A Surprisingly Hard Goodbye

That will lead to more adventures to come!

Hi all! We hope you are happy and healthy out there!

This newsletter might feel a bit different, and it might start a little weird, but I hope you’ll follow along with the storytelling on this journey.

I think I’m getting back into the swing of things now as my free time has really been fragmented since Gord went into the hospital.

Thank you for sticking with us during this time. Please check out the bottom of the newsletter for our new fun product!

---

The End of the Van

So last week, as Kris was driving to pick up the dogs, the heater fan in the van broke. On high, it made a terrible grinding sound, and since we generally need it in winter to defrost the front windshield, we made an appointment.

The news wasn’t good. It wasn’t just the fan that was the problem. The head gasket on the engine was leaking, there was an antifreeze leak, and a couple of other issues were getting close to the point where they would need to be fixed. Or we drive it and it could randomly implode if we don’t.

We knew this day was coming. Our van is 20 years old and has over 500,000 km on it. The plan was always to drive it until the wheels fell off—and without doing one of these repairs, that might literally have happened.

So we said goodbye to the Sienna, and for the first time in 20 years, we have a new vehicle we will pick up this week.

Both Kris and I were surprisingly emotional about it. That van saw our family through so much of our life as a reliable, absolute beast of a machine. Adam was a baby when we got it. Like… a baby baby.

Kahaln was brought home to our house in it, and for eight years she came with us on road trips across western Canada.

She took her last ride in it during a rushed drive to the emergency clinic. She didn’t come back home. That was a hard drive back to our house that night. If I close my eyes I can remember the somber, quiet awful car ride on a freezing day in January.

That was a sad memory, but the majority are just wonderful.

Puppy Bunsen, puppy Beaker, puppy Bernoulli, Ginger, and kitten Brix all took their first ride home to our family in that van. Those first days home were just amazing memories- full of joy and laughter. It was also the van that rushed Bunsen to emergency after his run in with the porcupine, and also when he was literally dying of that cyst thing in him.

Our social media pages—the photos and videos of mountains and oceans—were made possible because of the Sienna. The mountains, the kayaking, the paddling boarding, the snow adventures….all because of that reliable van.

We got Adam and Duncan to school activities in it, used it to help move Duncan out many years ago, and used it again to help move Adam out just a year ago.

It also hauled all of our comic con nonsense!

I’m not sure how many other people out there have had a vehicle for so long that it holds this many emotions and memories.

I know we’ll be happy with our new ride, but as Kris said, for us it wasn’t just a mode of transportation—it was a huge part of how we made memories, almost all good and a few bad.

We’ll post some photos of the new vehicle once we’ve tested it properly (making sure the dogs fit—they do). Kris is also pretty excited about the new car features. Our Sienna had “radio” and “CD player.” This thing has heated seats?! WHAT. And a backup camera. Wild.

---

Gord

Thank you again to everyone who has been checking in on how Gord is doing. He is doing really well, though he had a few days this week where he was definitely struggling. We all have to be patient—recovery will be about two months.

There was some hope that after two weeks of living with us he’d be strong enough to be on his own, but I’m not so sure that will be the case. We’re looking into home care as a step toward more independence.

Though our lives have been turned upside down, having family close and doing good work for them really does fill your cup. The dogs—and Brix—adore Gord, and they have welcomed Doc into our house full-time with a ton of love. One day at a time.

---

Snow Walks

January is normally frigid, with a couple of weeks of -30 to -40 weather. It’s enough to drive you a little batty—being outside is miserable, and the dogs start to feel cooped up.

This year has been so different. Since the turn of the new year, we’ve had unseasonably warm weather—rain, even. Yesterday was +5!

This has been great for Beaker, as we haven’t needed to strap her into her snow pants, and it’s allowed Brix to come on walks too. The little guy just sits in the pouch and loves being out with the dogs.

Bernoulli is always excited when he sees Brix in the sling and will pop up on his back legs like a panda bear, balancing there just to lick him. Super cute.

---

Valentine’s Day

We have a fun new product in the store! It’s a digital download of Valentine’s cards. There are 32 school-appropriate cards and 8 sassy ones. We also included four simple and fun science experiments with a Valentine’s Day flair.