Oh where, oh where did the summer go?

WOW!  I have been horrible at this.  Well, lets try it again.  School starts on Tuesday and I will see if I can get back into the habit of blogging.  So let's catch up.

We went to Colorado the end of May and had a wonderful time.  We attended my nieces wedding at the USAFA chapel, it was absolutely beautiful.  It was great to see family again and just have some time amongst old friends.  I had some fun doing some fitness classes with a close friend and we ate at some long lost restaurants and had yummy Mexican food.  Something I dearly miss.  I have found that Canadians in this area really don't know what spicy is...lol, but they do make some yummy things that we miss when we go to the States.

The girls both finished school the end of June and were excited to have 10th grade over.  Summer was very different for each of them.

Tiana worked at a day camp called Maple Key Day Camp.  It is a camp in a town near by for kids of many ages.  She did a little bit of everything and overall enjoyed the experience.  She worked a 40 hour week for 6 weeks and got a good taste of growing up.  I think she realized its not all she thought it would be.  She had fun but was very glad when it was done.  She went with the youth group to a Christian Music Conference in New York called Kingdom Bound.  She went to it last year and loved it.  It is held at an amusement park and they camped and had a blast going on rides and listening to concerts.  Then she began trying to fit 6 weeks of stuff into the 3 weeks left of summer.  She has already been hired at Saunders Farm for Haunting Season again and she got hired as a PT cashier at Walmart this week.  She is also continuing her Hip Hop Class and she has a part time after school babysitting job.  She is sure going to be busy and yep, she is her mother's daughter.  Oh, and she went Bungee jumping.  Yes, I said Bungee jumping.  We have a video of it on my facebook page.  It was a Christmas gift from last year, she has wanted to do this for a long time.  As it got closer to time I got really nervous but it actually looked fun.  I couldn't do it, I am so jealous of her adventurous soul.  I am sure that she will be doing it again in the future.

Tabitha hung out most of the summer.   Her mom moved to Ottawa at the beginning of July so she got to see her a bit but not as much as she had wanted and then her mom moved back to Edmonton last week so she was sad to see her go.  She had an interview this morning and has been hired by a local restaurant to do kitchen work.  She will work on Tuesday and they will try each other out and then we will find out if she is has the job. 

We added a family member at the end of June.  Tiana's boyfriend JJ, who is 17, is living with us indefinitely.  It is a long story but basically, he graduated from High School a whole year early and is a very special young lad who came on some tough times and tough situations.  Although it isn't ideal having him live here,  he is a joy to have around (this house needs a bit of testosterone) and he has been a great addition to the family.  He is planning on joining the Canadian Forces once he turns 18 so I think he will be with us until then.  He went to Kingdom Bound with Tiana and has joined us on most of our family outings.  He works nights at the Comfort Inn.  He goes in at midnight and gets off at 8 am and is doing very well.

2010 started with 2 drivers and 4 people needing rides.  Then it went to 1:3.  Then in June 2011 it went to 1 driver and 4 people needing rides, yesterday it went to 2 drivers and 4 people who need rides.  Tiana has been learning to drive since December and yesterday she successfully passed her G2 license.  I am so proud of her and of myself.  We had a couple rough moments but we both survived and she has turned into a very good driver.   JJ will hopefully have his license by the end of the month which will make it 3:4.  Weren't these kids just in kindergarten??  We have also added 2 cars.  Tiana got a Mercury Mystique and I got a Hyundai Sonata.  This will save us some money on gas but I do miss my TrailBlazer (I will defer to it this winter probably, shhhh don't tell Wil).

Speaking of Wil, he made it home again at the end of July.  He flew in on his birthday so we got to celebrate with him.  He stayed for 2 weeks and then headed back to BC.  Currently he is sailing back to BC from Hawaii and it sounds like finally he had a great trip at sea.  I am so happy for him as this will be his last long trip at sea.  He may have a couple more short ones before he turns over his ship to someone else.  It looks like he will make it home for another week around Canadian Thanksgiving and then we hope that he will be back for good in December some time.  I don't have anything more specific than this, so I am not holding my breath.

Our church lost our pastor in August.  He was a godly man that was a huge influence in why we picked that church and a huge help in my family's life.  He was diagnosed with cancer at the beginning of the year and won his battle in August.  Yes, I said won his battle.  That is the way it was written in the obituary.  I thought that was a wonderful way to look at it.   He is in Heaven now and out of misery, of that I am glad but it is a huge loss for our church.  He was the pastor for 17 years.  This will be a year of change in our church.  I pray for God's presence and peace for all of the congregation.  He will be dearly missed but his legacy will live on.  I am hoping that we are done with funerals for the year.

What else did we do?  We went to the nearby water park for a day, we have gone into New York a couple times shopping.  We have gone to some local beaches.  We have driven here there and everywhere.  We shaved the cat, we had the dog in ICU.  It has been a fast and furious couple of months.  Although the school year is busy, I am looking forward to getting back into a "normal" routine.  I am especially looking forward to choir and bell choir starting again.  I miss the interaction with other adults...lol.
 
What is upcoming?  The main thing is that all 3 of the kids are planning on going to the Dominican Republic with the church youth group on a missions trip in March.  They will be fund raising shortly so you will be hearing from them soon.  Both girls start 11th grade on Tuesday.  I can't believe that they will be graduating in 2 years.  Time just flies....faster and faster every year.  Other than that, it is fall we have 2 birthdays, 2 Thanksgivings, Christmas and an anniversary before the end of the year.  I think that will keep me busy.

I think that is it.  Please know that although I have slacked off at blogging, I have thought about all of you regularly and miss you all.  Please keep in touch, I love hearing from you.  God Bless You and keep you in His care!
Brenda

Who is your church family?

I went to a congregational meeting the other night, voluntarily.  I am not a member so can not vote but wanted to go to listen in.  You can learn alot in those meetings (my dad taught me that).  Anyways before the meeting, they were showing a slide show of pictures, historical pictures of the church and the congregation.  I had so much fun listening to peoples ooohs and aaahs...that is so and sos son...oh that is Rev so and so....wow remember her....look that is so and so, is she here, she is so young in this picture.  I only knew a handful but it was really fun and then as I listened, I got a little sad.  The church I am going to is a family church; families have gone here for generations.  They know each others stories and sons and daughters of different families in the church have married and merged the families.  They pull together to prepare homemade food for funerals and special occasions.  They send cards to people on their birthdays and anniversaries.  This is something I heard about with my parents but not something I hear of very often anymore and then I wondered if the "family church" is an anomaly.   Maybe not but my history in church and what I see and hear people do is..go to this church until it doesn't suit my needs and then I will go to another church.   Where is the investment in the church, where is the commitment?  Don't get me wrong, I think that changing churches is completely appropriate at times but I wonder if we have begun to treat churches as disposable due to the amount of church choices we have??  When people say where I am from...I don't have a great answer.   I was born in Africa, lived in Illinois, lived in Colorado, live in Canada and I have gone to many churches in my life.   I can't even claim a denomination, I was raised non-denominational.  None of these things are bad, they are why I am who I am but I have always craved a church home, a place to belong, a place where I am from. So is this church it?  I don't know, but I know that I am enjoying being a part of First Baptist Church, Smiths Falls. 

Tiana had her dance recital last night and tonight and it was really great.  It was all of the classes at the school putting on a story, one dance at a time.  Tiana was a minion as part of a hip hop class and they did a great job.  It was a fun night, she did an awesome job.  She is already looking forward to the next year of dance.

The last couple of weeks has been focused on mowing and getting the yard in order and doing some planting. I have some tomato plants going and am trying to do some green chile plants since I can't find green chiles to save my life.  I have planted some new flowers, a new iris and a couple new lilacs.  When I get back, I will do strawberries again and a couple more plants and then I will focus on upkeep for the year. 

I had a wonderful mothers day.  I premade all of my meals and Tiana and Tabitha helped with what I hadn't done.  I got a lovely little elephant for my collection from Tiana and a new zero gravity chair for the front porch from Wil (he left it in the trailer for me to find).  I also got this great handmade card from Tiana with Happy Mother's day written in a ton of different languages.  So sweet!

The next couple of days will be busy with laundry and packing for our trip to Colorado.  I am hoping it will go slowly but I have a feeling the week will fly by.  I am excited to share some great pictures when we get back.  In the meantime....love to all!

My beautiful Family



My family....ok....can you tell someone hates smiling???

Fast and Furious

Well, I am so sorry for the long absence.  I will try to fill you in without writing a novel.  It was a fast and furious 2 months of having Wil home again.  There were highs and lows and everything in between.  Let's see...where to start?  I guess that I will start where I left off.



Pikes Peak



The groom, his mom (my sister)
 and my mom

Quick trip to Colorado.  I headed out for a last minute, quick, weekend trip to Colorado for my nephews wedding.  I was so excited to be able to make this trip.  I knew that this wedding would be as unique as the couple getting married and I was blessed to be able to be there.  I think when you live close to family you take for granted being able to attend weddings, graduations and births.  I don't take that for granted any more.  It was a fast trip but so fun.  I spent some time with my close friend Michelle.  She has really been a huge support for me and a great sounding board on many occasions.  We spent the night in Denver, went to the Melting Pot (oh how I have missed you) and then went to the butterfly pavilion the next morning.  On Saturday, I headed up to Denver for the wedding festivities.  We stayed at the hotel near Mile High Stadium and had a great family time.  We had fun at the rehearsal dinner and just hanging out and talking.  Then the wedding.  What a great time.  A great mix of traditional and nontraditional and a perfect reflection of the bride and groom, complete with the Star Wars theme and light sabers, a tux with tennis shoes and fantastically bright colors.  It was lovely.  Then to a hotel by the airport, met Michelle again for a drink and flew out bright and early then next morning.  It was a wonderful break (first time I had been alone since July of last year) and great to see family and friends.  What was interesting to me is my sister asked me "so how is it coming back?"  and for the first time I verbalized that Colorado isn't home anymore.  It is where much of my family is, it is where I have lived since 6th grade and it is a place that I hold close to my heart but it isn't home.  Home is Canada, it is where my beloved family is, where my church is, where I sing in the choir and play bells, where I garden and feed birds as much as possible and so much more.

I got home and was surprised that Wil's friend was still hanging on.  Well on Thursday of the week I came back, Bob passed away.  So then, we were focused on Bob's wife Vica and helping with the funeral and whatever we could do after that.  Wil wrote a wonderfully emotional eulogy and there wasn't a dry eye.  Bob was the closest thing Wil had to a brother and his loss leaves a huge whole in his life.  I know God's plan is perfect but I have to admit the timing of all of this sucked.  Bob and Vica had just moved to Ottawa and we were looking forward to spending time with them once Wil came back.  Then he gets sick and dies before we can do anything with them.  I know one thing it has showed me is to not take time for granted.  9 months ago, Bob and Vica were talking vacations and future plans with no clue about what was coming.  What would we do differently if we knew the future was going to be short?  I pray for Vica and for Wil regularly.  For God's arms of comfort and healing to be around their shoulders and to carry them when needed. 

That pretty much took us through the first month.  The second month was trying to help Vica sort through things, and getting some stuff done around the house. 

We did squeeze in some great family moments.  We surprised the girls by going to the Harlem Globetrotters.  I was first taken to a Globetrotters game by my father when I was around 12.  I took Tiana when she was about 9 and now the whole family went.  Still just as fun and just a wonderful afternoon of laughter.  We also went to China Town and tried some dim sum.  Oh it was so yummy and cool to get to try a little bit of everything.  Wil has talked about it since we were in Colorado, so it was cool to finally get some.  We also had a great Easter, complete with an Easter egg hunt, my singing in the Easter Cantata and a house full of people for some lamb and ham.  It was a great day.  We will definitely have to go back there again.  It was interesting to see Wil go from growing a beard to shaving it to a goatee and then going clean shaven before heading back to ship.

So now Wil is gone again.  He goes back to the west coast of Canada.  He is still posted to the HMCS Vancouver.  They have a couple short trips for some training missions and then a longer trip in August that will probably take them to Hawaii.  When he is not at sea, he will be working aboard ship and staying in an apartment in BC.  I do not know how long he will be gone but we are hoping he will be home for good by Christmas.  I am not holding my breath because who knows what the military has planned for him but that is my slim hope.  Communication with him should be easier this time since he isn't half way around the world in a war zone but we shall see.  I am hoping that the girls and I might make it out there at some point before he comes home.  I want to see this great ship that has taken my husband from me.

So what is on the horizon?  Well, right now we are gearing up for Tiana's dance program.  She has been doing a hip hop class all year and this is the big finale.  Their dance teacher puts together a program where all the dance classes play a part in the big picture.  In this one there are dragons, unicorns, fairies and THE MINIONS.   Yep that is Tiana's class...it sounds like it will be very cool. 

Then we have another trip to Colorado.  We were hoping for 2 weeks but it will only be one.  The girls are still in school so taking them out for 2 weeks right before finals is not a good idea so we will make the best of one week.  The main reason is for my nieces wedding.  2 people in one family getting married in one year...my sisters did it to my mom and now my niece and nephew are doing it to my sister....what comes around??? LOL!  Anyways, after living in Colorado for almost 30 years, this will be my first wedding in the Air Force Academy Chapel.  For my Canadian followers, check out this link and you will see what the big deal is.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Air_Force_Academy_Cadet_Chapel  Anyways, I am very excited.  Annie's fiance will graduate from the Academy 1 week before the wedding (with Obama present) and they will leave on their first posting a couple months later.  What an exciting time!  We are starting to make our list of things we want to do and we will try to pack it all in.

Next is the finish of school.  Both girls will complete their 10th grade year and get ready for 11th grade.  I can't believe they are entering their last 2 years of high school.  Where does the time go.  Tiana has a job at a day camp for most of this summer so that will keep her busy and Tabitha will probably go to her moms for a bit.  That is really as far as I am looking at this point.  There are some things much farther down the line like a trip to switch cars with Wil and maybe a trip to BC (I hope, I hope, I hope). But right now, I do alot of one day at a time.  Of coarse, it is spring so I am doing a lot of mowing, gardening and yard work but I think I will enjoy it a bit more this year because I already know what to expect and have a routine in place.  I am looking forward to the activity of the summer.

I will try to get back into blogging.  My blogging  morning is Sundays and for fall and spring the girls were in skating lessons so Sunday mornings got busy.  Things have calmed down now so hopefully I will be more regular at updating you all.  Thank you for all of you prayers and thoughts.  I love hearing from you.  As much as I love the adventure I am on (ok I don't love it all the time) I do miss you.

Together again

Well, he is home!  We went to the airport to pick Wil up a week ago today.  He was to arrive and then a half hour later his brother was to arrive.  A brother we have never met.  It was not planned, it just happened that way.  Well, Wil's plane was delayed and Norms was right on time so Norm came first and thanks to facebook, I knew what he looked like and we welcomed him first and then waited for Wil.  The girls and I had made huge bright, neon signs that said "Home Sweet Home"  Wil so he couldn't miss us and we appropriately made a spectacle of ourselves so he couldn't miss us as he came out with everyone else on the plane.  Then we went to dinner with Norm and his co worker and then we headed home.

It has been an emotional week.  On Tuesday, we drove back into the city for Wil to visit Bob, his dear friend, who is dieing from pancreatic cancer.  I had been up to see him several weeks ago and although his physical appearance wasn't worse, his mental capacity has diminished greatly.  It really brought forth the memories of the last days of my fathers life.  I am so thankful that God found it best for Bob to be able to sustain until Wil came home but it has been a hard week.  Wil has spent most of his time with him, talking to him in his clear moments, consoling and supporting his wife and just being there during this tough time.  We know that these are his last days but we do not know how many or how few he has left.  If you have had a loved one touched by cancer, the last days/weeks/months are so hard for everyone. 

That really has been our week.  We ended our week with church.  It was fantastic to have all of us in church for the first time in 10 months.  Wil got a bit of star treatment, because everyone in church know he has been gone.  His name has been in the bulletin every week asking for prayer for him as he is away.  Add to that that everyone in the choir and bell choir has been praying for him on a regular basis as I give them updates.  So he was a bit overwhelmed I thing by everyone coming up to him and welcoming him back and saying thank you for his service.  Then when he was welcomed home from the pulpit and then Tiana had asked the youth pastor, who was preaching, to ask for prayer for Bob, it made for a very emotional service. 

I would ask for prayer for all of us.  For Wil as he continues to split his time between home and his friend.  For the girls and me as we try to be unselfish and share him as we want him to be in both places as the same time.  For Bob and Vica as they go through this horrible period.  Bob and Vica are not believers as far as I know so pray that God opens the doors for us to witness to them.

This week I will be traveling to Colorado for the first time since we left.  It will be a quick trip over the weekend, to see my nephew get married and see family and friends.  I am struggling with leaving during this difficult time but Wil and I agree that it is ok that I go.  I have not told many people because I am only there for a couple days.  I will have a longer trip there in May so I will try to see everyone then.

My love to all.

The wait is over

WELCOME HOME!!!

Well today is the day.  Exactly 10 months ago, Wil left for British Columbia and 7 months ago he left on the ship.  Well today he comes home.  YAY!  The girls and I will go to the airport and pick him up this afternoon and our family will be complete once more.  I tell you what this has been a long 10 months.  Longer than I thought it would be but now this part is over.  Wil is going to be home for almost 2 months and then he will be heading back to BC but we won't think about that right now.  I am afraid that this 2 months will go by super fast.  There is so much that I would like to do with him while he is home but we will see what we get to do.

The first thing we will do is go visit Wil's closest friend Bob.  Bob was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer last fall and is not doing well.  Bob and Vica visited us in Colorado Springs and last June moved about 45 minutes away from us.  We were so excited to know that when Wil got back we could spend some time with them and even talked about going on vacation together.  Now we pray that Bob will survive.  I know it has been very hard for Wil to be away during this time so we will head up there to see them tomorrow.

After that we will take it day by day.  Wil deserves some time to decompress and just enjoy being off work but of course I have a list of things I need his help with but they can wait for a bit.  Plus I want to do some family things also.

My heart is heavy for Wil and Bob but my heart is also heavy for our pastor.  Pastor Don and his wife Tricia have been fantastic supports for our family.  They have taken us to lunch to get to know us, they have been available for tough conversations and have been a resource for me when I needed something while Wil was gone.  Well Pastor Don has just been diagnosed with prostate cancer and the news we are getting is that it has gone to the bones.  He has been at our church for 16 years and this is devastating for everyone in the church.  We are praying for a miracle at this point.

Cancer has been ever present in my life and I hope that my past experiences will help me be supportive and in Bob's case a great witness to God's love.

The girls have finished their first semester of 10th grade so now they are on to the second half of the year.  They are looking forward to some great activities with the youth group and Tiana is looking for a job. 

Because I didn't go to BC to meet the ship (Wil's decision), I am taking a quick trip home to Colorado to see my nephew get married.  I am so excited to spend a couple days in Colorado.  I get to have some quality time with my close friend, Michelle and some quality time with family.  It will be a fast, furious and fantastic 5 days.

I apologize for the lack of regularity of the blog.  I always updated on Sunday mornings before the girls got up and since October we have had skating lessons for the girls on Sunday morning before church.  So I will try to be better but with Wil home ...it may be awhile again.  Please feel free to email me if you have any questions and I do update my facebook page with pictures regularly.

If you want to see the ship come in, here is the link (really wish I could have been there)

http://www.globaltvbc.com/video/hmcs+vancouver+homecoming/video.html?v=2198946145#stories/video

My love to all,
Brenda

Long time, no talk (mainly due to illness)

Wow, what a month!  The last blog I wrote I was about 1 week into an illness.  A little over a week after we got home I started coughing and hacking and just feeling lousy.  Tiana was also feeling lousy and Tabitha was having a hard time with her asthma.  Well, Tiana ended up passing out one night and we ended up in the ER with double ear infection and sinuses.  Meanwhile, I am doping myself up on NyQuil and many other meds so that I can sing in our Christmas cantata.  I did.  Then I ended up in the ER because of sinuses and fever but that ER doc was an idiot and wouldn't give me antibiotics.  So I battled on but the day be fore New Years Eve I spike a super high temp and started having problems breathing.  I almost had Tiana drive me to the hospital (she has her license but didn't have much experience).  I drove myself and as I sat in the ER waiting for the doctor, I had to pull my mask off my face by a couple inches because my breath was so hot I felt like I was going to melt my face.  As I hacked and coughed the doctor came in and said "oh you poor thing, you are really sick".  At that point I knew I was going to get help.  So I got put on antibiotics also.  So I tried to make New Years Eve fun but I was spiking a fever and was very ill so it wasn't very fun.  We watched movies and Tiana would bring me heat or cool packs depending on the fever.  We did stay up until midnight but that's it.

Now let me back up a minute, you may be asking why ER?  Well in the are where we live, if your doctor is out of town, that's that.  There is no on call doc, no other place to go.  The closest walk in clinic is 45 minutes away so you go to emerg.  This is against everything that I believe but there isn't much I can do about it.  Now during our visits we did find out which emerg is better and we will now go there only (not the one that didn't help me...go figure).

So as I was recovering Tiana got sick again and we ended up in emerg for time number 4 and she got her second set of antibiotics.  Then as she got better, I relapsed and this time our doctor was in and I got my second set.  WHEW!  Tabitha was fairly healthy during all of this, we just had to work with her inhalers to keep her asthma under control.

It sure did make the holidays really mellow and boring but it was nice that we were off work and school anyways so it wasn't as bad as it could have been.  Tiana missed 3 days of school the last week before Christmas break and 3 days of school after Christmas break but that's it.

So as we speak right now, we are all doing much better.  All 3 of us are battling with congestion and stuffiness but overall much better.  I have washed sheets, cleaned and cleaned and cleaned to no avail.  It is not just us, there are a lot of people sick here and it lasts forever so we could have gotten it from anywhere.  What is funny is that Wil has been sick with the same thing...so maybe we got it from him in Paris??  Who knows.

Right now my doctor is gone to Africa for 3 weeks so I am off work so I am catching up on the last 8 weeks worth of clutter, paperwork and stuff.  I have also started going through each room and decluttering and cleaning.  Emptying those last couple of boxes and going through drawers and getting rid of stuff.  I also need to make space for my husband!

Yes, Wil is coming home.  No, not permanently but he is coming home.  He will be home on the 20th of Feb and will be home until the 19th of April.  YAY!!  I am excited to have him back and I think he is just as excited to be home for a bit.  I can't wait.  He will be coming home almost exactly 10 months from when he left.  That is a long time.  It will be nice to have him home.

I think that is it.  The girls are in the midst of finals this week and then this weekend they are going on a retreat with the youth group.  YAY FOR THEM  (and me)!!  lol.

I will try to make it much shorter between blogs.  I usually blog on Sunday mornings and right now we have skating lessons on Sunday mornings so I need to find a new time.  I hope Christmas and New Years were wonderful for your family.  I think of you often and wish we could have gotten together.

I don't have any illness pictures so I will share a picture of my cardinal, Fred.  He and his mate, Ethel, come to my feeder regularly and he is so pretty especially against the snow.