U.S. Thanksgiving 2008

I have spent several hours working on this blog. Several things have kept me from posting it. I've had to change things, then lost things, then couldn't figure out how to get the draft to work and add to it. So, if the sentences are out of order or if the pictures don't come up good, etc. please forgive me. I guess I'm still a work in progress where this computer is concerned.

Thanksgiving was a special time for us. Jack, Alysa, Maddie and Jackson came for the weekend. The first thing we did Friday morning was to go to the library. Alysa and Jackson stayed with the his age group while Maddie and I went upstairs for the older group. Afterwards Maddie and Jackson wanted to check out some books to take home.

Jackson found some Thomas the Train books and immediately sat down to look at them. He was so into reading them.

Maddie also found some books. She has learned to read and it is exciting to see her interest in learning new words and finding out what the stories are about.

Alysa is always a good sport and helped both of them find just the right books.

Jackson had hardly gotten in the door when he sat down and started reading his books. He was so cute sitting there that I couldn't resist taking his picture.

Jack loves to sit down and play the piano. He has composed several songs and loves to play them.


We have a new indoor pool here in St. Marys very close to our house. Jack, Maddie and Jackson enjoying swimming in it. It took Jackson a while to venture down into deeper water, but he finally did. (I have a picture with Jack, Maddie and Jackson at the swimming pool that I have tried to upload, but can't. So, I'll have to just leave it out.)



Sledding is also a fun thing to do in the winter. There is a good size hill close to our house that Maddie and Jackson enjoyed. The hardest part is walking back up the hill pulling the sled.


Maddie is so sweet with her missing front tooth.

Son Jack sat and helped Father Jack learn some things on powerpoint.

One of the most fun traditions we have is for Jack to go to Value Village (in London) and hunt for bargains. He then will have a "mashion show" for us. When Maddie was small she couldn't say fashion, so we have a "mashion show".

It was a wonderful weekend and we do thank the Lord for His rich blessings.

Going to an Auction

Tonight I went to an auction that a friend was doing. His name is Bob Heywood and he has been doing this for years. His wife, Martha, helps him by doing the paperwork as Bob auctions each item. He has two other men that hold up the items that are for sale while he takes the bids. The auction was held at the community center in Exeter, Ontario.

Bob has been living in this community all of his life. Besides doing auctions, he is a real estate broker. Sometimes when people want to down size to smaller living quarters, they will want to get rid of most of their household items. Bob will have an auction for them. Probably most of the people that were at the auction tonight were 50 and over. There will also be antique dealers that come. They find good deals among all of the "stuff". People that are there to buy will bring empty boxes for their purchases (also they bring newspaper to wrap up the breakables that they buy). Bob has a fun personality and often brings in humor as he sales the items. Having a snack bar where people can get coffee, diet cokes, etc. helps in keeping things relaxed and friendly.


This winter Jack and I went to Israel and Bob and Martha went with us. They are a special couple and they give of themselves to all those around them. They are very involved in Exeter Bible Chapel. Martha helps in so many ways, teaching Sunday School, helping with the finances and computer related things, does nursery and kitchen duty, plus a host of other things. Bob leads singing on Sundays, preaches, leads Bible studies, plays the piano and accordion, takes many funerals in the community. The Lord has blessed us with this special friendship with Bob and Martha.

New Snow

This past Saturday morning we got up to 18 inches of fresh snow. We had already had 10-12 inches the previous few days. Monday it started warming up and some of the snow has melted. Even if this all goes, we still have 5 more months of snow. Once it is here, we just adjust and get on with life.
Here is our BBQ covered with snow.

Anyone for lunch?

Snow Storms and White Outs

I would like to know the connection of my teaching a Bible Class on Tuesday nights and blinding snow storms that hit the same night.

Last winter I taught a Precept Study that lasted 6 weeks. I had it every Tuesday night in Exeter. Exeter is about 30-35 minutes from our house. Of the 6 Tuesdays, only one night did NOT have a snow storm. I drove in white outs both ways on 5 of the 6 nights, by myself. Between St. Marys and Exeter is farmland. On both sides of the road you have open farmland. The wind blows unhindered across the road, making it hard to see when it is snowing.

Two days ago, on a Tuesday, I had the first of my Precept class at a home near to Exeter. As far as the weather, it was only lightly misting rain when I drove out of my driveway and out of St. Marys. As I turned on the highway to Exeter, it started to snow, heavily. I couldn't believe it. We have not had any snow and I thought it would be at least November (4 days later) before we would start having snow.

I almost started to laugh when I saw the snow coming down heavily. To top it off I had only worn a light fall coat and had my summer type shoes on. I just have a hard time putting summer shoes and fall jackets away.

I thought the snow might be finished by the time the Bible study was over, but no such luck. Before leaving Jan's house, I found the snow scrapper and cleared the front and back windshield. So, the white out weather is upon us. Once again the Lord will prove Himself faithful in His care for me as I drove to and from Bible Studies.

Jackson in Chicago

What do think of when you hear the word fuzz? Until two years ago I would never have thought of it in connection to a two year old boy. At an early age Jackson would pull the cotton batting from his car seat and brush it across his face, with his thumb in his mouth. Every time he goes to bed he has to find some fuzz. He hunts until he finds some. His Mommy has a winter sweater that he loves to snuggle into because of the "fuzz" on it.

Today we went to Hobby Lobby and we were looking at a display with Christmas trees. Below the trees was cotton batting and some of it had fallen on the floor. He saw the part on the floor before either Alysa or I saw it. He immediately said "Fuzz" and picked it up. So he held it the rest of the time we were in the store.


Jackson is a happy, delightful little boy. He loves to jump, climb, run, laugh, sing, etc. We went to McDonald's for lunch. Between eating fries and his hamburger he was climbing and sliding in the playland there.

Right now he playing with a toy that sings the alphabet. He is playing it over and over and over again, holding his fuzz. Yes, it could definitely get on your nerves (the toy, not the fuzz).

Maddie in Chicago

It is always a delight to come to Chicago to be with Maddie. She is a 6 year old and is full of energy, imagination, joy, laughter, etc. Yesterday Alysa, Jackson and I took her to school. I hadn't seen this school before, so Maddie showed me around it and then introduced me to her teacher. There is a beautiful chapel at the school. She enjoys being there every day. She is even learning to do power point on the computer. I only learned to do power point several months ago. It won't be long before she will be teaching me things.


We received a package in the mail yesterday from Aunt Shirley. She knew I was here and sent me several things, but also included some things for Maddie and Jackson. Maddie called Aunt Shirley to thank her for the outfit for her doll, Sophie. She looks so grown up talking on the phone.


Every morning Maddie decides what she will wear to school. Today she also wanted Mommy to put her hair up in braids.

Crane (bird) on the roof

One day last week we were eating lunch and I looked out the patio doors and there was a crane flying and it landed on the roof of one of the houses behind our house. I grabbed the camera and went outside to take a couple of pictures. It was so unusual to see it sitting on the roof. I thought you might like to see it.

Lunch in Exeter

The last day that Shirley, Virginia and Bobbie were here we drove to Exeter to have lunch with two good friends from the Stratford Church. Jan and Gail work in Exeter. We met them at Eddingtons at noon. It is a restaurant that is in an old two story Victorian house. We had a lovely time with them over a delicious meal.

One thing Exeter is noted for is their white squirrels. The only other place that I know of that has white squirrels is Olney, Illinois. We drove around Exeter to see if we could find some. There is a small park close to the church and as we drove up we saw two of the white squirrels. We jumped out and began snapping their pictures. I've been wanting to get pictures of them for quite a while, but keep forgetting to take my camera when Jack and I go to church in Exeter.


There were also a couple of tourist stores that we went into. The temperature was around 70, just the right temperature for walking around town. Virginia found a baseball cap with Canada on it that she had been wanting to get for Clyde, and it was on sale. Here is a picture of the four of us. This is a small park right down town. A man sitting on a bench at the park offered to take the picture.


We found it necessary to check out the Tim Hortons in Exeter. Just needed to see if it was the same as all the others we had visited, after getting Shirley and me a diet coke from McDonalds. Exeter is only about 4,000 but has a busy highway that goes through it, so they have a McDonalds.

Circus Peanuts and Outback

From the time I was a child I have loved Circus Peanuts. These peanuts are a marshmallow type of peanut (not regular peanuts). I can't get them here in Canada, so I asked Shirley to bring me a couple of packages along with some candy corn. Of course, both items are pure sugar, but there are times that you need sugar. She does not like either of these things at all and under protest brought them. Alysa also just can't stand them or their smell. They just don't know what is good.

Bobbie and Virginia both love the peanuts and candy corn. We had to laugh when we opened the package of circus peanuts. Shirley had an awful expression of disgust on her face. She and Bobbie were sitting on our deck and Bobbie was eating some peanuts and I got a picture that I thought would be fun to put in the blog.

On Wednesday night we decided to go to the Outback Restaurant in London. It is my favorite restaurant. I'm not a big beef eater, but I do love their steaks, along with their salad and baked potato. They also have unlimited refills of diet coke in cold frosted mugs. Diet coke is always best if it is very cold when you have it. A must when going to Outback is their blooming onion. It didn't take us long to eat the onion. I heard that calories don't count when you eat it with friends and family.

Jack was a good sport and drove us to London to Outback. He was at the mercy of four women.

Visits to Tim Hortons

On the way to St. Jacobs Shirley and I needed diet cokes, so we stopped in New Hamberg at McDonalds for a fountain coke. They have my favorite diet cokes. Across the street is a Tim Hortons. Virginia is a coffee lover, so instead of buying coffee at McDonalds, we had mercy on her and drove over to get her some good coffee. It was the beginning of many times going to Tim Hortons. They also have great donuts there, many different kinds of them.

We used just about any excuse to go there. Unfortunately there is one thing that I am disappointed in when I go there. They only have Pepsi products. I must write the owner of it and request they change back to Coke. But I must say, I do love the pastries they sell. Also, their chili is my very all time favorite. You can get a meal deal there that includes the chili, a bun, drink and some kind of donut for only about 6 dollars.

Bobbie found that she really liked the cappuccino. She and Virginia also bought coffee to take back to family members. We used the excuse that we needed to buy more coffee for them to take home several times. Also Virginia bought one of their thermos mugs to take home. One thing about buying this, the first time you buy it you get the coffee free in it. Then she decided that Clyde (her husband) might won't one and she didn't want to be fighting with him over the one she was taking home. Another excuse to go back to Timmy's. Shirley loved the hot chocolate. Jack often gets hot chocolate when we go there.

I don't get family here often, so it was so lovely to be sitting there enjoying an apple fritter (or blueberry fritter) with them, just laughing and enjoying ourselves. Maybe its a girl thing.

Sewing Napkins

When Shirley and I get together we always have some project that we want to do. We laugh about her keeping all of us busy with various things, but we love all that we do with her. She just doesn't like to sit and do nothing. Over the last year she has made cloth napkins for family members and friends as gifts and so I thought it would be a good idea to make some cloth napkins when she came since they would be here a whole week.

I have a friend that has apple decorations in her kitchen and dining area. I asked Shirley to see if she could find some apple material for us to make some napkins for Cindy (lives in Goulais River, Ont.) She found the material and brought it. She actually found two different prints of apples and brought them both, plus she also found a piece of material that had fall leaves on it that would make beautiful napkins.

Shirley got us organized. She cut the material to the proper size, Bobbie and Virginia pressed the edges of the material and then I did the sewing. We didn't do it all in one day, but spread it out over three days, I think. There were 14 napkins of each of the apple material and 12 napkins of the leaves. The leave napkins Shirley gave to Virginia.

One thing that turned out great was that my friend, Cindy, and her husband and son actually were coming for a visit two days after Shirley and the girls left on Friday. I was excited to be able to give her the napkins so soon. Cindy loved the napkins. She and Ron left this morning to go back up north. I'll include a picture of Cindy in this blog.

Another thing Shirley likes to do is bake. We had some bananas that were getting old so she baked some banana bread. The recipe has cream cheese in it and is very delicious.

A Family Visit

I always look forward to family coming for a visit. On October 3rd my sister, Shirley, and a cousin, Bobbie, came for a week's visit. They brought with them a friend of Shirley's from College, Virginia. Shirley lives in Ft. Smith, Arkansas. Bobbie lives in Nashville, Tennessee and Virginia lives in Memphis, Tennessee. Shirley left Ft. Smith on October 1st and drove to Memphis to Virginia's and then on Thursday drove to Nashville to Bobbie's. On Friday they left Nashville and drove 700 miles in one day to get here. It was a very long day for them. When you are traveling with others the time goes quicker, plus they had a book on tape they listened to (Yes, I know you don't end a sentence with a preposition, but it just works sometimes.)

St. Jacobs is a Mennonite community and is always a great place to take visitors. On Saturdays they have an outdoor market that is interesting to walk through. We got up Saturday morning, ate breakfast and then left to go there. It is about an hour and 10 minute drive. At the edge of town there is a peanut shop called Picards. (Unfortunately I forgot my camera-so no pictures of it.) We love stopping there because they sell all kinds of flavors of peanuts and have samples of all of them. Some of the flavors are ranch, dill pickle, salt and vinegar, BBQ, salsa, etc. You can make a lunch out of eating peanuts.

From there we went into the small town to walk through the different shops. I was a little disappointed because some of the shops there were changed and clothing stores were in their places. Anyhow, there were several shops that were the same. My all time favorite store is called The Weathered Gate. It has beautiful dishes, decorations, purses, candles, etc. in it with good prices. If I am looking for a gift for someone I usually can find it there. Since it was Saturday and nearing the end of tourist season, it was very busy every where we went. After going through the shops we drove down to the outdoor market, which is about a mile from the edge of town.

There are two big buildings at the market that have crafts, meats, baking, crafts and a great deal of other things. Outside you could buy fruits and vegetables, maple syrup and more crafts. A number of the Mennonites were there selling their items. It is interesting to see them in their outfits, and to see the horses and buggies they drive. There was a long line up for lunch most places there, but we found a little restaurant where we got a sandwich, and good fries and of course, diet coke for me.

More to come in other blogs.

Hockey Night in St. Marys

Tonight we went to the arena here in St. Marys to watch the grandson of our best friends (from Goulais River) play hockey. He is 13 and it was so fun to see him out there skating and body checking. At this age they are good skaters and handle the puck pretty good. The game was exciting to watch. They were playing against a team that is one level higher than them. It is always good to have these games to help you get better. Last year Rene's team won a Silver Stick Tournament, which is very important.

Between the 2nd and 3rd period the Zamboni came out on the ice to clear it. The ice gets pretty gouged up during play by the skates. This reminded me of a joke I heard years ago. "How did the Newfe (not sure how to spell that) get killed while he was fishing? A Zamboni hit him."

Precept Seminar

This past Saturday I attended a Precept/Women Alive Seminar held in St. Jacobs. Anything to do with Precept I enjoy. My friend, Donna Chapman, had emailed me about it and said she was going and several of our friends from Guelph were also going. It is through Donna that I started doing Bible studies using Precept materials.

The Seminar registration was at 8:30 a.m. It was hard to get up at 6:00 a.m. for me. No one should have to get up before 7:00 in the morning. St. Jacobs is about a hour and ten minutes from St Marys, so I felt I needed to leave shortly after 7:00. Jack had given me a good idea where the church was located in St. Jacobs, but I wanted to leave plenty of time in case I couldn't find it. He is pretty good at remembering where everything is located and he gave me good directions.

There were to be four women that were teaching sessions during the day. We chose one and stayed with her for the four sessions. I chose Darla Walker. She has a personal ministry called Her Hope Communications. The sessions dealt with the life of Joseph and were very profitable. We also had special music that was very uplifting. During the time when we were all together, Ruth Coghill challenged us in memorizing Scripture. We worked on Psalm 8 together.

It was great to spend time with Donna and to find out about the Precept classes that she is teaching this fall. She is teaching Psalms at Guelph Bible Chapel and at St. George's Anglican Church. Also she is teaching one of the Lord Series Studies at the Chapel. She has been teaching for almost 20 years and has touched hundreds of women with the Word of God. I'm very thankful that she has been part of my walk with the Lord. She has encouraged me and challenged me in my ministry for the Lord. Because of her I started teaching Precept classes.

Senior's Retreat at ABK

Last fall Jack was asked to speak at a Senior's Retreat in September 2008. The Retreat was to be held at Camp Aush-Bik-Koong. Starting in 1976, we worked at this camp for many years and made a lot of friends from Sault Ste. Marie to North Bay. It has special memories for us. Our children grew up going to that camp. They worked there during their teen years and loved it.

Two weeks ago we attended the Retreat and had a great time renewing friendships. Many of the couples there we hadn't seen for a number of years. Jack spoke on "Finishing Well", using the book of I Timothy. He did a very good job, challenging us to continue in our walk with the Lord, finishing well what the Lord had begun when we were first saved.

The program directors were Ted and Marg Windle. Ted kept us running on schedule, led the music, provided entertainment and games. Marg added so many extras for us, including having Tea and Crumpets two afternoons with beautiful China teacups, flowers, tablecloths, etc.

Dave and Shirley Lawrence were the cooks and they did feed us well. They are faithful in serving the Lord as Commended Workers with Brethren Assemblies. They certainly made the extra effort in cooking for us. We had homemade rolls, pies, cookies, etc. I think we all ended camp a little heavier than when we came.


One special memory I have is the time we spent singing worship songs to the Lord. As I looked around the room at these people that we have known for over 30 years, these believers that have weathered the storms of life, my heart could only praise the Lord. There we stood, singing to the Lord we love so much, Who has been so faithful to us, Who has held onto us through all kinds of difficulties, sorrows, troubles. There was a special bond between us, the Lord's love and faithfulness. Our God is an awesome God.

There was another thing that touched my heart deeply. One of the women there was a retired missionary. Her name is Pearl Winterburn. She served in the Congo for about 50 years. We were sitting at her table at lunch and she was talking about the Lord and His blessings. One thing she talked about was when she came home from the mission field. Her health wasn't good and she had been in the hospital. When she came out of the hospital they put her in a nursing home. She said the first day she was there she went to her room. When she got there she lay on the bed sobbing, wondering why the Lord had put her in this position. She didn't want to be there at all. As she was crying a knock came on her door. It was a young woman that worked there. Her words to Pearl were "I heard you were a missionary, could you tell me about God." Can you believe how quickly the Lord heard and answered her plea. Pearl said at that instant she knew why the Lord put her there and she started praising the Lord. It was all I could do to not cry, realizing what Pearl had been going through and then seeing how wonderful the Lord's plan for her is. She is still a missionary, even in the nursing home. The Lord has given her a burden to reach these women that don't know the Lord, that have so little time here on earth. Pearl is about 90 years old and is still used greatly by the Lord.

Jack has been asked to come back next year as the speaker. We look forward to our time there again. I'll include a few pictures of the campground and it's surroundings.