Fall Kick Off

A little late here ... 

but I thought I'd share these pictures of a really great time we had at our church fall kick off.

It was memorable this year in that someone decided to add an ethnic Mennonite food to the menu

and guess who was recruited!

Lovella and I did some homework and decided to go for it!

The Tuesday before the kick off we met with a group of friends in the church kitchen

and mixed up about 80 recipes of Rollkuchen.

Using the industrial sized mixer, that would be 20 batches.

Lots of rolling, cutting and layering.

We counted 3700.

The cart got rolled into the freezer room.

On Fall Kick Off Sunday, they were thawed 

twirled ... and fried up fresh as people were coming.

It became an assembly line that was hard to imagine before hand ...

What gave me such joy was to see how, along with friends, 

both Lovella's and my family came out to help ...

and stayed till we were done.

 

 We finished up just as dinner time ended ...

with three Rollkuchen left over.

 With their parents sticking it out at the Rollkuchen booth,

Papa and I had the chance to run about a bit with the littles ...

bouncy castles were a hit. 

 As was the shaved ice.

The end result was like a dream

and we experienced again the joy of serving in community. 

And a Happy Birthday to Koen!

 Lately, every time I see this boy

I marvel at how he suddenly looks ... so tall.

It would seem that I have not learned that

little boys grow up ...

 it still catches me by surprise.

Dear Koen ...

We literally had two sweet welcomes of you into our lives,

one when you were born and one when we welcomed you to live in Canada,

just seven months later!

 How thankful we are for the blessing of knowing you,

and knowing how to pray for you,

a third child, needing to stand up for yourself.

And rightly so, your ability to understand things,

your awareness of what is fair, just and good,

coupled with humor, 

are qualities you use for good.

As you turn nine,

the booster is put away,

the front seat is yours,

and, in your words,

you are "almost in Grade 5!"

It is a wonderful time!

May God go with you and bless you!

Love, Papa and Mimi

♡♡♡

Happy Birthday, Evy

 Dear Evy,

Today, as we celebrated your fifth birthday 

with our traditional trip to the Build-a-Bear store

I could not help but tell you of the day your were born ...

and the joy you brought to your family.

 You studied the pictures of your sweet welcome on my phone.

At Build-a-Bear you chose your stuffy to fill

and then a cute outfit for her.

 We dressed her

 found a hairband for her

and took pictures, of course. 

 You named your cat, Emma

and after registering her,

we were on our way.

As I reflect on these five years,

I wish that I could run a list of every little moment

that has grown our relationship to what it is today,
a special spot you have filled in our hearts and home by ...

your weekly visits

trips to the park in the stroller

story books

sippy drinks and baby cookies with a show

sugar roll up pancakes

coloring books

board games

blowing bubbles

swinging under the tree

rolling buns

helping with laundry

getting groceries and visiting Oma.

Sweet compliance, with never a complaint.

We've watched you grow in understanding,
and accepting the tough changes that even a toddler faces ...

times when I would have wanted time to stand still.

But, oh, what joy it is to see you grow!

You are sweet, kind and smart ...

and we love you ever you so much!

May God keep and bless you always,
our Everly Elise.

Love, 

Papa and Mimi

♡♡♡

Another End of Summer Date

A flower farm not too far from us

was opened by Kari's parents a few years ago.

 It boasts tulip fields in Spring and

sunflowers and dahlias in late summer.

The grands have been talking about time spent there 

selling toques (handmade by their Nana - proceeds going to needy children). 

This being a school night, they were not there,

but I got my toque on this hot summer evening

and we had a lot of fun strolling through fields of gorgeous flowers

and photo ops that can't go wrong. 

Beautiful paths ...

 Sunflowers hanging like shower heads above you ...

 Tractors, swings, cars, bicycles ... 

let you imagine going through the fields any way you like. 

 The varieties of dahlias are endless ...

 and I love the clean, grassy paths.

A perfect after dinner date for us locals,

and, for sure, a great destination for tourists to our beautiful Fraser Valley.

End of Summer Dates

As evening shadows bring coolness to earlier nights,

we all see the writing on the wall ...

Summer sun rays blowing farewell kisses

and reminding us that all things Fall are coming.

This week it dawned on me that this year

we will get to see the full spectrum of school grades 

from Pre-school to Grade 12! 

 Jack, of course, is still a wee baby and will always be that.

 But Jade will continue with a second year of Pre-school and

all the other things she loves to do besides. 

Evy graduated from Pre-School and will start Kindergarten.

Sigh ... she should remain small as well. 

With thoughts of the kids' schedules filling up,

we made some time to bake and/or do some shopping.

Teddy brought her own cookbook to make coconut cupcakes.

It is a lot of fun to see how much she enjoys baking.

We found some cute items for back to school.

She is going into Grade 2

Koen and I made popcorn and a caramel sauce.

It turned into delicious caramel popcorn in the oven.

Our trip to the mall also put something in his bag ...

being drawn like a magnet to jogging pants. 

He knew exactly what he wanted.

Koen is going into Grade 4

Lacey chose to make snicker doodles and we also

made ice cream sandwiches. 

It was fun to see how she chose something comfy and pretty to wear. 

She is also going into Grade 4

Landon grated zucchini and we made a lot of zucchini muffins for back to school. 

For lunch we had German pancakes - 

and he is getting good at knowing when to turn them over. 

So far he was good with me taking him shopping.

He is going into Grade 6

 Makenna and I made cinnamon buns and rice krispies.

We went to Michaels, to the Body Shop and Body Works.

My favorite memory is of how, when we were walking out of one of the stores,

she said, "I love carrying two bags!"

She has started Grade 6 in Indonesia.

Natalie learned how to cut up apples and make a lattice top pie.

We had fun shopping in the ladies section.

She is going into Grade 8

Paeton and I went out for breakfast.
He couldn't believe it when his order came on two plates!
We spent time at EB Games - a place new to me.
He has just begun Grade 10 in Indonesia.

And then there's Tehya ...

the one who made us grandparents and still tugs at my heart in 

the way that the first one does.

We were looking for jewelry and got sidetracked by a sales rack

where we found a beautiful dress - fit for a prom.

We were not buying it, but she just wanted to try it on ...

a girl who likes her Thrift Store finds, such as those boots ...

but here she twirled in a fancy gown!

I'm not even sure how to express this unique gift to me, the day before they left,

considering the thought that 

we will be missing out on her graduation come Spring,

I felt like I got my peek into that scene.

A treasure to remember
for all those times when we feel we are not part of their every day life. 

God is good.
May His goodness and mercy follow each one as they begin a new year.
We look forward to cheering them on.

💗💗💗

MGCC Camp

This past weekend we took a small road trip in our FIAT

to join these campers at Greg and Ellen's new homestead.

The fact that we were travelling different from the rest,

did not stop us, we simply got a room to sleep and shower

and then joined everyone for the fun.

There was a warm welcome for us on Friday ...

a fun photo op ... with half of us together on Ellen's yard.

Some salads came out of the campers

while other food was prepared in the kitchen.

Greg did some delicious  tri-tip roasts on the grill.

It was a feast ... ending with Lovella's freshly baked Perishky.

The next morning ... it happened to be my birthday ...

we were treated to Greg's Swedish pancakes ...

we also call them German pancakes.

There was a gorgeous baby grand sitting just off the dining room,
begging to be played, and Lovella made it happen on several occasions.
I wish I could play.
Saturday morning Addy came with her little brother and parents ...
it was fun to meet some of Ellen's family in person.

We took a drive through town to Main Street,
enjoying the farmer's market and poking through some stores.

 In the afternoon we vegged in the back yard.

Harv and Bev prepared coconut prawns as an appetizer.
For dinner Greg grilled chicken and the rest of us put some sides together.
Oh ... and Judy brought out a frozen raspberry ripple cake ...
it tasted so good, even after so much food!
We told stories, we talked about things that matter
and we also laughed until tears came.

For Sunday morning Ellen said she'd set out the yogurt and granola

and everyone could come and go as they liked ...

But, you can see, we all sat down and kept right on going.

We joined Greg and Ellen at their new church,

a friendly place, where we felt at home.

After a memorable Mexican lunch, my H and I headed back 

on our six hour drive home,

happy and thankful for the blessing of such friendships.

We owe a big thank you to our hosts -

for their gracious hospitality.

Ellen, you have such a beautiful way to show your values
and to make a home feel loved and welcome.
May God bless you!