Brave little performer

Our little Lulu is a brave girl... she and her two best school friends performed last week in front of the whole school! The music teacher encourages everyone to audition for the bi-weekly assemblies to showcase the talent in the school.  Josh was pretty impressed with his little sister because "I would NEVER do that!".

Quebec City

One of my very favourite cities is Quebec City. It is the oldest city in North America and is full of history and charm.  I've had the chance to visit the city many times (I believe this was my 10th visit), and never tire of it!
My last few visits have been during the month of March with about 30 12 & 13 year olds... this visit, for a convention was quite different.

I stayed at the Hotel Chateau Laurier right on the Plains of Abraham, just outside the Old City walls. It was very nice.  My parents attended convention as well, so I was able to save $ by sharing a room with them (just like the good old days!).

The Convention itself was fantastic! There was awesome worship, incredible speakers (an Anglican Archbishop from the Congo who was once a Muslim; a Mennonite Brethren church planter from Quebec; the president of Foursquare France, and our own Pastor Barry Buzza, president of Foursquare Canada), excellent conversations, and the chance to present the new curriculum I've been developing: Wisdom & Wonder. (see note below).

I also had the chance to go for a run around the Plains of Abraham on a gorgeous fall morning (Red leaves!), shop at Simons (! my favourite!) in Vieux Quebec, eat well, visit an art gallery and enjoy the city.  I am so glad I went!

I was also very happy to return home to my family.  I hope my next visit I can bring my loved ones with me!

Pics of my visit: some lovely women from Praise Family church in Toronto (in front of my banner), a cool planter made of succulents on Rue Buade, pumpkins in front of Aux Anciens Canadiens (excellent tradional quebecois eatin') and sunflowers on Rue St. Jean. Charming!

Time in Toronto

Early October I left my family for a week. It was SO FUN! Well, for me... I'm not sure my husband and kids has so much fun!

On my way to Quebec City, I stopped in Toronto for 2 nights to visit my dear friend, Shalan, and her family.  Shalan and I have been friends since we were 3! We went from preschool to 12th grade together. We did Brownies together, played Barbies together, celebrated Grad together... and even got engaged within a week of one another!

So my time with her and Ryan, Mylene and Elise was very precious.  Mylene is my adorable, 5 year old goddaughter. I loved having her meet me at the airport, picking her up from kindergarten, and making crafts together one morning while her mommy went to the gym. 
Elise is her lovable 2 year old sister - and she is personality plus!

Shalan and I also got to spend a good time together. I so enjoyed sitting having tea with her, exploring the Royal Ontario Museum (even though the Dead Sea Scrolls was inexplicably closed that day!!!), and going to Shoe Mecca: StyleSense.  15 000 square feet of shoes!!! Friends, if you are ever in the Greater Toronto Area, you must head to one of the 2 Stylesense stores! Amazing.  Did I purchase anything?  No... guilt about just buying a pair of ankle boots 3 days earlier prevented me, but it was a tonne of fun to try on!

I so hope Shalan and her family move back to the West Coast some day. I miss my friend!

I love my family!

At the end of September we had a wonderful afternoon bike ride... we'd love to bike year-round, but some how once soccer and dance start up we don't have the same amount of free time. Or rainy Sunday afternoons give way to naps (Wesleyan Hours in Mark's family).

I loved this day - we rode our bikes along the Coquitlam River, stopped in at a park, and Mark and the kids played Hide & Seek. Here they are at the end of the game, before we went to our favourite gelato shop.  Gelato BEFORE dinner! I love my family!

September Start-up

Well it's almost Halloween... time to talk about school start-up - 8 weeks ago! Lucy and Joshua are now in grade 1 & 3.  They are both in French Immersion, and love it!

These pictures are from the Terry Fox Run at school in September - a hot, sunny day.  Our city is Terry's hometown, so we are very BIG on fundraising for cancer research. Our library is a bit of a museum - with some cool info about Terry's Marathon of Hope run across Canada, and his Prosthesis, famous adidas sneakers and lucky sock are all on display.  The Friday night of the Terry Fox run, our family went down to city hall to watch the movie "Terry" on the big screen (Cinema under the Stars) in the park. It was so cool to be sitting beside Bruce Moore, our mayor's father, and one of Terry's former teachers.

Hmm... I have a blog?

I have been chastised by my dear friend Darcey for not writing here for 2 months... I have been writing - Just not here!

I promise to do better though...
What's been taking up all my time?
Wisdom and Wonder - the curriculum project I've been heading up. We just launched the first part of the 3 year, birth-13 years Sunday school lessons.

We're working on writing years 2 & 3, writing a youth component, adding multi-media & art, writing a family devotional AND possibly translating this baby into French and Spanish.

I had the great privilege of travelling to Quebec City (my FAVOURITE city!) earlier this month to speak to participants at the Canadian Foursquare Church Convention about Wisdom & Wonder. This project is truly an act of worship... and I can't wait to see where God will use it.

To check it out, go to www.foursquare.ca - it's on the main page!