly, and he and Emma are both rationed on the computer with the oven timer. (“20 minutes and then go do something that doesn’t involve a screen.”)

Molly, although her tendency to dawdle can drive us crazy -- especially when getting ready for the bus in the mornings, continues to impress us with her excellent grades in every subject and her ability to juggle school, sports, friends, and Facebook. Her favourite sport is soccer, and her team won the Coastal Cup this spring (best in the Lower Mainland at the silver level). She also plays basketball and volleyball. She is a much-beloved babysitter and is very good with young kids. The fact that she continues to do so well despite the huge extra burden she’s been handed is impressive beyond words.

The four cats continue to eat, sleep, doze, play, and purr. George is 15 and when we brought home a dog bed for the floor (more foreshadowing!) he thought that was great, flopped himself on it, and rarely leaves it for the heights of the couch or the bed anymore.

So that leaves the newest family member: Gomez! I’ll agree that it’s totally illogical for a busy family without a fenced yard should get a dog, but this wasn’t a logical decision. He came to us at a time when we were feeling great sadness as a family, and we (I) decided that we needed something joyous and positive in our lives to counterbalance the heavy blow that Molly’s diagnosis dealt us. In other words, we needed something happy to happen. So a puppy it was! (Paid for through a combo of my bottle-return savings and the kids' allowances.) He’s three-quarters golden retriever, one-quarter muensterlander (German hunting dog), and although he comes with considerable hassles, he has indeed brought joy into our lives. He accompanies us to many soccer games,gets walks from me on the weekends, and even his reluctant master Daryl has come around and is sneaking him out for some forest excursions on weekday mornings.

My friend noted that we’re 10 years into the new millennium in her year-end letter, and I think that’s a noteworthy fact. Ten years ago we had two little girls, four cats, and one dog in a tiny house clinging to the edge of a river in a big yard. Now we have – hey, what do you know – three kids: two big girls and a little boy. The house has now morphed into a modern big structure able to house us all comfortably, now higher up and in the middle of the big yard. Still have four cats and a dog, but the dog and two of the cats are different.

We have just enjoyed a lengthy Christmas break with family and friends. My favourite part of Christmas is the days after the preparations and festivities are over when I can enjoy time with very little on the agenda (although, ever the striver, I aim to read the papers and clean the house and go on a walk and play with the kids and watch a movie and do a puzzle and do Wii fit and read my book, and never accomplish it all).

So although overall we’ve dealt with some tough stuff this year, there has still been joy, and love, and laughter, and friendship, and for that we are grateful. Here’s to 2010!

To see family and pet photos from 2009 go here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rosedaleannie/sets/72157623104875864/

For my favourite scenic shots from 2009 go here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rosedaleannie/sets/72157622986074399/


All the best to everyone, everywhere.

Anne, Daryl, Molly, Emma, Miles
(and George, Sophie, Moby, Neko, and of course Gomez).

Mt Cheam and tulip field

Mt Cheam and tulip field, originally uploaded by Rosedale Annie.

So Chilliwack-esque!

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.