An efficient Baby!

Apparently, our little man is an efficient baby! He was weighed on Friday, and now weighs over 4kgs, which is about 9 pounds now...

Just wanted to say Happy New Year for everyone and I hope you have an awesome night! Although I get to see 2007 before most my family....

see ya

Almost two weeks on...

Well, I don't know if this is the sleep deprivation speaking or what, but I'm still infuated with this little bundle of joy. It's funny how quick everything has changed. I used to think nappies (diapers) were the scariest thing but believe me, if all I had to do was nappies, I'd be glad for it.

Being with Ezekiel 24 hours a day, its hard to notice the changes, but Meg thinnks he has grown a bit. His hands and feet and getting bigger, she thinks and his face is getting fuller. It's a good think we've been documenting him with pictures so that you can compare for yourself. Its just amazing how in such a short time, he's already changed from what he was on December 14th, when he came out crying and screaming....well, he still cries and screams...but you know what I mean.

I was talking with Ryan Monson and he thought I was still "twitterpated" or whatever because I just love him so much but then I realised..."is Ryan the benchmark for what I should be feeling. I highly doubt it...

So, two weeks on, I still am over the moon with this little bundle of joy, and all that comes along with him.

Now the fluff is over and here's the reason anybody comes to this blog anyways...the PICTURES!!!!

Always one for the camera!!!


Sure, I can pose for a picture with my aunt Dana. This isn't so bad...

Hang on...aunt Sam? I have HOW MANY aunts and uncles???

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

Our little man is a week old!

Now you can also click HERE to check out a little video of Zeke. Pretty cute, I think.

Shhh, we're resting...

HUMPERDINCK: I've got my country's five hundredth anniversary to plan, my wedding to arrange, my wife to murder, and Guilder to frame for it. I'm swamped.

RUGEN: Get some rest -- if you haven't got your health, you haven't got anything

Get some rest...thats what we've been needing these past couple days...Meg especially, so I think its pretty good that I'm able to stay at home and help her out.

Our first night went pretty good. We put him down about 11:30 and he woke up again at 4 and then again at 8...Meg said it was a better sleep than she'd been getting.

Well, I just wanted to say that all is well and we're happy to be home in our own environment.
I think Ezekiel is happy about it too.

More pictures (and possible video) soon..

I'm home!

Hey everyone!

Firstly, I just gotta say that I have a pretty cool name. "Ezekiel Jaymz" Don't you think its cool? My Mum & Dad told me that they got the name from a book in the Bible but didnt just name me it cause its a book of the Bible but cause they thought it was a really cool name. I think they did a good job at picking my name and I really like the way they spelt "Jaymz," that was Mum's idea. There have been a few people though that have asked my Mum & Dad how to pronounce my name cause they have never heard it before and people have asked where we got the name from. I dont think that some people know its a book in the Bible.

Anyways...

I'm finally home. Mum and I were getting tired of being in hospital but today the doctor said we were allowed to go home cause I'm not looking yellow anymore and I'm starting to put on weight and my mummy's blood pressure has come down a little bit so now we're at home.

I was a really good boy on the way home and didnt cry at all when Dad put my in my flashy new car seat and I stayed asleep the whole way home and even when they took me inside. I did manage to get a glimpse of my new home and it looks pretty cool!

My Gramma & Poppa in Canada bought me this awesome hammock and when my Mum put me in there before after a drink I went straight to sleep. It's really comfy!

So my Mum has posted some more pictures of me on here.

One of the pictures is of me and my uncle Miah. He's only 3 years old! I think that's pretty young to be an uncle but it will be cool when I can play with him in a couple years time! He was sooo happy to meet me and said that I'm really cool! He kept wanting to hold me all the time but he could only hold me two times cause there were so many other aunty and uncles wanting to have a hold of me! Uncle Miah needed some help to hold me though, cause Mummy thought that he'd hurt my head. So my Granpa/Pop/Poppy/Poppa (I havent worked out what I'm gonna call him yet) was helping Uncle Miah keep my head up.



Oh yeah and there's another one of me lookin' pretty cute!

I'll write again later.

Ezekiel Jaymz Dyck :D

and I've got more!

There you go....

Can't wait until we get this little bundle home into his own home.

Not even 24 hours old...and already an internet phenomenon!!!

I was pretty surprised to see that in the span of a few short hours, I had gotten 9 comments to my last blog with those pictures. So, here's some more for you.

Finally!

Here they are!
The world exclusive first pics of our new Baby!
Ezekiel Jaymz, born 7lb 14oz on December 14th, 7:18PM
Both Mom and Bub are doing fine, resting and recuperating.
keep posted for more updates...

A touch of the Great White North

Just saw a couple things these past couple days that made me smile.

I walked into our local IGA just the other day, and I saw a guy standing there with a Leafs shirt on. Toronto Maple Leafs. I didn't say anything to him about cheering for the Maple Laughs. I just smiled and walked on. Being a Leafs fan, I doubt he even knows what the Stanley Cup looks like. I'll bet if I held up three flashcards, one with a picture of the Cup, one with a duck and one with the Batman symbol, he wouldn't be able to choose the Cup. Hey, I'd even give him three chances but he'd probably pick the duck twice.

And the other thing...I was watching TV and I saw an ad for a new show being shown this Friday night...guess what it was? Corner Gas! Can you believe it? Crazy, I know. Aussies don't even know what a redneck is, so I doubt this will be a big hit...but I'll watch it if I can.

And...another thing, I just remembered, I was talking to a guy the other day at work, and he had the most obvious thickest Canadian accent. I mean, you could've mistaken him for Doug Mackenzie. I half expected a "Take off, eh?" or "Pass me the two four, hosehead" from him. He was actually from a little town called Natal, in the Crows Nest Pass, which is now defunct and has been amalgamated with the hip and happening town of Sparwood, a whole 3000 member population. But he's been here 30 years...hasn't lost a bit of his accent. I'll bet HE'LL be watching Corner Gas.

Its good to know there are a few Canadian touches over here every now and then...

Take a Guess

Hello all! Unfortunately no exciting baby news...already this baby clearly isnt co-operating as it was suppose to come yesterday...actually i've been expecting it to arrrive for the past 4 weeks. It's obvious that the baby has other plans! Any guesses as to when you think it'll arrive!?

Especially for "Great" Aunt Brenda!

This is a special post for you, Brenda, to say a HUGE thank you for the parcel we received in the mail!

What a cute, adorable & soft teddy bear! I mentioned to Jer that I dont know if I'll be able to give it to the baby cause I love it so much! he he...very cute jumpsuit too! "Future Skating Champ" love it!

Well, I'm 39 weeks today. The waiting game is still on, hopefully it wont be too much longer.

We'll keep you posted.

Love Meg.

P.S. I hassled Jer so much to write that post, hope you're happy now! :D

He's Baaaack!

Well, I think this quote best sums it up…

“Somebody just gave me a shower radio. Thanks a lot. Do you really want music in the shower? I guess there's no better place to dance than a slick surface next to a glass door.”
-Jerry Seinfeld

Oops…wrong quote. Funny though…here’s what I meant.

“The rumours of my death have been greatly exaggerated”
-Mark Twain

That’s right. I am alive. I am here. Lack of blogging does not constitute reasonable evidence that I have died…

Well, like Superman, I have made my dramatic return after a long period of inactivity…although unlike Superman, I have nothing to do. But wait.

Yes, I’m playing a really fun game at the moment known as the “waiting game”. Here’s the rules for all you fun-crazed maniacs out there…Find something important that will change your life forever. And sit there not knowing when it will happen. First one to not go crazy wins a one week holiday in Winnipeg in February. Second place gets to go for two weeks

Yes, I’m going crazy wondering, “Is this the call?”…No wait…”is THIS the call?” Nope…”Is this the call?”…false alarm. Not to the extent that Meg is, but still I’m fairly anxious to get this baby out.

Don’t worry though, you might feel at a loss that although we live in Australia, you live in Canada, (or even Quebec) and you might not be able to see this bundle of joy that soon will be arriving…wait, is this the call???...Nope sorry, just have to pick up some milk….

Where was I? Ah yes…long distance well wishers. Be assured, good people, that when the baby arrives, I will have already super-glued the camera to my face and wired the shutter to my optic nerve, so that when I blink, I take yet another picture that will be posted to my blog. So, you will not be without a visual representation of this event. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then consider my future posts to be the equivalent of Encyclopedia Britannica on a Xerox with a brick holding down the COPY button.

Now, to leave you wondering and amused, say these sentences out loud.
MY KOJAK SUN
PEER STEERS
BAT TREE SNOT INK LOOTED
DEW ACHE WHO GULLS URGE
TIE PAPER SUN OWL LIT TEA
MISSILE CUP SUN VITAL

(Haha…that last one doesn’t actually say anything…but the thought of people reading it out loud trying to work it out is funny…)

The Prodigal Blogger….Jer

37 weeks & 3 days!

Thought I'd add another picture of what I'm looking like at the moment, hopefully I won't have the big belly for too much longer! xoxo

Not much to report...

Hey all,

It's been a few weeks since I last wrote on here because there hasnt been much to report.

For all of you who have noticed that I'm the only one that blogs recently please email my husband and give him a talking to...he's becoming a real slacker! :)

Those of you that don't know, I finished up work at the start of last week...well actually I'm technically on 'holidays' at the moment but as of next week I'm back working 2 days a week but I get to do it from home which is nice and easy and will continue to work from home when the baby arrives.

It's been nice resting and relaxing at home although I do get bored but everyone keeps telling me to make the most of it cause in a few weeks time I'll have my hands full!

3 weeks yesterday until our due date. I'm not over being pregnant just yet although I am keen for the baby to arrive because the little thing is pushing on my sciatic nerve which makes it painful to walk. Doctors have been telling me for a while now they think I'll come early but I'm not keeping my hopes up cause I could be pregnant for another 5 weeks yet!!

A huge fear of mine are NEEDLES but I can say that I am getting much better at having them cause I've had to have quite a few throughout the pregnancy. I had one last week and need to go back this morning for another one...I'm totally like a little kid. Walk in there...sit on the chair...automatically look the other way...and make it known that I DO NOT LIKE HAVING NEEDLES! The ladies just laugh at me...

Anyways, that's about it from me at the moment.

Stay reading in the next few weeks for the BIG ANNOUNCEMENT & PHOTOS!

Love Meg.
xoxo

Settled In

We are finally living in our new place and are loving every moment of it. After living in a house with no carpet anywhere for 2 years it's soooo nice having carpet in our place. Air conditioning is such a luxury and we dont know what to do with ourselves living in such a quiet area... something we've never had. It's so nice and peaceful + we have a garage to park our car in too!

I still have 2 boxes that need unpacking but they are full of random bits & pieces so I'm procrastinating the unpacking of them.

I've got my 34 week check up tomorrow at the Hospital which I'm excited about. I'll get to hear the babies heart beat again, see if the baby has moved positions or not and I'll also get to meet my Obstetrician AND talk about pain relief!! I've been having a lot more Braxton Hicks contractions lately and my feet have become very sore and swollen along with my hands! The warm weather here doesnt help a lot either!

Will post some more photos soon.

Love Meg
xoxo

The Baby Is Ready....

Went for a check up at the doctors yesterday and my doctor was quite surprised with the position of the baby being that its little head is fully "engaged" ready to go. Apparently its unusual for the baby to be fully engaged at this stage, usually it happens in 2 or 3 weeks time. He did say though that the baby could float back up and re-engage later on. So we'll just wait and see. I said that I can manage another 5 weeks and then the baby can come at 37 weeks that'll be fine with me!

Still packing up the house and are getting ready for the big move.

Jeremy is taking me away this weekend to an unknown destination which will be a nice surprise. It will be good to get away and relax for a weekend together before the baby comes.

Not much else is news here at the moment. The weather is suppose to heat up to 32+ tomorrow and again next week. Summer is definately on its way!

Drop us a line if you have time.

xoxo

Our New Home...

Today we found out that we have been accepted to move into this awesome 2 bedroom townhouse. We're actually downsizing for the next year but will hopefully move from this place to our very own house which will be bigger! We have to go in on Friday and sign the lease, get the keys on October 17th and will move in that weekend. Moving house is such a pain but at least we get to throw out a lot of junk that we've accumulated over the last 2 years...and we can get ready for our new little arrival.
xoxo

Is everyone happy?

So it's been over a month since I last wrote on here...I have reminded Jeremy to update this blog but obviously with no luck.

Things here in Bendigo are good. We are both still flat out with work, we're moving out of our rental property in 3 weeks time and dont have another place to move to yet and we're expecting a baby in about 10 weeks time!

So life is very busy for us right now.

I'm still working at Victory Church 4 days a week but will be going on holidays from November 1st and then dropping back to 2 days a week, which I will be maintaining all the way through but working from home when the little baby arrives.

Right now I'm 30 weeks and 4 days. I really have no complaints about the whole pregnancy so far, its been amazing and I really am extremely blessed for being so well. I have an overly active baby moving around in my tummy who quite likes playing as I'm about to fall asleep!

Movements can be seen by all watching my tummy but the baby is very shy when it comes to anyone else but 'Mum' putting their hands on my belly!

Jeremy and I just finished our Pre-Natal classes and are feeling so much more relaxed and calm about birth/labor (especially me!) and am really really looking forward to meeting our baby very soon. 30 weeks have flown by so before we know it our lives will be changed forever!

We're starting to get a nice collection of baby stuff in our place and just cant wait to find a new house so they we can set it all up!


For all of you who have not seen a photo of my belly so far, here you go. Hope this makes you happy as I'm not fond of taking pictures of this ever growing belly!

It was taken tonight at 30 weeks and 4 days, so I'll post another one soon so you can see how much the baby has grown.

That's it from me, I promise I'll write again soon.

Meg
xoxo

We're alive!

Yes, we are still alive. It's been ages since we posted an entry on this website. Not entirely because we're slack but there hasnt really been a great deal happenin in our world. Everything is just running along nicely and nothing has really changed apart from my growing belly!

I'm still feeling really good. The baby has become more active and its little kicks are getting stronger. Jeremy can now feel the baby kick and you can even see my belly move before your eyes when the baby gets active! 24 weeks have passed so quickly and 16 to go doesnt seem that far away at all...which makes me think that Christmas is just around the corner too. Where does the year go?

Anyways, I'm heading off to Melbourne today for a children's ministry conference called "Kidshaper" love this time of the year it's nice to get away and be inspired and encouraged. I'll be away for 3 days.

Hope everyone is well, we'll write again soon.

Love Meg

.Our. Baby.

How amazing is this photo? I am in complete awe of this tiny little life living and growing in my tummy.

The morning started with 5 huge glasses of water that needed to be taken an hour and a half before the ultrasound. We arrived at the hospital at 10:30am and I was already busting and we had to wait another 30 minutes before we were seen. By that time, the urge wasnt really funny anymore. I REALLY NEEDED TO GO! he he...

The lady rushed to do what she had to while I had a full bladder then I was able to go to the bathroom. Never in my life have I looked forward to going to the bathroom so much!! he he....

Anyways we were in there for about 45 minutes in which we were able to see our extremely wriggly baby move before our eyes. The baby has grown SO much in the last four weeks. The lady was so great at explaining exactly what she was doing, showing us what parts were what and telling us about the measurements she was taking. Christine, was her name, spent most of the time laughing at the baby because of how much it was moving around. The baby was making it very difficult to take clear photos and get measurements. She ended up asking me to lay on my stomach for 10 minutes hoping that the baby would rest in a new position and calm down so she could get photos and meaurements of its heart. And it worked!

Finally before the ultrasound finished the lady looked to see if we could find out if our baby was a boy or a girl. Unfortunately, because of the way the baby was positioned we couldnt find out for cetain but the lady hinted at what she thought the baby was. So it looks like we're gonna have to wait until later on down the track before we can go out buying blue or pink things!!

We are very excited parents-to-be!!

At church on the weekend everyone was commenting on how I'm really starting to show. Will have to get some pics and post them on the blog.

Hope you are all well,

Love Meg, Jer & ??

check the last blog.

I've just higlighted the song titles for those who might've missed a few...

Check it out

46 Song titles!

Well I'm back in black. If it makes you happy, I'm going to post another blog. It might be a bit complicated, but try to find all the song titles you can see. You might come to end of it and say

"But Jeremy, I still haven't found what I'm looking for!"

That's alright, because soon you'll say, "It's all coming back to me now". So go ahead and have a try. Whether you're proud Mary, Suzie Q, Stacey's Mom or just the Joker, you can all have a go. I'll give one week, maybe more, because there's a lot in here to find. You won't be a loser if you don't get them all, but you'll be standing outside the fire saying "I'm all by myself" if you don't at least try.
So, I think we'll just ventura down the highway (because life is a highway, isn't it) and see how we go. See, if I had a million dollars, I'd be able to get someone else to do this. But I'm just the son of a preacher man, and I wouldn't get any help. Oops, I did it again, just rambling away, not making much sense. It feels like my head is full of spiderwebs. I just need to look out the window for a second to gather my thoughts. As I put on my shirt that's purple, rain starts to fall down outside. That's too bad for my friend, Bennie, and the jets he wanted to fly around outside.

I went for a walk and just came back. I went to walk this way but the sign told me to walk that way. It was a long and winding road. I felt like it went on for 500 miles! I suppose it would've been faster to ride a horse with no name, but there's no wide open spaces for it to run on. As I was going, my feet started to hurt so it felt like I was walking on broken glass. I came to an intersection, Bop Street and Main Street and a guy there asked me "Are you going to go my way? Down Main Street?" And I thought about for a moment, "Mmm...Bop St is the way I'm going". I didn't want to follow him because he was wearing funny clothes. It's hard to respect someone who isn't in vogue like me.

But I just got back and Meg greeted me with arms wide open and said, "I honestly love you!" Isn't she lovely, saying things like that? She always makes me feel like I'm pretty fly, for a white guy, at least. So I thought I'd try and sneak a drink of her coke while she was in such a good mood but she said, "You can't touch this, because I want it that way. Not with your dirty germs all over it!" Oh well, I tried.

So, we're going out tonight to see Pastor Bruce preach at another church. It's a nice yellow building across the other side of Bendigo. It should be a good night. I see him fairly often at church but you ain't seen nothing yet. He preaches up a storm in other churches. I can't wait to get the party started. But I might have a nap before I go out. I just have to tell Meg to wake me up before you go-go. But after church, I'll want to get straight home really fast. Might have to take a rocket, man, to get home real fast. I'll just make sure I don't speak to anyone I don't know tonight.

Well, I think that's about all I have to say. Make sure you hollaback girl, or boy or whoever is reading this. See ya!

I'm Alive!

Well, I'm back

That's right. I've figured that my team has gone pretty darn far ( alot farther than most people would've predicted) and I fear no taunting and teasing. And Meg says that I can't talk about hockey anymore now that its done....for now...wait until October!

But things are progressing along nicely here in Bendigo. Everything here seems to move along at a slower pace though. For those of you who don't know, Meg had an ultrasound last week, our first one! It was very cool, but a little disappointing. We thought were about 18 1/2 weeks but we found it that we were only 15 1/2 weeks along, moving the due date to December 7th. The doctor said to just keep the original date of November 16th, just in case, anyways. The disappointing part (and I'll probably get comments on this) is that we couldn't find out the sex of the baby. In fact, I'm not even sure it's human. They took a picture of its face and its the kind of thing you find in your nightmares. It feels like we'll have some unknown creature bursting from Meg's stomach in a Spielberg-esque birth. But we get to have another ultrasound in a few weeks, in which we hope to find out the sex and all the other tests they need to do at that stage. You get to see cool things like the heartbeat and its fingers and toes and how it's wigling around in there even though she still can't feel it. Soon enough, they say...soon enough.

Meg has just finished her School Holiday program which I'm sure shes happy about. It was a lot of work for her and her team, having 35 kids from 8:30-3:30 while its raining outside. How she managed to keep from going crazy, much less keep the kids from going insane is beyond me. But there were quite a few kids who went along who'd never been to Victory before, which was kind of the whole point, so that was good.

Umm...what else...work is going well...nothing to report there. Church is going along swimmingly. (Why swimming is used as a metaphor doesn't make a lot of sense to me)

Well, you can now consider yourself up-to-date. Cross that off your your to-do list, just under "Trek Great Wall of China" and "Solve Fiendish Sudoku".

I have a great idea for my next blog...so expect another one real soon!

A Possibility?

cham·pi·on (chmp-n) n.
1.One that wins first place or first prize in a competition.
2.One that is clearly superior or has the attributes of a winner: a champion at teaching.
3.An ardent defender or supporter of a cause or another person: a champion of the homeless.
4.One who fights; a warrior.
5. Edmonton Oiler; EG: Home of Champions.

Synonyms: unsurpassed, best, enduring, everlasting, perpetual


I think that seems to explain it quite well.

I have to say that I haven't had any luck in trying to find the games on TV here anywhere, so I've gotten my family to tape the games so I can get them sent over and transfered to DVD. Anybody who's anybody will want to watch the time when the Oilers brought the cup home to Canada and all the nay-sayers and no-goodniks were shamed and abashed like the hypocrites they were. I can just imagine the newspapers now.

OILERS WIN REWRITES CANADIAN HISTORY

The Oilers marked a momentous day in history with the triumphant win over the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 5 of the series. But it seems that this long-anticipated event has started some changes in Canadian history. Massive riots broke out in Rexall Place after the horn sounded and the Cup was hoisted by Ryan Smyth. PM Stephen Harper was not available after the game for comment, but released this press release early this morning.

"This is a great day for Edmontonians, Albertans, and Canadians alike. In Honour of the win I've decided to make a few changes. I've declared today a national holiday called Oiler Day. I've sacked Premier Klein because he was well known as an avid Calgary Flames fan, and I've arranged to swear in Craig Mactavish as Alberta's new premier because of his obvious leadership and decision making abilities. I have no doubt in his ability to lead this province. In addition to declaring the Oiler Flag our second national flag, I've immediately put a ban on all outward display of aggression towards any Oiler related activity. They are a team to be celebrated, not shunned."

Mactavish was not available for comment but has allegedly already put forth a few changes for Albertans, including Provincial Days honouring Oilers Greats, increased taxes for all Flames fans and even a name change from Alberta to Oilerland.
In response to PM Harper's release, Calgary police have arrested and detained thousands of Calgary Flames fans and for further peace keeping, have banned the flying of the Flames flag. Any breach of this law now holds a $10000 fine and a mandatory 60 days in jail.

In a strange twist of events, Captain of the Flames, Jarome Iginla has approached Flames coach Darryl Sutter with his wish to be traded. He has declared that unless being traded to the Oilers, he will refuse to play in any further games.
"Being born in St Albert, I have always been a secret supporter of the Oilers", Iginla stated in a press conference. "I've always had a boyhood dream of playing for my home team. Now seeing the error of my ways, I would like to play for the Oilers and play on a team that actually has a chance to win the Cup again next year" Jarome adamantly denies any suggestion that this is related to the ongoing turbulence in Calgary.

The Celebrity Status that so often follows movie stars and music personalities has now seemed to stretch even to Edmonton. Hollywood producer Ron Howard has approached several players to sign a movie deal, including Dwayne Roloson, Ryan Smyth and Ethan Moreau. The project is tentatively named, The Mighty Oil.
Many requests for appearances and signings have overwhelmed an already tired team, but with increased sighitngs around town, it is rumoured starlet Angelina Jolie has dumped recent hubby Brad Pitt for Right Wing Georges Laraque. It is not confirmed whether they are an official couple and Jolie's publicist insists they are "just friends".

All in all, Edmonton's Stanley Cup championship has introduced new changes for this country. And many say, for the better.

Interesting...very interesting....

Rocky V

The Scene was set. Tommy Gunn, new heavyweight world champion has been goaded by his promoter to prove his worthiness by defeating his one-time trainer, Rocky Balboa. In a street brawl, the two opponents meet. Although Rocky has been known as the "greatest", Tommy seems to have the upper hand in this fight, repeatedly, knocking Rocky down. We don't see Rocky's fire until one time, as he lies on the ground, blood pooling from numerous orifices, that he reflects on his trainer, Mickey, telling him"Get up, Ya Bum!" Rocky does indeed get up and proves himself again to defeat Tommy Gunn on the mean streets of Philidelphia.

Get up, ya bum. That's what my wife says to me in order to encourage me to post another blog.

Despite what she may lead you to believe, I am not in favor of deceiving our as-of-yet unborn child about the best hockey team to cheer for. I know that I will be able to turn back the pages of history and say, "In the Year 2006, Edmonton Oilers, although barely making it into the playoffs, were able to bring back Canada's glory, the Lord Stanley's Cup. A feat which your mother's team, the Flames, were not able to do in 2004."

You have to admit, The Oilers have proven themselves no "fluke" team as someone I know (Nathan) would like to believe. They now look to take the Western Conference with ease from the struggling Ducks. I would honestly like to know what everyone's opinion will be when the Oilers go all the way, and I prove myself a prophet with my declaration of the Oilers being the Stanley Cup Champions for 2006! It will be interesting to say the least. I know I'll have an email for Nathan.

Well, I suppose there's more out there than hockey at the moment. Some would try and convince me that having a baby might even be more important, although I'm not convinced yet.

For those who are wondering, yes Meg is doing fine. There's nothing major to report in fact. It still doesn't even feel like we're pregnant, really. All that assures us that we are is two blue lines on a little test. Not a lot more though. We're eager to post the Ultrasound photos on here when we have them done, although we'll be keeping the sex a surprise, to be sure.

Well, that's a quick update for ya. Thanks for all your comments!

Clarification

Hello all,

We've just booked in for our 18 week ultrasound on June 19th so we'll be able to see this little baby, which is very exciting.

Now, just to clear up and clarify something...

Our baby WILL BE a CALGARY FLAMES FAN!!!

An Extension...

I'm sure that most people have become aware of this but I though I'd put a public annoucement out there in case we missed anyone.



And the news is?....

Meg is 12 weeks pregnant!

Which outs the arrival date around November 16th

So Meg and I are pregnant...
Renting out the guest room
The Pop Secret is in the microwave
Losing the immunity challenge
Moving the Baby 1.0 prototype into production
Spinning off a wholly-owned subsidiary
Got a three-month pass for the morning porcelain express
Secured a beachhead on the shores of the Uterine Sea
Bun in the oven
On stork watch
Eating for two
In the family way


I'll let you know, Meg is feeling fine and healthy...and out first ultra sound is next week. OOOOhhh. Should be exciting!

and let the comments come!

Finally!

Well, I think I've allowed enough time to get the answers from everyone. I hope you had some fun checking it all out.

1. Field Hockey
2.Cuff Links
3. Anything goes
4. Conklin
5.Toyota Corolla
6. Mel Borhot
7. Calgary flames 6-5
8.Wangaratta
9. Azhia Lily Claridge
10. Banff
11. The answer to this...Yes of course!
12. Russia
13. Vanuatu
14. Star Wars, Princess Bride, Narnia
15. The Dream of Hockey Gold in 2006
And the Bonus Question....Grandma Dyck
and the Bonus Bonus Question???



And I have to annouce the winners...wheich turned out to be a tie between...Mom and Dad! Of course they would have to win...they did bring me into life..I suppose it's only fair...



Now, I would be remiss if I didn't point something out here. This last week, there has been some good news around. I don't want to to say I told you so, but I did predict it.

Let's name the Canadian Teams still competing in Stanley Cup playoffs...And let's only count the teams that actualy have a chance...Oh...well...I guess...that leaves...the Mighty Mighty Edmonton Oilers, defeating the holders of the Presidents Trophy, the number one team, the Detroit Red wings, sending shock waves all through the NHL. And you know what the best part is?

The best isn't that Oilers have a strategy where they don't have to rely on one player to support the team...cough coughIginla....we can pull up players like Pisani and Hemsky in Game 6 to score the goals, while Smyth, Horcoff, Moreau, Peca, Pronger, Spacek, Dvorak, Torres can wait for their turn to shine another game. Even Rolloson stepped up his game to be "The number 1 Oiler in the playoffs" as quoted by Calgary's Fan 960.
The best part isn't the fact that a number 8 team defeated a number 1 team to convincingly advance to round two.
The best part isn't the fact that Calgary bombed out with the other top 2 teams in the league to hit the greens...

You know what the best part is?

The best part is that I documented it all in my previous blog and predicted it would come this way. Edmonton Oilers going for the CUP!!! Yeah!


Signing off...one very happy, NON-bandwagon fan!

Blog Number 46!!!

That's right. There have been 45 blogs before this one, and this makes it 46 times I've had to appease the masses with a new blog entry. I've created a monster here. It's like the curse of the comedian. He tells funny jokes and you laugh, but you never really think, "Oh, well, I've had enough jokes." No, it's always...More Jokes!!! Once the comedian starts something, he finds it hard to leave. It's like what I've got here.

More Blogs!

Well, here's a real treat for you. Maybe you're a newbie to this blog of ours, or maybe you've been a loyal fanatic. Well, here's a chance for you to really strut your stuff. I've compiled a trivia game about this blog and all the stuff that we've put in it. It gives you a chance to see if you can actually remember the stuff we write. So, put your answers in a comment, and the winner will get a real treat. But, like my Dad's philosphy, "You can't win unless you enter"...so I expect to see lots of responses.

And in no particular order, here they are.

1. What sport did Meg and I go see at the Commonwealth Games here in Melbourne?

2.What fashion accessory did I wear when I wrote... "Never thought you'd see that in sentence! "Jeremy" and "in style".?

3. Name 3 Aussie words or phrases you've learned reading this blog?

4. Instead of the proverbial "Newman", I have replaced it with my own version. What is it?

5.What kind of car did Meg and I buy?

6. What's the name of my Muslim friend who I visited in Canada?

7. Who won the epic Battle of Alberta between the Flames and the Mighty Oilers on Dec 31st?

8.What town did "Dyck Ministries International" first set out to?

9. Who has a friend named "Frankie"?

10. Where do you find the Hot Springs Meg and I swam in while it was -20 outside?

11. Did you find the Pun blog funny?

12. Who did Canada play to win the World Junior Championship of Hockey this year?

13. I spent a week bacheloring because Meg went to _______?

14. Name two out of three movies referred to in Dad's comment to my "Oilers Invitation Blog"?

15. I wrote an eloquent blog named "My Eulogy" for the death of what?


And the Bonus Question....

I get comments from somebody named Chick. Who is Chick?

and the Bonus Bonus Question???

Name all the countries I get hits from for this blog?



Hey I never said they would be easy questions. Have fun and I look forward to seeing your answers!

Easter?..Shouldn't you just say, "More East"?

Well, now that's its been established about my feelings for the Oilers, I don't need to go over that again...That is..until they win the cup of course!

Happy Easter to all!!

Meg and I are very much enjoying our long weekend, although the weather hasn't done much for us lately. Yesterday and today were quite balmy with a high of only 18 during the day and dark clouds and cold wind all day. Winter is very fast approaching...

That will make Sunday night a bit chilly for us. In Bendigo, we have a big Easter torchlight procession on the Sunday night, followed by fireworks by the lake. But last year we started something new. All the churches of Bendigo have joined together to start something called Citywide Connections, and on Sunday night, straight after the fireworks, we have a big outdoor service at the lake. Loud cranking music...a good speaker...all very good. So, everyone who just watched the fireworks can come and check out what's going on. But, they are predicting a very cold night. So, we'll just have to get up and get moving...but it should be a very fun night. Last year was...and we expect this year to be very very good.

You know, it's funny what people relate Easter to. I was talking to mom on the phone the other day and she was telling me about the Easter bread they made...Oh, I love Easter bread. But I don't think anybody outside the Dyck clan knows what it is...man, they're missing out, I say. For all the un-enlightened ones, its a sweet loaf of bread with icing on the top and sprinkles....not too appealing you say? Well, like I said, you're the un-enlightened ones. Meg enjoys the Hot Cross Buns although the smell of them makes me want to go drive the porcelain bus, if you catch my drift. Blech!

But here in Bendigo, they have an Easter Fair with games and rides set up in the middle of downtown Bendigo. Meg and I went this morning and checked it out with Nathan and his daughter, Azhia. She loved the rides...Teacups, the Carousel, the Bouncing Castle...but enough about what Meg did...Azhia went on a few rides as well...

Just kidding.

Did you know that the Bendigo Easter festival is rated the number one Easter celebration in all of Victoria? And I think it's pretty cool that in the midst of this massive celebration, our church can be involved in celebrating the true meaning of Easter. Our church even has a part in the parade...with these cool puppet things and a whole bunch of people handing out cards about our church...

Too bad it's so chilly though.

Oh well. Life goes on

In Rebuttal...

I have never seen so much hate in one place! Here I try to spread the love that comes from a pure Oiler heart and I get nothing but ridicule and rejection! Let me recap some of the phrases used:
So many brains ... so little wisdom!
...your many flaws
Heretic!
...wishful thinking certainly...
...you have forgotten your mother's teachings on the benefits of wearing a hat in strong sunshine...
...now you're hallucinating...
...You are seriously dilusional...
You have to wallow in misery with the rest of the Oiler degenerates.
Oh, I weep for my son

What happened?!? Instead of being racist, my whole family is team-ist. You seem to enjoy discriminating against my team.

Well, you know what I say?

You've had your chance. I gave this invite once...and only once. So, you're all shunned now. I will not accept any bandwagon flunkies when MacTavish leads the team to greatness. Kyle and I will greatly enjoy flaunting the victory in your face. I will not hold back...not now, and not ever! Oilers Rule!

As you sit there and smugly gloat in your Flames victorious season, you cannot understand what lies ahead. A man who rides a canoe canot see the waterfall until he is going over it. So, go ahead. Enjoy it while it lasts. But knowing my Oilers...it will not last long.


That is all.

The Natives are getting restless...

Oh man, I have no idea why the posting has slowed down lately. My last post was a week ago, and now I hear that people are starting to chant, "More!". Mom tells me that certain people out east (and I don't think it's Grandma and Grandpa) are demanding more....cough..Brenda! So, I'll humour you.

I'd like to tell you a story about myself. When I was younger, I enjoyed doing something different, just for the sake of being different. When Dad always got Coke Slurpees, I would do a melange with all the different flavours. I would get Mom and Dad to buy Pepsi, because they enjoyed Coke, and I told them Pepsi was better. Although now I have matured and I find the refreshing taste of an Ice Cold Coca-Cola to be unbeatable...you're probably thinking that right now. And I wouldn't blame you.

And I also used to cheer for the Edmonton Eskimos, the Football team in Edmonton. I admit it. I did it to be different, but I remember one day when i realised something. I didn't enjoy cheering for the Eskimos anymore. The hassle wasn't worth it. I knew deep down that I liked the Calgary Stampeders. So, I remember quite distinctly one day when I screwed up enough courage to come up to Dad and tell him that I didn't want to cheer for the Eskimos anymore, but that I wanted to change to the Stampeders. And I copped the flack. From my whole family. I probably deserved it, for cheering for the rival team, but I knew, deep down, I had made the right decision.

I learned something that day. I learned that it is important to stand up for what you believe is right. For what you know in your heart to be true and good. I learned that it might be hard and you'll have to work up the courage and probably will have to bite the bullet and face the music. But in the end, it's all worth it just to know you've made the right decision.

That being said....

Edmonton Oilers....Stanley Cup Champions 2006!!!!!!

So this is my invitation to my whole family who know deep down that something isn't right. First to my Easterner Family. Gary, Brenda, Sherry...Growing up in Toronto, it must seem like the right decision at the time to cheer for the Leafs. I mean, Toronto is of course, the centre of universe. But you know deep down that something isn't right. As you teach your children about the Leafs, you know deep down that you're misleading them. So, do what's right. Come back to the Oilers.

Uncle Cam, a Habs Fan. I don't know what led you down this path, but this is for you too. Join me on what you know is the right path...the only path that will lead you to the Stanley Cup.

To Justin, the ever resiliant Canucks Fan. I know the pressures you face with your family. Your dad being a Flames fan, giving in to the dark side, your brother on the good side of the Force. But you know what's right. You know the mighty history that lies behind that Drop of Oil. Why don't you just join us. There comes a time in every man's life when he can choose to stand up for whats right. Now is that time, Justin, now is that time.

And to the deceived, Mom, Dad, Nate, Poppa, Grandma, Terry...My most gracious invitation is to you. For years, you've been lied to. For years, you've been led astray. But unlike my experience, I will welcome you without rebuke. Like the prodigal son returning home after his folly, I will welcome you with open arms. Sure, you may be hesitant, with the current standings and the position the Oilers are in, but it reminds me of the great eagle. The eagle does not fear the storm, but knows that if he faces the oncoming winds with the right angle, he can lifted to previously unknowable heights. So, we will face these challenges with the right angle and soar to Lord Stanley's Cup. A simple look at the city signs will shed light on this. When you enter Calgary, it says "Home of the 1988 Winter Olympics" That's 18 years ago. That's living in the past, but as you enter Edmonton, you are greeted with, "Welcome to Edmonton, City of Champions".

So, to everyone. I implore you to do what you know is right, what is good, noble and just. Join the Oilers to become a Champion!

Vanuatu!

Just a few pics of my trip to Vanuatu! Enjoy!

Meg in Vanuatu while I'm in Marong...

INIGO: Who are you?
MAN IN BLACK: I'm no one of consequence.
INIGO: I must know
MAN IN BLACK: Get used to disappointment.

The story of my life...get used to disappointment. Meg is of course, these days in Vanuatu, a Pacific Island remiscient of Fiji, Cooks Islands, Nauru...An All-expenses paid trip with the church to set up the Kids ministry over there. And from what I hear, she's doing it rough. She told of the 7 Island cruise they went on all day, the restaurants at which they eat, the views of what she's seen...the beaches, the markets. I'll show you a picture of Hideaway Island where she was going





And then Meg tells me that the heat is crazy...although it's only 30 degrees there, the humidity is like 80%. So, after seeing those pictures...hands up to all those who want to give her their sympathy...I thought so. When i look out my window now here at work, I see a dry paddock on an overcast day, with the dust blowing around, and the kangaroos hopping around. It just doesn't compare

But she is doing well, and from what i hear, the kids ministry stuff is going quite well. So that's good. It'll be good to have her back again. By the time the week is over, I'll have had enough of the house to myself.

Other than that, there is nothing to report. I was going to wait to blog when she had returned, but Mom pointed out that she couldn't wait to log on and see my "updated" blog...hint hint. Thanks Mom.

I love you Jeremy Dyck!

Hey Jezza,

I'm here at the Sydney Airport filling in time before PB and I catch our flight to Pt Vlia. We've been here like 2 hours already and I've looked in each shop here at the airport like 10 times and have been walking extremely slow to try and fill in time too. Been reading and chatting to PB. Will be great to get on our flight...Cant wait to get to Vanuatu will take some great happy snaps of EVERYTHING to bring home and show you. We'll have to post some on here so everyone can see!

Well, have a FANTASTIC week without me (I know that will be hard, but try your best!) watch all those movies I refuse to watch with you, read all those books without being interrupted and have fun sleeping in the middle of the bed! ha ha....

Love you so so much, hopefully I'll talk to you while I'm over there and I'll text ya anyways. Running out of time so I'll go...

Hi to everyone else that is reading this, I promise I'll take some great photos of my adventures!

LOVE YOU JEREMY!

Meg
xoxoxo

What a couple!

This picture was taken at the wedding we were at on the weekend.

When aussies say "Hockey"...there's no ice!

Meg and I got the opportunity to head down to watch some of the Commonwealth games here in Melbourne. It's been such a hyped up event, we figured we'd see what all the fuss was about. It also gave me a chance to see some Canadians in action as we went to watch Australia and Canada play in the field hockey game. It was pretty fun, but the atmosphere was probably the coolest part of all, with all these Canadians, and South Africans and English, and Scots and Pakistanis...very fun. I loved seeing all the red and white there. It was too bad that Australia dominated the game and beat Canada 5-1. I might add a side note here and say that the one goal Canad scored was it's first of the whole tournament...that's alright. Another side note, Australia currently leads the medal tally with 85 medals, including 32 Gold....Second place is England with 41 Medals in total...so, its a bit one sided here. But I got the chance to go after the game and say "Hi" to a couple of the players...One from Vancouver, and the other from Edmonton...it's always good to say Hi to the home boys...I think they both went to UBC in Victoria, too. Did I mention that John Howard, the Australian Prime Minister was also in attendance? I went over and said Hi to him too...giving him my views on inter-departmental politics, and my thoughts on the Kyoto Accord, privitisation of health centres and international relations with under-developed countries...Just kidding! We actually just discussed the hockey...haha

A Good pun is its own re-word!

The other day I saw two people in Safeway, both dressed in a bar code. I walked up to them and said, "Are you two an item?"

There were two ships. One had red paint, one had blue paint. They collided. At last report, the survivors were marooned.

Why is Saudi Arabia free of mental illness? There are nomad people there.

I went to the butchers the other day and I bet him $50 that he couldn't reach the meat off the top shelf. He said, 'no, the steaks are too high.'

When she told me I was average, she was just being mean.

A woman has twins, and gives them up for adoption. One of them goes to a family in Egypt and is named "Amal." The other goes to a family in Spain, they name him "Juan". Years later, Juan sends a picture of himself to his mum. Upon receiving the picture, she tells her husband that she wished she also had a picture of Amal. Her husband responds, "But they are twins. If you've seen Juan, you've seen Amal

A man takes his Rottweiler to the vet and says, "My dog's cross-eyed, is there any thing you can do for him?" "Well," says the vet, "let's have a look at him." So he picks the dog up and examines his eyes. Finally, he says, "I'm going to have to put him down." "What? Because he's cross-eyed?" "No, because he's really heavy."

A lady wrote to an advice column in a newspaper: 'I have been engaged to a man for some time, but just before the wedding, I find he has a wooden leg. Do you think I should break it off?'

A guy walks into a bar with jumper cables. The bartender says, "You can come in, but don't start anything!"

A guy walks into a bar with a piece of Ashphalt under his arm. He says, "I'll have a beer and one for the road".

A termite walks into a bar and says, "Is the bar tender here?"

Have you heard about the pharmaceutical company that developed a new drug which, when administered to women, compels them to go join a convent? The FDA refused to license it, though. Seems it was habit-forming.

My first job was working in an orange juice factory, but I got canned because I couldn't concentrate. Then I worked in the woods as a lumberjack, but I just couldn't hack it, so they gave me the axe. After that I tried to be a tailor, but I just wasn't suited for it. The job was only so-so anyhow. Next I tried working in a muffler factory, but that was exhausting. I wanted to be a barber, but I just couldn't cut it.I attempted to be a deli worker, but any way I sliced it, I couldn't cut the mustard. My best job was being a musician, but eventually I found I wasn't note worthy. I studied a long time to become a doctor, but I didn't have any patience. Next was a job in a shoe factory; I tried, but I just didn't fit in. I became a professional fisherman, but discovered that I couldn't live on my net income.I thought about becoming a witch, so I tried that for a spell. I managed to get a good job working for a pool maintenance company, but the work was just too draining. My last job was working at Starbucks, but I had to quit, because it was always the same old grind.After many years of trying to find steady work, I finally got a job as a historian, until I realized there was no future in it.


Hope you enjoyed that!

Well, there is 5 days to go until the Commonwealth Games start. It's a very big deal here...everyone talks about it and Bendigo even has some of the events here. I think I've told you but I'm going to feild hockey event between Australia and Canada. Australia will win, no doubt...I think they're the gold medal champions from the Olympics...but our team needs a few Canucks cheering them on. But, Smiths Chips, a potato chip company has launched a new product offering some of the flavours from the countries represented...including England with Lamb and Mint, Australia's Sausage Sizzle and Canada's Bacon & Cheese. Which is absolutely amazing. We're actually thinking about taking $100 from our free shopping money to buy just these chips..I'm sure they're laced with heroin because they are so addictive...But I keep telling Meg, they're so good because they're Canadian. Eh?

Well, this weekend is supposed to be stinking hot, with tomorrow going up to 34 degrees and Sunday is going to be a roasting 39 degrees! OUCH. And we've got a long weekend this weekend, with Labour Day here in Victoria. I might even get a chance to do some golfing on Monday. Should be a good weekend. Well, I gotta get ready for church tonight. See you guys later. Don't forget to comment too!

Can you do it???

Try and answer these 10 questions

What TV show is set in Summer Bay?
What is the name of the cub who grows up to be King in The Lion King?
What is 20 x 4?
Who is the Federal Immigration Minister for Australia?
When driving and approaching a roundabout, which way do you yield to?
Which company makes 747's?
What kind of animal is a mustang?
Curiosity killed the what?
Which movie won Best Picture this year at the Oscars?
First played in the 19th century, what is Canada's most popular winter sport?

If you can answer all those correctly, then you've just done what I did, except I just won $1000 for it!!!

That's right. This morning on the radio, I nailed all ten questions in less then 60 seconds...
As I said to Dad, I have to continue the family legacy...of winning lots of stuff!

and by the way, here are the answers

Home and Away
Simba
80
Amanda Vanstone
Right
Boeing
Horse
Cat
Crash
Ice hockey!

Yay me!!!

We Have The Internet At Home FINALLY!

Well the day has arrived! The day that we can now keep in touch with people on a more regular basis seeing as we can write emails and send photos from home now.

Email us if you would like to find out our new home email address that will be checked on a daily basis.

Oh, for those of you who wanted to see what kinda spiders we catch in our house...here's a
picture of the latest :)

Thank God I have a husband that kills spiders for me! he he...

The Adventure Of The Car…

We were suppose to pick our new car up some time last week but there has been a drama going on that we were informed about at the beginning of this week. The financial company involved with the lease of our car has been placed into receivership so the car we ordered is actually sitting down in Melbourne at Toyota but can’t be delivered because it hasn’t been paid for. We don’t know how long the situation will take to be sorted out so ACS who we ordered the car through have been working very hard to find another car somewhere in Victoria. I received a call yesterday saying that they have located one that we can pick up tomorrow (Friday) from Wodonga, which is about a 3 hour drive from Bendigo right on the border of Victoria and New South Wales. So, it’s all worked out and we’re off on a little road trip tomorrow to pick up our new car!

Jeremy and I are off on a Buck’s Day and Hen’s Day this Saturday which will be a whole heap of fun! Russ and Alicia, our close friends, are getting married on the 18th of March. I’m pretty sure the boys are heading down the beach on Saturday to go surfing and then going on a jet boat ride and finishing back here in Bendigo for a BBQ while the girls are doing a Kitchen Tea for Alicia and are going out for dinner in Bendigo. So we’re really looking forward to a fun weekend!

The internet should be set up any day now on our computer at home so hopefully we’ll be seeing a lot of people online a lot more which will be great too!

Keep Smilin’

My eulogy...

This is a dark day indeed. I should be wearing a black arm band today because I am in mourning. Yes, I mourn a death...the death of a dream that our country would rise up to defend its Hockey title. But that dream is dead. No medal, no honor, no glory. Just a quiet plane trip home and 4 years to contemplate what happened.

Oh, the good days, just a few weeks ago, when our hopes were high and our spirits soared with the thought of a team that could do no wrong. It was said that this was the year that Canada had such a long list of players that were worthy to play, we could've sent two teams to compete on an Olympic Stage. The Selection was a highly celebrated event which all of Canada eagerly anticipated. The Heroes would be chosen. The Team was assembled. And under the guidance of our very own Hockey Guru, Mr Gretzky, we sent the team off with the well-wishes of an entire nation. Oh, the good days...

It was with baited breath that we watched Canada skate out to their first game to pull off a 7-2 win. The goals came fast and hard, with Calgary's very own Jarome Iginla scoring Canada's first goal. It was a win, albeit, a jet-lagged win.

Then came Germany. Another win with 5-1 the end result. Canada's sights were set on a podium already. But then, the cracks formed in our concrete chimera. The Swiss pulled off an unbelievable win against the Czechs, and were next due to face up against Canada. No one doubted the Swiss were good, but did we underestimate? Canada struggled, and lost.

The next two games, Canada were visibly shaken, not posted a single goal in both games. If Hope floats, these were the needles in our liferaft.
One last effort was made and Canada looked breifly like it might pull it together again, posting a 3-2 win against the mighty Czechs. But not when it counted.

Canada could not manage to score a single goal in our last game against the Russians, losing not only the game, but the vision of once again coming home the Golden Boys.

What went wrong? Ours is not the right to ask that question, but to look to the future. If I could ask one thing out of this tragedy, it would be that we do not stoop to making excuses for our team, but display a graciousness that becomes us as Canadians. We will look to the future. We will train harder. We will not be shaken again.

So this is my eulogy. It is a dark day in Canada, but every dusk has its dawn. And I for one, will continue to cheer on our Canadian boys.

Check this out!!

www.myspace.com/nageem

It's the new MSN, well so they say!

Love Meg

Great news, in about 10 days we will be having a new car delivered to our home! This is the link you can check out to see what kinda car we're gonna get. You need to go to the "Image Gallery" cause we have the Sedan not the Hatchback. We've ordered a nice black car and we're gonna be in heaven cause we've never had a car with power steering, air conditioning, CD player & central locking, so we're VERY excited!

http://corolla.toyota.com.au/toyota/vehicle/HomePage/0,4666,1661_562,00.html

Hope you are all well,

Love Meg & Jer

3 days to go!!!

It seems I always start off my blogs with an apology...sorry I'm not able to update this more often.
Well, as my title has already informed you, it's only three days to go until the Winter Olympics of 2006 start up in Torino, Italy. I can't say my enthusiasm is shared by everyone here. Winter Olympics don't mean a lot to a country that has only 41 competeing atheletes, including one ex-Canadian. Its funny to hear him say, in a thick Canadian accent "I'm really proud to represent Australia at these games." I like to boo him. You know what he is? He is somebody who couldn't cut it in Canada, and so he moved to Australia because he looks amazing here. You know, if I go to a golf course with Tiger Woods, and play a round with him, I'd look ridiculous, but when I play golf with three year olds, I'm a legend! It's like the local hockey team here. They're all Canadians who flunked out of hockey school, so moved down here to make a career out of it...it's very funny. Nate, you could take any one of these guys on.

...compared to Canada's 200+ atheletes..not including coaches, trainers, team managers, chaperones...But i heard some sad news this morning. they were going over all the games that would be shown or highlighted during these games...and unfortunately, not one mention of Hockey was heard. Can you believe it? Not one mention. I still am getting my hopes up that since no one would watch hockey during prime time, they'll show the games at early hours of the morning...I've already put the hockey schedule on my fridge...so I'll be up at 3AM if I have to.

Speaking of hockey, I don't think any team besides Canada is going to really be competing for the gold. The Czechs and the Finns aren't too bad, but the Americans are certainly NOT going to make it to the medal round. Out of the 27 players selected to the team, they have 12 players who have never been to the Olympics before. International rookies...including their three goalies, New York's Rick DiPietro, Tampa Bay's John Grahame and Philadelphia's Robert Esche.
WHO?!?!?! I ask that same question. When two of the netminders sit at the bottom of the goaltending list during shootouts, you look to the other goalie to do something for you. Now, I quote the coach of the US Olympic team when he commented on DiPietro,
"If there's one save to make a game, he'll make it"
Now, I'm pretty sure that during an average hockey game, a goalie would have to make between 25-40 saves...but don't worry, Ricky, if there's only one save to make, you'lll make it...the other 29 shots can go in though.
Ok, I have to concede that the American's Key Player is Chris Chelios, a man with some experience. Of course, you'd expect that from a 44 year-old. Did I mention that he made his Olympic debut in 1984? 1984!!! That's 22 years ago. He'll go down in the record books as not only the oldest Olympic hockey player, but the only hockey player who's using a modified hockey stick as his walker on the ice. He'll have a lot of fans though. I heard all the senior's homes are all geared up.
GO TEAM CANADA!


hehehe...I am funny.

Well, enjoy the games!

I have a couple of spare minutes before I leave work, so I thought I'd write on here. Jeremy's just phoned me from his work to let me know that Dad's friend, Jeff, is going to Sydney for 3 weeks and he's lending us his car! Praise God! Jeff floats between here and Sydney so it was real nice of him to lend us his car....so we have wheels for 3 weeks....SO EXCITING! You never realise how much you rely on a car until you dont have one! But we're still believing for one. Need to get a computer at home too with the net so we can keep in touch with everyone more often!

Well I'm gonna sign off, thanks for your comments :)

stinking hot still!

I have to apologize.
This week has been a pretty crazy week
Actually, ever since we go back from Canada, we've been preety busy. From work to social gatherings (what can I say? People love us!) and having no internet at home, we can't get to this as often as we'd like. Oh well. There hasn't been a whole lot to report anyways. unless you want to hear about the cricket, a topic on which I could write a few more paragraphs. And my brother happened to mention to me that the Oilers lost again to Calgary. Nathan seems to be under the mis-guided impresssion that the Flames are the better team. I have only one word in response to that...Conklin. Ty "stinking" Conklin. You know what I'm talking about. If you're a Seinfeld fan, you'll know that whenever something went wrong, Jerry always said "Newman!". Kind of like the Seinfeld-ian swear word. Now if anything bad happens to me..."Conklin!"

Stubbed my toe? "Conklin!"

spilled my drink? "Conklin!"

Oilers lose? "Conklin!"

you get the idea.


Well, gotta get ready for church tonight!

a quick sentence or two

well, we've had a week to ease back into it, but the heat has hit us like a punch in the face.
For the last few days, we've been sitting at 34 each day...and this Sunday, it's supposed to climb up to 41. Can you believe it???? I can't...and i don't even have an air conditioner to lessen the load. ARGH!

I just thought I'd share that with you. Happy?
Good
See ya!

We made it!

Well, we made it home safe. And our journey was not without dramas, let me tell you.

The last thing you want to have to deal with when you fly for hours on end is any sort of hiccup. When we landed in Singapore after about 20 hours of flying, we had a hotel room booked for the night because our flight to Melbourne wasn't going to take off until 10 AM the next day. Oh, Meg and I were looking forward to a nights rest in a bed, and a nice shower...well, we never quite got there. Once we arrived, we went to the Singapore Stopover counter to get our transfer to our hotel. But the guy told us that what we had booked was not with them and we would need to return to our luggage belt, because someone would be there with a sign saying "DYCK" to pick us up. The problem with this was that we had already left the security area of the airport, so we tried to get back in to where our luggage belt was. We were told at first to go upstairs, so we did that. Once we got there, we were told that we needed a boarding pass to get in and we needed to go back downstairs. We went back downstairs and pleaded with the security guards to let us back in so we could find this guy. They let us in but we found no one holding any sort of sign. We went back out again and called the hotel to see where this guy would be. At first, they told us they had no record of a booking for us that night, but then they found it but told us it was not their responsibility to arrange pick-ups from the airport. That was the responsibility of the flight agent. Newman! If you have been an avid reader of our blog, you'll know the flight agent and us haven't been getting along very well.

So, we were told we had to find a taxi, which would've ended up costing us $70 there and back. I don't think so! So, we had to stay the night at the airport. Now, I know that sleeping in an airport is supposed to be glamorous and exotic, but don't believe everything you read. After a couple hours on the ground we did manage to find these "napping" chairs which were fully reclined and had a vibrating alarm in your headrest.

But after all that, we managed to make it home safe and all our Kraft Dinner made it through customs. That's the most important part!

They say that if you have a good experience with a company you, on average, tell three people about that good experience who, in turn tell three other people...and so on. While, if you have a bad experience, you tend to tell at least ten people about the negative experience that you had. Well, I know for a fact that there is more than ten people reading this blog and our church has a few hundred people in it. I intend to let everyone know just how terrible our experience with Flight Centre was. Meg and I are still deciding on a course of action, but we intend to take this to the top. So, the next time you walk by a Flight Centre in a mall, or down the street, give them a dirty look for us...

Well, there you go, that's our Canada holiday all wrapped up. Now on with the real world, I guess...

CANADA WON GOLD!

Good news everybody!!!

Canada won Gold! Since Dec 26th, we've been watching the World Juniors Hockey championship. It started off with a round robin, playing Finland, Switzerland, Sweden and the US. Canada, of course, defeated all those teams. The USA were the favorites to win the game, and they funniest thing is that they didnt even get a medal! Canada ended up playing Russia and beat them 5-0. It was the second consecutive year that Canada has won Gold at the WJC.

What else has been going on? Not a great deal actually. After we came back from Toronto, Dale & Cathy (Jer's parents) had to go back to work. So Jeremy and I have just been hanging out at home, shopping and just starting to pack for the big trip home.

Poppa & Grandma took us to the Calgary Zoo on Monday which was pretty cool. We got to visit the "Australia" section at the zoo. It's soo funny to see Emus and Cockatoos in there and people standing and watching them in amazement.

Tomorrow is a big packing day before the weekend cause we'll be doing family stuff on the weekend seeing as we leave here early Monday morning. We fly from Calgary to San Francisco and stop there for about 2.5 hours then from San Francisco to Korea stop there for an hour and then from Korea to Singapore and we're there for just over 9 hours. And then the final stretch from Singapore to Melbourne. I'm so excited to get back home it seems like we've been away for so long but at the same time it will be sad to leave our family cause we dont know when we'll see them again. Maybe Jeremy and I could live in some country that's in the middle of both Australia and Canada that way we wont be so far away from one side of the family?!?! hehe....

We just wanted to say "thank you" so much to all our friends and family that have been emailing us and posting comments on our blog since we'ce been away. It's so nice to wake up in the morning and see who has written to us, it's nice to know we're being missed. And just to let you know we're missing EVERYONE so much too...

I'm excited to get back and see my little friend Azhia and her new pet fish "Frankie!"

I guess we'll be seeing all the Bendigonians next week. Have a great weekend :)

Happy New Year!

We're Back!

I think we almost died going a week without internet, but we made it...

Flying into Toronto, you could tell that the weather has been different over there from here. I think the entire time we were there, we saw the sun maybe once. The ground was covered in a good blanket of snow, and the weather was actually more winter-like and below 0 most days.

It was very busy week. Every day was taken up with going somewhere, meeting someone or doing something. On Tuesday night, we got all the family together for a big Christmas dinner. Mmm..Turkey! Meg got to meet the Lintons (Mom's side of the family), most of whom she hadn't ever met before. The cousins took an instant liking to her, which I guess comes naturally with a Kid's pastor. It was a fun night, and I think it was a little overwhelming, but fun none-the-less.

On Wednesday, we met up with Meg's friend Dan and his girlfriend Amanda, who drove up from Ohio to see us. We took him 5 pin bowling(that's right, 5 pin) just to do something Canadian. It was good to catch up with him, and we really appreciated him driving all the way from Ohio to see us.

The big highlight of Thursday was our chance to drive down to Niagara Falls. It was a rainy day, so weren't sure what the weather would be like, but we went for it anyway. As you can see by our gallery pictures, there wasn't much to see that day because it was so foggy and misty. And when it gets damp in winter it gets cold...really cold. We braved it out there for a few minutes, but not for too long. We also took a stroll around the nearby town of Niagara-on-the-Lake. The poor people live there...yeah right. I doubt if any houses there go for less than a million...

Friday, we took the epic journey to downtown Toronto and saw the Hockey Hall of Fame. It was absolutely amazing. There is so much stuff there. We even managed to find a jersey of an Australian team, I'll try and find the picture later.

New year's Eve. From what I hear, Bendigo was a very hot-spot, hovering around the 40 degree mark. UGH!
Meg and I went to the hockey game last night. It was very exciting game...but not a very good end. Calgary managed to score the go-ahead goal with only a minute and half remaining in the game. A bit of a fluke, if you ask me. To be honest though, it was a very good and exciting game. Meg was excited about it.

well, Feel free to check out our gallery pictures of our trip. And please write to us.
I hope you've all had a wonderful Christmas and New year

Jer and Meg!