First Snow

The snow has finally arrived. This is the scene that was waiting for us when we woke up this morning.

It isn't much, and will probably be gone before much longer, but it is a sign of things to come. According to the weather forcast this fluffy white stuff is supposed to fall tomorrow also. I already miss the beach, warm weather, and green leaves.

New Looks

A couple of things around here have taken on a new look. First the office, now looks like this




It was a very dark blue before, with vanished woodwork.

And the bathroom now looks like this
it used to look like


and me. I used to look like
this but now this. Only for four more weeks and then I can shave.

The Tour Continued -- Living Room

Here is our Living Room. The piano has been in my family for years. My cousin had it and wanted to get rid of it. Liz was very happy to accept it. Liz is especially pleased with the Cuckoo Clock above the piano.

Happy Thanksgiving

That's right I said Thanksgiving. In case you didn't know Thanksgiving in Canada comes in October. This is the first holiday we have spent with our family in about three years. This afternoon we had a turkey dinner with my mom and Dad and tomorrow we get to do it with Liz's mom and Dad. Life is good and I am thankful!!!!

A couple of posts ago I mentioned that I was growing a beard for the Church Christmas program. So I thought I would give you all something to laugh at. Liz and Anthony don't want to laugh alone. Until next time.

The Tour -- Family Room

As promised in the last post I am going to start taking people on a tour of the house. The first room is the family room. This is quite easily the biggest room of the house and quite literally takes up half of the basement.




This is my first time using video so please let me know how it works. Just in case it doesn't work here are some pictures of the room.

Is it really almost October?

Let me begin my apologizing for not updating this site. I will try to update this much more frequently. This past month has really been a good month for Liz, Anthony and myself. We went to the Sussex International Hot Air Balloon show a couple of weekends ago, which was very cool. It is not everyday that you get to see a hot air ballon, let alone 30. When these things all take off it is trully breathtaking. It would have been cool to ride in one but the waiting list was long and the price was something like $160 per person. However without the ride it was still amazing.

Anthony is getting more settled in here and is making new friends. There is a girl who lives in the house next to us who is only 5 but her and Anthony get along very well. He is also making friends at school and at church. I had him to the skatepark last weekend, where he tried out some ramps and jumps. There were a few hard falls at first, but before we left he was doing quite well. In case your wondering, I didn't participate, only watched, ready to call the ambulance at a moments notice.

Liz has also been settling in well. She has been getting more involved at the church and going to the Ladies Bible Study. There is also a new ministry starting at the church tomorrow night that she wants to check out.

I have been busy at work. It is different working from home, but I do enjoy it. It will especially be nice when the snow storms arrive and I don't have to go out in it, and I can supervise as Liz shovels the driveway! I too have been getting more involved with the church. I figure if I'm there I might as well be doing something. In case your wondering, yes I am helping with one of the kids ministries.

Liz and I have started getting involved with a group called J12. It is a church service just for kids 8-12, on Friday night. In three weeks the attendance has gone from 20 to about 35, so it seems to be going quite well. It is very cool that this is the very first J12 group in Canada. There are about 100 of these in the US.

We are also involved in the Christmas play. From what I understand this is the churches big event. I hear they transform the foyer into Victorian England with people acting as maniquines dressed in victorian clothing, and the Gym is made over into Bethlehem complete with animals and people acting out the parts of different villagers. Anthony and Elizabeth are taking part as one the Villagers. I am playing the part of a wiseman in the production, which requires me to grow a beard. Right now I haven't shaved in 1 week and my face is itchy. Well that brings this page up to date. We miss you all so much. I promise I will update this page more frequently. I am planning on adding pictures of what the rooms look like now, after we have moved in. Hopefully I can start that tomorrow.

One Of My Favorite Places

Sunday afternoon Liz, Anthony and I visited one of my absolute favorite places "Fundy National Park." The three of us went to Bennet Lake to do some canoeing, and explored the area.

If there had been more time we may have done some hiking also, (The park has some awesome hiking trails) but the sun was setting. So we will save the hiking for next time.

Kite Festival

I just got back from the kite festival, which was very impressive. There were kites of all different shapes and sizes, doing all sorts of tricks. The largest kite they had there was of a scuba diver. This kite was about 40 feet long. I can't imagine trying to fly it. At one point I bet there was close to 100 kites in the air at the same time, and only once did I see kites with there strings tangled up, seeing how it was pretty dark that is very impressive. I do have some pictures to show you of some of the really cool kites.



This kite was doing all sorts of Loops and twists. The tail was about 50 feet long.

This kite was made the week of the festival by a kite maker from France. It was about 8 feet high and 4 feet wide. Elizabeth got to fly this one for a couple of minutes. She said it took all her strength just to hang on to the string.


There were lots of other very cool kites there but it was getting to dark to take any pictures.

Hi Everyone

Since my last post I have turned a whole year older. That's right I am know 33. Elizabeth has been teasing me because I am now older than her, but only for another couple of months and then we will be the same age.
For the past couple of weeks we have been enjoying ourselves here. We have been able to visit our families, which has been very nice, and Anthony has been able to do sleepovers at his Grandparent's, and Aunt's houses. Which He enjoys.
In this part of Canada there are a lot of beaches. Our house is about 30 minutes from a really great one called Aboiteau Beach.

Anthony wanted to get buried in the sand, so we buried him up to his neck.

This gave Elizabeth an idea about burying me, but so far I have been able to avoid that.
Tonight we are meeting Anthony's Grandparents and going to the International Kite Festival. People from all over the world come to this festival to fly kites that they made themselves. Some of the kites are a big as a house. I will post pictures of this when I get back.
Elizabeth, Anthony and I really miss you guys, and being part of Children's Church. It really seems strange for me to sit in the adult service. Anyways I had better be going Anthony and Liz are waiting for me to get done writing so we can go to the festival. I wanted you to know that you will always be in my thoughts and prayers. If you want to email me my address is shawkes1@yahoo.ca

Slowly But Surely

Well I think the worst is over. Most stuff has found a place, however in most instances I have no idea where that place is. I must say it is nice to no longer be living out of many, many boxes. Hopefully by the end of the week everything should be where it needs to be. I have tried logging into work and it seems to be fine. I started to set up the office today, I got the computers to work, now comes the hard part, hiding the wires.

We Made It

We have made it to our new home. It took an insane amount of work, and a lot of help from a lot people, to whom we will always be greatful. Currently Tom, Rhonda and Matthias are visiting so we have been touring the Maratime Provinces. Today we went to Prince Edward Island, and yesterday we went to Nova Scotia. Tomorrow we plan to hang around this area a bit, but may make it down to the Hopewell Rocks. I'll keep you all posted, and post some pictures soon.

Everything is Final

As of yesterday Liz and I are home owners. Well technically the bank owns the house, and just lends it to us. I guess that makes us home borrowers. Either way it is pretty exciting. Now all we have to do is pack, sort, pack, wrap, pack, pack, carry, move, lift, pull, tug, heave, and perhaps a bit of shove. So I guess I had better get back to the packing, wraping, ect the moving date is only 18 days away.

More House Pictures

We have made the trip back to Fitchburg safe and sound and I finally have a chance to put up some more house pictures. This is the new kitchen.

This is the entrance way

This is the sunroom.

This is the upstairs bathroom. This one has an airtub which as I understand it is basically a whirlpool.

Anyways that is it for now.

The Hawkes' Have a New Nest

After seeing many houses we have finally decided on one. We will soon be residents of the town of Riverview. It is a beautiful house with four bedrooms and two baths. This is all happening so quickly, It is truly amazing.

The Great House Hunt

After almost 11 years Liz and I are looking to buy a house. Our search begins with the realtor tomorrow, and because we only have a week, we are really hoping that things go smoothly.
Liz has spoken with her several times and they have been using email to keep in touch. It would seem that there are several great possibilities. We are trusting that God will show us the house He would want us to have, after all He has brought us this far!!