This and that...

This past week has been busy. A couple weeks ago I committed to taking two little ones from a foster family (respite care). I have a 3 yo girl and an 8 month little boy until Sunday. We were all quite excited since we've done this before and really enjoyed it. The little girl is a cutie - far too wise for her years. She was sitting at the kitchen table and glanced at the local paper that was sitting there. She pipes up in her tiny voice, "Hey, that's Bawack Obama". I was so shocked that I laughed out loud. She knows all the "social worker world" lingo - quite sad that she has no "forever family". The little baby however, has not proven to be that much fun. The last words of the foster mom who dropped him off was "he's the easiest kid I've ever had". Well, he must be either sick or really not happy with this change in his life because he cries about almost everything. This is when I feel I'm just too old to keep doing this.... Well, tomorrow is a new day and let's hope he feels a bit happier!! And, by the way, this is all happening while hubby and L are off to Iowa checking out a possible college for next year! Talk about bad timing...

An afternoon out with Edwar & Femmie...

This past Wednesday evening L and I went to Willoughby for the Mission Presentation of Edwar & Femmie. They were in the valley for a week before going back to Indonesia. They've been in Ontario for about 2 months prior to this. The evening was very interesting and more real for me because I've been to the places he described. God is really blessing his work there and it was nice to speak with them again. The next day Henry took part of the afternoon off and we picked them up to show them around the valley a bit. We left our home with bright sunshine & were excited to take them to Vancouver or up Seymour Mtn. When we got there the entire area was covered in fog - so much so that there was no way to see anything past a few feet. We ended up driving east and had a nice time showing them the valleys, mountains, rivers etc. in that area. We ended up on Hemlock Mtn. and then drove back and enjoyed soup and sandwiches at Tim's. Their kids did very well - Moses gave us a running commentary on what he was seeing - especially the volcanoes in the distance... Sorry about the photo - that's up Hemlock but you can't see the people :(

Just for fun....

When you begin a new year it's quite possible that you're looking ahead to change things or looking back to assess what you've accomplished or come from. Here's something fun I read on another blog - one hundred random things you may or may not have done. If you've done them you make the item bold... looks like I have lots of living to do yet...

1. Started my own blog

2. Slept under the stars (as a teenager)

3. Played in a band - does taking piano lessons count?

4. Visited Hawaii

5. Watched a meteor shower

6. Given more than I can afford to charity

7. Been to Disneyland/world)

8. Climbed a mountain- with high school students - tough, but I made it

9. Held a praying mantis

10. Sung a solo - does in the shower count?

11. Bungee jumped

12. Visited Paris

13. Watched lightening at sea,

14. Taught myself an art from scratch

15. Adopted a child - I think fostering should be added here

16. Had food poisoning

17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty - stood across the river from it two years ago

18. Grown my own vegetables

19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France

20. Slept on an overnight train- between Calgary and Vancouver

21. Had a pillow fight

22. Hitchhiked

23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill

24. Built a snow fort

25. Held a lamb

26. Gone skinny dipping

27. Run a Marathon

28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice

29. Seen a total eclipse

30. Watched a sunrise or sunset

31. Hit a home run - I'm sure I did when I played for the Warriors in '86

32. Been on a cruise

33. Seen Niagara Falls in person

34. Visited the birthplace of my ancestors

35. Seen an Amish community

36. Taught myself a new language- learned some Indonesian...

37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied

38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person

39. Gone rock climbing,

40. Seen Michelangelo’s David

41. Sung karaoke

42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt

43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant

44. Visited Africa

45. Walked on a beach by moonlight

46. Been transported in an ambulance

47. Had my portrait painted

48. Gone deep sea fishing

49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person

50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris

51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling

52. Kissed in the rain

53. Played in the mud - gardening must count...

54. Gone to a drive-in theater

55. Been in a movie

56. Visited the Great Wall of China

57. Started a business

58. Taken a martial arts class

59. Visited Russia

60. Served at a soup kitchen

61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies

62. Gone whale watching

63. Got flowers for no reason - don't all moms get dandelions at some point?

64.Donated blood, platelets or plasma

65. Gone sky diving

66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp

67. Bounced a check- just this past year...how embarrassing.

68. Flown in a helicopter

69. Saved a favorite childhood toy

70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial

71. Eaten Caviar

72. Pieced a quilt

73. Stood in Times Square

74. Toured the Everglades

75. Been fired from a job

76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London

77. Broken a bone

78. Been on a speeding motorcycle

79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person.

80. Published a book

81. Visited the Vatican

82. Bought a brand new car - our Toyota van

83. Walked in Jerusalem

84. Had my picture in the newspaper

85. Read the entire Bible

86. Visited the White House- it was closed in 2002 bcs of 9-11...

87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating

88. Had chickenpox

89. Saved someone’s life

90. Sat on a jury

91. Met someone famous

92. Joined a book club

93. Lost a loved one

94. Had a baby

95. Seen the Alamo in person

96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake

97. Been involved in a law suit- when I was 21...

98. Owned a cell phone

99. Been stung by a bee

100. Rode an elephant

The rains came down, and the floods came up...

The past week has been a tense, difficult one for many people in the Pacific Northwest. The beautiful snow that I described the last few weeks has proven once again to be a problem. You see, with all the rain we normally get in the winter you just know that this snow needs to melt and go somewhere. The weather warmed up, causing the snow to melt quickly, the temperatures caused the record mountain snowfall to melt and then the rains came down... and down... Since the ground was frozen and the snow was covering drains and culverts the rain could not flow downstream at the rate the rain was coming down. We have never seen it this bad before and it made us very nervous as our field backed up because streams further down were not flowing. It came up to our fence line - but our house is up on a bit of a hill so my dear hubby assures me that it would take a lot more to actually flood our house. I try to believe him but this water makes me nervous. Many roads are still impassable and will be for a while. Some schools have been cancelled because it's difficult for buses to make all these detours. L went with some friends to canoe in a flooded area - normally this area is a farmer's field. J took our tube (from boating) and a paddle and went for a leisurely float down our little lake... Oh to be a kid and think this is all fun & games...

Happy New Year!

We went to church on New Years Eve and heard a very beautiful sermon on Hebrews 12. It was about "running the race" and looking ahead at the cloud of witnesses that have gone before us. I will not soon forget it - a very fitting way to end a year and look forward in faith to beginning a new one!

Let us then full of confidence
Run to complete the race
And put off sin and every weight
Which could slow down our pace

We look to Jesus even more
Than to all those around;
In Him, the Author of our faith,
Its Finisher is found.

Fun Times!

So what have we been up to since the last post? Well, I told you I was waiting for a phone call on Christmas morning to say that church was cancelled. We did get that phone call - yes, rather sad because it just didn't feel right to celebrate Christmas without first going to church. The day was absolutely beautiful with snow falling peacefully and the temperatures just below freezing. After a leisurely breakfast, we called some friends to see if they wanted to come for some four-wheeling fun and coffee. H pulled the kids on a tube behind the four-wheeler, and since the roads were covered with powdery snow and not a vehicle in sight they had perfect conditions for this type of fun. My friend took her cross country skis with and we went for a nice trip around the block and just enjoyed the winter wonderland. Later that day we joined a few families at another friend's cabin on the lake. It was a beautiful day. We were thankful for safety on the roads - the snowplows were working hard to clear most of the major roads at this point.

The next day (for Canadians that would be Boxing Day) our family had planned a ski day on Mt. Baker. I had been busy on Craigslist the previous month trying to get good deals on skis and for the most part had succeeded. At this point I am the only one that needed to rent. The day was beautiful except for the last few hours when the snowfall was becoming heavy and the wind was whipping it around a bit fiercely. Our youngest two had not been skiing for a few years so hubby and I spent a fair bit of time skiing with them. It was fun just to see them learn and become more confident.

The following day was Saturday and I had forgotten our plans to do something with cousins in Langley. We arranged to meet at a 5-pin bowling alley in Cloverdale - and our families had two hours of bowling time together. On this side of the border we are not that familiar with 5-pin and I must say I much prefer 10. That's probably because I performed rather horribly using the whimpy little ball they use in this game. We did have lots of fun - mostly laughing at each other's miserable performance... We enjoyed pizza and visiting at their house afterwards.

Another day was spent teaching H to quilt (no, not my hubby). She had a friend (and mom) over who was learning as well. We have become 4H members again through an informal group. There are no meetings and the parents are the "leaders" - that would be me again. We are trying to think of projects that our kids would find interesting and hope to tackle a few of these during the year. H sewed a beautiful "fence rail" quilted pillow to match her comforter. I will try to post pictures later - she is supposed to be sleeping right now. It took the better part of the day but it was well worth the effort.