What a day!

It's been quite a day. To start with, Isaac thought it would be funny to lock the door on me as I stepped out to dispose of some garbage. Needless to say, we were not in agreement! It was quite cold out there, and I was thankful Curtis was home and let me in. It took quite some time and more than one consequence to convince Isaac that what he did was not only not funny, but potentially dangerous, and that he needed to apologize. That was the difficult part - getting him to apologize. We had a couple more smaller battles over the course of the day, but by late afternoon he was more agreeable, and that continued for the remainder of the day.

Before and again after supper we had some fun posing for Curtis so he could try out his new studio lighting equipment. Pretty impressive! I'm sure it won't be long before he has things figured out and will be ready to put them to good use. Portraits anyone?

New Recipe

Here's what we had for dinner last night. It was a bit of an experiment, but it turned out pretty good. Isaac liked it, and thus named it himself.

APPLE PORK FRY
1 tbsp olive oil
2 sirloin pork chops (cut into small chunks)
2 red peppers (cut into small chunks)
6 or 7 large mushrooms (cut into chunks)
2 granny smith apples (cut into large chunks)
1/2 cup roasted cashew pieces (or more to taste)
1-2 tbsp Bragg's All Purpose Seasoning



Saute pork chops in Olive Oil and Bragg's* until no longer pink, then add mushrooms. When mushrooms are almost done, add red peppers. A couple minutes later, add cashews and apples, and saute for an additional minute. Remove from heat and serve over brown rice.

* An alternative to regular soy sauce.

Enjoying the warm-ish weather

A few days ago, Isaac and I went out to make some particularily tasty culinary delicacies. YUM YUM!

Making us laugh

Isaac came up with another good one this morning. In response to our question about why he wasn't drinking his glass of water we had given him, he said, "I don't like water, because it's so soggy!"

View from the front

Isaac and I returned on Tuesday evening from a week long trip to the Fraser Valley. We got to spend some time with my parents, my nieces and nephew and siblings, Uncle Jake and Aunt Mary, who were also visiting, as well as a few friends. Unfortunately we weren't able to see everyone we would have liked to, for various reasons, but enjoyed the time spent with those we did see. I even got to play a few games of canasta. I'll have to find out if anyone around here plays!

Speaking of seeing, Isaac was asked, both on the trip down and on the return trip if he'd like to see the cockpit. Below are a couple of photos taken at the end of our return trip (while Daddy waited anxiously, wondering why his family were not getting off the plane!)

I may post more photos from our trip in a later posting.

Isaac's Farm

Some of you may have heard Isaac talking about his farm. He has been telling us over the past few months about his farm behind the mountains in back of our house. Every so often we will pass some machinery, and he will say "I have one of those on my farm, but mine is blue (or red, or different in some way). Tonight I decided to write down some of the details of his farm, as he related them to me.

• 1 cat and 1 dog
• 100,000 cows
• 2 ducks
• 3 combines
• 2 corn harvesters - one has an auger type blade
• 1 Hitachi excavator
• 1 yellow digger excavator
• red tractors with tracks
• a loader with long "tweezers" (I think he means the hydraulic arms, which he said are 100 feet long!)
• a red and white barn, where he sleeps with all of the animals. He said he has a bed and blankets.

It's nice to see that Isaac has a vivid imagination, although of course, he says it's not imaginary, it's real.

Forgotten Picture

I forgot to post a picture that I took a couple weeks ago. Dad had to go to Houston to remove some air conditioners from the Friendship Centre there. So Isaac and I went to help. Here's the crew after all was said and done. We even made it back to Telkwa without anything falling off the trailer!

Finishing Up

With Bonnie and Isaac returning home tomorrow night it's time to make sure the house is presentable for their arrival. The biggest thing is getting the laundry done. Thankfully the last load is just finishing in the dryer as I type.

It's been a good week to spend some focused time on things I wouldn't normally get time to do as much. I've done a lot of work on my new website which should be going live in a couple weeks or so.

Here's a work-in-progress preview of the home page of the new site as it stands right now for those who are interested:



I'm also making a bit of an investment in some studio equipment for the business, so there's LOTS of research, phone calls and emails to make to ensure that the decision I ultimately make is the best for me at this point in time.

I've enjoyed the walking I've done when there's been errands to run. It's been nice that I have hardly had to use the van this past week. It's been nice enough to get some bike rides in as well.

But it's time to see my family again. Tomorrow night I pick them up around 7:30 or so and then the house will be filled once again with the sounds of my loved ones.

Exercising my index finger

Here's a few images that I've captured the past couple days as I've gone outside for some exercise.

Isaac the wise

When we were on the way to the airport Monday morning, Bonnie made some comment (which I can't remember exactly) about me being alone until she and Isaac get back next week. Isaac immediately responded, "Don't be sad. I'm here to tell you how much God will take care of him."

Typing that now, 4 days later, it makes me emotional. It brings much joy, knowing that some of the spiritual guidance and encouragement Bonnie and I are trying to share with Isaac must be sinking in. But I guess it ultimately doesn't really matter whether Isaac learns it from us, from Sunday School or preschool, or anywhere else. What really matters is that he's learning it PERIOD.

Back in the Fraser Valley

Well, Isaac and I arrived yesterday around noon, stopping in New West for lunch and to visit a co-worker who is in hospital there with pregnancy complications. She looked well, despite being confined to bedrest for two months.

The weather here is not as warm as I expected - it was cold and windy today, but that didn't stop Isaac and his cousins from playing outside in Gramma's garden and getting very dirty! My new niece is very cute, and I enjoyed the chances to hold her today. Isaac and I spent a good part of the day at my sister's house, until we had to pick Jamie up from school. Then we came back to Mom and Dad's, and Colleen and the kids stayed until after supper.

Please pray for Glen's Dad, who is in hospital, having had a heart attack last night, and who has had various health problems this past year.