This old house

Doesn't take long

The beginning of the end.

Well, the end is near for the ol' homestead for (one) sect of the Huitema family. It joins a long list of photographs and memories spanning nearly 50? years of existance. I'm sure there isn't a soul out there who reads this who doesn't share one of those.

Natural park-like setting

We had to camp at a county park for one night before we could get into Choke Canyon State Park which is situated below San Antonio.

The oil refinery in the background not only made for an unusual camp setting, but the sulphur smell and the noise would not encourage us to stay more then one night here. But there were seasonal campers here!!

Oriole nest on the hydro lines

I had to take this picture for Stef's sake. There was this beautiful Oriole nest hanging from a hydro line and it was swaying in the breeze. This was just outside of a State Park that didn't allow vehicles in so you could walk, bike or take their trolly in to view the bird feeding stations.

The name of the park is Bentsen Rio State Park in Texas.

Historic manual ferry

We came across this manual ferry that would take you over the Rio Grande River to Mexico. And yes, there were customs agents on the American side to check you back in. There was no money wasted on a grand building though, it was a very small shack which could only fit one of the two customs agents inside.

This ferry was manually driven and was the only one of its kind in the U.S. We took our bikes across and then biked about 3 miles to the nearest town.

Goat cowboy!

Only in Texas would you see a cowboy herding his goats!

Bob the Pelican

The fishermen called him Bob and gave him the fish that were too small to keep.

Lazy pelican

This pelican had it all figured out! He would wait for the fishermen to catch a fish and then quickly try to snatch it.

Blooming bush

Since Texas had so much rain in January the bushes, trees and cacti were starting to bloom when we arrived at the beginning of February.

Cooper & Hudson

Beppe and Opa went to Kris and Christa's house to celebrate Kris' 32 birthday which was on March 14, 2007. Cooper decided he was old enough to hold his new baby brother. Oh and of course we had birthday cake for the birthday boy.

Stef

Flying high

During our stay in the Dominican Republic, we decided to parasail. It was quite an amazing adventure. We have apparently defeated our fear of heights...and commitments, as we are now engaged to be married. :-)

Stay tuned for more details.

Punta Cana

Jamie Lynn and I just returned from the Dominican Republic, and saw plenty of exciting and exotic places.

The Basilica Nuestra Señora de la Altagracia, also known as Higuey Basilica, in the Dominican Republic, is more than a religious temple. Because of its unique, avant-garde construction, it is one of the most important architectural works in this predominately Catholic nation.

Our Dominican friend Franklin took us for a tour of the market, where we saw plenty of fresh "meat", including what was left of this poor cow laying on the side of the steet. Although offered to assist on the lifting of the head, i declined and took the picture instead.

Texas 2007

So here is our campsite at Falcon State Park. We have lots of space and there are only a few campers in this area. The weather has been great but we are glad that Bert kept checking the internet to see what the weather was like before we decided to come down because they did have a lot of rain and cold weather in January. We are staying here until the end of February and then we will travel around a bit around the Gulf of Mexico coast before heading back around March 18th.

The Newest Zantingh

Hudson Bradt Zantingh

Born - February 22, 2007

Proud Parents - Kris and Christa Zantingh

Weighing in at 7lbs 2 oz

Skiing at Whistler

I finally made it to my first day on Whistler for the season. I bought five lift tickets so I had better get going!

This picture is from the top of seventh heaven, always a great spot for photos. It was a great day for skiing and it was nice and sunny once you got over the clouds.


However, not all was well. I bought these old used teleskis to learn and finally, 3/4 down Blackcomb glacier the binding broke. This is an even bigger problem because they can't get the snowmobile in. It's a 14 km walk out the bottom or a steep climb up the glacier to top out at the lift so I hiked up.

I made it to the top just as ski patrol showed up to ski to me and tell me to start hiking out. Since I couldn't ski down the mountain I got to ride on the back of the snowmobile down the Horstman glacier (pretty steep) and to a lift I could download on. I think I will keep the skis but buy new bindings.

Costa Rica - Jan. 2007

Costa Rica - Jan 22 / 07 to Jan 30/07

Jack and I and our friends John and Gina went to Costa Rica for a small holiday. The resort was so-so - the food was gross - no butter - the bar closed at 10:00 PM - no rye- ran out of rum several times - room service ran out of towels quite often - Jack and I had a small crappy room, John and Gina had a large spacious room - we both paid the same price - how do you figure? - sometimes it was too hot- sometimes the air conditioning worked overtime and then too cold - sore rear end on the river ride - the bus tour drivers were maniacs - a monkey stole my glasses - Jack lost his hat on the canopy tour.
But it was a great holiday - sailing over the jungle on a cable in a harness - floating down the lazy river and saw an alligator - touring the volcano - seeing all of Costa Rica on both sides of the mountains - the dry rain forest - interesting description - the transitional rain forest and the tropical wet rain forest - gee I would expect the rain forest to be wet - sailing on the bay - visiting the city of Liberia- and best of all - the snorkling experience in the bay and by the reef at our resort.

Switching to the new blogger

Well, maybe some people have noticed as they tried to post but I was forced to upgrade all the blogs I use to the new google account. Google is switching everything over and I could no longer use my old username. So anyone who tries to log in is going to have to switch as well. If you have a gmail account no problem, just log in using that account. Otherwise you will have to select a username for the google account.

Please e-mail me if you have any problems.

Carly in Australia

Carly is back from her trip to Australia and here is a photo of her feeding a kangaroo.

Christmas Dinner - December 26, 2006

Maaike and Tom, Kris, Christa and Cooper and Beppe and Opa having the turkey dinner at 2368 Slo-Pitch Road.

Australian guests

Scott's parents were visiting from Australia and were looking forward to seeing snow. Perhaps there will be some before they leave in January.

Christmas Dinner

The Huitema and Hetherington families celebrated Christmas at Bill and Isabel's this year. There was no snow, but plenty of food!

Carly in Australia

Hello everyone,

So this Christmas I am in Australia doing a bit of a tour and visiting friends. First it was to Melbourne to see Bryan and Sarah (we lived in graduate residence together and then in Kits in Vancouver). I am traveling with Rhonda (another SJC grad and Kits resident), who incidently lived on a dairy farm close to Listowel.



After several days of traveling around Melbourne and touring the city Rhonda and I rented a car and drove the great ocean road. We camped one night in a park and a wallaby jumped into our campsite and looked at us for a while wondering what the hell we were doing there. We also saw lots of Koalas sleeping in trees. The drive was an adventure since I don't drive very much at all and in Australia the driving is done on the left. So anyway, here we were driving this very twisty coastal road trying very hard to remember what lane we're allowed to turn into at every corner. The trip was fantastic and I will post a picture of the twelve apostles later.

Then back in Melbourne Bryan and Sarah treated us to a 5 course diner on a tram that traveled around Melbourne. So for three hours we toured around and ate and ate and drank and drank. Good times.



Then it was off on a 12 hour road trip to Sydney, well, actually two hours south of Sydney but I can't remember the town's name. It has lots of vowels and repeats itself which is pretty much par for the course here. Ullaulla? Something like that. We are enjoying the hospitality of Sarah's parents and staying at their home away from home, more drinking, chip eating, walks by the beach and the hot tub at night. And I'm looking forward to all the curry diners they enjoy eating when Sarah's parents join us.

I hear it is going to be a green Christmas? I'm sorry that I will miss all the usual Huitema drama this year, but it never does seem to end so I'll be sure to catch it next year!

Putting up a clothesline

Bert puts up a clothesline in Marijke's basement.

Living space

Lots of light will come through these windows.

Moving day

The moving truck arrives with some of Marijke's belongings.

Marijke's move

Marijke had some company for lunch at the cabin a few days before the big move.

news from Matty

An excerpt from the e-mail Matty sent to me...

For Christmas I will be somewhere in Uganda/Rwanda so have a drink for me.
I have been having a fabulous time, seen and done so much. It is all very exciting and can hardly wait to get home and show you the pictures. Since I only have a film camera that will have to wait till then. My next purchase is going to be a digital camera I think.
Will you wish everyone a merry christmas for me and ask the guys to email me then I can their addresses and write back. I hear that Age is going to Frisland in Jan. 2007, wish him a good trip for me.

Christmas Tree Day, December 10, 2006

The Zantinghs and various assorted family members search for the perfect tree.

News from Carly in Australia

Carly sent us an e-mail this morning and said that the flight went fine and that she slept a lot on the plane and then slept some more under a tree outside the airport in Fiji since they had a 12 hour layover there. She sent this picture taken in the bus ride to town in Fiji. They are now with their friends in Melbourne.

Cooper Zantingh - 2nd Birthday

Here is our budding musician. Cooper is two years old today.