It's funny how for a few days I have no blog ideas and then I get a bunch of great ideas in one sitting. It helps when you have an excellent weekend and that's what we experienced. We've had a run of smoggy, muggy days and this weekend we had blue sky, puffy white clouds and a nice cool breeze. The breeze was cool enough that we actually got cold when we got out of the pool for too long. It may sound weird, but getting goosebumps is more of a thrill here when you get out of a pool than when you are at an intense movie. As well as the weather, we had a great social weekend and got to either meet new friends or visit with ones we've wanted to spend time with. It has been my hope to do a post on religion, but that is probably worth a post of it's own.

I wish that I had taken a photo of the sky with the palm trees in the foreground today. It was very beautiful. Yesterday I had WOW moment when I just soaked in my surroundings and the beauty of God's creation. One of the best times here, in my opinion, is just before dark, especially when a light breeze starts up, and that is what I experienced last night while I was watching Matt swim in the Family Pool. As I mentioned, the sky was clear but at this point it was turning into that incredible blue that lasts only momentarily during sunset; the constant noise of workers and life in general was even uncommonly quiet for a few seconds. I looked up and a flock of white birds flew silently above me. They were in the V formation like Canadian Geese would be but they didn't make a noise...I couldn't even hear their wings like I sometimes can when geese fly overhead. I think my heart skipped a beat...

Friday night we had our friends the Weeda's over in the hopes that we could sit and watch the Olympics and eat our McDonalds' burgers. Unfortunately that didn't work out. I don't know what it's like in Canada, but here it's difficult to view the Olympics because apparently the station that had the rights couldn't get enough advertising. Tris has just gone out and purchased bunny ears and so he's sitting with the kids watching a snowy version of swimming. For those of you who knew of our tv situation over the years in Canada may be asking yourselves...they've got cable? or better yet...aren't they used to snowy tv? Well ha-ha-ha and la-dee-dah...yes we've got cable and no, we are really tired of watching snowy tv.

Tris had a training class for a Middle Years Program (MYP) on Saturday and Matt had a friend over. Abby and I had the opportunity to go for lunch with an incredibly sweet Korean woman, Eun-Soo (oon-sue) and her grade 5 daughter Seo-Young (soh-young) and her 4 year old daughter (difficult name...I forgot!!!) at a Korean restaurant near our home. I've had kim-chi before and the odd noodle dish, but have never been very crazy about Korean food. We are both very glad that we went, because we experienced Korean food like we never have before. Bbq pork strips were cooked in front of us, which we then dipped in sesame oil and wrapped in a fuzzy (like mint) sesame leaf. The first bite is odd but then it is a great taste experience. We had a variety of kim-chis (summer and winter) as well as sweet cucumbers, spring onions laced with chilis, and an iced summer noodle soup (where the noodles were brown and very thin...kind of like worms). If we receive photos via e-mail from Eun-Soo I'll post them here and show you how much food we had to try. As an aside, it was an interesting meal because Eun-Soo and Seo-Young know only a little bit of english, yet we had great conversations and laughed a lot just because we were five girls/ladies eating good food together in an air-conditioned room, sitting in chairs without legs. Can it get any better on a hot Saturday?

I almost forgot to mention that just prior to going to lunch on Saturday the kids and I were able to Skype a variety of people. We talked for quite some time and it was great to connect. Thanks, Dale and Madison for going to help mom and dad on their computer. I hope that the visual will work now along with the audio. Unfortunately although our new computer has great response time with skype we don't yet have a webcame for it, so either you get fast and clear voices or delayed conversation with a visual. This morning we were able to connect with our family at the White Family Reunion (8th annual???) via Skype...they're in Penticton about 30 strong. We miss being there and it was our original hope that we wouldn't have to leave Canada until after the reunion, but obviously that didn't happen. We send our best wishes and hope that all goes well, even with the thunder and lightning.

Saturday night Tris and I went to a bbq at the Country Club where we met a bunch of new folks; two couples we met from UPH (the university...we are from SPH the school) are from BC. One couple comes from White Rock and the other from Victoria. It was just nice to rub elbows with some people who know the same places as us.



Today, Sunday, we went to church at Calvary Life Fellowship where a pastor very much like Pastor Ross Fox is the head preacher. He joked from the pulpit, had difficulty hearing some things, had a great memory for peoples prayer needs and requests and also had white hair. I just wanted to go up and give him a hug but didn't think it would go over well, him not knowing me and all. One thing I love about going to church around here is that there are so many nations represented in each church and each one loves the same God as we do. They speak of God's characteristics in such a way that resounds with how we have experienced him. It's awesome that no matter where we go, our lives may change but God is the same yesterday, today and forever.


After church we went to the Psychomall (also known as the Supermal) for lunch and came home for a swim. Again, we met with the Weeda family at the pool and had a great hang-out swim with them. We've eaten a great Canadian meal of sausages (little chicken ones), hashbrowns (just like McDonalds' except they've been frozen and refrozen a few dozen times, I think) and pancakes with syrup and butter. Just to prove that we're not going to pot and that we do actually do things for ourselves, I've included a few photos of Matt and Abby in the kitchen...and YES, they're authentic.

This was a much longer post than I had intended but I hope that you enjoyed reading it. We love how we can connect with so many of you at one time this way. Thanks for reading...and we also want to thank you for your Facebook emails and regular emails of greeting and encouragement. Please continue to pray for us as we really do feel the difference spiritually by living in a muslim nation.