Keeping Our Goals....

We are ready for church and have about 10 minutes before we have to leave. Normally we are rushing out the door and trying to stay on time! So, with this extra few minutes, I decided to update our blog.

This New Year 2010 found us making a committment as a family to let the Bible have more prominence in our home. We have been having more Bible studies, singing, and we are presently reading the book, "The Crucified Life" together as a family. We are enjoying our time together as a family with the emphasis on God's Word.

Last night, we read our Bibles together and we started talking about Christian character. We somehow got on the subject of music and what makes different kinds of music right or wrong. What a great time we had learning the "why's" to what is pleasing to Christ and acceptable versus what is wordly and wrong for the Christian. The kids asked plenty of questions that we didn't even know they had. I highly recommend making your home a sanctuary where your children feel safe and at ease asking questions and opening their hearts. We ended the evening with prayer and then watched as the USA 4-Man Bobsled team took gold.....and for the first time this Olympic season, we got to see the USA National Anthem played.....since we are in Canada, they mainly show the Canadian Gold Medalists ceremonies!

Kami and her prayer for more snow......

Kami mentioned this past week, "Wouldn't it be great to have one last big snow storm where we were stuck at home and couldn't leave the house....we could make hot chocolate and wrap ourselves in our blankets to stay warm!" She even went so far as to tell Madame Claire that she would pray for more snow...............well.............

Yesterday we woke up to a snow storm with winds gusting over 40 MPH and lots of snow and sleet. I thought we could manage bundling up and driving real slow to our French class. We loaded up the van with everyone at 8:20 (our classes start at 9 and it is only a 15 minute drive but we wanted plenty of time to drive slowly). We skidded and slid through our neighborhood and ran into a traffic jam as people were sliding all over the roads. I kept having to clean our mirrors just to be able to see. We slid through two stop signs and after 40 minutes stuck in bumper to bumper traffic, we had only made it half way to our destination. I told Kami to call Madame Clair and to let her know that we were turning around, it was just too dangerous. I turned onto a side road that would be able to get us back to our house, but failed to remember that it is a road that is uphill...let's just say that we almost slid back down the hill in our van and finally made it to the top sliding sideways. What a mess it was out there.

Well, today, we are still stuck at home. The winds are gusting over 60MPH and it was snowing this morning. Madame Claire called us and said for us to stay home as local schools are closed and the city was shutting down some of the roads. Kami has just one problem.....she did not have the faith to stock up on hot chocolate nor any sugar. We have no way of making any hot chocolate!

News & Notes

Language School:

Language school is going well. There are frustrating times when we wonder if we will ever be fluent in french. Then there are times where everything seems to be clicking and we are comprehending everything well. We have been making more of a conscious effort to speak french and communicate more. We still do not have an "ear" for the language which means that we still have trouble hearing and understanding. Although, in last night's services, Pastor Roy continued his series on the book of Revelation and I believe that I understood more out of his message in French than I have to this point. So we are getting closer but still have a ways to go. When Silas sees our professor, Madame Claire, he smiles, reaches out for her, and gives her a big "MMmmmmmm!". She promptly gives him a maple cookie and the two of them spend the rest of the time smiling, laughing and having a great time with each other! Sometimes I think that she is teaching us french just to see Silas every day!

Kami's Pregnancy:

Kami is 27 weeks along and we are looking forward to having another bundle of joy. Kami has been very tired lately and her midwife told her that she needs to lay down throughout the day more often in 10-15 minute intervals in order to help some of the problems she is experiencing late in her pregnancy. Her midwife said that she cannot keep going at the pace that she doing right now. This is not very easy to do while having a 1-year old to chase around. Our older 3 are jumping right in to help with Silas and they never complain when we ask them to watch him for a short bit to give Kami a break to rest. I have been trying extra hard to take care of laundry, some cooking, and some of the chores around the house to help Kami while working at french as well.

Upcoming Opportunities:

I have the opportunity to preach in Trois Rivieres on March 14th for Bro. Jason Hamby while his family will travel back into the states (this is also Beth's birthday, she commented last year that is seems that we celebrate her birthday in church every year, either a regular service or conference.........I told her that we are keeping the tradition going this year as well!) I will also be teaching SS and preaching the Sunday AM service here at St. Augustin at the end of April. This is their mission's emphasis month and I am looking forward to this time.

Snow:

(Here Kami tackled Josh and is pounding him with snow...he is actually stuck in a hole curled up into a ball to protect himself!)

After being forewarned by everyone of the harsh winters and extreme amounts of snow here in Quebec City, we are on our last leg of the winter season with the mildest winter since the 1940's . We love snow and were hoping for more of the "white stuff" but we are at the point where we are ready to get out and have picnics, take walks and play in the yard without ending in a snowball fight!

Until Next Time!

Well, we realized this past Sunday that Elisabeth needed glasses. Kami overheard a conversation between Brenna and Elisabeth about not being able to read the words on the bulletin board. Beth said, "No one can read those words...." Well, at least no one who needs glasses! I have to admit, the timing financially was not the greatest but God is in control of everything and we found a pretty good package deal for the exam, frames and lenses.

So yesterday, the eye doctor examined Beth's eyes and said that she needed glasses right away and was shocked that she had to start her off at 1.75 for each eye. (I have no clue what the numbers mean.....???)

She found this very nice pair of glasses and she looks beautiful! She put on the glasses and was so amazed that she can read signs from far away and even said the colors look different now.....As a parent, we feel bad that we didn't notice earlier that she had a problem. She is an avid reader and will (if we let her) sit on the couch and read 2-3 full length books is one day!

We love you Beth! Welcome to the world of sight! (Oh by the way Beth, do not mis-place your glasses and whatever you do, do not let your little brother Silas get a hold of them!!!)

Petits Vaillants

The children have been working hard during our Petits Vaillants class every other Sunday evening. We are working on putting together a missionary booklet for the church. It is a booklet that will spotlight each of the missionaries that are supported at Église Baptiste de St-Augustin. For each missionary family, there will be a picture of that family along with their contact information, where to mail cards and packages, birthdays, anniversaries, favorite colors, each person's hobbies and past-times, favorite snacks, and also any needs/desires that the missionaries may have. This will hopefully help everyone to put a familar face with the families that we pray for and also to hopefully be a blessing to the families who are serving our Lord Jesus Christ across the world by sending them emails and birthday cards along with an occasional care package.

The booklet will be in a scrapbook form and the children have been working hard at cutting out the information, pictures, and "matting" the cut out items. They are doing a great job and I am excited to see the finished product.

We have also been using our french with the children as we give them instructions in french and talk to them about their daily lives in french as well. They enjoy helping us learn new french words and really enjoy correcting our pronunciations and spellings! We have fun and enjoy getting to know the children personally.

Back to Normal

Ok, I know that it has been a while since I last posted but better late than never. Kami and Silas came back on Feb 9th and we were so excited to have them back. We had asked the Lord for great weather on her trip back so that there would be no delays or canceled flights, and in the midst of the snow storms in the U.S., there was clear skies on the day that she and Silas flew home.

Of course, I am sure that you read the earlier post that Silas did not need to have his surgery on his tear-duct because God opened up his tear-duct the week of their trip to Florida. We praise the Lord!

Kami and Silas enjoyed a wonderful visit with family, friends, and attending our home church for the services there. Kami sang in French and English and enjoyed the services so much.

This past Sunday, I had the opportunity to preach for Pastor Cote' here in Quebec City. He had an emergency appendectomy (I think that is how you spell it) last week and I was excited for the chance to preach. I will also have the opportunity to preach on March 14th in Trois Rivieres as well filling in for Bro. Jason Hamby.

Things are back to normal here on the home front. French classes are going well but we seem to be battling some sicknesses again. Please pray for Brenna, she and momma had to miss church this past Sunday. Brenna has been very sleepy and drained for the past couple of weeks. There are days when all she does is sleep and doesn't eat but just a bite or two of food. We have been boosting her iron intake and it seems to help but she still is having trouble. She was running a slight fever on Sunday and slept for most of the day. We would appreciate your prayers for her. Ever since we moved to Canada, we have experienced pleny of colds, flu's, and sicknesses. It takes its toll after a while but we are hanging in there. We just praise the Lord when we heal up and praise Him for what he is doing in our lives. Until next time....................

Where is my wife ????

This being daddy and momma is for the birds. Do you realize that by the time you finish lunch and get everything cleaned up you might as well get working on supper.....not to mention when the little slaves (I mean children) are sick, that means even more work for me....

So, as I slave away with daily chores, french work, cooking meals, grocery shopping, nursing sick kiddos, laundry and a host of other stuff..........exactly where is my wife, my baby Silas and what exactly are they doing???

(as you can see, Kami is suffering in the harsh Florida temperatures and sun!)

(here she is with her mother-in-law [my mom] and having a great time)

(Here she is with her sister Keela having a great time)

(Silas is enjoying time with his great grandmother June)

(Grandpa decided he needed some help at the car lot so he put Silas to work checking the air in all of the tires of the cars there)

(He showed Silas how to do it once and then told him to get to work, isn't there a law against this?)

(When Silas got done, Grandpa took him into the office to show him how to fill-up all of the cars with gas........now I know there is a law against this!)

(Okay, Kami is finally doing some French work........inbetween shopping, sightseeing, eating out, visiting and a host of other stuff while the rest of her family is freezing in Quebec City "holding down the fort"!)

Having a great time!

Silas is having a great time with family and being spoiled by his grandparents, aunts, uncles, 2 great-grandmas, and cousins! On Friday, the family got together to throw Silas a birthday party...this was a belated birthday party but that doesn't matter to a one year-old!

Thanks for the party!!!! Kami said today (Monday) that Silas has been cranky today...After seeing these pictures, I think he has been on a sugar high for 3 days!

No Surgery For Silas !!!

Thank you to all of you who prayed for Silas. He does not need surgery on his tearduct! We have noticed that for the past week, his tear duct has not had any problems. The opthamalogist confirmed this when Kami took Silas for his apppointment today. God has once again answered our prayers in a great and wonderful way. After battling a clogged tear duct ever since he was born, it has opened and we are thankful. Not only does Silas not need surgery, but this also means that we do not have to come up with the $1200 that would have been needed for the deductible on our insurance! All Silas has left is his annual check-up with his pediatric doctor and he will be getting some shots for his vaccinations. Other than that, he is healthy and rarin' to go!