Happy Birthday Sarah! 16 and driving today...

Ok I could go on about she is growing up so fact and all the memories of when she was just a little girl learning to ride a bike etc, etc, but I (we) are so proud of the young women she becoming and look forward to seeing what she accomplishes in the future. So in light of letting go just a little and helping her spread her wings, just as my Dad did for me on my 16th b-day, today I drove her to The ICBC testing office in town and watched as she got her leaners license. Then just to add to the excitement gave her, her first drivers lesson as she drove the new BMW around for a while. She did really great for her first time and I was so glad we got to share that moment and time together. Not bad way to spend part of your birthday hey Sarah! So....HAPPY BIRTHDAY SARAH, I hope this year is an especially memorable one for you, and no matter what, no matter when, I hate to break it to you but you will still always be my little girl. Love Dad.

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Welcome home...

If you have found your way here to our new humble online home, WELCOME. Over the years our family website has changed and evolved through various layouts, looks and purpose. Over time it has finally settled down to become our online family history or family journal, as this area of the site is titled. Some may ask why even have a family website, especially with online sites such as Facebook so firmly used by many of our family and friends? Well simply put, this is my way (Michael) of trying to collect and record the various moments in time of our family as we grow and age. Some people scrapbook, others collect multiple hard photo albums, but for us, this is was the easiest method to keep a family record or history, which I believe will be especially important in the years to come when looking back will be as important to us as looking forward.

For most of you, it's more than likely that you have never stopped by here and so a new "look" or "home base" may mean little, but for us and especially for myself, it has been a labour of love and hate. One of the reasons it was so easy to start a website, long before Facebook took over our house and probably yours as well, was because Apple Inc. made it so easy to build and maintain one. They produced great software for free and created a great online location to store and display the site for a reasonable cost. The problem is, it was also propriety, meaning that the site could never easily be changed and moving it to another platform or online "host" was impossible. Recently Apple announced a whole new program for providing online products, which no longer included hosting websites or updating their website software, and so the search was on for a new place to host the site and likely a new way to build and maintain it. Thus the hate part, having to rebuilding our site from the ground up...this has not been fun but in fact a very laborious in-devour. However, the love part has been slowly going back through all the old blogs, from monthly and yearly moments to our travel blogs, and remembering all that has happened over the last 6 years since the site was first published.

So thanks for for stopping by.  The new site has some cool innovations that will make it easier for us to update and maintain more regularly. Not everything has been brought over yet, so check back and you will eventually find all our online family history in the months to come back up and running. And, thankfully, this new site should be much more easy to move, if it ever has to again.

Michael

Back from Waikiki, HI

Well we are back from Hawaii and I have one last day of vacation before the start of the Fall season. Thanks to a great waterproof case from Amazon we where able to take lost of water pics. The above picture is from one of my favourite moments from the trip. The funny thing is I almost missed the turtle as I was swimming with our guide in another spot when this particular female turtle came up for some air. By the time a swam around the crowd of other snorkelers to get a better view I found my self right in front of her head with the waves pushing me closer to her. Great fun! I have a nice video of the whole experience I will have to post at some point but for now we will all pour through our pictures and video and remember one of the best Family Vacations to date.

=8-)

Michael

Happy 13th Birthday Emily: Welcome to the teenage years!

It's been a real joy and gift to be part of Emily's life and watch her grow and develop into a young women. Tonight we went out for Emily's Dad and Daughter diner and true to Emily's personality we ended up at Montana's for BBQ ribs. Great dinner and even better company. HAVE a GREAT YEAR Emily...there will be lots of new and interesting adventures on the horizon this year.

Love DAD
=8-)

Ortho: The start of the journey

Well, I thought I would keep record of the coming two year process of fixing the countless issues with my smile, bite and overall poor dental condition. This has been a long and drawn out ordeal getting to this point and there are many more procedures to go. To go forward, I should go back for a few minutes and explain how it has come to pass, that at 42, I am now wear braces. Growing up it was obvious that there were issues with my teeth, as my childhood pearly whites gave way to crooked, crowded adult teeth. For those that know me, I don't smile that often and in pictures, it's more of a grin with no teeth exposed. As a child I smiled quite often, teeth all aglow. But as I grew and my dental condition worsened I worked hard to hide what I was quite ashamed to show. By the time I was 20, and all finished any further growth, I was left with the following; severe lower crowding and twisting in all 4 incisor teeth, the bottom canine teeth also out of place; the top four incisor teeth spread out, gaped and slightly twisted, my right top central incisor tooth chipped from a childhood accident that was never fixed, worse yet, both my upper canine never came in and grew up into the front roof of my mouth, finally a slight under bite from a very strong lower jaw (as my orthodontist likes to say). Now, I do remember in my teenage years being taken to a Orthodontist and my parents being given an estimate that included breaking my jaw and resetting it, but it never came to pass. 

As the years went on, Elaine and I met and got married, I went on to university, went through a couple different carrier paths, was blessed with fatherhood and many ministry opportunities through our church. All during this time I just gave up on doing anything about my teeth and worked out a routine of life that hid as much as I could when I sung or talked. But over the last few years as the company I invested in and work at has spent more and more time in the public eye doing trade shows and sales visits, I had begun to become more and more self conscious of my smile and overall talking appearance. Add to this, I have three wonderful and beautiful women in my house, whose smile is always on display in our family pictures, while I stand and grin at best and scowl on others. About three years ago, I started looking into what could be done, but every time the quotes were exceptionally high and always involved jaw surgery. Then about 3 months ago, I made a comment to the girls orthodontist (who has been monitoring their growth to set the optimum time to start their own ortho work) that I was not looking for perfection, just something that would allow me to smile again and be less self conscious when I talked. This seemed to be the spark that was needed to come up with plan to fix 90% of my dental problems (In my case perfection could only come with jaw surgery), 

And so here I sit, 3 days into my first week of wearing braces and I hope that this will all be worth it for the money the family is allowing me to spend. The plan, as best as I can explain, will remove the all my crowding, straighten out all my teeth, get ride of any gaps and create room for fixing my missing upper teeth. What has been interesting is that as I begun getting x-rays, dental moulds, 3-D CT scans and surgical consults for those pesky upper canines, is how worse things had gotten. I had 1 lower incisor tooth removed this week as part of the plan to do all this without jaw surgery (remember I have this very strong lower jaw). As it turns out, that tooth was cracking down the middle (front to back) and darkening i.e. rotting out due to all the overcrowding and twisting. In April I go in for an "in office" surgery to remove the two upper canine teeth that are actually damaging the roots of my two upper central incisors. As it turns out, the surgeon was glad that my braces will be in place as this will keep those two incisors from potentially falling out (when the now dead canine teeth are removed) while bone grows back and re-strengthens the roots of those teeth. Later this late summer/early fall I will get that much need chipped tooth fixed once things are settled into their correct places. This is possible because thankfully my Ortho is using speed braces that reduces the treatment time. Finally, when the braces are ready to come off, back into surgery I go to get implants for the two dead canine teeth that have left holes in my upper mouth. 

Lots of fun! In case anyone is wondering (which I doubt), I am now living with metal speed braces on the bottom row of teeth (without those ugly coloured rubber bands!) and clear ceramic speed braces on the top row (as Dr. Chow states, "these will come in handy when I start smiling again in about 6 months, if not sooner"). Next updated will come after the canine removal surgery. Till then, I promise not to complain or make a big deal about this any further. 

Michael 
=8-)

Jan- Feb 2011

 

Well its just a s few days away from March and so much has happened around here that I know I will end up leaving something out.  There have been trips around the world, championships won, and a number of changes around here worth noting.  Grab a coffee as this could take some time. 

  1. 1.  Michael’s Trips:  This year has been a series of trips that have had me out of the house and the road every 2nd week.  1st up was a Big White Skiing Trip in the middle of January. Great weather, great snow and good fun.  I even tried to snow board and thankfully I am still here to tell the tail...although never again!  Next up was a work trip to Holland, Belgium and France.  I had always been on of my travelling dreams to head to Europe and although it was only one 8 days it was an experience I won’t soon forget.  The highlights are probably visiting the three big cities we spent time in, Amsterdam, Brussels and Paris.  Next up was a trip back down to Salt Lake City, UT for a dealer factory tour that included snowmobiling. Then back to Toronto for the National Home Show and 5 days of consumer sales for our cover systems.  Back home for a week and then back down to Downtown Vancouver for another week of home show work.  Spring break just can not come soon enough this year.

  2. 2.New church:  It took along time for us to make the decision to no longer attend Southside. We had been part of the church life there for almost 14 years and over the years have made some really good friends.  There are many great ministry memories that we take with us and over the years our faith has developed in the process.  But as the life of our family changed, it was time to move on and find a new church home that was able to connect with our whole family and not just Elaine and I.  It never is easy saying goodbye but as the fall and winter of 2010 have passed bye, we have felt more and more sure that God has had hand in this move.  We are now currently attending Parkland Fellowship, where the girls are attending the youth and we are enjoying being part the community there.  It will be interesting to see what God as in store this year.

  3. 3.Schedule changes: As the girls have grown up and changed so has our family schedule.  This spring will be know for the craziness that has been the past few months and the daily activities that have kept us on the go.  Sarah started club volleyball, high school basketball, continued her club soccer schedule and then started attending Parklands youth program.  Emily added Volleyball, school basketball, Parklands Jr. youth program and spring skiing to hers, on to club soccer.  With my travel schedule I have no I idea how Elaine has been able to keep up with all of it.  But she HAS!  Having two active teenagers in the house has been a transition over the last few years that we had quite the time sorting out. But, the sports and activities that they are involved in, have kept them healthy and out of trouble.  Even more so, they are both so talented and smart that both Elaine and I believe God has a plan to use these talents for his purpose in the coming years.

  4. 4.Championships & Basketball: This year Sarah’s school was intent on running only a grade 10 team and the grade 9 girls were likely going to be given the year off and told to try again next year when they entered grade 10 themselves.  Thankfully some very talented teachers, Mr. Jones and Miss. Campbell, heard about this and step up to create an all girls grade 9 team.  Both of the coaches not not only were intent on running the team, but with Miss Campbell's experience playing for the Canadian Women's National Basketball Team and Mr. Jones understanding of the players and their strengths, the team has developed and blossomed into a powerhouse.  They have won a number of tournaments this year, made it to the city finals and just this week won the Regional Fraser Valley Championships.  Not bad for a team that know-one wanted to see put together.  They are off to the Provincial Championships now and it will be fun to see just how far they can go in the tournament against the best in the province.  As for Sarah personally, along the way she has been given a number of player tournament awards, MVP awards and in the Fraser Valley Championships was named the regional MVP.  

  5. 5.This and that:  Emily is now the tallest female in the house and now stands 5ft 7.5in...and she is only 12!  Max is finally starting to settle down, not so many “mistakes around the house”, but still hates and moving thing that he sees go by when you take him for a walk.  It was sad to hear of the fire that did server damage to Delta Cedar, were I grown up working for many years through high school and early university.  Finally, as I sit here it’s February 27 and there is snow on the ground, this is Vancouver where it rains not snows.

Till next month.

=8-) Michael





Fits and The Tantrums

The other day Luke and I where having lunch, and as happens when we get together, the topic of music comes up, which always leads us to sharing something we have heard recently. This week, in one video no less, he got me hooked on this band Fitz and The Tantrums. They have a huge sound, without any guitars??(how could that be??), a Hall & Oats throw back vocal sound and very new 80's music vibe. The horn and organ instruments they use to fill out the sound is fantastic. Noelle Scaggs vocals and energy work so well with Michael Fitzpatrick that this band sounds as good live, if not even better, then on their records. I have posted the original video that hooked me and then one of groups live performances from Seattle for KEXP 90.3. It is well worth the time to go thru all the of the performance video from the Seattle set before you make up your mind on this band...be warned you will get hooked. Thankfully the latest album sells for under $9.00 on itunes.

Michael 
=8-)

 

Jake Shimabukuro plays "Bohemian Rhapsody"


I have been playing guitar now for 12 years and I am always amazed when I hear or see someone who has really mastered how to play.  Unfortunately, I can also be a little bias towards it, especially when Elaine and I discuss my guitar versus her days play the ukulele.  All that changed the other day when I saw this video from the 2010 TED conference. Here is how it was described prior to watching the video "Jake Shimabukuro strums monster sounds out of the tiny Hawaiian ukulele, as he plays a cover of Queen's 'Bohemian Rhapsody' A sensational performance from TED2010 -- it'll send shivers down your spine". While It may not have sent shivers down my spine, I was mesmerized by the skill and sound he created. This is a must watch video for any musician or music lover. 

=8-)

3 Alarm Mill Fire in Delta BC


I found out last night that the my sawmill my family grew up working in for many years had a major fire about 48 hours ago.  My dad still works as a consultant for the mill and he and my mom had to cut short their winter vacation and come back home to help in the rebuilding process. For years I worked in various jobs at the mill while going to high school and college and my brother Lance is still employed there, so the place holds lots of memories for me.  The mill has gone through many mountains and valleys over the years and I am sure it will be repaired and running at full capacity quickly. Our family's prayers are also with the injured workers for a quick and full recovery.  I found a video posted on the fire, unfortunately please excuse the swear word about 1 min into the video. 

Michael

=8-)

It's Been A Long Time

 

Ok, ok.  It’s been awhile. Actually as I looked back it has been almost 8 months since we posted an updated on the family website and then only once for 2010.  Everyone, including me, just kind of abandoned our family website and took to Facebook with a vengeance.  Add to that, some dabbling on twitter and trying to get a POSTEROUS account going (the ease of use for posting is far superior to apple iweb, which I can’t believe was still not update for use on the iphone...sorry I digress) and the dust around here got pretty thick.  It’s sad really.  There was some pretty good stuff that happened throughout the year and did not get documented on our “family journal” (that’s what the website really is for us).  In any event, with the site revamp comes a new year and a new start of the family journal/blog.  At some point I’ll attempt to try and rebuild the old blog posts to match the new site, but until then, just clink on  ‘2006-2010 old archive’ on the blog’s front page or click on the ‘previous’ button below to read the all of the old posts.  

As for today, “it’s a new dawn, it’s a new day, it’s a new life” (as Michael Buble would sing) for the family blog.  I think that there will be lots of material, stories and news from the family’s life around here over the coming months to ensure that we once again keep this train rolling (lot’s of cliches today). 

The next big updated will be at the beginning of February and should be quite interesting as Sarah (and to a lesser extent Emily) trying wading through Club Soccer, Club Volleyball and High School basketball while keeping up their grades.  I for one am eagerly awaiting to see how this all plays out.  I will also be travelling to Europe for the first time in late January for work, so there should be some interesting tales to tell out of that trip as well. 

As always, for Elaine’s daily thoughts head to FACEBOOK...and hey...who every you are that takes the time to read this little family journal please post a comment. It would be great to know who came to visit.

=8-) Michael

WDW 2010 First Half


Well Hello all. This year our trip has been a bit strange with the shorter time frame, rainy days and the over night flight that seem to wreck havoc on all of us for the first few days. Things have now settled down to the familiar fun and relaxation that keeps us coming back year after year. However, this year I have not posted more regular updates as the internet is expensive in WDW and thus a luxury for this years budget, so here are some of our observations, musings and stories that may be of interest.

1. Overnight flying...not again! So I thought it would be a better way to get as much time here as possibly since we shortened this years trip down by 4 days and take the over night flight from Seattle to Orlando. Thinking that the 5 1/2 hour flight would give us about the same amount of sleep that our more traditional morning flights do (since the girls never sleep the night before), this flight would the start of all our future flying arrangements. WRONG! No one slept more than 3 hours, just like Elaine predicted, and worse off Sarah got really sick during the flight. Once we landed our room was not quite ready so our first few hours where spent wandering Animal Kingdom half asleep while praying that the resort would call any second and tell us our room was now available. So DAY 1: lost to sleep, sickness and RAIN (more on that later).

2. Gray Skies and Rain...hey we could have just stayed home??? It's been wet here this year, more so than any other year we have come. In the past we counted on experiencing 2 wash out days to rain and a couple afternoon or early evening monsoons but this year it has rained everyday. Most times quite hard and for long periods. The last 3 days have started off with sun/clouds which is more like normal but by noon onward the skies start to darken and you know the rain is coming. Now what is different is that back home when it rains it's also cold, here is stays warm! However, walking around the Magic Kingdom in a lighting storm while it's down pouring is just not that much fun, unless your name is Emily, then it's almost more fun then when the sun is shining.

Quick bites:
1. Typhoon lagoon is the best water park in the world and should be part of everyones experience down here.
2. The best buffet, hands down, is BOMAS at the Animal Kingdom Lodge.
3. The SUM OF ALL THRILLS at Epcot is worth the wait, especially when you make a roller coster go as fast and high as the program will allow!
4. Always rent a car! Worth every penny we spend on it.
5. Emily has been bitten by the VINYLMATION bug. UHGGGGG. :-)
6. The rooms have been updated at POP Century Resort, and it's a great value, but it's time to change resorts and try something new. Animal Kingdom or Wilderness Lodge...hmmmm??
7. Get to the MAGIC KINGDOM early one day and experience the opening ceremony and then 2-3 hours of riding bliss!

Well that's it for now, I will try for another post before heading home mid week.



Michael
=8-)



Penticton-Osoyoos:GPS Route, Pictures and Journal

Today's route was southern Penticton to Ok Falls to Oliver and on to Osoyoos and then back again.  My phone was drained out of power during the western ascent out of OK falls on the way back, so it is missing roughly 13 km of tracking as I know longer had the phone's GPS to track me.  The pictures are from the bridge separating Northern and Southern Lake Osoyoos facing south.

Leaving Penticton on the Eastern route of Lake Skaha was fairly uneventful with low winds coming off the lake, which was nice.  Between OK Falls and Oliver the route is about 22 km and always seems to be the hardest part of the ride, however this year it seemed to be go by quickly and I reached the southern end of Oliver with an average speed of 29.5km which is my fastest 40 km this year.  Between the Oliver and Osoyoos there where a couple of road constructions stops and a lot of strange people wandering the highway.   In general the route from OK falls to Osoyoos heading south would be considered more of a descending route.  The official stats for the first half of the ride where; 57.9km in 1.55min with an average speed 28.9km

Heading back seems to all ascending, and wind.  Just like last year, the wind is the worst between Oliver and OK Falls.  In comes in waves and for moments goes away and you make up some ground only to be by another wave of wind that seems to take the speed right of you no matter how hard you pedal.

Final stage, OK Falls back to Pentiction I had decided earlier in the day to mountain climb and take a longer route back this year and complete a circle around Lake Skaha (last the year the wind killed me between Oliver and Ok falls and I only managed to ride between Penticton and Oliver and back before "loosing my legs" along the eastern side of the Lake Skaha which I thought would be easier).  In truth, I thought that the western route out of Ok Falls would give me a long down hill route heading back but I had forgotten just how much climbing the route has and overestimated how  much descending you get.  Still I managed to hit 100km in Oliver with enough energy to climb away and head upward and on ward for the last 18km.

Well there you have, finally completed this route after a year of saying that I would.  It would be nice to see how easier and faster the route would be riding in a group or at least with 1 other partner as opposed to going it solo.  Sharing the wind breaking alone I think would help immensely. 

Name: Penticton-Osoyoos
Date: 2010-06-30 8:07 am
Distance: 105 kilometers
Elapsed Time: 4:04:03
Avg Speed: 25.8 km/h
Max Speed: 55.5 km/h
Avg Pace: 02' 20" per km
Min Altitude: 145 m
Max Altitude: 473 m
Start Time: 2010-06-30T15:07:59Z
Start Location:  Latitude: 49.461217º N  Longitude: 119.578555º W
End Location:  Latitude: 49.378718º N  Longitude: 119.613211º W

Buck List: Cycle from PENTICTON to OSOYOOS - COMPLETED!

Well, 4.45 hours and 118 km later and I am done.  My legs will take about 3-4 hours to recover and my neck is sore for some unknown reason but this is one of the goals I set last year when i started getting back into shape and cycling.  I'll post the GPS route info, some pictures and a bit of a ride journal later on today.  For now, time to float down the Penticton river, soak up some sun and rest for a few hours. 

Michael
=8-) 

1st Penticton Ride for 2010

Michael uses MotionX-GPS on the iPhone 3G or 3GS and is sharing with you the following track:

Comment: Ride around Skaha Lake with sun! Took the cimbing route today. No better place to ride then here.
Name: 1st Penticton Ride 2010
Date: 2010-05-30 7:55 am
Distance: 31.0 kilometers
Elapsed Time: 1:15:01
Avg Speed: 24.8 km/h
Max Speed: 52.6 km/h
Avg Pace: 02' 25" per km
Min Altitude: 324 m
Max Altitude: 475 m
Start Time: 2010-05-30 T:14:55:17
Start Location:  Latitude: 49.461434º N  Longitude: 119.578919º W
End Location:  Latitude: 49.461372º N  Longitude: 119.579057º W

How to start your 1st year of high school...

Congratulations Sarah! This has been one incredible year for her. Here is how she ended off her first year of High School: 

Top Overall Grade 8 Student 
Top Grade 8 Female Athlete 
MVP Grade 8 Basketball 
MVP Grade 8 Volleyball 
4.0 grade point average every term of school 
Academic achievement award Math 8 
Academic achievement award French 8 
Sports department participation bronze medal* 
Sport department participation silver medal* 
*points are awarded for each sport and level of achievement for each team/individual throughout the year. These accumulate throughout your overall time in the school and move through three more levels. Sarah's has surpassed most 2nd and 3rd year athletes already in the sports department.

 

Quick Ride On An Old Route


Today was highlighted by two things; lots of stops messing around with equipment and 'heavy legs" as I like to call it.   Along the route I stopped at Bicycle Sport Pacific and picked up a great brass schrader to presta adaptor for air compressors and 'air stations' at local gas stations.  For $1.09 I can finally fill up my tires to their full capacity and it turns out they needed it.   I finally found a gas station with air working and once I filled up both tires in turns out I have been riding roughly 35-40 psi low for months.  My emergency hand pump and supposed powerful foot pump just could not get the air into the tires that is really needed.

Today's ride was also what I would call a "grinding it out" kind of experience.  I only had so much time today as I headed out late from watching too much World Cup Soccer, so I new it was going to be a shorter ride, but I just could not seem to get the momentum going to keep the pace up very high as my legs felt heavy and had no strength in them to to what I wanted today. I was hoping for 40-45km completed in 1.5 hours but instead has to settle for 35km.   Todays route was highlighted by a stop to the site of the now abandoned Fort Langley to Maple Ridge ferry.  In my earlier years of riding I got to know this ferry very well as I would ride from Delta and Cloverdale to Maple Ridge using the ferry to cross the Fraser River weekly to see my grandparents.  Now the system is all locked behind gates and the boats sit rusting away on the other side of the river banks, but the 5 fishing boats that have been moored their for decades still endure (see picture below).

Quote note about the pic.  It came from my iPhone and then was edited using the new CAMERA+ software I got for use with the phone (i highly recommend getting this app for your iPhone if you have one).  I try to take at least one shot to keep as a memento for the rides that I complete. Just a way of proving that I actually got to where the map says I was.  Next up, 1 week to go till our Penticton trip and the gruelling 100km+ rides begin.

Name: Quick ride on an old route
Date: 2010-06-20 1:00 pm
Distance: 35.5 kilometers
Elapsed Time: 1:22:12
Avg Speed: 25.9 km/h
Max Speed: 47.4 km/h
Avg Pace: 02' 19" per km
Min Altitude: 0 m
Max Altitude: 81 m
Start Time: 2010-06-20T20:00:36Z
Start Location:  Latitude: 49.117794º N  Longitude: 122.703222º W
End Location:  Latitude: 49.117676º N  Longitude: 122.703170º W