HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Well unfortunately the blog hasn't been updated in far too long. Anyway I finally got the pictures from wrestling up. As usual follow click the Battalion Pics link and find the Wrestling 08 album.

Hopefully you guys are all having awesome holidays, I know I am.

I am not usually an New Year's Resolution type of a guy but I was thinking about how we have had a couple bible studies this fall about the Word of God and how important it is in our lives and how we need to have a good knowledge of it to be able to discern right from wrong sometimes. So this year I am hoping to read the entire Bible. I found a reading plan that involves reading passages from the Old Testament, New Testament, Psalms and Proverbs each day. It amounts to about 3 chapters a day but because of the way it is broken up I think it will be easy. It could even be read a little in the morning and a little at night. i haven't totally decided yet but it will force me to spend some time reading every day. I am hoping that some of you guys will join me in this. I think it would be awesome if we could get a bunch of us to keep us accountable to read every day and to encourage us that we can do it even when we don't feel like it or are busy. We could even read it together with our Dads or sons, or spouses.

I know I am a bit late getting it posted up here but if you read this in the next couple days you could even catch up to where you should be or just start with whatever is there for that day. I have the readings posted for the whole month January and I will do my best to get then next month posted well ahead of time so that you don't miss anything. A great way to do it would be to set the blog as your internet homepage and then each day you would be able to see the passage you need to read right away. If you guys are going to do this post up here so that we can see who all is in.

First Battalion is next week (January 6) see you all there. Bring your verses I hope you used at least some of your holidays to memorize.

Memory Verse Update

Well the flurry of memory verses being recited to me on Tuesday caught me off guard a little bit. Great job guys. As you can see Nicholas grabbed the Pepsi for being in the lead this week. Unless Noah or Jerrod can memorize something for me for Sunday then he will be doing it again next week.

As well as that Phil shared with us how we are not defined by what we wear or what have or even by what nationality we are. We are defined by the fact that we are children of God. Then we looked at some of God's promises to his children in Proverbs 3, 1 Thessalonians 4, and Hebrews 12.

Keep the verses coming guys. Don't forget Wrestling is next week, Don't Miss It!!!

Memory Verses

Well it has been quite a while since the blog had a post. My appologies. If you weren't at Battalion last night here is a summary of what you missed. We started the night off reading about the armor of God in Ephesians 6. We also had cheeseburgers for anyone who had their bible with them. Suprisingly even though I told everyone last week there were still some guys missing theirs.

After that we started out with some british bulldog, which is always good. Then we played football for a bit. My team got destroyed in the football game. I think Ryan got 3 touchdowns on us.

In Council Ring we talked about the sword of the spirit and how it can be used in our lives. We read about how Jesus used it to resist temptation and how he had to know the bible well to know that Satan was using verses out of context to tempt him. After that we handed out the Memory Verse sheets so you can get started on memorizing. I said it last night but I will say it again. You have four months to get the verses done, out of that four months you will be on holidays for a month of it, including Christmas and Spring breaks. Last year nobody finished so there was no trip to go on. In order to try to create more incentive this year we decided that the guys who finished the memory verses would get to decide what we would do for a trip.

Afterwards, Phil, Bob, Luke and I, talked about the things we want to do in the spring. Keep checking back in the upcoming events section, I will update that soon.

We also started brainstorming some possible trips for the memory verse guys. Some ideas we had so far were: 6 Flags, West Edmonton Mall, Creation Fest, Vancouver Whitecaps game. We'll have to see who actually finishes.

Here are some pictures of West Ed to get you excited. This waterpark is amazing!!!

Pines Weekend

Well I just got home from the Pines trip. Thanks to Gene and the camp for letting us come up there, it is great. The second time around was definitely better than last year in my opinion. One big reason was breakfast on Saturday. If you weren't there you can't possibly imagine how good that tasted. We had the usual skeet shooting during the afternoon, highlighted by Phil sending a barrel flying with his big rifle and a guest appearance by Charlie. Saturday night we played Predator and sat in the hot tub, and did some branding. Anyway enjoy the pictures. If any of you guys take pictures with the 3445 "calling cards" email them to me and I will post them. Those should be sweet.

I just got an email from Nathan Driediger. You guys may remember him he cam out to Battalion last month and shared with us about missions. Here is what he had to say:

"Hi everybody,

I just wanted to quickly update you all about our new addition. Yesterday morning (Nov 14) at 6:28 in the morning, we had a little girl. We named her Alyssa Evelyn, and she weighed 6lb 10oz. Sorry I don't have any pictures at the moment because the camera is still in the hospital room. Hopefully tomorrow I'll have the presance of mind to bring it home to send pictures. Both mom and baby are doing great and expect to be home sometime tomorrow. More Later,

Thank you all for your prayers for us as we welcome Alyssa to our family,

Nathan"

Don't forget to pray for them.

Pines Campout

Pines Campout is here!! If you want to come tell us very soon, we only have room for 11 guys to come, firist 11 to tell us are going, it is that simple. Call us, leave a comment, send up a smoke signal but do something soon if you want to come!!

We are planning to leave on Friday night at 6:30 and will be back on Sunday around 4:00 I think. The cost is going to be 35$ and you will need to bring some money for lunch on Sunday at Dairy Queen. We will be playing in the snow, shooting guns, and bring your bathing suit, the hot tub is going to be HOT!! this year. We are also planning to go to church sunday morning in Grand Forks so keep a change of clean clothes for that. If your friends can't or don't check the blog tell them about it and then you leave a note for us here so they get to come too. Its going to be fun so don't wait to get on the list.

BC Lions Trip

Wow, what a weekend. I definitely enjoyed this years trip more than I did last year. Even though there was no football game to play we still had a good time. The Lions kept the game close, to build some excitement I guess, until sometime during the third quarter. All of a sudden the were more touchdowns than I can remember. Nothing like a good 3 touchdown rout of Toronto.

I thought it was great getting to hear from the players a little bit after the game. Definitely cool, hopefully next year we will get to meet Cam Wake or Wally.

Also very cool to run out onto the field in BC Place even if it was only for a very short time. Time enough to get a picture as you can see.

Well tomorrow is Tuesday already so that is crazy, I haven't recovered from the weekend yet. Don't miss out on tomorrow night. Luke has got a bible study for us and we have an event planned that I think you guys will like. See you tomorrow.

Well next weekend we are going to the game, hope you all can make it. If you know that you are coming let us know as soon as possible. This is going to be a weekend that you will not forget, so don't miss out. We will be playing some football as well so be ready for that, we need to beat the coast battalions and keep bring the cup back to the interior.

Go-Karts

Alright well Go-Karts were definitely fun. There were some cars faster than others but I think everyone enjoyed themselves. After the final race Trevor came in first. Even though there was some bumping and jolting, he went home with the mug. Nice work Trevor!!

If you guys want to go on the football trip you need to bring the form back next week so we can plan for who will be coming.

I spent a good part of the day on Monday peeling decals off the bus. It has sure changed the look of it just getting that off there. Keep checking for more pictures of it. Also if anyone has any ideas how we should paint it, let's hear them.

Battalion Bus

As you can see it is official. Battalion 3445 are the proud owners of a brand new 1989 Chevy bus. It needs a lot of cleaning and some TLC as well as a paint job to get rid of the nasty purple color. Some things that we may use it for are:
- Positive Training
- Extended Getaways
- Sleepovers
- Daily Hikes

Maybe we shouldn't repaint it.

It even has a stereo in it which needs some attention to get the speakers all working. Anyway we don't expect to have it ready to take on any trips any time soon but I am pumped about it none the less.

Don't forget to come to the church at 6:30 on Tuesday for Go-Karts.

GO KARTS OCTOBER 14th

I have added it to list of coming events as well but we have the track in Westbank booked for Tuesday October 14. Bring $10. Meet at the church at 6:30 so that we can be there by 7:00. We should be able to get everyone out on the track for 2 sessions of head to head racing. We plan to be back at the church between 8:30 and 9:00. This is going to be alot of fun, don't miss this one.

Check out the new Stockade site to if you have time, there is a new link to it on the right.

Well another Battalion is done. It was an awesome night tonight. We played some football in the gym, and then Laird, Mr. Stovel, took us outside to watch the space station fly over. Nathan Driediger was with us and shared how when we follow God, the desires of our heart align with the desires of God's heart. He also reminded us that we don't have to be a preacher to be a missionary and that we can all be missionaries in our schools, jobs, neighborhoods, etc. Don't forget to pray for Nathan and Annie and Jacob as they get ready to leave, and as they go to Botswana in January. Thanks to Nathan and Laird for coming.

I don't know how many of you guys are checking the blog right before Battalion but if you are then you are lucky enough to be getting a first look at our new Battalion shirts. I think they turned out pretty sweet!! See you all tonight.

One week until Battalion...

Well I figured since it is only a week from the first Battalion I would post up a bunch of pictures from last year. The are way more that I could easily include. Anyway I am looking forward to getting to hang with everyone on Tuesdays again. See you all next week.

Waterfall

Ok since Luke was asking Phil and I finally got ourselves together to pick a day to go to Mission Creek Waterfall. Mark down Saturday August 23rd on your calendars. We will be meeting at Phil's house at 1:00pm and going from there. We plan to be back in Kelowna around supper time for a hotdog roast and hang out in Phil's back yard for a while. As per usual if you need more info or whatever call me or Phil. If you don't have my phone number then ask someone who does because I am not going to post it here. This should be a good time, hopefully you guys can all make it.

Hey Bent, you should clean up your cabin in a hurry that saturday and get your butt up to Kelowna for the weekend.

Floor Hockey

Gord called me this afternoon to invite anyone who is interested out to Trinity Baptist Church on Friday night. He is trying to get a bunch of guys together for a floor hockey night. It starts at 7:00 and everyone is invited. Sounds like it is usually young guys against old guys but who knows. Anyway maybe we will see some of you there.

Geen Lake

Well here are a few picture of the day at Geen. Curtis caught 3 fish, I guess he must have some magic secret that the rest of us don't. As you can see Phil also caught one. It is hard to tell in the picture but it was almost 16 inches long and quite big around to. As you can see there was also a fair share of fire and pellet gun activities as well. As always there are more pictures to see HERE.

Saturday

Ok guys, we are going to meet at Phil's house on Saturday morning at 9:00am.
What to bring:
- fishing gear
- fishing license
- lunch
- anything else you need

You can get picked up at Phil's place again about 6:00pm. If you are reading this make sure you tell any of the other guys you know because not everyone checks the blog regularly. If you could also call Phil or I and let us know you are coming that would help us out a bit. If you need directions to Phil's house call me and I will give them to you.

DanT

Fishing Trip

Alright guys, mark July 5th on your calendars. Plan to meet around 8 or 9 in the morning and be back at supper time. We will iron out a specific time closer to the day. Bring your own lunch, snacks, drinks, fishing gear, maybe bug spray, and if you have a inflatable boat or a belly boat there should be room to bring that as well. We are planning to go to the same lake that the guys went winter camping at so that should be fun. It is about a 1 kilometer walk to the lake and the fish are supposed to be great. Post up here or call Phil if you can make it.

Campout

Well the campout has come and gone. For those of you who didn't come you should be disappointed. As far as I could tell it was a pretty good weekend minus the rain on Sunday and one other minor mishap that will remain unmentioned. This weekend had it all. Dirt bikes, guns, a snake, fishing, branding, a hot tub, and steak, as you can see. We even had Tucker the bulldog out for the weekend. As for Battalion attendance it was a sad weekend. Thanks to Noah and Nicholas for coming, and Jason as well. Other than that there were no Battalion guys who got to enjoy this weekend. Check out "Battalion Pics" in the links, for more pictures of the weekend. I can't wait to do it again next year.

Arlington Lakes Campout

We are getting ready for the Father/Son Campout on May 31 June 1 weekend. That is only four days away. A weekend of fishing, hiking, eating to much food, and possibly some paintball, so get you and your gear ready for some bush fun. There are still some info sheets on the info table at the church if anyone needs one. I drove up to Arlington last weekend and it looks like it should be great. It is 3.6 kilometers from the highway. The turn off to Arlington is 23.9 kilometers past Big White turn off.

Phil and I were talking about trying to get one of the smaller areas all to ourselves so we will see if we can figure that out when we get there on friday. Look for "3445" signs once you turn off the highway.

So far it sounds like we have a good amount of guys who are coming. This is going to be a good time. Don't miss it! Any of you who want to finish the memory work this is the deadline. You can tell me your verses up until the end of the weekend.

Creation Festival 2008

Well so far nobody has told me any more memory verses. It is too bad this is an awesome event. I know that Nicholas is the closest and could probably still finish if he wanted to. Luke and Jerrod could as well. This is the last call. If you guys want to go you have to finish up the verses by the end of the campout. Come on boys.

The Last Battalion

Alright, you guys should already know but tonight is the last Battalion for the year. We are NOT meeting at the church, we are meeting at Phil's house. Bring your bathing suit and a street hockey stick if you have one. You should have the map I gave you last week so you know how to get there.

Football Night at Battalion

If the weather is not too wet tonight we will be playing football outside at the school tonight, dress for it. We will still be starting and ending at the church. Come ready to get dirty.

So at 7:15pm we didn't have enough guys to play much of a game of anything so we decided it would be a great night to go to Boston Pizza and eat and watch hockey. Tough break for everyone who didn't show up. Only two Battalions left for the year. See you all next week.

Creation Fest

Well I just read on the Battalion 3739 site that there are only 107 days until Creation Fest 2008. That means that you need to get on those verses. I know everyone loves Switchfoot, so just so you know they WILL be at Creation Fest this year. They will be joined by Thousand Foot Krutch, Toby Mac, Hawk Nelson, Leeland, Kutless, Pillar, Sanctus Real, Newsboys, Skillet, and ..... sorry there is no way I am going to list them all. If that doesn't get you excited to come on this trip then I don't know what will. Check out the "Creation Fest" link on the right there you can find out much more information and the complete list and schedule of all the bands and speakers who will be on the main stage and the fringe stage for the whole weekend. I am stoked for this, I hope I have some one to go with me.

TONIGHT

Tonight we are talking about Gideon and Ehud, come and tell me this and I will be giving out snacks later to those who read this. The fewer people that know the more you will get, good luck. Bush man.

Well it was an awesome night of battalion tonight. Too bad for all you guys who missed it. We started the night out with the presentation of the Sergeant's jersey which we will pass along to each sergeant in our battalion. Jerrod is now officially our first Sergeant, congrats dude. Then we got started with the first ever Olympics. The action started slow but heated up as the evening went. Despite some hard losses to Matt in arm wrestling Jerrod came up the big winner with 18 points. Congrats, I can't wait to present you with the trophy next week. Philip was second place with 13 points and Ryan was third also with 13 points. Great night guys, enjoy your spring break, hopefully we will see more of you next week.

Olympics 2008

Well, I told you all it would be Olympics this week. The first ever Battalion 3445 Olympics. We got some awesome events planned. Make sure that you guys are there you won't want to miss this one. See you all on Tuesday.

SNOW CAMPING 08

Here are some of the pictures from the snow camping adventure that we went on. All had a great time but the fishing was not so good. Next year could be better. We had a big fire that kept us all warm all night and had water dripping on Luke and Matt most of the night. We woke up to a little fresh snow on everything.
Jared gets the nod for trying the hardest in the fishing deptment. Matt gets the pat on the back for suffering the most with wet feet, a flat air matress, being dripped on while he slept, and probably a more.

We found that there was still over four feet of snow in the bush that we had to dig thru to make camp.

We have now located a picture of the real Howard Pike.

All these photos are of "Howard Pike", but none of these are THE Howard Pike, CSB Regional Director for BC. If you want to meet THE Howard Pike, make sure your at Battalion on Tuesday, it's going to be a good time. If I were you I would also make sure that I brought my bible!

Tower of Babel '08

Congrats to Matt, Stephen and Charlie. Their 13'-5" tall tower was the tallest free standing structure in the first annual Battalion 3445 Tower of Babel contest. They didn't need the six inch tall Roberto Luongo on the top to pass the competition but it sure was cool!

Memory Work

Alright just a reminder to get on those memory verses. Check out the link on the right if you want to see a list of all the bands who will be at Creation Fest, and pictures from previous years. So far I only have verses from a couple guys but there is still lots of time for you to get in on it. See you all tonight.

Snow camping

If you want to go out and camp in the snow Friday night March 7, do some ice fishing and what ever else we want to, and come back in to town on Saturday afternoon let me know. I am making a list of things you should try and bring, so you survive the night.

Coming Soon...