So how was your Christmas?

When we booked our flight a couple of months before Christmas, we certainly weren't expecting the Fraser Valley to have as much (or more?) snow than we'd be leaving behind in Smithers! I must admit, though, it was very, very beautiful! I am so thankful that our flight was not cancelled or delayed like so many hundreds or thousands of other peoples. My heart went out to them, especially those I saw in the Vancouver airport as we made our way to our luggage. They looked so forlorn! I'm thankful that my aunts and uncles made it safely, too.

I really enjoyed our time at Mom and Dad's over Christmas - eating, playing games, eating, doing puzzles, eating...I felt really bad for Curtis, though, since he couldn't eat a lot of the goodies that were around, not even the special ones I had made for him, as even they seemed to trouble his stomach. Poor guy!

Unfortunately we weren't able to get together with some of the friends we had hoped to see, because of the weather, but we did manage to see a few. So to those we did see - thanks so much for the memories! For those we didn't see, we're sorry we missed you, but maybe next trip?

I wish you all a very blessed New Year, and look forward to sharing emails, talks and visits with you, hopefully soon!

More Fun In The Snow

Isaac and I spent the day at my mom and dad's while Bonnie slept (she worked a late shift--11pm to 7am this morning). After lunch, Isaac and I went with Dad to one of his neighbours to shovel some snow off the room of a shed. As you can see by the pictures below, there was a lot of snow indeed. Isaac worked a little, but most of all he just played and managed not to fall off the roof by accident.



The only time he went off the roof was on purpose. (That's actually him jumping off below.)

More from our trip

Our last stop in Abbotsford was visiting some friends of Bonnies. While I went out to do some shopping (board games and a David Gilmour CD/DVD set), Bonnie and Isaac stayed and visited/played. Bonnie thought she'd get some good visiting time in with her friend Jann, but when I got back, they said most of their time was spent laughing hard at all the antics of Isaac and his friend Sammy.

I heard stories of science experiments, and blowing milk bubbles with a straw. But most of their fun was in throwing/rolling water balloons down the stairs.

Christmas in Langley

We managed to leave in between snowstorms (both here and in Vancouver) on the 23rd and spent a week with Bonnie's family in Langley. Here are a few of the highlights.

on the plane down to Vancouver


the scene in the Vancouver airport (luggage from people stuck in the airport for days)


Bonnie and her dad shaking snow from the heavy-laden branches.


the Abbotsford airport on the morning of the 24th (we went to pick up Bonnie's Aunt and Uncle who unbeknownst to us were actually diverted to the Vancouver airport)


Isaac playing with Lego with Alaysia and Shaelyn


more snow from another flurry


the whole crew around the dinner table


Isaac goofing around with "Uncle Pete"


...and Aunt Olga


Bonnie with her mom and Aunts puzzling over a puzzle


Isaac and Papa playing Go Fish


Isaac and Bonnie the night before we left for home


Isaac in the airport waiting for our flight.

Cunningham Christmas

We had the Cunningham-side-of-the-family Christmas celebration on Sunday evening. It was a LOUD evening to be sure. Lots of little people running around the house.

This is Dad outside preparing a large candle holder. It looked quite pretty later in the evening with the candle in its proper place.


Here's the crew around the table.

A new word?

We were playing a game tonight as a family and Isaac came up with another saying that made us laugh. We've been trying to teach Isaac that he doesn't have to win every game or be first in every endeavour. And so tonight when Bonnie won both games, I told Isaac how proud I was of him in not getting upset. Then he proceeded to tell us how important it was to have good sportsgirlship.

I can only assume he was, in his own way, trying to instruct Bonnie on how to properly behave when she won a game.

Counting our blessings

At the end of the year, it has been a tradition in my family to look back over the year and recall some of the many blessings God has bestowed on us. I'll start with some recent blessings.

On Sunday morning, as we were waking up and preparing to attend Isaac's Sunday School performance of "Angels Aware", Curtis informed me that our hot water taps were frozen. After a couple of phone calls and acting out some good advice, they were soon thawed and the water was flowing once again. We went to church and were blessed by the childrens' performance, glad to see all their hard work over the past months turn out so well. We told Isaac how proud of him we were, and were glad to hear the positive comments of others, too.

After church, we made a brief stop on our way home to pick up a couple of things, only to return to our van and find out it wouldn't start! (The temperature, by the way, was about -20 or lower). Thankfully another couple from our church had also stopped there, and graciously gave us a ride home - another blessing! When Curtis returned to meet the man from BCAA (having been told it would be about 45 minutes, and that he would get a phone call when the repairman was on his way), the man was starting to pull away, and told Curtis he'd been waiting about 20 minutes already, though Curtis had not received the promised phone call. He did get the van running again, though, for which we were thankful!

That afternoon, Isaac had a second performance, and the van started without a problem, going and returning. It was another lovely performance, and this time his paternal grandparents, his uncle Michael, and the 4 oldest Cunningham cousins were in attendance, too.

Afterward, we had the grandparents, uncle and cousins over for supper, as well as some friends who came to help celebrate Curtis' parents' 40th anniversary - more blessings!

We truly have so much to be thankful for: enough work provided for me and Curtis over the course of the year to provide for our needs; new friendships to develop through work, church and Bible Study groups; a wonderful school and teacher for Isaac's kindergarten year; visits with family and friends over the year; the ability for one of us to stay home with Isaac while the other works; a beautiful place to live; Curtis' ability to persevere despite disappointments concerning his health and developing his business; new opportunities that are presented... I could go on and on.

Thanks to all of you who have kept us in your thoughts and prayers. We appreciate them very much! May God be with each and every one of you this Christmas season, and bless you with good health and happy memories!