The week that was....

Well, what can I say...last week was one for the ages...I ventured down to Vancouver to watch Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final...the excitement and anticipation before the game was unreal...a real carnival like atmosphere...it was amazing to be apart of...all that changed though once the Canucks had lost...the evil side of somepeople came out in full force....we were disappointed and angry that some people had to resort to the rioting that took place...a complete and total lack of respect. Hopefully the culprits are caught and held accountable...

This one's for you Bill!

After being politely reminded how long its been since I last posted something to this blog, I have decided to resurrect its usefulness and attempt to post things more regularly. Hopefully this will be of interest as to the happenings of our family....

Merry Christmas

From our Family to yours, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

Update from the Seibel's...

We are finally starting to get settled back here in the Okanagan...Tanya and the kids stayed in Tumbler Ridge until June 12th when I came back up to drive them down to Coldstream.

It was an emotional weekend as we said goodbye to some very good friends!! The Grade 2 and 3 classes at Tumbler Ridge elementary held going away parties for the girls...it was an emotional day to say the least! Our new house is a 15 minute walk from the girls new school and my new work...that is great that we are so close to both of these facilities...the girls are looking forward to starting school...Coldstream Elementary is being replaced with a brand new school (on the same site) set to open in the fall of 2010...Austin will be starting kindergarten then so all three kids will be in the same school at the same time...that is good as well...

Now that we are more settled, I will endeavour to post more regularly.

God Bless!

Long Time No Talk!!

There have been a multitude of changes since our last posting...let me get you up to speed...I started back with BDO Dunwoody in Grande Prairie in early November...unfortunately things did not work out as well as possible...one day at work I received a call from a colleague who asked me "I saw a job posting in Coldstream and was wondering if you had applied?" I replied "No" and didn't think anything of it. However, the following day I recieved a call from a different colleague and this person asked me the same question. It was at this point where I began to wonder if there was a greater power at work. I proceeded to look up the job posting...Tanya and I talked about it and we decided that I would throw my hat into the ring.

Our house had been on the market since the beginning of October and initially we had lots of viewings but those dried up shortly thereafter...when the job posting closed in March we hadn't had a viewing of our Tumbler Ridge house since the beginning of December (3 months). Coldstream contacted me for an interview...a couple days later we had a viewing of our house...I flew down for the interview and within a few days we had an accepted offer on our house...everything had happened so quickly we knew that the good Lord was directing us where he wanted us to be not where WE thought we should be. Shortly thereafter I was offered the position of Director of Financial Administration for the District of Coldstream. Our house sale closed on April 30th and I moved all our belongings into storage in Vernon. Tanya and the kids have stayed in Tumbler Ridge so that the girls can finish school...I will be going up in a couple of weeks to get them and bring them back to Coldstream so that we can get on with life!!

Too often in this life we rely too heavily on ourselves for direction and either don't allow or think we know what God has in store for us...God will continually open doors for us and as long as we conitune to have faith in Him, he will direct us where we need to go...at first we though Grande Prairie was where we needed to go but when you look at how quickly everything came together (job offer, house sale, etc...) it is clear to us the God has directed us where we need to be!! We are extremely excited to be moving back to the Vernon area.

Christmas in the Cold North

Hi Everyone, this is the first time in many months that we have done this. I am writing this with Trevor as the Author, because I can't remember my password. Oh well, we had a great Christmas this year although it is verry cold..... we have stayed in alot. Trevor will have been home for just about 2 weeks once he heads out to go back to work in Grande Prairie. As most of you know he resigned from his job with the District of Tumbler Ridge, as the Chief Financial Officer ( although they have kept him working when he comes home to visit us- he usually works a full day every Friday because they cannot find a replacement) and he has taken a position in GP back at BDO Dunwoody Chartered Accountants. He is a senior manager, with the opportunity to be a partner in a couple years. As for us, we are still in Tumbler waiting ever so patiently for our house to sell. We are greatful for our friends here who keep us occupied and help make the wait easier. Trevor usually leave to GP on Sunday afternoons and will work long days Mon-Thurs, then come home Thurs nite, Work Friday here, spend time with our family and then back again Sunday. Each weekend is a whirlwind and at times can be very emotional. It's not fun having dad gone most of the time. We truly would appreciate prayers for our home to sell so that we can be together all the time.

This Christmas has been fun. We have been sledding and cooking, baking, making gingerbread houses for Olivia's 7 birthday. We have been decorating and going to Christmas concerts, Christmas Eve service and now already it is New Years Eve tomorrow. It is also Olivia's True Birthday, She can't wait... She reduced her invite list this year to 12 including her brother and sister. It is so much easier doing gingerbread houses with 12 than last year in which she invited her whole class. 20+. We had a lot of fun. She thinks we are having a party for her tomorrow because we are having a bunch of people over for games and to play the Wii, but really it is a New Years Eve Party.

She is a beautiful little girl, I can't believe she is 7. This is her and her friends decorating their houses. Their houses were their goody bags. Some of them ate all their candy by morning. All of the Girls slept over. Only 3 boys were invited they wanted to spend the nite and promised they would sleep under the Christmas tree. Ha Ha very funny.... now Go Home.

Here is Olivia and her "Horse Cake" She is horse crazy. She recieved birthday money and she bought a new purple halter and Rainbow lead for her horse.

This is Jackson our Golden Retriever Puppy and Yes he is named after Jackson, Hannah Montana's brother. He is the best dog and we love him to bits. He loves to cuddle and rough house. He can give the biggest hip checks and send Livy and Austin flying to the couch. He is pretty strong and loves to pull. The kids love him lots.

Here are some Christmas photo's we took Christmas day.....

Emma with her Hannah Montana Mp3 player and Olivia with her Hannah Montana watch and Austing with his John Deere Money Bank - everytime you put money in it Rev's like a Tractor and the lights flash. I caught him in my purse and said how much did you take he quickly put money in and showed me a penny... Ha Ha.

We hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and a Wonderful and Blessed New Year. From our House to Yours Happy New Year! Trevor, Tanya, Emma, Olivia and Austin

Spring Time in Tumbler

With the May long weekend now upon us, and Alvan and Trish visiting from Vernon, it was a great opportunity to explore some of the outdooor recreational activities we have in Tumbler Ridge....On Sunday afternoon we ventured out to Bear Hole Lake...the Lake is only 23 km's from town, most of it on gravel road...We had never been out there so it was a nbew experience for us all...we ran into some friends who had been camping at the lake...we found a campsite and the girls went to play....I starting setting up for our weiner roast and a little fishing...before I had even got the fire started and the truck unloaded, Alvan is yelling "I got one!" I shrugged it off and laughed but he wasn't joking! First cast into the lake and he lands one! He got it to shore before the fish managed to wiggle its self off the hook but it got everyone excited...Emma, Olivia and Austin all wanted their fishing rods now! A few minutes later Alvan landed another one...it was his first northern pike....we had to keep this one because the fish basically swallowed the hook hole! On a side note,we brought him home and I made fillets...I used a lemon pepper cracker coating to cook them pike and it was actually quite delicious....

Now it was my turn to land a northern pike...he was slightly larger than the one Alvan caught but I lost my grip on him after we got the hook out...Tanya did manage to snap a picture of him...notice how he has sunk his teeth into the gloves Alvan is wearing...they have sharp teeth and very strong jaws...Alvan managed to catch 2 more after mine but we let them both go...the kids were pretty excited to see the fish being caught and it was a great afternoon on the lake with the sun shining.

This morning we borrowed a couple of 4 wheelers from some friends from Church (God Bless their generosity) and went on a little drive...Alvan had his motorbike and Tanya and I drove the quads...the kids all got their turns and thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

The Lord is Good!!!!