My kids

I am tremendously blessed. I have the 3 greatest kids.
Darcy, Krystle & Kyle.
For Christmas, they hired Anneka Zehr to take pictures of them in random places all over Zurich and gave me the pictures in a beautiful frame as my present. These are a few of my favourites

Three Men and a Lady.
The Fab Four.
Little Miss Sunshine - who always, always has a smile for you!
My 'gentle' men - these guys are more than willing at any time I need them to lend me a hand.
Just a few of my favourites.

I've posted all the photos in an album on Facebook. Feel free to check them out.

Blessings

Sasha

The newest addition to our family is Sasha - a little apricot coloured cock-a-poo. She was born on October 23, 2008 and joined our family on December 30.

I had been looking for quite some time for a new addition and actually was originally looking at the OSPCA to adopt a dog. I also knew however what particular type of breed I wanted. The shelters mostly had larger dogs. Since we still have Dolly (German shepherd cross) I'll wait to get another big dog.

We found Sasha on Kijiji and we were pleasantly surprised at her price and that the kennel was in close proximity to us. So that night (December 30) we headed off to meet her and her parents and we brought her home that night.

We are having SO much fun with her. She is a sweet little puppy, who gives her affection to our whole family. It's really neat watching my grown kids interact with this little fluff ball.

At 3 months old we've started with some obedience training and she is a quick learner. It's so much fun to have her in our family.

Blessings

TA - DA

I am SO excited, my furniture has finally arrived.
Well the sofa and loveseat had already arrived on Christmas Eve Day but the chair and a half finally came yesterday.

If you were to step into the room and look right and turn counter clock wise this is how the room looks.

The sofa.


My chair and a half beside the stove.


The loveseat.


The TV


It's finally coming together, with a few decorations on the walls, I'd say it's looking pretty good. I'm still waiting for blinds to cover the windows, and a couple lamps for the end tables, then this room will be complete.

mmhmm now which room should be next? ^.^

Blessings

5 - 0

Wayne celebrated his 50th birthday today.

I cheated and bought him a Chocolate Fudge Cake. mmhmm it was good

We spent the day together just him & I as our kids were scattered here and there.

We had dinner reservations at the Oakwood Inn Resort in Grand Bend for a Five course Dinner & Wine Tasting. Our drive to and from the restaurant was quite stormy, but Wayne was determined to celebrate his birthday.
With each course that was served a different kind of wine was brought along as well. Dinner was absolutely delicious and we liked most of the wine too.

What a wonderful way to celebrate his birthday. I didn't bother buying Wayne a present as we're planning on heading south (probably Cuba) late winter/early spring.

Blessings

Timing

Ecclesiastes 3:1 says "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven."

I believe that too, not in fate, nor in luck, neither in coincidence. I do however wonder sometimes at the timing of things and perhaps may never understand it all.

They say hindsight is 20/20 and I think that's right, because when looking back throughout my life I've seen how things are worked together for good for those who love God. (Romans 8:28 paraphrased.)

Ironically looking ahead it's hard to see what good can come out of different situations that I find myself and those of my family to be in.

Last night we went to Cambridge to visit our daughter who, later on today, is leaving with the team from Imagine Adoption for Ethiopia. Visiting their sponsored orphanage, delivering much needed supplies and are planning to spend time working there.

On our way home we came across a car in the ditch and trying to become the good Samaritan that I'm aiming to be, I said we needed to stop and see if we can offer any assistance to these people. And who should that car in the ditch belong to, none other than my son Kyle. ohhh my heart was racing
But thankfully he was fine and the car, no worse for wear was stuck, yup stuck real good. So we waited with him until the tow-truck could come and then followed him home just to be sure the car would deliver him home safe.

So timing, what does it all mean? If we had left any earlier from Krystle's we would have missed him, any later and he could have been out of the ditch and on the way home and me not being any the wiser. Why at the moment we did, did we decide to head for home? You wonder, well at least I do, why these things happen and what does it all mean?

Jeremiah 29:11 says "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

While it might take a little while before I can look back and view this with 20/20 hindsight, it is comforting to know that our future is in HIS hands

Blessings

a new beginning...

It seems with each New Year I celebrate, I think of new beginnings and with that things I'd like to implement into my life. To some they would be resolutions. In fact the top resolutions according to Wikipedia are: Lose Weight, Gain Weight, Get out of Debt, Save Money, Get a Better Job, Get Fit, Eat Right, Get a Better Education, Drink less Alcohol, Quit Smoking, Reduce Stress, Take a Trip, Volunteer to Help Others, Be Less Grumpy, Be more independent, Watch less violence, Learn something new.

The success rate has shown that "while 52% of participants in a resolution study were confident of success with their goals, only 12% actually achieved their goals. Men achieved their goal 22% more often when they engaged in goal setting, a system where small measurable goals are used (lose a pound a week, instead of saying "lose weight"), while women succeeded 10% more when they made their goals public and got support from their friends." quoted from wikipedia

So, what do I hope to change?

I'm reading the book "Fresh Brewed Life" by Nicole Johnson and one of pieces of homework we're to do is to write our own obituary. It might sound a bit morbid, but it really got me to thinking about the things I want people to say about me or to remember me by and to adjust my life accordingly and live that way.

The poem called "The Dash" is another reminder to live your life in the way you wish to be remembered.

So I hope to make lifestyle changes and choices to better who I am, not resolutions. To succeed, I need the support of my friends. Are you willing to support me?

Blessings