Wow how I love my new LIFE!!!!!!!!!

I just can't believe how much we have achieved since we landed here in the Okanagan......
We have bothe got jobs that we are enjoying, the 2 younger boys are settled into school and making lots of friends, the oldest one who is 18 as started work and he is enjoying working for a living!!!!! We have bourght a house and a car!!!

We have today been out and booked our skiing and board lessons not that this is something I am looking forward to but with all the ski hill around here it is something I am going to have to give a try!!!!

Christmas..

We have got or Christmas tree, we printed off a permit fromm the computer and we all went up into the hills to hunt out the best christmas tree!!!! By the time we got there all the best trees had been taken! We got a tree after alot of trecking to find one it is a little bit spindly but it loos very nice with all our christmas decs on.

The shopping here for christmas presents is very differant to the UK not as many good shops here in the Okanagan, I do miss M&S and John Lewis for christmas shopping! I also miss my friend Sarah who I used to go and do all my christmas shopping with!

It is going to be very strange not being able to see family and friends at christmas time.

First Snow Fall!

Yesterday morning we had our first snowfall we have had snow on the hills but this was where we live, it didn't settle for long but it was good to see. So the snow is coming at long last!!!! The boys can't wait to start using thier snowboards and get on those mountains!
I am so worried about driving in the snow although we have snow tyres on the car it still scares me!!!!

Halloween!

We have decorated the house for Halloween and tonight we are carving out pumpkins ready for Friday night they are looking very impressive if I say so myself!!!!
This will be our first Halloween I am hoping we have enough candy! The Canadians really do Halloween in a big way

Winter Tyres!

Well today we have had winter tyres fitted to our car at a cost of $731. so no slipping and sliding in the snow for us!!! Putting winter tyres on the car is something very new to us. So all we need now is some snow!

First Sign of SNOW

We have spotterd the first signs of snow, hubby and me have been checking the mountain tops every morning on the way to work. But it was our 15 year old that spotted it on the way to school!!! There is snow on the top of those mountains!!!!!!!

School Concert.......

Tonight we have been to our youngest son’s first concert at school all the kids did great since they have only been learning their instruments for 4 weeks!!!
After getting feed back from both the schools my boys go to I am so pleased we have made the move over here. The way of teaching here seems to suit both our boys they are both doing great!!!
The boys have really settled into Canadian school life great they are making great friends; the youngest one had his first sleepover at a friend’s the other night! He is also going trick or treating with friends.
WE LOVE OUR NEW LIFE!!!!

Day trip to Vancouver!

On Saturday the 27th Sept we had a day out to Vancouver! The drive to Vancouver from the Okanagan over the mountains is just amazing we where that high at one point we where driving through the clouds! We always split the driving very fairly, I drive the first hour and hubby drives the other six!!!!!
We set off from our house at 6am, we got to a friends house in Abbortsford at about 9.15am. It was lovely meeting up with friends that we knew in the UK. From their house we went into Vancouver to do some shopping and check the sights out again, we then went to another friends for a cuppa before setting back off home! We got back home at about 1 in the morning.

Skiing!

Well we have done it now we have bought skis and snowboards!!!! There was a ski swap in Kelowna today (13th Sept) we spent all day trying skis and boots on trying to get everything right! All we need now is to decide which mountain to get lift passes for is it Big White or is it Crystal Mountain! Big White is the bigger resort but more expensive and very busy plus over an hour away, Crystal is smaller than Big White not as busy and is only about 15 mins away!

HELP which one do we choose?

Check Mate!!!!

Furniture arrived on Tuesday 2nd September all seemed well until we got an email on Friday 5th September saying they had part of a chess set that was ours! How it came separated from the rest of our things is a mystery! But they wanted us to go and pick it up from the depot but over the weekend they have been broken into and guess what our chess set was stolen!!!!!
So now they want us to put a value on something that can’t be replaced!

Lost PR cards!!!!

We have been here for over 10 weeks now and no sign of our PR cards! Customs said it would take about 6 to 8 weeks!!! After contacting them today hubby finds out they sent them to the wrong address, so they got sent back to customs! So now they have the correct address hopefully we will get them very soon!!!!

Westside Warriors

Well the Ice Hockey season is on it's way, we have been to the last 2 games of the Westside Warriors the first game they lost 7-2 but the last game we went to they won 3-2!!!!
Canadians really do like thier Ice Hockey!!!!

Starting School!

On the 2nd of September the boys started school!
They are enjoying not having to wear a uniform for school, jeans and t shirts are the uniform in Canada!
From what they say they seem to be enjoying thier new school life and they seem to be making friends!

We are in our house!

We moved into our house on the 28th of Aug and our furniture arrived on the 2nd Sept!
The furniture we had shipped over from the UK looks lost in the house, lost and a lot smaller than it was in the UK!!!
We have rooms that we don't know what to do with yet!
We love the area we have chosen to live we have mountains all around us and you just drive down the road and the Lake is just in front of you!

Great weekend!!!

What a great weekend we have had, on Saturday we went to a mountain bike event in City Park Kelowna, the boys loved it most of the bikers the boys knew from the bike magazines they read. To do anything like this in the UK it would have been in London and cost us a fortune! The guys on the bike where amazing or should I say mad flying in the air with their bikes!!!!! After the biking there was a concert in the evening and then we had a walk down by the Lake.
On Sunday we went floating down a channel that connects Lake Okanagan and Skaha Lake, it was so relaxing and great fun laying in an inflatable with the sun shinning down on you just floating away! Than at the pick up point to get back to the car we had Elvis singing for us!!!! Must remember to take ear plugs next time!!!!
On Monday we went off roading in the truck to test it out. We came across a gorgeous Lake called Jack Pine Lake; it is amazing the scenery around here!

4 Week Update!

4 weeks in and lovin’ it! What a place, beautiful scenery, great summer weather and really friendly people. It’s amazing what you can do in a short time; made lots of new friends, both have jobs, two cars and a house now purchased, just waiting for the move-in date.
Still feels like a holiday, but weekends are passing by and we don’t have to catch a plane back to England – wow!
Every weekend so far we’ve been invited to a BBQ, great opportunity to meet new people and share experiences, learn more of the “Canadian Way” lifestyle!
Been on walks and come face to face with more deer, chipmunks, and some butterflies the size of your hand (well almost). There’s a bird around here that looks exactly like a Robin in the UK but these are on steroids, they’re as big as a Blackbird.

Settling in!

Well we have been here now for nearly 3 weeks now and we all love it!
We both started work on Monday the 14th July, and the boys love the area, the boys have been swimming in the lake. The sun is very hot coming from rainy England we are not used to it, we went for a hike the other day while the boys went on a bike ride and the sun was that hot we both got burnt even with sun cream!!! The area around us is just amazing you drive to work in the morning there are mountains all around we have drive over the Lake every morning!
We are getting used to driving on the wrong side of the road now (well the wrong side of the road for now).
We have been invited to so many BBQs over the last few weeks we have lost count!
We had only been here a few days when we were driving along a road and a deer walked out in front of us and he just carried on walking up the road!

The wobblyknee's have landed!!!

Early morning start off to the aiport, few more tears, last minute goodbyes!
Squashed into the taxi with too many bags, but not everything can go by container. Good job it's only an hour to the airport.
The plane departure was on time, and yes it is a long flight but it was smooth and painless, just a little cramped.
Took a little while at Vancouver airport, we had to do the official immigration landing process. All the paper work was in order, a few simple questions and fair amount of waiting, the immigration officer had 5 lots to process. Eventually she said "Welcome to Canada", that was nice, but I was expecting fireworks and a fanfair! Oh well, can't be too disapointed I suppose.
About an hour and half and we'd cleared arrivals!

We had the fantastic sensation that we'd made it, after several years of form filling and waiting - Yipee :)

On to the next flight, a few hours wait, we wanted to give ourselves enough time in case things we're running late but because everyting ran so smoothly we found ourselves trying to kill time. Flight to Kelowna was also smooth and on time. We landed at 7:15pm local time and astonished to find it 34C. Just a little warmer than we'd left the UK!

Job Offer!

Mr wobblyknee has just been offered a job he starts on the 14th July, we land on the 28th June and he starts on the 14th July so just enough time for us to find our feet! It all seems so sureal we have somewhere to stay and we both have jobs we just keep pinching ourselves thinking this is all a dream!!!!

Time is flying by!

Only 4 more sleeps until we fly out on that one way tickets to our new life in Canada!
We had a very sad weekend saying our goodbyes to parents not nice to leave them. It is going to be a very difficult time getting used to parents not been so close!

We still have loads to do not sure if we will have enough time to get it all done!!!!!

We land a few days before Canada Day so just in time for all the celabrations! We have been invited to a BBQ on the 1st of July to share in the celabrations!

The Furniture is going!!!!!!!!!

We are now sat having a cup of tea while furniture and other belongings disappear all around us!
Boxes moving around by strangers. Tea and biscuits depleting fast!
Another landmark occasion that reminds us the reality and enormity of our decision to move abroad.
Oh decisions, decisions, is that coming or going? Do we need it before we go, will we need it before a slow boat arrives? Arrrgh!
We're burried in paperwork, ornaments, piles of clothes, dvds... it's a good job we seriously de-cluttered before hand.
And by the end of today, we get to sit on the floor for a week :)

A Place to stay!

When we go to Kelowna we are going to rent at first just to make sure we are in the right place for us as a family! We need to be close to schools and all the amenities that the Okanagan Valley as to offer!
We are staying in the Holiday Inn for the first 3 nights and then we have found a suite for the next 2 months until we can find somewhere more permanent.

At the moment we all feel so giddy about the move it is like all your birthdays and Christmases rolled into one!
We keep ploughing through all the things we need to get done before we fly and I think we are on top of everything. The shipping company is coming on the 18th/19th of June so that will be fun being without furniture for 10 days!

The things we do to please the kids!!!

Our oldest son is really into mountain biking having built his bike from scratch there is no way he is going to wait 12 weeks for it to get to us in the container! So we bought him a bike box so he can take it on the plane with us, well it arrived the other day and it is so big it will fit all 3 boys in!!! Now we have to find taxi big enough to get us to the airport and hire a car big enough for all five of us and all the lugage!
The other 2 boys are just looking forward to getting out there!

To ship or not to ship?

At the moment we are getting loads of quotes in for the shipping of our belongings to Canada! It is so difficult to choose the right one, do you choose the cheapest one or the one whose rep gave the best spiel!!!
We have piles of boxes everywhere boxes with things to get rid of things to car boot and things that are coming with us! We have gone round and put stickers on everything that is coming with us; the kids have gone round and moved all the stickers so now we have stickers on the radiators and the fridge and washing machine!!!!!
It is so difficult to decide what is coming with us and what is not!
Our furniture and belongings will not get to us for 12 weeks at least so we will be living a very minimal life until they get to us!!!!
Keep a look out, you might see our sofa on a beach in Branscombe!!!!

New home for the dog!!

With our move to Canada we decided not to take our dog with us! This was a very difficult decision to make but we felt it was the right decision for him, we have found him a lovely home he is going to live on a farm with a few hundred cows to entertain him! He will be going tonight then on Friday his new owners will be taking him to Wales to a cottage for his holidays!
What better life can a dog ask for!!!

Our move to the Okanagan Valley!!!

We applied back in June 2005 for our permanent residency visas, we got our AOR in Aug 2005 and then the wait begins!!!!
We waited and waited and waited!!
Then in June 2007 we were asked to supply the Canadian High Commission with updated information! The up dates were submitted in Sept 2007 and then we wait again!!! Then on the 18th of Feb 2008 we get this very special brown envelope asking us to go for medicals and pay our residency fees and 30 days after the medical we have to send off our passports for the visas!!!!
Then on the 17th of April we get the visas in the post the flights are now booked for the 28th June!!!
We are going to Kelowna in the Okanagan valley in BC for our new life!