today...

I had an extraordinary day, so I thought I'd write about it.
Sarah and I are starting our day as normal and I get a phone call around 10 am. "Are you coming to the park?" Tanya asks. I've forgotten about this moms meeting in the park on Wed.s thing. Yah, we'll come. My grandpa stops by to give me some stuff he and grandma don't want anymore. I come away with many greeting cards, a flannel shirt, soup mugs (nice ones), a tea strainer thing, a photo box...Then, we jog out to the park and visit with some moms and babes there. Then, off to the main task of the day...mail something for Andy. I had to pick up something to include in his letter from CBC and then mail it, so I start heading this way. Ducked into the mall to see if my stroller would fit in the bathroom...no. Saw a fellow from the Vintage church...we say hello. Stop on a mall bench to see if Sarah will nurse. Started to. A smiley East-Indian lady in a beautiful bright orange outfit (maybe age 35) asks if Sarah is sleeping...no nursing. She pops off to see who is there. The lady and Sarah interact. Sarah likes her. She is very friendly. She is eating ice from Starbucks and gives a piece to Sarah, which she holds and it melts. Then she puts it in her mouth. I retrieve it and hold on to it and let her suck it. I ask the lady a few questions and learn she picks blueberries...2 days on...2 days off. She tells me she wants to take care of my baby...she likes her very much. I have some trouble understanding her, but we do ok. Then she tells me she is going to a Bible Study today and that Jesus died for me and the whole world. I believe this too, I tell her. We talk a bit more and as I leave she says if I have more babies, can I give one to her... a small one, she says as she rocks her arms. You like babies, don't you?, I say. Yes. Have a good day, I say...and a good Bible Study.
I approach the HOJ and the bus stop. I have to cross the street. In the middle of the crosswalk I say hello to Mandy, also from the Vintage church. At the bus stop, I start looking for my change to take the bus. No purse...nothing...no money. Arg. My dad's not working today, so I can't ask him for money. Ah hah...there is my bank across the street...the bank we took almost all our money out of to bank elsewhere. Perhaps I can get money out. I could. Yeah. I left $5 in that account.
Waited for the bus. It was jam packed...I didn't think I'd fit. Many Koreans going to the wave pool...tour group I suppose. Someone instructs everyone they have to move backwards. I board the bus, just barely making it behind the red line. 3 more people board. I can't believe they make it. Many people are standing, including me. 3 young Korean girls are 'oohhing' at my baby. Get off the bus. A loud vehicle approaches behind me and turns the corner right in front of me and the driver ducks his head and waves. It is our friend Mark Janousek in his VW van. Make my stop at CBC and exchange a few words with the gardener, who also attends the Vintage church.
Then, off to Letterlock, where Andy instructed me to go to...but I get mixed up and go to MailBoxes Etc., which I think, "no, prob., they'll do the same thing." I pass Safeway on the way and pick up laundry soap and dish soap, which we needed. They can't mail my package quickly because it's to a PO box. I have to go to the post office. OK, no prob...it's just across the parking lot. But I'm not sure if I'll have enough money to send it...remember I have no wallet on me, just the cash I took out of the bank. So, I decide to return the laundry soap, to save me walking back across the busy hot sunny parking lot to get the money if I need it. Mail the package at Canada Post. I have enough money for the laundry soap after all. Yeah. I go back to Safeway and 're-buy' the same laundry soap which is still sitting at the customer service desk. The lady who returned it for me is still there and I tell her I had enough money for everything after all.
The deed is done. Mission accomplished. I'm thirsty, but will make it home. I do not stop at Sevenoaks Alliance for a pit stop, which we've done before. Sarah is still sleeping in her stroller and has a blanket draped over the stroller for shade. I'm gobbed up in sunscreen. Did I mention it was a very hot day? I generally try to stay indoors in the middle of the day on days like this, but today I had a mission and now it is done. Yeah. Back home. Sarah wakes as we approach home.
It is actually a few days after this big day and I can't remember what happened the rest of the day. Probably some dishes, maybe dinner, but not dance class. It seems I'm often worn out by the time that time comes around on Wed. evenings or something else comes up. I'll get there again.
I am surprised often at what the Lord helps me accomplish. I am sleeping quite well at night now, although I still need naps.
Some summer meals we've been enjoying lately are bean dip (kidney beans, apple cider vinegar, medley of spices, some red onion and oil all blenderized) sandwhichs with fresh garden salads, a colorful bean salad with brocolli and peppers (a spin of the Calico Bean Salad from The Vegan Chef).

1st camping trip

It was great. We went with my cousin Erin, her husband Brian, and their boys, Nic and Austin. We went to Cheakamus Lake and it took about an hour and a half to hike in on a nice path. There were so many cars on the parking lot, I thought we maybe wouldn't have a camping spot, but everyone must have been day-hiking or camping elsewhere, cause we were the only ones camping where we were.
I'll just share a few highlights:
Making a 'forest' or 'home' with Nic and Ausin using forest floor 'supplies' (lichen, pinecones, sticks, fuzzy red thing which was the fox or wolf), talking about Thomas the Tank Engine with Nic on the hike back, sitting on the logs at the edge of the lake and looking at the huge snow covered mountains. The lake was a lovely blue/aqua/green.
Sleeping in the tent with Sarah was interesting, as we've never all slept together before. Every once in a while she'd whimper and I'd put my hand on her chest and rub it and say, "It's ok," and then she'd quiet down.
I was wondering a lot through the night about her temperature. At one point her hands got pretty cold. She was wearing a lovely fleece sleeper thing with an attached hood...from MEC. She woke up way early for her first feeding and then we got a wee bit of sleep after that.
I'm sure there's more to share, but that's it for now.
There was lots of shade because of the trees which was nice - it kept the hot sunny weather off us as we hiked.
Oh yes, Sarah seemed a little 'not-herself' - more subdued and not very vocal. We think cause of all the new experiences and how she couldn't travel around or stand as much as normal.
We'd put her on the ground and she'd eat pinecones, so we didn't let her be there too much. She did enjoy standing leaning against this log in our cooking area. She managed to get some nature into her mouth.

Working on ceramics. You picked something (i.e.a bowl, flower pot) and painted it with glaze and they fire it and you pick it up later. This shot was taken before I got frustrated with the writing I was trying to put on my tile. Haven't seen how it turned out yet. Classy place...that ceramics shop. Sarah had a little nap there.

We saw some neat flowers on our walk.

The boardwalk. What an amazing place for a run. Yup, that's me up ahead.

Taken on our girl's getaway last week, just after breakfast on the patio.

away and back again

Feeling short for time, but wanted to check in with all you readers.
I went on an overnight getaway with Sarah and my Mom and sister. Read about it here and see pictures. My mom negleccted to mention (I believe, I read the blog really fast) that we also enjoyed dancing in our room to that Nordeman CD. Sarah enjoyed the large spaces to crawl in the hotel. Aim and I were in a King Bed...didn't bump each other at all.
I also really enjoyed the blueberries...first of the season for me.
Packing up for a backpacking overnighter tomorrow. Lots to do before then, so I should get to it very soon.
Sarah seems to have picked up the sleeping through the night thing now and has been doing so since I talked about it last. Thank you God. The last few nights she's slept almost 12 hours...that gets me to readjusting our schedule again. Hmm.
Well, she's back in bed and I'd like to sleep more too. Goodnight and goodmorning.

Hi D Ho

Waiting for Andy to come back from Mt. Baker.
I'll tell you about Sat. I participated in Abbotsford's 1st Annual In-Motion walk. It was a great event. Sarah and I did it...she in her stroller. The 8.5 km route was through various trails. It was an overcast day and sprinkled on us a bit. I thought we may have to stop for me to feed Sarah but she was entertained with unzipping her sweater, sucking on it a bit and removing her booties. Including re-booting stops we zipped through the course in 1 hr. and 16 minutes. I talked to another lady for about 15 min., which was nice. Financially the event paid off huge. I won (I think everyone who participated did, cause there were so many prizes and maybe 40 people) 10 admissions to the rec centre - perfect for me. And we were given a 'grab bag' with all these articles and sheets on healthy living and excercises and stuff and a waterbottle (good one) and cheap flashing light, which Sarah liked. Then, after they were serving bran muffins, bagels and organes. They had so many leftover we walked away with a bag full of food. Andy took some of those goodies on his Baker trip. So, that was cool. He was going to go buy bagels.
Yah, that was fun. Can't remember much of the rest of the day.
I joined this thing called FreeCycle which I'm really enjoying and recommend. It's about helping people recycle things for free. You can offer things or requst them. You get emails sent to you (or can choose to go to the site and look at the boards) about what people are giving away or want. I got, today, a very large tin that looks like a milk jug that I will use to store flour in. It's cool for people trying to give away stuff because the person who wants it comes to your house and takes it from you (could be very handy for larger items). Anyway, check it out at FreeCycle. Many cities have these groups. Let me know if you get any good stuff or have any cool giving experiences.
Yahoo! Andy just got back. Have a good night.

Pea project. Podding late at night. You can see a pepper from one our plants too.

Same day as the pic below. Taking a break after lunch.

Getting tired...she'd stand there and bop her legs, but rest her head. First time I've seen her do that. This was a couple of days ago.

A swim day a while back.

Playing with our cousin Mike at Sarah (Neufeld), now Dickenson's wedding.

Climbing the bookshelf.

One of the very very rare times Sarah has worn tights.

This is from Aim's and our trip to Vancouver. Aim's arms and Sarah's legs are hanging at the same angle I noticed. Nice front garden eh? Thanks for the ride, Sarah says.

For Steven. This is our best teeth shot on the last roll we developed. Oh, you have to see the actual picture, the quality goes downhill fast when you scan. Anyhow, Sarah got the balloon at the Farmer's Market.

I feel like a Mennonite

Here are some titles I thought of for blog entries this weekend:
*I feel like a Mennonite.
*You were so quiet I almost didn't hear you.
The "I feel like a Mennonite" phrase comes as a result of us podding peas on Sat. night. We put Sarah to bed, I did a quick run around the lake and then joined Andy in the podding procedings. We are Mennonites, but when we harvest, 'put up' and preserve our own food I feel we are 'connecting' with our roots in that our ansestors (and many others) did the same thing.
Yah, so for freezing peas, you pod them and then blanch them (steam them very briefly to kill enzyme activity) and then put them in bags and in the freezer. It's a lot of work for a few peas but they are amazingly delicious and melt in your mouth.
"You were so quiet I almost didn't hear you" was what someone said when I passed them running Sun. morning. As I continued on I thought about how it can be this way with God sometimes....he can be so quiet we hardly hear him...or we are to busy/filling our lives with other stuff, that we 'almost don't hear him. Made me think, 'maybe God is speaking all the time, quietly, and we need to slow down to listen.'
Haven't talked about Sarah's nights lately because she's been the same for a while...waking up every other night in the middle of the night. She'd also gotten into the habit of waking up an hour after we put her to bed. I think she'd roll over and hear us and maybe want to see us. So we tried again at letting her cry. The last 3 or 4 nights have been very encouraging. She cried some an hour after we put her down, some nights and slept through. A couple nights were 11 or 11.5 hrs. and the two other nights were about 9 hours. Yeah. And I didn't get out of bed for approximately 8 hrs. the last two nights. I am encouraged.
My tendonitus has been ravaging my arms lately again, so Andy's been helping more with dishes. It's frustrating cause I have energy to do stuff but can't.
We are planning a camping trip with my cousin and her family which is ultra exciting. Brian and Erin and there two boys, Nick and Austin.
Planning on doing the In Motion Walk next Sat. Any other local people want to join me?

So much fun.

I love it. Went to that "Dance Blast" class at the rec centre again last night. The real teacher is there again - and she is so good - we danced so hard for about 55 min. with a bit of abs and relaxation cool down thing for the last 5 min. It was kinda latin inspired and I had so much fun. It's a real workout for the mind and body. I was pretty tired before I left but when we started dancing I got another wind, but half way through my mind kinda shut down for a couple minutes and I was a step behind, but then it snapped back on (prob. when a new song came on) and I was back 'in the groove.' I came home and was showing Andy some of the moves. I must have been beaming because he said, "You just love moving, don't you?" Yup! Anyway, it was a big activity day as I ran to the garden as well. Sarah likes the chickens there.
Just got back from visiting Grma and Grpa Wellunscheg - we took the bus - cause our stroller's still in the trunk.
Sarah's sleeping and so shall I. I just wanted to tell you how much fun I had yesterday.
Hmmm...there is a big pile of laundry on the bed. Fold it or move it? We'll have to fold it later. Typing this is helping be accountable to going to bed when I need to :) Bye.

A little bit ago...Grandad and Grma A. by one of the fig trees in their backyard. I showed Sarah this picture a few days ago and she giggled. She loves these folks.

more teeth

Sarah cut 2 more teeth this weekend (on bottom) and was cutting 2 more (on top) today...I'm pretty sure. She was definately more emotional.
This weekend Andy was hiking on Fri. Sarah and I went to the Canada Day Parade...she wearing a red and white outfit. I borrowed a red shirt from mom's closet upstairs and we had a red fleece blanket with white snowflakes wrapped around us, as it was a little chilly. She was really tired, but I think she found the parade interesting. She liked the fancy buttons on the shirt I was wearing :) All the different floats got me thinking of the organizations they represent within Abby. The Ba'Hai float was playing cool music and said, "Many races, one faith" and "World Peace" - pretty agreeable. The Christian enterage was colorful but the song they were singing was kinda abrasive, I found (in how it was delivered)....too bad.
Sat. we had pancakes in the morning (haven't done that in ages), went to the Abb. farmer's market quickly where we bought yummy rye bread...I had a later nap while Andy and Sarah went to the garden.
Sun. Andy went fishing in the morning and we headed out to MEC, crunching numbers on the way. We discovered we couldn't afford what we were planning on getting so we turned off at the Aldergrove exit and talked and got a 10 pack of timbits (Andy had been craving them) to celebrate how God has provided for us. Then we drove back to Abby to go for a walk, visit the garden and have a quick nap before church at 5 pm. The church service was really small and they did something different than usual which was neat. The chairs where in a semi-circle with hymn books underneath (which got me super excited). The pastor talked about prayer some and we had a group disscusion about being genuine and authentic, about community etc. and then we broke into groups and prayed for one another. It was neat. Sarah and I spent some time at the back, as she needed to roam a bit. She even had some dinner (solids) in the back and during prayer time/talking.
Today was a bit crazy feeling, as there was no morning nap had by Sarah. We did manage to get out for a run and I made a curry-millet dish with coleslaw (with our fresh brocolli) for dinner. It feels like I've been killing a lot of bugs lately. Favorite way to remove bugs from the house is to trap them and transport them to outside, but when that's inconvient or I don't have time I will kill them. I don't like hard-shelled ones. The other night as I nursed Sarah in the middle of the night I see a spider crawl out from under the bed, then a beetle...oh my, midnight bug party...squish, squish...bye bye bugs. Our organic produce from our garden has living creatures I must watch for too...juicy caterpillar things, aphids....one night I missed one caterpillar guy and he was steamed to death and I found him on my plate.
What else? Wrote some encouragement cards to people at camp today.
Decided to keep those comfy runners we'd bought and I'll look for a pair of cheaper shoes for inside. Holding off on orthodics for now.