Our First Month in Dawson Creek, BC - He is Faithful

Dawson Creek Update:

One of my favourite quotes from C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia referring to Aslan in The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe:
"He's not safe, but He's good."
Our first month in The Peace has been full of the goodness of God but it has not all come in a convenient, tidy or safe little package. There have been snow storms and wind storms, power outages, phone outages, along with the many ups and downs of a 9 month pregnant slightly OCD mama that likes ALL her ducks in a row, but every time I freak out about something it works out and I feel God reminding me again and again - 'I only promised you to be faithful, to be with you and be FOR you, but I did not promise you that I would move the way you want me to every time. I'm God - you are not.'

I started writing about our first month and realized it was turning into a novel so I've decided instead to just highlight a few things in pictures and share our testimony of God's grace and his goodness.

Standing in the reno zone. 

Doors finally going on the basement bedroom in time for renters to move in.

Mommy and the Kidlets waiting at YKA for Daddy to come home from the final stages of purchasing our Dawson Creek 

Pictures of our "Wonder Years House" from MLS

The Day of packing the moving van. Myëlle fell asleep like that right there on the kitchen floor.

And somehow everything stayed in its place. Isn't that ridiculous!? Imagine Matthew wanted a smaller truck.

Within an hour our neighbour was over to help Matthew start unloading and after work a bunch of School District #59 staff along with Matthew's friend and DC resident, Chris Horton to upload the rest. They had it done within a few hours and Matthew flew home a day later.

After spending Christmas in Chase and then Langley we started to 2 day trek in the family mini van, which was still packed to the ceiling with a bed frame and Christmas gear.

Stopping along the way to Dawson Creek.  This was our first day of travel. We spent the first night at the Casino Hotel in Prince George, BC.

Arriving in Dawson Creek.

What kid or pregnant lady wouldn't be thrilled with a huge, jetted tub?!

From stairs to the basement on, this house is a 'Wonder Years' time capsule. But we love the SPACE. 

The kids were in heaven looking at the huge play room. All I saw was boxes and realized that the work was not done in any way. Somehow I thought I'd show up and plunk myself down on the couch and wait to have a baby. … Oh right… now I have to unpack :(

We laid all the mattresses for the kids on the floor in a bedroom and went to sleep. Beds had to be re-assembled the next day.

Starting to feel more positive after a weekend of unpacking produced a somewhat liveable space in the kitchen and living room.

And then came the snow. 

 LOTS of snow.

Dawson Creek received month record breaking snow fall in January. It snowed close to 4 feet in one week. I was having doubts about where we had ended up. Locals assured me that, although they did have long winters here and lots of snow, this MUCH snow was really uncharacteristic.

Matthew's little sister lives with her Mom in Ft. Saint John so when Matthew went to pick up the truck from their house he brought her back.

I took this picture quite early in that week of snow fall. The snow came up to the middle bars on the swing set and a foot from the roof on the shed by the end of the week.

Matthew enjoys his new job as an electrician for the School District. It's different from new construction and he's still adjusting. Right now his big project is over an hour away in Tumbler Ridge updating all the school lighting in 2 schools there, a contract awarded to the district by BC Hydro so it's a big push to get it done on time. The District staff have been welcoming, helpful and very accommodating of our family's needs with a 4th baby coming soon.

Once it stopped snowing we had a week of cold and then when warmer temperatures came in it got windy… REAL windy. The 120 km winds (200 km in other parts of The Peace) caused power outages across a significant section of the city. Our house, conveniently situated across the street from Liam's new school field, was in direct path of the gusting wind. Matthew went from thinking the wind storm was cool to worrying if our newer living room windows would even hold against the gusts. You could watch the windows flex in the wind. By 8 pm the lights were flickering and at 9:30 our power went out. The first night was cold in the house. By the end of the second day I had had enough. We packed up our frozen goods and retreated to our friends house for a hot meal and sleep over. 

Matthew's best friend from Grade 1 all the way through school and best man at his wedding, Chris, lives here with his wife, Sherene and 3 kids. My kids love playing with the Horton girls and I'm so thankful to have some friends already living up here along with Matthew's little sister Anjali and my Aunty Julene's family living about an hour to an hour and a half away. 

It's lonely sometimes for me. There are less 'tea mornings' with my girl friends but the Horton's feel like family too and we have meals together at least once a week. They've welcomed us into their home, we've started attending the same church as them, Dawson Creek Alliance, and enjoy getting to know other families here through the church's Small Group that meets every Sunday afternoon in homes for potluck supper and Bible Study. I love that they have 2 year old Sunday School at the Alliance Church although Myëlle is not so into being away from me… ever. It's just her age and I think the change she senses with baby arriving soon. 

Matthew spied on her snapped this photo through the window. I discovered later from Sherene that she had cried most of the morning.

Liam enjoys school in Mrs. Irwin's Kindergarten class. The school is so close that I can walk across the street and drop him at his boot room door while watching David and Myëlle through my living room window. Usually David and Mimi come to school with us and I spend the morning at the school's Strong Start program with them. It's nice to have a cup of coffee and chat with the moms (most of them very young) in my neighbourhood and continue doing what we were doing at homeschool with Myëlle and David. I participate in their learning but don't have all the leg work to do of prepping, snack, craft, story time, preschool education. I think it's a fantastic program. I also find that with Liam in school until 2:30 and Myëlle still napping in the afternoons that I get some quality time with my middle guy. I was feeling like David was getting lost in the mix a bit with homeschool and having a few hours free for him to direct my time is fantastic. 

Here's what we did one afternoon. It was something David had in his head to make after watching an episode of Blue's Clues so… why not?! - There are no shortage of boxes around.

We've been to the community pool here which is a fantastic facility for the size of a place like DC. There's a huge kid pool, waterside, lap pool and river to play in along with a second baby pool.

Northern living has been a bit of a stretch for us along with living off of one income for the first time… almost ever and now with 4 children. We get creative and learn to love being at home, cooking simple food and being creative decorating and playing with what we HAVE. The No Frills grocery store here is a treasure trove of discounts and now that I'm fully focused on home life, I'm becoming even more of a 'from scratch' mama. In some ways living with less is a blessing of finding joy in family again.

More and more each day we get the feeling of 'HOME'. We are just a little over a week away from our due date with baby #4 and I'm in a frenzy of nesting, getting baby's room and the guest room for Grandma ready. My mom flies in on Feb. 14th and I can't wait to have her here. We've found a great doctor and the clinic and hospital are a few blocks away. We are getting ready for baby girl to come any day now. I was hoping to have more done but can't help but be thankful for where we are a month later after the move and only 3 months after accepting this position with the school district. 

Friends - I love you and miss you so much. I miss my Spooner Sister and my church family; my parents and Matthew's family. You have been so treasured to myself and our family and we want to stay connected with you. God is faithful and he is leading us all somewhere to shine, to worship Him and love people. Let's not ever forget that we are 'chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people to be his very own and to proclaim the wonderful deeds of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.' {1 Peter 2:9}

What I'm Singing over you and out to Him.

Bryan and Katie Torwalt - I Will Trust You

Grace - Sonia