Hollyburn Peak

"In autumn, when succulent blueberries abound, so do black bears. Keep an alert eye out; bears can become oblivious to just about everything when hoovering berries." Although the book warned us about whistling, singing and talking loudly along the trail, we did not see any bears on the Hollyburn trail. The closest we got were dog prints in the muddy trail up the mountain. We didn't get attacked by any bears but we got attacked many times by Whiskey Jacks at the peak of the mountain.


Andrew, Kimberly, Daphne, Tim





Hollyburn Peak was a great trail for a crisp autumn day. The colours were beautiful and although it was a bit chilly despite dressing in multiple layers, it was well worth making the muddy trek up. The 360 degree view at the top was breathtaking and easily reminded me of what I am thankful for this Thanksgiving break. It was such a great chance to be in the mountains and see the October colours in the trees and see fall during into winter before your own eyes. There was already some ice starting to form on the lakes near the top. The hike was a bit shorter than some of the other hikes I've done, but for being a bit out of shape since school started in September, I think that this was a very good thing.


Andrew, Daphne and Tim at the top looking out.


Being attacked by the Whisky Jacks


Lounging out at the top of Hollyburn.

A Parent's Love

If you are a teacher, you are still in that first month of transition. You have new students to get to know and new class dynamics to figure out. The students also have a transition, in each grade they enter, they have a new beginning. In Kindergarten, children have a huge transition, from being home or in daycare to being in school and what that all means. Transitions can be exciting; buying the first school bag, having a cubby with their name, and a hook to hang their coat. But, they can also be terrifying. This year I have a little boy who needs to be pried off his mom every morning and who will scream and cry for the first 10 minutes of the day until he really believes that his mom will come back to pick him up. Transitions can be scary. Knowing what to say as a teacher in that situation can be tough when emotions take over and no words are soothing enough. No words; but only a parents loving embrace.

These are some moments you realize a parent’s love for their child; when they will stay in the hallway for three hours just to make sure that their son is okay. A parent’s love for their child is remarkable. You see it in how a parent sticks around to ask how their son or daughter is doing and is excited about any little detail you provide about the day. You can see it in a huge hug they give their child in the hallway at the end of the school day, with a concerned phone call about a certain incident, and with the big smiles when a child hands them a messy dripping painting they so desperately want to take home. Their love is huge!

Parents go through that transition each year too. Each year, they entrust their children in your care, hoping that you too can share in the love they have for their children. They want you to see what they see and know what they know about their children.

Parents know their children. They know when they are sad, when they are hungry, when they are having a bad day and sometimes even when they have to go to the bathroom. They just know! It’s remarkable how they JUST know. A parent’s love is great. But how much greater is God’s love for his children who he knows even more than we can understand. Psalm 139 reads, O Lord, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down. You are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue, you know it completely… vs 13…. For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

God’s love is unconditional and surpasses our understanding. God’s love for each of the children in our classrooms is huge and He too wants us to share in that. Sometimes it can be hard to love the child who gets on our nerves, who asks us the same question 3 times because he has forgotten to listen to the answer, who always forgets to put his inside shoes on after recess, who puts glue in the bottom of the pencil jar, who mixes all the playdough together, whose shoelace seems to come undone every 5 minutes, who steals the sticky tack from the backs of posters and puts it in people’s hair etc. But… we need to remember that each of these children are precious to their parents in their own way. Each of these children are children of God, and as teachers we are given the great responsibility to nurture them, teach them, know them and care for them. In James 3:1, a verse that is probably well known to all Christian school teachers, it reads, “Not many of you should presume to be teachers my brothers because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.”

That’s a huge responsibility to bear. A teacher can have a huge influence on a child’s life. To this day, I can remember the grade four teacher who gave me a thank you card for playing hockey at recess with a girl who usually got picked on. I remember how that card showed me she paid attention to me. I can also remember the time in grade two when I saw my Kindergarten teacher for the first time in over 2 years. She did not say hi. I remember the sad feeling I had that she did not remember who I was. Teachers have an impact. What a huge responsibility to carry. Often times I think that the responsibility is too much. There is too much to remember, too many things to be aware of, too many things that can be said, and too many needs to be met. But I am encouraged by the story of Moses in Exodus which I was reminded of this past Sunday. I hope you can be too. The Israelites are in slavery and God knows the longings of their hearts. He knows them well. Moses is asked by God to take on the task and responsibility of going to Egypt to lead the people out of slavery. He doesn’t feel fit and tells God many times that he is not the one and that another one, who is better with his words, should go in his place. God answers and says “who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I the Lord? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you the words to say.” (Ex 4: 11-12)

The Lord knows his children and what they need. The Lord knows the longings of the children in our classes. He knows them well. The Lord works through his people and he can give us the words to say and the hearts to listen to what they need as well. Take comfort in that fact and enjoy the children that God has entrusted to us.

Welcome Back to School

Welcome Back to School

September brings with it a new school year. It is a month of adjusting to a new class and a new routine. This year is my second year of teaching and my first year being full time. I'm thinking that this job might keep me pretty busy and on my toes all year! I now have two Kindergarten classes so that means I have a lot of names to memorize and a lot of little personalities to get to know. But, this year has been great so far. I am enjoying both my classes and am feeling better equipped and more confident than last year already. I am finding that I have fewer stresses than last year and can enjoy teaching much more. I think that it's because now I have the bigger picture in my mind. I have seen a whole year played out and now I can just relax a little and remember the previous year. I can anticipate certain situations and be better prepared to handle what might come my way throughout the day. The second time around gives you the opportunity to improve what went wrong the year before or maybe do something completely different. I cannot be prepared for every situation because everyday brings its own new challenges and its own new adventures but knowing what typically happens throughout the day of Kindergarten is really helpful. Before school started, I was quite busy rearranging and figuring out how I wanted the layout of my classroom to look. It was quite fun to decide but it was also a little frustrating since I had ordered a bunch of new furniture that did not end up arriving until 2 weeks after school started. Things are mostly in place now and I'm enjoying the different feel to the classroom this year. It is so nice to have my own classroom and not have to worry about leaving things around at the end of the day. Here are a few pictures of my classroom this year...



This is a pic from the back door. The white table is our new water table.


This shows the front of the classroom. We got new circle area rugs which was pretty exciting! My desk is tucked away behind the block/tool/car centre.


Here is a picture of our circle area again where we do calendar/weather/ morning message etc. You can also see our cubbies and our famous Kindergarten loft!


Here is our reading centre with our new reading shelves!


Another view of the reading centre, sandbox (on L) and writing centre. Note: See how it's all wet outside. Yup, the winter rain is starting already!


Work tables and painting centre.


The house centre underneath the loft.


The dress up centre in the loft.


Another view of the reading centre and our new red/white chairs.


The puzzle centre and doll house centre.

Kindergarten is so fun!

Mt. Seymour

The "Three Peak" Adventure

"Each year hiker's get lost on Seymour. The lucky ones get out cold and a bit worse for fear. But others have been seriously injured or died. Don't underestimate the mountain. Be prepared!" This is just one of the comments in Dawn Hanna's book Best Hikes and Walks in Southwestern British Columbia.



















I didn't get lost on this hike nor did I get seriously injured or die but I did have to hobble up the last 0.8km of rock to get to the summit because of a bad knee from a previous hike I had unfortunately forgotten about. I wasn't going to back down from the mountain's summit and so at a snail's pace, I climbed my way to victory. I was prepared to fight this mountain for all it was worth!




















Conveniently at the top of the mountain there were snow patches. Because we were so "prepared," Andrew had a big plastic bag that I could put snow in to use as an icepack during our lunch break. (and also use to toboggan down the hills of snow.)





















Although feeling proud and strong to have made it to the top in my broken state, I forgot that if you go up, you must also come down. Wups. After having iced my knee and letting it rest, it was now seriously seizing up for the descent down the mountain. Finding a branch as support, I was able to tred slowly and painfully down the third peak to the second peak, down the second peak to the first peak, down the first peak to a nice lake located somewhere on the mountain. I think about 20 minutes from the bottom. Too bad the water wasn't drinkable because we were out and dying of thirst too.















A hike that should have only taken about 4 hours ended up taking 5 and a half because of my hobbling slowness. (probably why we ran out of water) So, no records were broken, no medals received, and overall I think the mountain ended up winning. Mountain 1 Kimberly 0.




















But despite being broken, the hike was really cool with some amazing views and scenery! I'd do it again!















Interesting FUN FACT of the day: This mountain is named after BC's Governor from 1864 to 1869 who died from acute alcoholism.

Othello Tunnels and Hell's Gate Expedition

Othello Tunnels

Last weekend, my mom and I made the trek out to Hope, BC to see the Othello Tunnels and then up to Hell's Gate. On Friday, we made it to Hope in record time, found a hotel, hit the beach for a picnic and then walked along the river and through the tunnels.

The tunnels were built in 1913-1916 by Andrew McCulloch who was a big fan of Shakespeare, hence the name Othello Tunnels. I think that if I had lived in the early 1900's, I would want to be Mr. McCulloch's friend. He seems like a neat guy.




There are 13 tunnels in total but we only managed to go through about 5 or 6 of them. I'll have to back sometime and check out the other ones. I think they go on for about 2 miles. I could be wrong on that fact though. Don't quote me.







The photographer "stance"












Walking through the tunnels.



















A look down below













One tunnel ends and another one begins.

Hell's Gate

Next stop on our list was Hell's Gate, the narrowest part of the Fraser River were the water swirls and turns under the great pressure of squeezing by the rocks. The water cur
rent was even too much for the jumping salmon that could not get up the river!


After traveling on the wrong highway and not being able to find a turn around point, we made a two hour detour to end up behind closed gates. However, we saw this amazing bridge on the road to Hell's Gate. I love it. I think it's my favourite bridge.



Apparently we weren't being let through Hell's Gate that day. We decided we'd try to get in the next morning. So we drove back to the hotel, had burgers and Kokanee at The Home Restaurant, went hot tubbing and settled into our room.



The next morning was cloudy and wet, the perfect day to go through Hell's Gate. We drove an hour on twisty roads through the mountains, over rivers and along forests in order to get there.



We took the tram down through the canyon and were taken aback by the gust of wind over the bridge.




We toured around, took in the chocolate factory and gift shops and settled down for the best icecream cone around.




It was a good day!

Lyndeman and Greendrop Lakes

I've hiked up to Lyndeman lake twice this year already and I wouldn't even mind going again. It's amazing how so much can change throughout the seasons of a year. The first time I hiked up to Lyndeman was in the Spring with Andrea and her friend Mandy.


We hiked the 2 km up the mountain to reach the first lake. It was warm on the beach but the glacier water was freezing cold!!! There was too much snow on the mountain to make the trek past Lyndeman and to GreenDrop Lake. So, we dropped ourselves on the sand with our German buddies who we met along the way, took out our lunches and spent the day looking at the amazing colour of the greenish blue tourquoise lake. The water was so clear you could easily make out what was lying at the bottom.














This past July, my Young Adults group took a camping trip up at Chilliwack lake and decided to give the hike another go. We hiked up the 2 km to the end of Lyndeman and hung out on the rocks this time since there was no sign of any beach. All the snow had melted from the mountains and everything looked completely different. The water was so high that the places I had walked just 2 months earlier were completely covered. We had to find the actual trail this time! While most of the group stayed at Lyndeman and enjoyed the warm weather, the hot sun, and all the m&m's from the trail mix, Andrew and I decided that we couldn't just turn our backs on Greendrop. So, without lunch and only a bag on m&mless trailmix, plastic tasting water from my camelbak, and one granola bar to tide us over, we made the next 6 km trek through boulders and stream flooded forests to reach the waterfall view at Greendrop. Walking back was a struggle as our stomachs sang out songs of hunger. It was so hot by the time we made it back to Lyndeman that we thought nothing of the instant brain freeze we got as we dunked our heads in the lake. I don't know why I like this hike so much. Maybe it's because it was one of the first hikes I did in BC, or because of the awesome tourqoise colour or maybe it's the mere fact that a guy named Harry Lyndeman, way back in the day, decided to hike the trail countless times in order to restock the lake with loads of fish.

Bouldering at its finest....




















On the trek back from Greendrop Lake














Finished! Now for the trek back uphill to camp...