Jan. 1, 2009
Happy New Year! It looks like it's been almost a year since my last update... yikes. I have been keeping up with people on Facebook. So if you're feeling out of the loop, make sure you check out my profile there.
This past year was a good one for us as a family. After getting back from our trip to Poland, we got into the swing of a regular routine again with school and work, and things didn't stop until summer, it seemed. In the spring I put a new brick patio in our backyard, with help from Erik, Kornelia, and Ewa.
Erik learned to ride his bike without training wheels early into the summer holiday. I wasn't sure how it was going to go, but we took him out to the school field, I gave him a push, and he was gone. So the rest of the summer, he chased Kornelia on his bike. Erik has also learned to swim in the deep end of the pool without a life jacket. The two of them are now totally at home in the water - like little fish.
Kornelia's highlight of the summer was spending a week at Circle Square Ranch. She did all kinds of fun things there - learned to care for and ride horses, kayaking and swimming, and make a lot of new friends. We were a bit apprehensive about her going and not knowing anyone, but she was fine with it and had a blast.
With Erik in grade 1 now, Ewa has a little more time on her hands and she keeps herself busy visiting and sharing fellowship with Moms she meets from the schools. She is also very adamant about helping the children with their homework which is great.
This past year was busy for me with work. God blessed us at the end of April with a new 2 year contract with the Energy Resource Conservation Board (part of the Alberta Ministry of Energy) here in Calgary. Along with that, SAIT (Southern Alberta Institute of Technology) asked me to teach two more courses with them - I taught the first round of those this fall. Fortunately, my project manager at the ERCB was also my project manager at Neteller, and he has no problem with giving me the time off to teach at SAIT.
We spent Christmas at home in Calgary this year. It was good to spend time with my brother and his wife and my parents. In fact, we had a rip roaring game of Uno last night (New Year's Eve) at my parent's place with our kids. We all had a great time laughing and loosing to my Dad and Erik. New Year's Eve also marks the 15th anniversary of the night that I proposed to Ewa. We'll be married 15 years later on this year!
