Christmas, Snow, New Year, Aussie visitor and Profession of Faith

High time for an update!!

We need to backtrack all the way to Christmas! After church on Christmas Day, we had dinner at deMooys. Good food and good company once again!

Two days later, on Sunday, we had snow! It was very localized because Lynden just had rain, and here in Sumas we had snow! The kids loved it!

One of Anthea's friends from Australia, Jess, visited us for a few days. Here they are along with Jaclyn and Kristin, playing games between church.

And of course, sticking to tradition, a batch of olliebollen on the last day of the year!

In the evening, we had church at 7:30pm and then headed to friends for a gourmet dinner! Wonderful way to pass the time! Before we knew it was 12pm and 2016!!!

Sumas has a small library open just two days a week. They do however cater for kids with story reading, toys and this time the two girls got to play with brand new blocks out on the floor for the first time. The librarian asked the girls numerous times if they were having fun and whether it was a great toy to have. The girls answered in the affirmative every time, in fact, they were having so much fun, I could hardly get them away from there!

Just after the new year, school started up again. A few couples went to Mexico for a 9 day holiday, and we took care of Cassie and Jordan.
On Sunday after dinner, we played shuffle board. Here's Jordan was right into the game!

We had a gezellig morning with Mrs Kampman from Darling Downs in Australia (who's been visiting for last few weeks), and Ranelle and Liana.

Taleesha with Isaac

Last Sunday, 17th of January, was a very special occasion. Jaclyn along with 6 other young people, did profession of faith. With thankful hearts, we could rejoice in the Lord's Goodness in directing their hearts and lives to this point. May they all continue to grow in faith and maturity in the Lord. 

It was a full church and a joyous day. For us it was emotional too. Not having any family around was different. Fortunately good friends and the church family filled the gap!
And in the afternoon, we could celebrate the sacrament of Holy Supper!

Jaclyn and Kristen

After the service, we had a coffee social in the gym, followed by a lunch for family and invited guests. It was a big crowd. We had a wonderful assortment of soups and buns, and fellowship! 

This past Monday was Martin Luther King day meaning a holiday and a day off school. We spent the afternoon at Walnut Grove Recreation Centre and kids had a great time jumping off diving boards, going down a long slide and just playing with friends who joined us there. 

Afterwards, we visited Anthea who served us a yummy dinner. Some very tired girls had a wonderful sleep that night!

We are all well and have been having both rainy and sunny days. Basketball games keep happening and always fun to watch! We also look forward to some exciting events in the coming weeks. We are eagerly waiting for baby news from Hamilton Ontario and Mum hopes to visit for a week during mid-winter break. So lots happening!

That's it for now! Thank you for stopping past!

Book Character Dressup, Disney on Ice, Thanksgiving dinner, Christmas concert, Christmas Lights!

It's been another busy month or so since our last update! 

In November, it was Book Character Dress up day so here is Biggles and Bosco the clown!

On the 21st of November, it was our 23rd wedding anniversary, so with the little girls taken care of, we went on a mini overnight getaway with the RV. It was good to just get away and spend time together. The next day, although cold, was beautiful sunshine, so we went for a long walk along the bay (Birch Bay).

The following week was Thanksgiving. After the service, we headed to DeMooys for the annual turkey dinner. This year I cooked my first ever turkey! 

Before dinner the guys went out and tried their hand at shooting clay pigeons.

Delicious selections of foods!

The next day, as a family outing, we went and saw Frozen in Vancouver. We had a great time and the show was awesome! The little kids loved it!

Following the show, we headed to Stanley Park for some family photos. Here's a just a few that turned out nice!

A dinner at the Bamboo Palace! Yum!!!

Basketball games have started up again! A fun game to watch and looking forward to seeing both Jaclyn and Stefan play with their respective teams!

Last Friday night, we (Steve, myself and the two little girls) along with Rick and Jan and their 5, went in the RV and looked at Christmas lights in Seattle! We had a beautiful clear evening and checked out a couple of amazing houses and even streets of Christmas decorations. One was Candy Lane, where the families of that loop, have put up decorations for 60 years!

The kids read books, played games on the iPad, colored in and looked out the windows.

We, along with Kyle and Cassie slept overnight in a rest stop. Here are the kids, happily eating breakfast still in their pjs! After breakfast we headed home. It was a great memory for us all!

After Story Hour, all the kids got a batch of gingerbread play dough. Here's Cassie and Taleesha moulding christmas themed shapes with theirs!

And on Thursday was the Cornerstone School Christmas concert along with the adult choir.

The preschoolers and kindergarten students joined in with a few songs as well.

Taleesha singing along with her group!

That ends our update. We now have two weeks break! And the weather is cooling down rapidly. Some mornings the roads are iced over which makes dangerous driving. 

And we may, just may, have a white Christmas!!!

Wishing you all blessed Christmas and the Lord's blessings in the 2016!