Meet Edgar!

Edgar joined our family on Friday July 15th. We thought we would share a few pictures of him. Enjoy!

Fire in Deer Lake

As some of you might have seen already, one forest fire is approaching Deer Lake First Nation.

This is a little blurb from CTV's website:

The Canadian Press

GREENSTONE, Ont. — Hundreds of residents in the northwestern Ontario community of Deer Lake are being evacuated because of nearby forest fires.

Emergency Management Ontario says 203 residents were flown out of the community on Wednesday night to Greenstone while another 127 boarded a military plane this morning.

Officials are evacuating about 480 of the community's 1,100 residents -- mainly babies and the elderly and those with breathing problems or other health issues.

Emergency Management Ontario spokesman Brent Ross says another military plane is being brought in today from Winnipeg to help with the evacuations.

The blazes, which are burning about 3.5 kilometres away from the community, are sending thick smoke across the area.

Ministry of Natural Resources crews are fighting the fires with water bombers.

Other remote communities affected by the fires are Sandy Lake, Cat Lake and North Spirit Lake but no evacuations are currently planned for residents in those communities.

And from CBC's website:

A CL-415 helps fight wildfires near the Dear Lake First Nation in northwestern Ontario (Mitch Miller/Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources)

Hundreds of people have been moved out of the remote First Nations community of Deer Lake in northern Ontario because of nearby forest fires.

The Canadian military said Thursday that rescue crews helped move roughly 500 people to Greenstone, Ont., near Geraldton.

The community is home to roughly 1,000 people, Deer Lake First Nation Chief Roy Dale Meekis said.

The people being moved out of Deer Lake are mostly babies and the elderly and people with breathing problems or other health issues.

“Smoke is definitely a disruptive factor and we expect it to be an ongoing problem for a number of days because we have so many fires going in the far north,” said Deb MacLean, a spokeswoman for Ontario's Ministry of Natural Resources.

Fires were also affecting Sandy Lake, Cat Lake and North Spirit Lake, but no evacuations were planned in those communities.

Ottawa has sent two Canadian Forces CC-130 Hercules aircraft from 435 Squadron based at 17 Wing Winnipeg into the area to help with evacuation efforts.

Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources crews were also fighting the fires with water bombers."I'm proud that the people of Deer Lake were evacuated in a timely and safe manner thanks to the quick reaction of the Canadian Forces," Defence Minister Peter MacKay said in a statement released Thursday.

"We're collaborating very closely with our First Nations and federal partners to ensure the safety of Deer Lake residents," Jim Bradley, minister of community safety, said in a release Thursday. "This evacuation will help take the most vulnerable members of the community out of harm's way."

There are 78 active fires burning in northwestern Ontario, with 46 in the Red Lake district, MacLean said Thursday.

With files from CBC's Jody Porter and The Canadian Press

Claire and I are thankful we are safe at home, but are worried for our Northern friends. They are evacuating people to Geraldton, a town a little west of Lake Nipigon and east of Longlac. We are not sure what they are being sent to, but in the past it has been an arena or community centre.

Here are some pictures of the fire and smoke, and one of the water bomber battling the flames.

This is a picture posted on Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, Aviation, Forest Fire and Emergency Service's website. The red arrows are different forest fires. What is cause of concern is the concentration of fires in such a relative small area. Almost all of the fires are reported as caused by lightning and non-controlled. Deer Lake is situated a little to the West of the border where it juts to the Northeast. It is actually in the middle of the small cluster of 12 or so fires or red arrows.

The Time Has Finally Come...

While, the time has finally come. Greg and I have decided to expand our family. We are getting a dog!!!!

We have discussed getting a dog before but the time just never seemed to be right. While up north this year and while getting to know Amanda's dog Dexter it became clearer and clearer that we wanted to get a dog. Greg and I have always wanted a basset hound. At first we thought if we got a basset hound it would be to big to travel on the planes and would just be a hassle (Amanda's dog Dexter just rides on her lap on all the planes and it seems fairly easy). We began looking at little dogs but Greg said he wanted a dog that he wouldn't be ashamed to walk.

After much discussion we decided we wouldn't settle and we would just go ahead and get our basset hound anyway and have him ride in the back of the plane.

Today we went to St.Mary's to look at some baby basset hounds. Of course once you see them you fall in love and we picked one out. Below are some pictures of our basset hound and its family.
The babies mother "Bella". She liked having lots of attention and love.

All the puppies. There were 11 in the litter but only 10 made it. They are about 5 weeks old here. We will get our puppy at 8 weeks!

Our puppy! He is yet to be named. Any suggestions? He is the runt of the family!

Greg and the puppy!
The puppy and I! I just can't wait to get him. He is so cute.

T.O.

Our time in Toronto is quickly happening. Each day brings new activities and timeless memories. In the last two days we have gone to the Science Centre, Hockey Hall of Fame, and CN Tower. The students are having fun, but not really at those events. They do not really do well in museums and tours. They are enjoying the out of rez atmosphere and opportunities. The boys have been pulled toward any store that sells video games, while the girls are sucked into, well, any store. Money is quickly becoming an issue with the students because they are spending it so fast. Today was payday back home, so a number of them were being linked money from worried grand/parents back home.

We have noticed some interesting things this week. It was remarkable for Claire and I to accompany our kids on the bus coming into Toronto. Once we hit Canada's Wonderland, their eyes became dialated, mouths open, and shrieks of excitement. Admist this though, several comments (at least three) were immediately made by some overwhelmed students. Their comments reflect something like, "I want to go home." The tall buildings, thousands of walking pedestrians, and constant noise made a number of our kids quickly wish for the solace of Deer Lake. It probably did not help that we were attempting to drive up Bay St. from the Lakeshore at 4:30 pm.


Amanda, Claire, and I often discuss the troubles in relating our lives in Deer Lake. When we returned at Christmas and March Break we are asked about our experiences. Our stories provide some background information, and our blog provides a somewhat consistent story and pictorial representation of Deer Lake. To truly experience Deer Lake you need to spend a substantial amount of time with the people. As an example an interesting situation took place one night while we were trying to fall asleep this trip. The lights were out, but the kids were talking. One of them asked, "What would you do if you won the lottery?" I provided a variety of things: house, debt, investments, and material things. After a few seconds of silence I returned the question. They responded together by saying, "paved roads." With all that there is in the world, the kids could only dream of having their own paved roads. A place to skateboard, play basketball without the ball hitting random rocks, a path to bike, and something most of us have always taken for granted.



We apologize for the lack of regular blogs, but our hotel at the Delta Chelsea did not have free internet. As well, we were always busy throughout the week to take the time and blog. The rest of our week is now over with the kids having fun at our final events. Unfortunately the bus was having problems and we weren't able to go to paintball. We used the money instead to take everyone to the Hard Rock Cafe. Wonderland on Monday was bitter cold at times, as a rain made everyone damp and chilled. We left the park at 6:00 pm and stopped for dinner at the closest service center. Back on the road by 7:00 we drove straight through to Thunder Bay. The bus driver stopped twice to pick up a coffee for himself. The students were pretty good with almost all falling alseep for some time. We arrived in Thunder Bay at 1:00 pm and are enjoying our final afternoon out. Tomorrow is a bright and early with another 9 and a half hours on a school bus to Red Lake.

PS> Tristan has bought another two sets of clothing. Although we are not sure if that includes all articles of clothing!

Toronto Trip-Day One and Two

We started our grade 8 and 9 class trip Toronto and for Greg and I it started at 9:00 am when our plane left Deer Lake. Altogether there were 5 planes with the last one finally coming in at 2:30. Once the students arrived in Red Lake via the plane we all had to wait in the world’s second smallest airport. Our plane arrived at 10:30. The six students, along with another chaperone, were pretty excited to be somewhere new. That feeling lasted for six minutes, as the reality hit home that they would be stuck for another 4 hours. It wasn’t all bad as the airport has a small t..v., which included the Men’s French Open championship game and then was conveniently switched by some random man to the Jay’s game. Have to love when it works out like that. At some point later, another plane arrived dropping of more passengers. Tristan, one of our grade nines came walking to the airport with only the clothes on his back. He decided he did not need to bring clothes or a bag because he was just going to buy everything he needed. We’re thinking about tomorrow’s pair of boxers.

While we were waiting for the last plane to arrive with the final 9 passengers, our Bus pulled up. It was a school bus that had 48 seats. Our group has 45 people with bags. We didn’t think it was going to fit, but everyone was able to nestle in somewhere. We finally left a little after 2:30 pm for a drive to Thunder Bay. With no bathroom on the bus, we made a few too many stops, causing us to fall a little behind schedule. Apparently it is supposed to be a 6 hour drive, but we didn’t pull into our hotel until midnight. The kids were pretty wired, and who wouldn’t blame them after being squished together for over 9 hours. Many groups quickly ordered pizza, while others walked to either the Shopper’s Drug Mart or Metro. Claire’s group decided for the former, while mine went for the latter. It was pretty cool to be back in a grocery store. Growing up I always loved going with my mom on Saturday mornings and helping pick that week’s menu (the $0.49 chocolate bar had nothing to do with it). Anyways, when my grouped walked in they went directly for the……….prepaid card tower. You read that right. Not the candy or junk food aisle, but the station where they could buy prepaid phone cards and itunes cards. Some were already missing home.

Along the way we saw/experienced some pretty cool things. Quickly off to the side of the road we passed a moose grazing. My reaction was, “Oh wow, a moose!” The students’ reaction was, “What! It’s just a moose.” Later, we passed by a farm that had cattle grazing. The students’ reaction was, “Oh wow, a cow!” Our reaction was, “What! It’s just a cow.” In all we passed by 8 moose and another one dead on the side of the road. At first, and in the daylight, they were pretty cool to see, but as the sun started going down, we were all feeling a little more nervous when someone yelled “Moose!” I couldn’t imagine anyone surviving an accident with one of those.

Last night we ended up in Sudbury. We drove on the bus from 7am -8pm. It was a long ride but the students were excellent. They slept a lot, watched movies and played cards.

Yesterday was our anniversary, and although spending our anniversary with 43 other people isn't the ideal, it was alright. Everyone said "Happy Anniversary" and they even pitched in to get us so gifts. A few boys bought us a pie, we also received two really nice pillows. It was very sweet of everyone and altogether a good day.

Today we are finally reaching our Toronto destination.

Where the bites aren't from bugs

The seminar has finished and it was pretty good. The school has a common goal to work around. The next step is to build a more structured, consistent approach. Here's hoping it works.

On Sunday we finished at 1:00 and came back to relax. We, as always includes Amanda and Dexter, took a walk around the donut. At around 4:00 Steve, the maintenance man from school, came by and knocked at our door. Claire opened up and Steve said, "Tell Greg we are going." I definitely didn't understand and he informed me that we were going fishing. Not knowing the time line, I was reassured it was only for a couple of hours. Of course, I knew what that meant. So off we went. We picked up his brother in-law and headed out. We went about 5 minutes into a little bay. It had to be the most beautiful scene I have seen this year. And of course being a true Martin, I didn't have a camera. This bay was kind of hidden around a corner, like a true pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. Immediately arriving into this little area I noticed a huge beaver dam and was startled to see three beavers within a stone's throw. *FYI People enjoy beaver as a delicassy, but will not eat them during the spring and summer because they taste different and no one knows why.

We are now set to fish and are looking for Jackfish or Northern Pike. Just to set the stage a little further. When my family goes fishing up at the Hatfield's cottage, catching a pike is rare and extremely difficult. Back to our story. The brother casts out and reels in in 10 seconds. Upon reaching the boat he exclaims, "Oh man, the fish aren't biting today." Steve agrees and wishes that it won't be like this all night. I am looking dumbfounded, like are you kidding me, 10 seconds and we are giving up. So, no word of a lie, the brother casts out and upon the spinner hitting the water, a fish has bitten. He reels it in a catches a 30 inch Northern Pike. It was unbelievable, and then he said, "Oh man, just a small one." Are you kidding me?

Fast forward 25-30 minutes. Steve caught 6, brother in-law 5, and myself 6. I have never fished like that before and only wished my dad could have been there. I caught a fish every 4 minutes, with the smallest being over 30 inches and the largest over 3 feet. Not one of my fish was shorter than my arm. Amazing.

The guys got bored with the pike fishing, I mean who wouldn't with those bad numbers. So we moved to another area to try and catch some walleye. It turned out to be another beautiful bay. This time there was a little waterfall. We caught some more pike, but no walleye or pickerel.

With gas still left in the tank, Steve wanted to show me his net. We checked the 100 feet and grabbed the forty or fifty fish. I got really into it. The one type of fish that was in the net was a suckerfish. People here don't normally eat the fish but apparently the head is pretty good. Steve would just tear the head off, so I had him show me the process. I quickly learned and became like a true fisherman. It was definitely like an episode of Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe. My clothes were covered in fish guts and bloods, which of course Claire loved when I got home because she had just finished the laundry while I was away.

Oh yah, the best part. During our night we caught a 25 pound Trout... picture hopefully to come later. Overall it was an amazing 3 and a half hour experience. It was needed after a couple of off days. Amazing how God sends someone out of nowhere to help in a time like that. Keeps us reminded that we are never alone.

What No One Wants to Hear

Today was the beginning of another long weekend. I know, again right? This is our second long weekend in a row. The school shuts down for goose hunting. A lot of families go camping, so the community is pretty dead. Claire and I went to the store today to buy some groceries and we were walking out when a man came up to me and said, "Thanks!" I didn't quite get him so I looked to Claire and she had the same look on her face. The guy then said, "I like all the money I am getting for fixing the school's vehicle." So, yes. The mechanic said thanks for all the business I have sent his way. Well, that just made me feel extra special. Needless to say, everyone got a pretty good laugh when Claire was telling them.

This weekend we have a two day workshop at school for behaviour strategies. Two people, a man and a woman, flew in from Winnipeg to run the seminar. They seemed pretty nice, but the woman doesn't exactly fit. She stepped off the plane with clothes that were too nice and more makeup than Deer Lake has ever seen. Claire and I picked them up from the airport and brought them to the school.

On Wednesday this past week the Community had a big clean. All over the community groups were given a set area to clean. Each class had their own path. The grade 7 and 8s were paired together. Most of the groups ended at the intersection where community members were cooking on barbeque and open fire. Hamburgers and hot dogs were given to the older kids. On the fire there were two cast iron pans that had to be at least 2 feet in diameter. They were frying bannock dogs and fish. Overall it was a pretty good day.