Memorable Moments

There are so many pictures but I wanted to just post a few of my most memorable moments......after Karen and I led our session, we were presented with coconut drinks. It was delicious!

It was so fun to take Dave back to the Grand Palace!

Having some fun with Karen.....

The Dinner Cruise down the river was definitely memorable!

It was so neat to see the Grand Palace by night from the river.

I took loads of pictures as we went underneath the tension bridge!

  So many wonderful memories...definitely a week to remember!

Getting Around Bangkok

As I looked at our pictures again tonight this one made me smile! I love swimming and the hotel we stayed in had a great pool that was mostly unused! Except by me.....I managed to fit in a swim 3 afternoons while we were there and it was fun to look out over the city from here.(it was on the 14th floor of our hotel)

Getting around Bangkok means traffic, and lots of it! Sometimes it moves fast, but other times it hardly moves at all which gave rush hour a brand new meaning!

I loved sitting by the window in the van as we drove thru the city. This particular day I couldn't believe my eyes....there amongst the booths along the sidewalk sat an older lady on her Singer sewing machine, just like the ones my grandmother and mother had! You just never know what you are going to see.

The taxis are all in bright colors, like bright blue, green, yellow & green, and pink!! I couldn't resist taking a picture!

Another evening the Thai staff treated us to a Dinner Cruise down the river. To get to the boat we had to take the subway, the skytrain, transfer to another skytrain, then take a water taxi like the one below before arriving on our boat of choice.

It was definitely worth it as we cruised down the river and enjoyed good food, great company and an awesome lightshow all around us!

But probably the mode of transportation that I think of most when I think of getting around Bangkok is the scooters! They are everywhere and you can even find motorcycle taxis.  People transport everything from computers to microwaves on the back of these scooters! I loved this gal all dressed up for work!(and yes, it is law that if a woman rides a motorcycle taxi she MUST ride side-saddle!

To Thailand and Back

This past week we literally flew to Thailand and back! Crazy I know but we were on a ministry trip and for the first time, Dave travelled with me to Thailand, the land of the smile!(Thai means 'smile' in their language). We left last Sunday and tonight we are back at home(not sure what time zone we are in, but we are back!)

One of the things that I remembered from my previous two trips was the elephants of all sizes everywhere!!! But this three-headed elephant was the biggest I have ever seen....it weighs more than 200 tons!!! You can see from the buildings around it how high it stood above the city skyline.

We passed the elephant on our way to have dinner with our old friends, Ken and Grace, who are now teaching English in Bangkok. We were soooo excited that we were going to get to visit with them! Here Grace is standing in what she calls her 'Barbie kitchen'! No stove, no running water(even though the sink has a tap), but showing us great hospitality just the same by having us over for dinner.

Ken and Grace live in a 2 room apartment which was a great reminder to us that life really isn't about things, but about being where God wants us and loving one another. Thanks so much for opening your home to us and giving us a dinner to remember! It was definitely one of the highlights of our trip!

Special Visitors

Last week we had two very special visitors!! What fun it was to have Heather and Kai fly down for the week.

Kai had changed so much in the month since we had seen him. He doesn't hate 'tummy-time' anymore, and even enjoys it for a few minutes at a time anyway.

We have a lot of baby paraphenalia including a high chair and exersaucer and it all came in very handy this week. Kai loves being upright, whether sitting up or standing .....so much fun!

Kai has the most amazing big brown eyes....we had fun doing a couple of 'photo shoots' with him this week.I love his expression in this picture.

Friday morning my sister and mom came out for coffee, and Megs and the boys joined us. Kai had fun playing with Ev and Megan.

On Saturday we took some pictures of Kai in his Canucks jersey in honor of Hockey Day in Canada! Who wouldn't love this smiley little boy. And I am sure that his cheering helped the Canucks come back and beat Toronto.....Go Team!!!

Thanks for the great week!! See you again real soon we hope!

Park Fun with Pa

Last weekend we had the boys while Megs went along with Jamie and his Grade 8 basketball teams to a Tournament in Penticton. Saturday we headed to the Park for a walk, some bird watching and of course, time to play in the park at the playground.The boys were excited to be heading back to the Park where we had walked the day before.

Aidan was watching for ducks and geese and we saw lots of them. But we also had a great view of this Blue Heron. Dave couldn't resist taking a picture and what a great picture!

Next up, the playground. Aidan knew exactly where he wanted to head first, and of course, Jaxon was right behind him! The swings.....they were excited to both be in them!

The slide was next...since it was a double slide they could both go down at the same time!

From the smaller double slide, Aidan ran for the high slide and the climbing wall. He got all the way to the top and then was ready to come down the slide. He was a long, long way off the ground!

 

Jaxon wanted to have a try at the climbing wall too, but his legs were just too short for the footholds!

 
Aidan also wanted to try the chain ladder....he did great at climbing it up to the top and then hanging on for a picture! It was definitely a fun time at the Park with Pa!(and Mimi the photographer :-)

 

A Weekend with Friends

A couple of weeks ago we were treated to a relaxing weekend with old friends who now live on Vancouver Island. We left after work on Friday and headed for the Ferry Terminal where we parked our car and waited for our Ferry so we could just walk on.

This was the first time we had gone to the Island as foot passengers and it made it wonderfully relaxing. Our friends were waiting for us when we disembarked on the other side. Although it was dark that night, the next morning we could see the ocean in the distance. We decided it was a great day for a walk and headed down the hill to the water.

Ilona and I were friends as teenagers and I was even in their Bridal Party. The year that Dave and I met I was living with them while attending the University of Alberta. Many years have passed since then but we have remained good friends.

 For Dave and I it was just so good to relax, enjoy time with friends, and play several games of the European version of Ticket to Ride(my new favorite game).

The weekend came to an end far too soon and we all agreed that we had to do this again soon! We won't stay away as long this time! Thanks for the memories Gerd and Ilona!

Little Feet

Last weekend we had the boys overnight while Jamie surprised Megan for her birthday. As we headed upstairs to bed I just had to take a picture of these matching Nike running shoes.....they looked so big sitting there, much bigger than the little feet that wear them! And yet, someday soon, the Nike shoes will be even bigger, basketball shoes, soccer shoes, all sorts of shoes. But for now they are little Nike shoes....

...... and these little men fill those shoes. We are so blessed to get to spend time with them! Jaxon looked so grown up sitting in the big chair I just had to capture his expression! Both the boys just love playing with all the old Fisher Price toys that I kept from our children. Aidan could hardly believe it when I told him that his Daddy had played with those same toys!

Spending time with Aidan and Jaxon made us wish that we could transport some other little people for the weekend....like these little Texas girlies and a little man from up north.

I am so thankful for the time we did have....and so thankful for little feet!