Up The Hill

So I rallied the troops and we headed up a local ski hill to visit Becci and the family who are skiing for a few days. I figured it would be a lovely prayer drive for Oma, Tante Hilda and Elsie and that they would love the winter scenes and family rendezvous. 

This has been an exceptional year for snow and we left Spring behind when we rounded the corner that heads up the hill. 

This stop sign gives you an idea of how much snow is still hanging around at the end of March!

It was an exquisite drive and such fun to enter the strange white world.

Kind of like opening the closet door to Narnia...

Becci does some writing for a travel company which earns her points towards accommodation and the place she found was over the top amazing. The views were stunning and we felt like we were sitting on top of the world. 

And the best part was connecting with these kids again.

Alexia has grown up.

There's even make up involved!!

(Completely unnecessary as she is simply gorgeous, but we all know what it's like to be 13 and wanting to use PRODUCTS)

And Luca?

Heart melting smile and an eagerness to engage with life and people that is so delightful.  He is incredibly huggable. 

He had managed to get lost and then found on the ski hill during the time we were there.  Thankfully he had the smarts to find a ski patrol and get re-connected with his mother! 

The boys have both won awards for their skiing skills. 

This family spends A LOT of time enjoying the outdoors and skiing is a big deal for them. Maybe we'll have an Olympian in our midst as well one day soon...

As you can see Pupcake was a big hit.  

I'm incredibly grateful that the Lord sent this family to live in Kelowna for those years and that they were right under my roof for about 6 months or so.

There is a sweet connection that is precious and they love coming to Kelowna to see all of us.

Even beautiful Christine drove up from Vancouver.

Vic spent a night up there with his grandkids and had fun skiing with them.

He is my hero.

I seriously can't say enough good things about him.

Again, it was like an angel landed in our midst and he fixed things, did paperwork, loved on us and was his amazing cheerful self.

Here he is with Alexia and below is beloved Becci and her sweet Nico.

Nico is gentle hearted and precious. I wish I had more one on one time with him.

The cool thing about this condo was that it was on a ground floor and there was underground parking so Oma and Tante Hilda didn't have to touch any snow!

I love that they are brave enough to do these outings even though it is physically taxing.

Family is worth it.

The drive down the hill was energized with many prayers and songs of worship. 

That hour was one that sees heaven pulled down onto earth.

I just love the passion in these precious women that are some of my closest companions here on this journey to heaven.

What a thrill to drive down the lake towards our comfy little nests. 

For me it's a picture of our journey towards the ultimate goal - our eternal home.  We see it glimmering off in the distance and it gives us hope to finish the race that we have been called to complete. 

Poor beloved Elsie felt so sick on the way home.

She carries the weight of spiritual warfare in her physical body it seems and I pray that she will experience restoration and healing so that she won't succumb to the difficulty of the path.

He is able to do EXCEEDINGLY and ABUNDANTLY MORE than all we are able to ask or imagine.

That means there are going to be some outrageously wonderful answers to prayers happening very soon!

Arnold

I had the privilege of meeting up with this wonderful fellow today in a grocery store.  He's a real prayer warrior in this region and I know he is going to enjoy a "rich harvest of righteousness" because he just doesn't give up.

He has suffered a great deal in his life as result of years of abuse in the residential schools and a difficult history but what an amazing overcomer he is.

He constantly prays, reads the word and goes out looking for people to encourage and evangelize.  

We had a fabulous visit and time of prayer.  

I had asked the Lord to arrange my day and when another coffee visit didn't work out I just went out to do my shopping and there was Arnold, just waiting to make my day. 

This was the glorious sunset that closed the day for me. 

Amen.

She's Home

   

Outside of my Mom's place there is a protected area where I found this lovely bouquet of daffodils blooming!  

Since yesterday was the first day of Spring it was a perfect day to discover them. 

I've always felt a special affinity for daffodils, possibly because I was a daffodil in an ice skating production when I was about 5 years old.  

I wore this funny yellow hat in the shape of a daffodil as I twirled about in my yellow costume on the ice those many years ago.    

I tried to fix up the house to make it look a little festive for Patrice' arrival home. 

I put the birthday banners out and since I can't blow up balloons I made a little picture collage to hang from the light.

I had this great idea to go out and buy some tulip bouquets for Patrice's bedroom and for the kitchen table so I jumped into the car and was heading into town when I remembered there was a cake in the oven. 

So I quickly went home again. 

Here is the angel food cake I made, forgetting that Patrice gets a stomach ache from eating things with too many eggs.  

Oops. 

I had some company over for supper that night and we enjoyed the cake with whipped cream and blueberries while Patrice sat on the couch in the background. 

Sadly she came home with a cold and didn't have an appetite for food or a party.

So this is us, enjoying the unbirthday cake. 

Home Holiday

I filled up the bird feeder and took this picture of my sweet little visitors.  That's actually a miniature pumpkin at the forefront which I managed to make look like a monster with my fantastic photo skills.  

Totally unintentional, but still pretty amazing. 

I've been feeling a bit like I'm on a holiday at home these days. 

The combination of Spring, no teaching and an empty house is having that lovely 'vacation' effect on me.  Usually I don't do so well mentally/emotionally if I'm home alone for too long, but I can certainly handle a few days in a row - especially if I have a few outings in the midst of the alone time.  Patrice went to Vancouver to spend her birthday weekend with some friends and I'm holding down the fort, so to speak.  And the puppies have been providing wonderful entertainment as I've thrown the rubber chicken into the mix.  It has spiced things up significantly.

So there is a lot of this going on.  

Ladybug hoards the chicken and Moose  looks longingly on. 

Quite pathetic really.

In this particular instance below Moose was the victor. 

I may have taken the chicken away from Ladybug just to even things up.

Plus Moose finally cried and I couldn't handle it anymore.

Who can resist a face like that?

By the way, he is not lying on the bed as it is not allowed.  His back feet are still on the floor but it gives him the feeling of inclusion.

There was a small group meeting on Saturday night with beautiful worship and percussion provided by my favourite friend Matthew who is one of my heroes.  

I even made a trip to the basement which is an unusual occurrence around here. I had an unction to clean and organize the TV room and I had the satisfaction of dusting and throwing out a bunch of old videos. 

Below is the lovely artistic window sill that Patrice looks out on in the room below mine. 

Like I said - it's felt like a holiday as I've visited places I rarely go to anymore. 

Like the basement...

And since Patrice was away I treated the Budgie (whom we occasionally call "Petey") to some time on the kitchen table where he could look out at the birds on the feeder.

He still loves to fly all over the house leaving evidence behind at his favourite perches. 

Much to my dismay.

This morning Moose took off on me when I was outside trying to throw the ball for him.  So I decided to check out where he went and I took myself on a significantly longer "roll" than I usually go on around here. I found this pretty little park near our yard. I'm loving how everything is greening up from all the rain we've been having.

It was so lovely out, with the birds sweetly sending their calls out and with the fresh smell that follows rain.  There was even some sunshine peeking out from the clouds so I enjoyed my little outing.  Ladybug ran around, obviously in her glory and we finally located Moose sniffing around in the neighbours hedge.  Then he managed to beat us home as you can see.  Acting all innocent. The prodigal dog.
And that's the story of my home holiday weekend.

Some Culture

I was given two tickets to one of the most lovely performances I have ever been to. This Father and son duo were putting on their "inaugural" concert together and it was so rich; acoustic guitar, spoken word, singing, and harp. 

The venue added to the whole experience as it was held in the little old wooden  Anglican church that I go to on Sunday mornings.  Great acoustics in an intimate setting made the evening so perfect.

**************

Then today after I finished another chelation treatment I was reminded by a friend about the last showing of "Peter Pan" at my school so I was so happy to be able to take that in as well.  So much talent and such a great production.  A fun way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

Spring Break has begun and I've been loving it!  

Mind Blowing Beauty

My heart is thoroughly happy about the wonderfully early Spring we are experiencing here.  Last Sunday I went down to the lake to attend the disabled sailing meeting in preparation for a fun summer on the water.  It was delightfully warm and sunny and I felt so very important wheeling around the new Yacht Club.  I don't know if I'll get in there again so I took a picture to capture the moment.   Just check out all this downtown March beauty...

Patrice and I picked up some special coffees and snacks...

and headed to the boardwalk to enjoy the warm afternoon sunshine. 

Our last Friday prayer and praise drive was also exceptionally lovely. We sat here to have our little burgers and hot drinks.

Then we took a drive around a little nearby lake discovering a beautiful area that looked like the Alps!  There were cows grazing on the hills and so much promise of Spring despite the snow covered hills off in the distance.

I had fun with my ProHDR camera app and Elsie and Pupcake were perfect models with this exceptional backdrop.

I can hardly even believe I get to live here.  Truly the goodness of God touches absolutely every area of my life and this location is just over the top amazing. 

This is the verse I've been meditating on today.  

Totally mind blowing material...

  For the law was given through Moses, but God’s unfailing love and faithfulness came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. But the unique One, who is himself God, is near to the Father’s heart. He has revealed God to us.  John 1:17

Breaking Through

Well, on the first day of March I awoke to big snowflakes falling and the ground covered in white, but that passed quickly and I am not even going to post a picture.  

I'm finished with winter. 

I've been checking the garden lately for signs of Spring and today I found this brave little soul and some of his companions.

He is the first to have broken through the wintery landscape!

Winter is past and the birds have been singing a

 chorus of praise.

Yesterday on my way up the hill I had to stop and capture these colours.

Glorious green and brilliant blue.

And these two sweeties have recently gotten their winter coats shaved off. 

Soon there will be lambs...be still my beating heart!

We've all made it through another winter season and our hearts are eager, expectant, full of hope and ready to celebrate.

This diva also had a hair cut today so she is sporting her little sweater.

I couldn't manage her hairy legs but her body is slick and shaved.

Now the big hairy Moose needs to be tackled.  I had no energy left for that.

These two are out in the shop this afternoon working on the old motorcycle that Daniel bought Nicole at Christmas.  They're replacing parts and getting it ready for a fun season of adventures.  As much as I'd rather not have my kids on motorcycles my job is to bless them and to pray, pray, PRAY! 

I can hear the engine revving so I think they're making progress out there!