The Fox's

Throughout ones life there are many influences that shape who you are. The Fox family is one of those influences. I have a small list of how growing up with Fox's in my life have imbued my daily living.

- Public libraries are cool. Though my family did use the library, some of my first memories of the library are going there with Julie, Matt and the Jen.

- Sandwiches cut diagonally taste better. 

- Take your family to the beach. This idea was demonstrated when I insisted, at around six years old, that my family go to the beach. The Fox's went all the time and so should we. The reason we had not gone to the beach for some time was that it was February. My young mind had not really grasped the idea of seasons, so I ended up swimming at Miracle Beach while everyone else watched on in amusement. It was very very cold.

- Carrots taste better from the garden. Julie often kept a large garden. Matt and I loved raiding the carrots whenever we could.

- If it's yellow, let it mellow.

- Having your own egg laying chickens are an option. They are not just weird animals living in the hay to be used for target practice.

- Arts and crafts is not something to do only in school.

- Clean as you go!!! 

- The cook does not do the dishes. As well, the person who adds the last dish to the drying rack that makes it collapse has to put them away.

- Don't drink juice when you're thirsty. Have a glass of water. Juice should also be drunk out of a small 'juice' glass.

-Everything has it's place. Especially when borrowing tools from the shop. Put them back where you found them.

- Coffee can be enjoyed anywhere...

There are a few more, but I can't think of them at the moment. There are usually moments in my day when something strikes me as a Foxism. Feel free to add any of your own in the comments:)

December Fun

It was apparently -54 last Saturday. That's in the wind of course, around a balmy -40's without the wind. I say apparently because I was enjoying the warmth that Vancouver has to offer. It's a "wet cold" in Van, but at least the air does not give you brain freeze.
Arguably my oldest and one of my best friends turned thirty on the tenth, so I flew out to Van to celebrate. It was a great time, had some sushi, went snowshoeing and generally had a good time. Thanks to Yarrow for organizing everything.
Another great thing happened on the tenth, my sister-in-law had a baby. Grats Lindsay, I mean Lisa :) I hear that mom is doing great, dad was a little stressed, and apparently baby Kirk Galen Apollo Tiberius James Thor Bond Ronald Eric Neufeld Handley looks a little like his grandfather. Yes, that is his full name. Very excited to meet him over Christmas.
I would love to write more, but I have to get ready for all the holiday going ons.
Have a great winter solstice and merry Christmas
Scott
PS - The youtube video at the bottom is my favourite Christmas song of 2009.

Winter Has Arrived

Winter has decided to stop holding back and arrived with full force. Snow has fallen and so has the mercury.
I wish I had picture of it, but last Friday Dad and I were finishing up a job, drilling holes, and it was a nice little adventure. Snow was falling, we were racing to finish, so the truck would not get stuck leaving. The skid-steer almost tipped over backwards at one point, amongst other crazy happenings. I was feeling very Canadian at the end of it all.
With outside activities curtailed, we have been enjoying life on the inside. Lots of games, drinks and food. Settlers has come out of the box, we even taught it to the ladies renting the suite, which was loads of fun. Niki and I have started a tradition, if you win a game, you wear a viking hat. It has been too longs since I wore the hat, and am fixing to change that over the holidays.

In the classic Edmonton salutation, stay warm!

Cheers,

Scott

 

The Big Party

     The party never stops in Alberta. This weekend Mike turned forty, and on the 10th his wife Angela did not turn 40. My dad and I spent the previous week getting the shop ready for it, and it was well worth it. It started with Mike&Ang taking everyone out for Chinese food. After dinner, it was off to the shop for some laughter, dancing and a small amount of beverages.
It was a very good time, Niki and I did not get home until 3am. One of the coolest aspects of the party was that there were four generations of my family. My 93 year grandfather down to his great grandchildren.
The good times started again at brunch the next day and continued until Sunday night. I'm still feeling a little sore, and am looking forward to a quite week.
Niki took a lot of pictures, but most of them did not turn out, due to the lighting and the disco ball made it look like there was dust in the air. I have uploaded a few pictures to the Picasa. I got the "Dead Chicken" sketch Darryl and I did uploaded. We did not have time to memorize our lines, and in case anyone is wondering, Darryl is doing the Hutterite accent.
Cheers,
Scott

Dumptrucks and Skating

The title of this post pretty much sums the highlights of the last week and a bit. Outside of the pie of course, thanks for all the suggestions.

I drove a dump truck for the first time. Neufeld Excavating had a job digging a basement, and Dad needed someone to haul the roughly 18 loads of dirt/concrete. I was a little bit nervous. I am already a bit paranoid about breaking vehicles, and when the dump box is fully up I always think the truck is gonna tip. Needless to say it was a breeze.
I know, being thirty and growing up on a farm, I should have done this long ago. It just never happened and I finally did it.




The weather has been really finicky out here, warming up, then cooling down. We managed to get a quick skate in last Sunday night. I think we are the first to skate on an outdoor pond in the greater Edmonton area. There was plenty of cool ice noises, as it shifted around, and the sunset was beautiful too. Keep that in mind if you ever decide to visit in the winter, bring your skates!!
Cheers,
Scott

To Pie or Not To Pie

Niki, wonderful wife that she is, made me a pie on the weekend. I love pie, especially raspberry pie. Here is my dilemma. I have little to no self control when it comes to pie. I want to eat it all, but I don't want it to be all gone. Half of me wants to hide the pie and slowly eat it over weeks. The other half wants to eat it all in one sitting. What I have been doing is spending my evenings taking a bite, then taking another bite ten minutes later after the taste leaves my mouth.
What's your favourite or recommended way to eat pie?



She even made the crusts from scratch!

October 2009

     The month of October was a good one. The first snow melted and the weather stayed brisk and crisp.
For thanksgiving we went down to the Froese farm south of Camrose. There was lots of food and most of the family in Alberta was there. The Toews from Ft St John even came out, which was fantastic. Niki and I decided to close the party out and did not go home until around one a.m., long after all the other guests had left. I guess Mike and Ang were just too polite to kick us out.



The weekend after that was a trip out to Victoria. It was a quick little trip, but an important one. The Fowler's have a new puppy and we needed to see it while it was still a puppy! The trip coincided nicely with the housewarming party for Lindsay and Chris, who are now proud homeowners. They are also newly engaged, so that in itself would have constituted the need for a trip! We also got to see my niece, who seems to be growing at an exponential rate. In height and cuteness. Looking forward to meeting her brother, tba, this Christmas:)

The weekend following that I went with Mike on a little trip to Ft St John. We all went to see Moby Friday night. Some guy tried to pick a fight with me, which was a little odd. Other than that, the concert was good. We drove through the night so Mike could meet one of his Hutterite customers in the morning and then we were in Ft. St. John before lunch. Uncle Dan had things organized for an afternoon quadding, which was a blast. We spent the gloriously warm day trying to get each other soaked, via large mud puddles. I think it's the most fun a person can have on four wheels. Thanks again to Colin for the use of some rain gear. I did not realize when we started just how wet and muddy a person can get.



The last week of October was spent sick in bed. It was a pretty nasty cold I got after the trip, and am just now getting over. I tried really hard not to pass it on to Niki, but I think her immune system has finally given in.
It's been way too dark too early ever since the time change, but at least the fall weather is still here.
Pictures of all these events can be found in my Picasa web albums, link on the side. 
Cheers,
Scott

First sNOOOOOw

It's official, things are white and cold. As Peter Brown pointed out, you can't spell snow without no.

I am busy trying to winterize the house. Well, not really, as I am actually busy writing this entry. I have also been organizing all our digital pictures using Picasa. I know google is all big and creepy, but it's just so darn useful. Its face recognition is very cool. It really picks people out of a crowd, and it's been cool seeing all the smiling faces in the background of our wedding pictures. It's also interesting to see how it confuses certain people. Niki apparently looks a lot like her friend Melissa and her sister Lindsay, while my brother Ryan and I look alike. At least the pictures when Ryan was a wee bit heavier.

If you see a picture you want the original of, let me know, and I can e-mail it to you.

The summer ended well. There were a couple trips to the West Ed water park. My dad and I got the fence done, stained, as well as staining the deck. There was a dead tree in the driveway that has been chopped up into firewood for a friend. Harvested the tobacco, so now we're trying to figure out how to cure and then smoke it. I met some new cousins, which is always neat. Niki and I took part in the Walk for Life, which was a good time for a good cause.
Pictures of many these activities are in our on line web album. Click on the link to peruse them.
Cheers,
Scott

Summer Blur

Life moves pretty fast. You don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it. That's pretty much how this summer has felt. You can feel fall coming, but I think we squeezed what we could out of the summer days. Thanks to everyone we stayed with on our trip west. It was a blast, we just wish we could have made it longer. That was the end of July. After that I helped my Dad build a manure pit for a dairy farmer. We went camping with our small group. Marshmellows flambe was invented by Aaron and Ryan. Niki and I went to a Silversun Pickups concert. At some point I went around the sun thirty times, still don't really believe that. Last weekend some good friends came out for a short, yet very appreciated, visit. Niki and I are now looking forward to some time at home. I don't think we're quite ready for the snow, but it will be good to get some work done around the house.

I have been playing around with Googles Web Albumns. If you want to see pictures from this summer, click on the links to the left. It seems a lot easier than facebook, so I probably won't be posting pictures to Facebook in the future.
Cheers,
Scott

The Expedition West - Chapter One

It's a beautiful Monday morning and it's time to break camp. Niki and I left Edmonton on the 17th of July, when the sun was at its peak. It was a hazardous trip west. The weather was clear, but there were many obstacles for our noble steed to avoid. Lesser pack animals were clogging the trail, but none could hinder us for long. We arrived in the mighty city of Vancouver around eleven bells, and was warmly greeted by our friends Matt, Yarrow, Dean and Kate.

Once arriving here we promptly set out to see some live music. It was a great way to kick things off.

Saturday we busied ourselves with breakfast via the local bakery. We checked out a local market to provision ourselves for a picnic. The main day activity was a wine tour in Langley. The last winery we set up in the shade and had the perfect picnic.

Feeling the need to cool off, we went in search of fresh water. Seeing via Dean's Blackberry that Aldergrove had a lake, we headed in that direction. It was not a lake. It was a giant man made puddle. Still refreshing, but not a lake.

For dinner we hit up Matt and Yarrow's favourite sushi place. I can't wait to go back, because we will again this trip. It was soo good. My mouth is watering just thinking of it. To end the day we walked to the local gelato place. If you are in Vancouver, you must go to this gelato place. It's in the old Italian distract, and needs to be experienced. Hundred of flavours. The owner does not close until the last customer is gone, and makes everything himself. It's amazing.

Sunday started with a nice breakfast at Seb's. We were joined by Eric and Larissa, who have a very cute baby girl. From there we did a little shopping. I found some new shorts, apparently having only one pair is not acceptable. Once done that, the remainder of the afternoon was spent in Stanley Park relaxing, playing catch and generally having a good time. We had a very late dinner in the Fox condo.

That brings the trip up the Monday morning. It's time to break camp and head back east to Hope. Once meeting some other travelers for lunch, we are off to Hope. We will be enjoying the hospitality of the Larson family.

Cheers,

Scott

Turning 60

My dad turned 60 on July 8. It's a weird milestone. I seem to remember my grandparents being a lot older when I was young. Their actual age was not much greater than his is now. I think I am going to inform my father he is no longer allowed to age.

We celebrated his birthday by going to a local baseball game. It was rained out, which was OK. We get to go to another game for no cost. The actual party was on Sunday. It was fairly low key, but loads of fun. As per usual, we shot up pretty much everything in sight. Along with the clay pigeon shooting, we hit some golf balls, played five hundred up baseball style, and generally laughed a lot. One of my elder brothers and family came out from Sask.:) Pretty sure my dad had a good day, great parties are always welcome.

Summer is not even half over and Niki and I are already feeling worn out. We're trying to get as much work done this week as we can, this Friday we start our two week road trip.


I got my birthday present early, a new camera. The pictures I upload should have a little better quality from now on.



I hope everyone else took advantage of July 11, and got their free Slurpee.
Cheers,
Scott

The Wedding Trip

I think we're going to be away for more of July than we're actually going to be home. Last Tuesday Niki and I flew off to Victoria. It was a great trip.

Canada Day was spent in Victoria. I had a good visit time with Hovan and Christine. Took in a little relaxation at Langford Lake. Niki's parents, Niki, myself, Lindsay and Chris capped the day off with the Fireworks in the inner Harbour.

Thursday morning I had breakfast and a good visit with my friend Julia. We use to meet at the Blue Fox for breakfast, so we try and keep the tradition going when I am in town. After that Niki and I headed up Island. Stopped in at Brentwood College to see Ciara and to a lesser extent her parents. It was great to arrive in Campbell River. We stayed with Ben and Kirsten for the majority of the trip. Finally saw their new addition and I got to hang out with my godson. He's awesome. I highly recommend staying with any Lanyon family, they are the best hosts.

The wedding on Saturday was beautiful and the weather was hot, luckily we had some fresh water near by to keep cool. Hovan and I created a little game. The only real rules are; don't move too fast, and stay in the shade.



Niki and I did not embarrass ourselves during the reception, we were the masters of ceremony, and finished the night off dancing. I even got to swing dance with my old friend Andrea. It was a great time, thank you Dean & Kate!
Dean and Kate are also awesome.

I am tempted to write a list of the awesomeness and the people it is contained it, let me just say it was in abundance this weekend.
It's good to be back in our own beds, and we are heading back to the coast again in a fortnight. We're hoping to see everyone we can.
Cheers,
Scott
Post Script - Niki and I had our two year wedding anniversary on June 30th