in pieces

Hi Everyone. Truly sorry for the blog delay. I honestly feel like I don't have much to talk about. I don't like to post without pictures either and so I come online with intentions to blog and then disappear instead, as dial up requires a lot of time and energy. We are on my parents farm right now taking an extended break - 3 weeks. It's so great to have time with my family, and sharing Christmas with them. Most of the days are spent playing with my brother's kids who are growing up fast. They are beautiful, and smart, and so polite....really really good kids. There's nothing like seeing their little faces light up when they see you and greet you at the door. Or hear them say your name... or pick you to sit next too. Everything is so simple and good and kind, and happy in their world. I love it. And Monday my sister-n-law and I went to The City (Saskatoon) and shopped all day together. Although we got lots done, it was the time together that was the b...

It has been a beautiful winter wonderland here in Vancouver. It reminds me of home - the quietness of it, and the beauty it brings. Snow here is rare, and I'm just glad it's not raining for awhile, although many Vancouverites tell me that "you don't have to shovel the rain!" Also people in Vancouver are not the best winter drivers, especially snow covered ice. It makes for slow driving days, but forces people to slow down and take notice of life around them.

A glass of filtered water right, looks clear and clean next to a glass of turbid tap water in North Vancouver Friday November 17, 2006. (CP / Chuck Stoody) "Vancouver has entered its third straight day living under a boil-water advisory, with just under 1 million residents still subject to strict warnings about tap water consumption. Advisories were lifted Friday in much of the surrounding area, but about 900,000 people living in Vancouver, the North Shore and Burnaby were still being advised to boil all tap water before drinking it as of Saturday morning." Here I am, one of the 900,000 residents still boiling water in Vancouver. It's amazing to see the impact that contaminated water can have on a city, and it's amazing the length of time it takes to put together a meal without access to good clean water... boiling water, cooling it d own, just to wash some lettuce...and that 's just the start - preparing any food , or drink is quite a process now...not to mentio...

Here is Jason and his new Mexican bonita Blanca! She is wonderful. They are both visiting this week and came with some exciting news! They are engaged! We are so delighted. Blanca is a wonderful woman - and met Jason onboard the Doulos ship. It has been a fun few days, and we are thrilled to welcome her to the family. Also we welcome Matthias Elias...our cousin Rina and her husband Carl had a beautiful baby boy this week. He sure is a cutie pie, very peaceful, and sleepy. What a wonderful celebratory week we are having!

I cut my hair! So much of it.... AND... I was given a new travel thermos-mug from Jacqui's mom. Isn't it awesome?

Leigh's 25th birthday was on Oct 18, and so we had to celebrate on the road. He was still able to have a cake (in Salt Lake City), a birthday meal (in Pasco WA) and lots of wonderful birthday wishes along the way (like from his mom, dad, brother, Wade) Thanks to everyone who sent him wonderful email encouragements, and those that were able to celebrate with him when we returned at the surprise birthday party!

SANTA FE RED, NEW MEXICO a beautiful city of red rock architecture RED ROCKS OUTDOOR CONCERT HALL, COLORADO rated #1 venue for concert events (I'm on the bottom left!) LONGHORN JACQUI, AUSTIN TEXAS THE CAPITAL, CHEYENNE WYOMING First government worldwide to give women equal rights BRIGHT SKY, COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO a drive by window shot

On our tour, we have been treated so well. America has been so hospitable This is a photo of our Canadian Thanksgiving celebration dinner at Audrey's family's house in Ft. Worth Texas. Thanks America for keeping more than our tummies happy. Rio Grande - Austin (thanks Network office for the awesome Tex Mex!) Mongolie Grill - Austin (Now there's a grill - our food sizzling) Texas Roadhouse - a 5 Longhorn rating, we sampled ribs that were lip-smacking delicious! In Santa Fe we stopped at a Burrito house Some breakfast nook - Colorado Ryan thrilled about his Sandwich and Broccoli soup Here also is leigh's SMASH MASH! Our hosts had never seen anyone finish it, so Leigh gave them a little show leaving them amazed while he leans over my plate to see what was left to sample there I had a quesadilla - does this look like a quesadilla to anyone??? Yum... Perhaps I will be familiarizing myself with my runners and the gym when I return to Vancouver???

Here we are in Long horn Country - The land of Tex-Mex and BBQ. We've had a hugely successful time at the Youth Specialties Conference promoting YWAM and Missions! This is a picture of me "working" the booth! We had some great contacts for future teams, and we've had a lot of fun enjoying the sites and culture of Austin! Today we're off to Dallas (Ft Worth/Arlington) to stay with Audrey's family! We are so excited!

Check out this cactus in Phoenix! Here's an ode to Audrey... From us

Our Mission Adventures Team (Leigh, Angela, Jacqui, and Ryan) are making our way down from Vancouver to Texas. Along the way we are visiting teams that have come and done our program in Vancouver as well as visiting potential teams for the future. When we reach Texas there is a massive youth pastors convention being held called Youth Specialties where thousands of pastors get together. We are setting up a missions booth there and promoting our program to all the leaders and pastors there. So far, we've stayed: Federal Way, Washington with Jacqui's aunt and Uncle Spingfield Oregon with a church interested in MA Livermore (by San francisco)California with a team that came through this summer Los Angeles California with Josh And Emily former YWAMers. Here's a picture of them! Today we are off to Phoenix for 2 nights then to Las Cruces New Mexico and finally Austin Texas!

It's been 1 YEAR!!! since our fabulous wedding day! Remember the family, friends, parties, baking, cooking, planning, organizing, buying, setting up, and pumpkin picking? Wow! I can't believe it's been a year... Well, Leigh has outdone himself again in making our anniversary special. This year we had to celebrate a day early as we are planning on leaving for a promotional road trip for Texas tomorrow. Well, to plan ahead, Leigh skimmed money from here and there when I wasn't looking, to pay for a wonderful evening. He decided he wanted it to be "skyhigh" evening... We stayed in a beatiful hotel downtown - The Sheraton Wall Centre - which was gorgeous - overlooking English Bay, the mountains, and downtown...Here's a view of what our room sort of looked like... And then he took me to a great restaurant (42 floors high) called Cloud 9 - a revolving restaurant that overlooks the entire city - you travel a full circle over an evening meal (about 1.5 hours) ...

Well...we've finally moved. I can hardly believe it. As I looked around the circle of workers we had on moving day I realized that there were only a few of us that had been there when we moved in. I remember when we first moved in. We felt like Kings. We were so thrilled to have a place with doors. We got lost in the space And we praised the Lord with such zeal. There have been so many stories, and life changes within those old wooden walls, so many memories and dreams to pass along. Wishes to purchase and own this property. There were struggles and frustrations Joys and Celebrations Births, Marriages, Friendships Projects, Schools, Teams People Commissioned everywhere from everywhere and dreams... Dreams conceived Dreams born Dreams grown into wonderful realities Dreams yet to unfold. May we never forget the journey... the life that's been lived here But now... Now, we embrace the future. We don't want to leave "The Drive" So temporarily we are back on 1st and C...

This past weekend our friends Ben and Caroline held a wedding reception on Vancouver Island. It was so great to spend time with them again, and here how married life has been since they have been married for a few months already. Here is a picture of Andrea and Sarah who stood on behalf of Caroline. Their flowers had been put together by Ben's sisters and were absolutely gorgeous! Ben and Caroline shared their vows again in a quaint little church (St Mary's) and held the reception in Ben's parents backyard. When we arrived we were surprised to see a carnival set up - that's right a carnival! At first I was a little hesitant as games are not often my favorite thing, (especially in a skirt) but after particapating in a few it wasn't long til we were laughing hysterically and enjoying ourselves immensely. I mean who couldn't have fun throwing an axe at a stump, shooting a paint ball gun at targets in the bush, throwing mini balls into jars and hitting targets. ...

We had the privilege of visiting some close friends of ours while in Winnipeg: Dave and Heather, and their handsome men. The boys were so photogenic!