A Look at the Last Days

It's just about time to go home.  Traveling for fourteen weeks straight has made us parched for home.  But these last couple weeks at the cabin have helped to satiate that thirst to some extent.  One of us is quite excited for his/her own room.  One of us is pumped for his/her own bed.  One of us doesn't seem to care too much.  And one of us dreams of a time where he doesn't have to load the van for days, no weeks, at a time!  But before we get there we'd like to share some of the moments we spent at Loon Lake, Sask.  Thanks Grandpa Ray and Grammie Jan for these days at a 6-Star Resort!

Enjoying one of the many boat rides out on the lake. 

Soaking in the inspiration that comes from being in the great outdoors.

 Story time with Dad is not always as thrilling as Jovi makes it out to be here.

Two super streamlined motorboats, Princess edition. Each powered by a Flintstone Engine. 

Auntie Carol had to one-up our Princess boats with her incredibly spacious cruise-liner.  

Going just the right speed for Jov, but not fast enough for Ev. 

The humble beginnings of a champion log-roller. 

A pretty good start to the day at the cabin. 

So much joy drowning helpless ol' dad. 

   

   

Whaaat?

   

Don't mess with these swimmers. 

 Ladies of the Lake.

Conquering the lake.

 

Building a woodshed with Grandpa.

Swimming with Grammie.

The Cabin Cousins - Jovi, Evrest, Piper, and baby Charlie.

Cabin Induced Questions and Clips

Do people who live on lakes or on the coast, have cabins on the prairies?  Cabins they can go to on the weekends and plant gardens for fun?  Where they can drive tractors and pull their kids on wagons behind them?  Where they can get away from the daily grind of being out on a boat and fishing?

Or is that as silly as it sounds?

What brings rest?  Is it sleep?  Is it nothing?  Is it less?  Is it change?  Is relative?

For the past couple months we’ve been given a chance to experience rest.  Personal rest.  Rest as family.  Rest with friends.  Rest in action.  Right now we have the opportunity to experience rest as thousands of others have chosen to experience it…what we’ll call cabin rest.

It is strange to define and explain its popularity.  But here are some clips of rest at the cabin for us which might give better insight:

Digging epic holes in the sand and the kids filling them with water at the beach.

Fishing while chatting with Tim.

Mowing the lawn.

Walking or boating to get ice cream and sitting near the water as we polish them off.

Chasing minnows and studying the ones Aunt Hailey caught.

Cooking beef on a bun (with a crockpot).

Having brunch with four generations of family; ages ranging from 4 weeks to 4343 weeks old.

Canoeing kid cargo to and from the beach and cabin, with and against the wind.

Losing to Grammie playing Settlers on the deck.

Eating bannock and chatting around the fire with Tim and Erika.

Poutine and onion rings on the beach.

Couch and carpet and grass and hammock and bed wrestling with Ev.

Reading by candle light.

Reading on the beach.

Reading by the fire.

Cooking all three meals on the bbq while the power was out.

Playing beanbags in the backyard with Grammie and the kids.

And watching the sunset over the lake.

There is something to be said about resting with others.  Like most things we tend to personally customize our rest to suit ourselves, but resting in community refreshes the soul.  We are blessed to rest with some of our family and friends and look forward sharing more of it with you.

Thank You Notes from Canmore

Thank you Canmore for bragging about how awesome you are by your very name: “Can more amazing things be found in any other town?  Can more cool people live together in any other place?”

Thank you “Amenities Building” for reminding me that my house is not only a shell of what it could be, but that it is also an uncivil and improper dwelling…well, you’re not even a house and you smell like chlorine and leather.

Thank you poutine truck man for your passion about infusing everything healthy with garlic butter, salt, bbq sauce, parmesan, mozza, and cheddar cheese.  Thank you from the bottom of my tongue…

Thank you Frisbee Golf for your exclusive use of certain muscles, which are only ever used when playing you.  My swollen and torn Frisbee Golf muscles thank you for finally being noticed.

Thank you rocks and sticks for simultaneously being the cheapest toys for young boys and making me feel and look like a naked gladiator in trying to disarm them.

Thank you five kids for turning “peaceful hot tub time” into a scene from Moby Dick…getting me in touch with my inner Ahab, thank you.

Thank you guacamole for destroying the culinary phrase “presentation is everything.”  Nothing looks more disgusting and tastes more terrific than you.  Thank you.

Thank you Jovi for asking simple questions while hiking like, “Why did God create bears?”  And thank you education for reassuring answers like, “To eat things…like…berries.”

Thank you double BOB stroller for being a socially acceptable wheelbarrow that can hold two large hand bags, five kids, six beach toys, eight drinks, and a man’s dignity without any signs of strain.

Thank you again double BOB stroller for being another mini-van attack on my masculine pride.

Thank you shoulders for being a comfortable seat from which kids can try their hand at being blind plastic surgeons.

Thank you exercise equipment at children’s parks for turning every curious dad into a creepy man.

Thank you mountains for finally bringing tall people and clouds down to size.

Thank you family for being the good friends we couldn’t pick, and picking us to share this time with your family!

(and thank you Jimmy for the inspiration)

A very accurate picture. 

Evrest "You Can't Catch Me" Koleba and Derek "The Hammer" DeVries

The aforementioned double BOB.

Strolling the boardwalk in Canmore. 

Is it a sad fact that the coolest places to swim in this country are all quarries? 

Perfect weather...for a picture. 

Ev got distracted by something he should growl at and hit.

Rising in the East and Setting in the West

Sexsmith-Vermilon-Winnipeg-Thunder Bay-Annapolis Royal-Cornwall-Halifax-Winnipeg-Edmonton-Innisfail-Canmore…(places in order, where we have stayed at least one night)

It seems strange to think that a province as diverse as Alberta can still seem to provide the comfort of familiarity even while we are hundreds of miles from our actual home.  We have traveled much these past few days and we are excited to be close.  Not only closer to home, but closer to friends, closer to family.  We are thankful to Heidi and Hailey, and Josh and Meg for hosting our brief stay in Edmonton.  A big shout out and welcome to our little niece Charlie who seems smaller (and much cuter) than Evrest’s left foot.  We are happy to be back in Alberta, and do not anticipate any all-day drives till our return home.  Throughout our travels we have been blessed to gather pieces of everyday living from those we care about.  Little glimpses into their lives which encourage us, challenge us, inform our prayers, and fill us.  We are thankful and will continue to gather these pieces.  Jovi’s reunion with her cousin Ava has released a built up wave of girl time; consisting of parties, parades, princesses, and excluding their brothers.  Ev is also glad for the company of his cousins, Pax and Blaise.  Our new favorite word of his is “motorbikecle”, revealing a lack of consistent terms on our part.

Speaking of trimesters, Brittany is beginning her second one (smooth transition, I know).  For those of you who have just found out, and in such a graceless way, we apologize but it’s been hard to keep track of being on the road.  We would appreciate your prayers, and we are encouraged that Britt has begun to feel better.  This Alberta stage of our sabbatical will be spent with a couple more friends and much more family.  We are looking forward to this next month, and what God will choose to reveal.

Epic tower building with Auntie Heidi.

Don't worry that's just a yawn.  Charlie never cries.

This is the picture 20 sec. before the fake one.

The natural beach at the Edmonton Legislature.

(The tardiness of this entry is a result of an inconvenient internet connection, which pushed me to buy a coffee to share this with you)

P.E.I. Portraits

Here are some pictures from our time on the east coast island for your perusal.

Enjoying a great sunny day...at least most of us.

The beautiful dunes of Cavendish beach.

Slight enthusiasm over having some ice cream.

A giant flower in downtown Charlottetown.

The famous fare at Rick's Fish and Chips.

Hanging out on the Charlottetown boardwalk.

Another happy couple on the boardwalk.

Strolling the streets of Avonlea.

Britt and Erin enjoying low tide at Canoe Cove.

A pretty cool red sand playground.

and finally, the first stage of development of a future masked superhero:

Pardon the Poem

Tomorrow will come and we must go

Board a ferry, and west we row.

The Prince has been most kind to give

A week on his land for us to live.

Anne was also sweet and dear

The Haunted Woods we did not fear.

On Shining Waters we didn’t float

But dug the beaches on which she wrote.

White sand, red sand, it didn’t matter

Blanket picnics for the sun to flatter.

To rival beaches for our time

COWS ice cream – did just fine.

Charlotte has a beautiful town

The park by the bay was for us it’s crown.

Then on to Rick’s Fish and Chips

Remembering makes one lick his lips.

The market, bridge, church and pool

Memories of which are sweet and cool.

But more than those; are hanging out

With friends that you have brought about.

Our gracious and excited host,

To Miss Bredin we propose a toast.

She lifted us up with her laugh

Danny gets the nod; her other half.

 The joys of friends new and old

Our deepest blessing, truth be told.

It’s sad to think and makes us grieve

This little island that we leave.

There’s more to come for you to show

Of yourself, our hearts to know. 

Princess Jovi Sparkle

Well, it’s my turn.  My name is Jovi and I’m four.  But more importantly, I found my new markers.  I like coloring and doing counting puzzles in my coloring books.  My breakthrough piece of artwork was a brown-blue-green cartoon frog.  I think Evrest goes out of the lines a lot.  He doesn’t really know how to draw.  I like teaching Ev how to do things, when he’s not hitting me.  Today I taught him about his shadow and that God created him.  I don’t think he understood me, but he’s so little.  I’m really good at telling mommy and daddy when he does something bad.  Sometimes he tries to sing with me; he’s not very good.  But I make sure to tell him I’m proud of his songs.  I also like to sing and dance.  My favorite songs right now are “Edge of Glory”, Let’s Go to the Mall”, and “The Servant of Lions” (aka. The Circle of Life).  The Lion King is one of my favorite shows.  I really want to watch Bambi, and my mom has already told me about the mommy dying.  My favorite place to play is on trampolines.  And going to the beach.  Yesterday we went to a red sand beach and I loved selling mud pizza’s.  Daddy also buries my feet and legs.  I also played with my new friend Jonah.  He’s a boy that likes to sing and dance too.

Sometimes when I get an “owie” I cry.  Actually, I always cry when I get “owie”.  And sometimes I even cry when I don’t have an “owie”.  Mommy says that okay.  I like playing with both my grammy and Baba.  We are a long way from our home in Sexsmith.  And sometimes when we drive, I ask my parents if we’re driving back to Sexsmith.  But we have to go on a plane before that.  Whenever I blow on a dandelion, I wish for our blue van instead of our silver car.  I also think my knock-knock jokes are really funny even though they don’t make any sense.  I only wear pull-ups at nighttime, and I like peeing in the bush more than on the potty.  I don’t like praying for too many things at once.  Most of the time I pray for two things, but then there are days I don’t stop.  I often pray that my friends back home don’t miss me too much while I’m gone.

Well, my pet zebra needs to find it’s baby zebra so I need to go…bye.