Friday, May 1, 2026

Moving Across the Driveway

Flooring got installed! A very exciting day! A little nervous as well to see it for the first time as you only see a sample piece and then hope it looks good across the whole house. But we are very happy with it.


Island, panty cabinets, stove and dish washer all got moved in. I believe the washing machine and dryer are in the front room as well. 
My first wall in the girls room done! (on the camera I don't think you can tell I did anything.....) But I got the job of filling all the brad nail holes on all the walls and ceiling of both of the upstairs rooms. I did some rough math and got to about 1,500 brad nail holes per room :P
Covering up the last of the yellow paint.
Very satisfying!
All done, holes filled and repainted with baseboards and door trim installed. Ready for carpet. (window trim and attic access to be done at a later date)
The carpet choice turned out lovely too, Hazel had so much fun rolling around and playing on the carpet. 
The guys worked quite a few late nights to get the fireplace done on time, it turned out lovely as well. It is just awaiting a mantel. 
The kitchen with all the appliances functioning and island installed. We have some work do to on the pantry/fridge wall yet. But that will be done after we move in. 
Front room, with the upright grand piano back in the one spot it fits. It is very very heavy so it is unlikely to move out of the house anytime soon, and we were interested to try and have a piano.
Stairs will be getting new treads and a railing yet. That will be on the top side of the to do list. There are still a few other things to do, a few more brad nail holes to fill on the trim, some more trim to install here and there, the bathroom needs some tile yet, the pantry wall need some drawers and two more cabinets hung up yet. But those get to be our evening projects for the next while. All the mandatory things are functioning in the house, and the day the trades were done hooking everything up we started cleaning and moving in!
Here is a video walk through of the downstairs. Not as show case set up as I would like, but realistic :)
In September we moved from Prince George to Chilliwack and slept in Mom and Dad Flokstra's house, thankful that the move part of the transition had gone well, but uncertain as to what was ahead and when we would be in our own home again. On April 16, sevenish months later we slept in our own house across the driveway for the first time. 
It had been a busy and eventful 7 months full of lots of learning and growth. Though many may say that the situation was not ideal, we all came out of it still liking each other and having connected with each other in ways that we would not have otherwise. 
My Flokstra bootcamp, as I like to call it, was pretty intense. But it taught me a lot of good survival skills for working with non scheduled work hours, quick changes of plans, large scale project thinking and co-hosting large groups of people while still taking it all in stride with motherhood. It has also equipped us all with knowledge of each other and how we work that I hope will make us all very nice neighbors. 

Tuesday, April 7, 2026

All the In-between

 In-between renos we have been catching up on extended family time and relearning the Fraser Valley in all its places to go and weather to enjoy. Here are a few snippets from Dec to March.


At Hazel and Jade's first parade.
Poor Jade fell asleep on the way there and was awaked by loud bagpipes and flashing lights, her eyes were very saucer like. 
Hazel liked the little ponies.
some floats were blowing fake snow around. 
Another pretty decorated horse
I've had some time during the raining season to work on some crochet projects 

The girls decorating their first Christmas tree
Chilling with Opa, the connection between these two has been uncanny, they just click. Must be that same mischievous glint in both their eyes or something.
Puddle fun! 


Jade has been off and on with needing an afternoon nap. Apparently this was not the day to skip it. 
Jade was very fascinated with having a baby cousin in the house.
Bucket rides with Daddy, two at a time proved to be tricker then expected.
Brothers reuniting as Dads with buggy races.
Story time with Aunty Val
Exploring 5 corners with all the lights up.
Story time with Nana
Working on sanding down our dinning room table to refinish it, while we are not using it. 
Story time with Grandpa and Grandma Van Vliet. It has been so special seeing both girls warm up faster to all the extended family. 
Good old Police Man Small!
Four cousins on the piano
Went for a little walk to the slew for a change of scenery and to try out the new double buggy. Hazel found a floppy stick to use as a fishing rod.
The girls attempted to contain a barn cat in a 5 gallon bucket.
Mountain biking in January! Jared recently got a new bike that fits him better so that we can go biking as a family and he can get back into mountain biking. Now Luke and Jared have matching bikes and hopefully equal amounts of fun. 
I finished sanding the table top.
The two days of warm sunshine weather woke up the flower in our yard.
A Sunday morning.
Hazel and her cousin picked flowers and planted their own garden in the mud. It was such a treat to play and garden together outside in the sun after many days of rain. 
Placing the new layer chicks in the hobby barn.
We went for a windy walk around Mill lake with Nana. 
We found a pink cow and a pink tractor at the Trade show. This show will likely be a yearly highlight with Jared back in the farming world.

Petting the animals at the trade show.
New almost matching outfits from Nana.
Jade loves the little chicks and can catch them all by herself. Hazel likes them too but it much more cautious about picking them up and holding them.
Papa, Nana and Teagen came to help clean up, we filled up the whole trailer full of broken but saved items from the storage room beside the shop! These buckets of peanut butter and jam were a fun find, apparently bulk had a whole new meaning at some point! It was quite overwhelming to go through that many years of stored stuff, I believe we even found the original for sale sign!
More stories!
I had dug up and potted all the plants from this garden, but apparently there was lots of bulbs still left. 
Lots of early flower coming up.
We can see this beautiful cherry blossom tree from the kitchen and dinning room windows. 
Story time with Aunty Val starts up again with her second visit.
With even more nieces and nephews to read too.
We discovered that the bunnies are willing to eat out of our hands if we are patient enough.
Soon both girls were very eager to try and they now have a renewed interest in the bunnies.