Fort Langley, Christmas Day, Jaclyn's dinner and Mt Baker!

It has been an interesting week, as a complete family! Anthea is thoroughly enjoying the cooler weather as well as experiencing farm life and the chores Jaclyn and Stefan have to do. 

When Anthea arrived, there was still snow on the ground, so she headed out at night and make a snowman with Stefan and make the most of it before it all melted. Which it did!

Jaclyn in her panda bear onesie from Anthea!

Here's still a photo of the two little girls all dressed up before singing in the Christmas concert last week!

On Tuesday we headed over the border to Fort Langley which is a 'museum' of the original fur trading post back before colonization. It was very hands on and interesting to see how things used to be done. The cafe had free hot chocolate which went down very well! It was a bit overcast and hardly anyone around so it was nice and quiet!

The blacksmith demonstrated his skills by turning a piece of iron into a hook. He especially made it for Shantel who was very pleased!

Wednesday was Christmas Day so after church, we had a quick bite to eat and then headed off to John and Veronica over the border for dinner. The lineup was zilch compared to 50 minutes the day before and we had an excellent run!

Dinner was delicious and there was plenty of food! The little kids loved their barbie dolls and the older ones, their coffee/hot chocolate mug! It was great to catchup and for Anthea to meet J & V.

Finally had a chance to do some mending. One of the things on the list was a curtain for Shantel and Taleesha's room. It doesn't have a door, so I bought a single curtain drape from Second Chance and shortened it, made a tieback and sewed it on to the curtain so it would never come off or get lost!

Doorway with no door/curtain

Curtain closed

Curtain open and tied back! Everyone happy!

 As part of Jaclyn's home economics course, she was required to make a complete dinner on her own, and our evaluations would be her assessment. She did a wonderful job! We had coated chicken drumsticks, maple dill carrots, chicken cordon bleu, spanish meatballs and scalloped potatoes. And for dessert, she make caramel baked apples. It was all very well done and we all decided she could make a meal once a week. She wasn't so sure :(  

Saturday bright and early, saw Steve and the three oldest along with Elissa head out to Mt Baker for some more skiing and snowboarding. There wasn't too much snow, more ice which hurts when you fall, but they had a blast and came home tired and aching!

That's it for this week. While it was lovely being together as family, we also have concerns back in Australia where Steve's dad is getting frailer and has been moved into Fair Haven (old people's home/hostel) for high care. Times like this make distance a difficult thing and we covet your prayers during this time. May God continue to care for us all, and keep us in His love.

That's it for this week. Thanks for looking.

Handbag is purse.

Purse is wallet.

WWII War Veteran, Snow Day and Anthea!

Wow, another week gone and what a week! 

First of all, we had a WWII war veteran who lives in Ferndale, about 15 minutes from Lynden, came to Cornerstone school and gave a presentation about the time he was a captured fighter pilot in the hands of the Germans. He is 92 years old and relived some of his experiences during that time. He, together with a friend, wrote a book "A fighter pilot from Buchenwald". I had already read the book as our 'librarian' sold me the book by her review and so I asked if Joe Moser could autograph my book. He happily complied. Joe is a Christian and confessed his hope in God as the only thing that kept him going. Was really neat to hear and see Joe.

This week Shantel was 'Star of week' at kindergarten. We had to make a poster at home describing Shantel with photos of family and her favourite things. We practiced several times before the day and here she is presenting her poster to the class.

One of their learning centers was gingerbread men, so the day before, we decorated and baked some gingerbread men to take to school and share! They were a hit! (I couldn't find cachous pearls so used some cake decorating beads - edible - but they kind of sunk and the cookies looked like ghosts rather than gingerbread men). But they still tasted great!

On the days Shantel is home, the girls will happily color in or do a craft.

Thursday night was basketball games for both Jaclyn and Stefan and they did very well, and they both won their games. 

Snow was forecast for the next day so we were all wondering how much we'd get. A look at a local radio station online was the means of advising parents if there would be a snow day or not, meaning no school!

We had also been told by Anthea, to facetime at around 4:30am our time, as she had something planned for us, and we needed to get in contact with her so she could tell us. Well, to say that it was a surprise was an understatement! I took my phone to the lounge, and the first thing I saw was her standing at the airport with the sign, 'Bon voyage' behind her. At that point, I knew what she was up to. She was about to board the plane and head our way and spend a month of her holidays with us! Wow, she managed to keep it hidden from us for 5 months, as she had already booked this before we had even left Australia!!! Well, sleep was out the question for the rest of the night (or morning). As well as that, a look outside and on the web, informed us that Friday, was indeed a snow day and hence no school!!! 

The kids were so excited! So many things: no school, lots of snow and Anthea coming! We took advantage of the snow and made a snowman, Stefan and Jaclyn along with the kids next door did tubing behind the ATV. Everything looked so white! It was beautiful!

And to top it off, the school kids had their Christmas concert in the evening. It was a beautiful event and the kids did a great job!

After the concert, we had refreshments in the gym and then it was time to head home and off to bed. Saturday morning we left for Seattle at 9am. It takes just over two hours to get there, and we wanted to allow for any traffic delays etc. We got there well on time and waited for about an hour for Anthea to go through customs and out to where we were waiting. The little girls were so excited! And finally we saw her!

And just a few of the goodies Anthea took along!

It was really nice to see the girls chatting away to Anthea! And they've Americanised their speech already too! We had a good trip back but by that time it was already getting dark so what she saw of Lynden was shadows and lights! After unpacking all the goodies for us and the kids, (thanks to all the family who sent lovely gifts and drawings etc!), we all headed off to bed. Very thankful that she could be here and that God protected her on her journey. We now have four weeks to catch up, show her the sights and see some new ones in the process!

Sultanas = raisins
Abattoir = slaughterhouse
Quad bike = ATV (all terrain vehicle)


Well, that's it for this week. Thanks for popping past!

Little Chloe and Staff Dinner!

This blog is just a short one as the last one ran into this week! 

On Tuesday, Darryn and Bea had their 6th child, a little girl, Chloe Elizabeth (9lb 3oz). All is well and all thanks goes to her Creator! 

And so we had Liana who is with Shantel in kindergarten. They get on well, and the three girls are always up to something! They also enjoyed some quiet time watching Dora and Tom and Jerry (and a few others.....!).

Basketball games have begun for both Jaclyn and Stefan. The games range from around 4pm to 9pm on Mondays to Thursdays. They play against schools/leagues from either Canada, Lynden or other schools in the area. They have both got a good grasp on the game and are learning new skills at each practice session also held two days a week after school. So between that and catechism evenings and Bible study evenings, it's really busy! But it's really nice that they have the opportunity to learn a new sport. And they love it!

The kids from Cornerstone are putting on a Christmas concert on Friday evening and Shantel and Taleesha are both involved as well. They have been practicing their songs regularly at school and on Sundays after church. Here they are practicing in the one of the rooms at the school.

The kindergarten kids practicing their songs

A little taste of them singing one of their verses.

Friday night we had our staff dinner at Chandara House in Lynden. It was Thai food and buffet style and also delicious. At the conclusion we played 'pakkjes'! All in all, a fun evening. 

Dessert was sticky black rice with ice-cream and strawberries!

That ends this week's post! As promised, a short one.

Buckets are pails.

Jumpers are sweaters.

And since I just worked out how to upload video, here's one of the girls last week in the snow!

Thanks for looking!