Another birthday and a fun run/walk!

On Sunday, Stefan celebrated his 15th birthday! We pray that God may continue to be with you in the coming year Stefan!

Father and son

Baptism

2 years old

Preprimary

Year 6

And on Wednesday he became the proud owner of his driver's learners permit. Here they can get it once they turn 15. And so he can now drive with one of us in the passenger's seat! On Monday he is enrolled to begin drivers ed class (which everyone must do) and for 3 days a week (2hrs each session) he will get 6 weeks of theory. They also need to do 6 hours driving with an instructor. After that he does a computer knowledge test and a driving test with an instructor from the ed class and if he passes those two, he needs to wait till he's 16 and then he gets his intermediate license.

Today (Saturday) we joined in with a fundraising fun run/walk organised by a year 12 student in our school/church. The funds were a mission trip she is doing as part of her senior project. Stefan and Jaclyn ran, Shantel biked and Steve and myself did a fast walk with Taleesha enjoying a ride in the stroller. It was 6km long and checkpoints along the way directed the route. Stefan and Jaclyn completed it within 30 minutes; we took just under an hour.

Stefan ready to run

Getting our numbers and waiting for the start 

Ready to go!

Last minute instructions and then we were off!

We did it! (Thanks for the photo Shantel!)

At the end, the prizes were handed out. Stefan and Jaclyn both received a T-shirt, and I got some vouchers for bike hire! Just as we headed to our cars, it started to drizzle and within 5 minutes it rained! It was a nice morning and we all enjoyed it! 

In the afternoon, we starting tackling the garden beds and the weeds! It was high time they received some attention! It wasn't too cold, the sun was shining and it was really nice just to be outside and enjoy some fresh air. The little girls joined in too and tried their best to be helpful!!

And another week has gone! We continue to be thankful for the way we have settled in, for the way God has provided for our every need and how the community has included us. 

Next week is the annual church spring clean. Babysitting is provided for the little ones and the ladies hope to spruce up the kerk!

That's this week's update! Thanks for checking in. 

Birthdays and more!

The major event this past week was Jaclyn's 17th birthday! It was a normal school day, and then volleyball practice afterwards, so it wasn't till 5:30pm before she got home. Her dinner request was pizza so it was actually our first pizza takeaway! Jaclyn, we thank God for you and pray that He may continue to bless and guide you in the year ahead. You are helpful, cheerful and very dedicated! 

I (Fiona) was also hit by some viral infection which hit my throat. I had it for a week and never knew a sore throat could linger around that long! It was extremely painful to swallow (and very uncomfortable to sleep) however, thankfully, it is now on the mend and I'm back to my normal self.

The girls had been begging me to make play dough, so as soon as I was feeling a bit better, that's just what I did. It was a great recipe and the girls loved making things with it!

Having someone reading a book to you never grows old, especially when you can snuggle up with Dad!

Shantel has a favourite friend Claire and they are good Sunday buddies. We can always tell when they've been together for a couple of hours, because Shantel's American accent becomes very strong!!

Jaclyn opening her presents. Hers (and Stefan's which is four days later) always falls around Easter and so they usually end up with some chocolate goodie!

Laptop cover

Just 2 weeks old!

Preprimary

Jaclyn and her presents

Last night (Friday), Steve had his last men's choir concert in Langley. Afterwards, we had some refreshments at one of the choir members place and met lots of people!
Here is a link to last night's concert: http://youtu.be/i2qa7LyDK4U

Tomorrow (Sunday) will be Stefan's 15th birthday but more on that next week DV!

Well, that's it for this week. Thanks for looking. God bless.

Mens Choir and Spring Break!

Spring break has been and gone, Steve had his two concerts (one more to go) and school has started up again. This is the last leg for the year with 10 weeks till the end of the school year! The countdown is on!

The first concert Steve sang in was in the Surrey church. The men sang a number of songs along with organist Andre Knevel. Panflutist Liselotte Rokyta was supposed to accompany them however she got held up in the Czech republic and hoped to come later in the week. Instead we had a group of string ensembles play in her stead. The Men's choir did a great job under the baton of Frank Ezinga. They sounded really great too!

Surrey church - Steve on the very right

Here is a short video from the concert in Surrey (the song was about 5 min long!):

The second concert was in the Langley church and this too was nice. Liselotte was there too and she accompanied most pieces with her panflute excellence! 

The neat thing about Langley church was that they are online so family in Australia could enjoy their Sunday lunch and listen and watch the concert too! 

Photo taken by family in Australia watching online!

A coffee with John, Veronica and Tante Fien at Tim Hortons finished off the evening!

From Monday the 31st of March to Friday, we had our spring break. We, along with Marv and Bernice, and Darryn and Bea headed to Kah-nee-ta, a RV park with Indian flavor. It was some 8-9 hours from Lynden and so we chose to leave at 3am Monday morning in good Byl tradition! We arrived at noon and spent the afternoon setting up and checking out the area. D & B had left just after midnight and had arrived already at 8am! M & B left later after chores etc and arrived at 9:30pm.

The biggest drawcard was the pool. It was huge and heated by warm springs coming from under the mountain. It was delightfully warm so even when the weather was cold, the kids loved the pool (so did the adults!). It was hard getting them out most days. 

Our time there was packed with lots of fun and activity. We played mini golf with the kids, went horse riding (even Shantel had her own horse), went hiking right to the top of the plateau, campfires at night, and of course, lots of chatting and coffees!

Shantel, Liana and Taleesha occupied while travelling in the RV

M & B's trailer is the centre bottom of photo, and ours is the second of the bank of four. D & B is the third one

Our setup at Kah-nee-ta 

Lots of cuddles with Chloe

Tuesday was a very cold day - playing rockets

Our RV became a party bus! The younger ones did lots of colouring in and the older ones, well, they were never far from their devices!

Story Hour with Mrs V!

Dinner time!

Downtime!

Our campfire at night

Mikayla and Liana having a 'spider'!!

Mikayla and Shantel

Shantel rollerblading

These tee-pees were also available for hire. They have a concrete floor and a fire in the centre and that's it!

Kaitlyn

Taleesha

Shantel

Looking at the pony. They had a horse ranch over the road and have horse rides several times a day.

A group of us climbed the 'hill' and here we are at the top! The view was amazing and photos don't do it justice.

Looking down at the campgrounds

Heading down again. We were up on the plateau behind Bernice.

Horse riding!

Jaclyn

Shantel on Itchy

Stefan

From the front: Shantel, Craig, Stefan, Elissa, Jaclyn and Seth. Steve is photographer and at the end

A bit hard to see but in the centre of the pic you see a group of horses. That was our group coming back from their hour long horse ride

On Thursday Bea and myself stayed behind with the little ones, and the others met up with the Fabers at Spring Rock about an hour further south and did a hike there.

Monkey Rock

Marv and Bernice - the happy couple! Just celebrated 25 years of marriage!

Father and son time - good ole footy

Panorama shot showing the summit out in the distance

Dinner stop on the way home

So to sum it up, we had a wonderful and relaxing time! Great company and great location! And above all, we give thanks to God for granting this time away and for His traveling mercies and protection. 

Thanks for looking!