I Shall Never Complain of BC Weather Again.....Part 6

So this happened over the weekend....

 

 

Keziah even had a snow day today! Well, so did I as I am now working at the school a few days/mornings a week. It was an enjoyable pajama-wearing day. These two spent hours together, and I mean, hours. They only stopped to eat and then they were right back at it. Such a blessed day.

But back to finishing up our trip to BC. Tuesday and Wednesday of our trip were spent at home for the most part. Lincoln was really sick, and Keziah was starting to become homesick. So we spent those days playing in and around the house.

The road our rental house was on was a busy one, and I often found Lincoln sitting by the window watching all the big trucks go by.

Across the road from where we stayed was a school with a pretty amazing park

 

Nathan did meet up with my cousin, Jonathan, who was able to get the two of them into the Abbey to play on the organ there.

Tuesday night was spent with Doug and Karen, and then because we just weren't ready to say good-bye yet, Keziah and I went on Wednesday to visit Karen and Eden for a few more hours yet, while Nathan stayed home with our sick little boy.

 

Karen kindly made us some of her famous raisin bread after Nathan begged asked nicely for it many a few times when we were together. It was inhaled by all of us and gone within 2 hours!

Who needs Netflix when you have a front loader?! The kids were quite fascinated by this machine!

Alas, the laundry was done, the house was dusted and vacuumed and our time in BC was coming to an end. It couldn't have come any faster for our girl, who had some sobbing moments as she missed her bed so much. "I even miss my bathtub!" she sobbed the last night while taking a bath :( I woke up on our last morning to find her packing. She had the whole bathroom packed already! Yup, she's a homebody :o)

So back on the plane we went.....only to find out there were no TVs! Oh no! What were we going to do with the kids? We were pleasantly surprised by how well they handled the flight back home. It did help that this kid can sleep anywhere and at any time....(well, that and I gave him some decongestion medicine because he was so plugged up...didn't want his ears to bother him)

And it's a good thing he caught some winks of sleep! Once we landed, another adventure was waiting for us - our luggage disappeared! It was finally found 2.5 hours later. It was all mixed up at the airport due to so many cancelled flights, thanks to an ice storm that had happened earlier in the day. We finally found our luggage (our kids were champs!! the whole time while we waited....so proud of them!), got bussed to our car only to find out we couldn't open up our car as it was covered in inches of ice.

 

 

Oh, and did I mention that our ice scraper was in Nathan's truck......back at home?! Well, after lots of banging and cracking, we finally were able to get in and drive home. As we drove closer to home, we noticed our town had no power. Sure enough, neither did our home. Oh well......we really were too tired to do anything except find our beds and fall asleep. By this time it was 3 AM!!

Our 12 days in British Columbia and Lynden, Washington were days filled with so many blessings....blessings of time with friends, family, with the 4 of us, and time to take in some of God's amazing creation. We are so thankful we were able to take this trip together as a family. We praise God for granting traveling mercies there and back. It was a great 12 days and we hope and pray we can do this again - there is a whole world out there to explore!

Trip to BC Part 5

No, we did not get stuck in Lynden. Nor in BC......or at the airport once we landed (well, that was an 'almost' but that'll be a story for another day). No, the reason it has taken me so long to continue on documenting our trip is because we had to get through some sickness and then I was out every single night this past week. But alas, here I am and let's keep going!

We left Lynden Sunday night and was thankful to have Monday to ourselves to catch up on some family time again. Keziah was not well so some hanging around the house in pjs was welcomed.

After lunch, we were eager to get out and explore again - especially knowing that the weather was going to get pretty wet the next couple of days. So off we went and found another trail to hike, this time it was at Mt. Thom. It was so beautiful!! Some parts were pretty steep. And as you will see, I took the advantage of some photo ops of kids:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once at the top, we thought it would be perfect for a family picture. However the people we asked to take a picture for us had dogs.......so here are the pictures....

 

 

 

Family picture fail. :o)

But then we noticed it was okay because they would have been too dark. So we tried one more time. Success!!

The view at the top was pretty good. We were above the clouds!

 

Then it was back on the trail again and I just couldn't help but take advantage of their willingness for pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was all going so well until someone was introduced to stinging nettles the hard way. This picture will give you a clue as to who it was.....

Poor girl :( Thankfully we were near the end of the hike and by the time we got home the little thorns were pretty much all gone.

It's a good thing we went for a hike that day because the next couple of days, dear Lincoln was very sick. Most of our plans had to be cancelled or readjusted. Unfortunately we couldn't see some of my cousins and their families, but he was just too feverish and sick to take out.

I ended this day spending some more time with my dear friend, Michelle. We met later in the afternoon to go for our shopping and pedicure plans that we do every time we get together. Who knew that everything closes at 5:30 in Abbotsford?! Yeah, we didn't either!! Oh well, we enjoyed some of the best food ever at a little Greek place. So good!! And the company even better :)

We are nearing the end of our trip, with 3 more days to write about. Nathan is gone next week, so I shall have some time to finish this trip up. Until then, have a great weekend yet!

Trip To BC Part 4

Actually, this time the title should read Trip to Lynden, Washington, for that is where we stayed from Friday to Sunday. This is where our very dear friends, Ryan and Michelle, live. There is a whole lot to this friendship but I will save that for a post all on its own :o)

We got to their place in the morning sometime and before Michelle and I could blink our eyes, the kids were gone together, picking up where they left off last year when Ryan and Michelle visited us, and Ryan took Nathan on a hike. That left lots of time for Michelle and I to catch up, even though we do this every couple of weeks for hours on the phone :)

Nothing against Ryan, Michelle and the boys, but this trip was planned to meet a very special little girl, Anna, whom Ryan and Michelle adopted last fall from China. We of course brought her a few gifts...

After picking up the kids from school, Michelle treated us to ice cream! Lincoln refused to sit with us and the "little" kids, but promptly plopped himself between the big boys, Joel and Tyler. Or Joeler. Or Tylel. Yes, it took Lincoln all weekend long to enunciate "Joel" and "Tyler" as two separate names. He kept combining their names into one!

 

While we indulged in some tasty sweets, Ryan and Nathan were sweating it out on quite a hike:

 

 

That night, Michelle and I had organized for people in her church to participate in the Stewards of Children workshop that I now facilitate. 16 people came out and learned different ways in how to prevent child sexual abuse. It was a very good evening.

I am noticing I never sleep well after facilitating a workshop, and so I am thankful that Ryan and Michelle ky-boshed their original plans for us and let me sleep in. Once I got the sand out of my eyes, we hopped in the car and followed them to Boulevard Park, where we could stroll about, play at the park and watch trains go by - Lincoln was beyond thrilled.

 (don't worry - Nathan and Ryan are right beside Lincoln as he watched the trains go by)

 Keziah absolutely fell in love with Anna - taking care of her, playing with her, and just enjoying Anna's company. Slides were not Anna's favourite thing, but after going down with Keziah a few times, Anna was very excited to go down by herself!

It was a beautiful spot to spend a couple of hours and we are thankful Ryan and Michelle took us there.

Sunday was spent at church and together, hanging out and having fun. Ryan taught us all his Hotdog game. I have a video of this but I think I better ask him first for permission. Believe me when I say it is hilarious!!

 

They found out that Keziah has been saving every coin she finds for a trampoline, so before we left to go back to our rental, they were sure to give her a zip-lock bag full of coins.....they are Canadian coins, not American. If they were American coins, I think that trampoline would be bought and paid for!

It was a fantastic weekend together. We are so blessed to have them in our lives. We have been through thick and thin and we look forward to years ahead of being there for one another, even if we live in different countries. We love you guys!!