Our Ezra is now 6 years old. Ask him how that feels and he'll say he feels proud to be 6.
w), a worm pinata and of course, a bugs-in-the-dirt cake and presents.
We spent Thanksgiving weekend driving around Saskatchewan in order to have three turkey dinners in as many days! We got to spend time in Swift Current on Saturday with my Grandma, Uncle Ron & Auntie Trudy; this picture is Sunday with Uncle Art, Auntie Linda, Vickie (not shown) Pam & Jessie; and Monday in Warman & Saskatoon with Scott's parents and so many relatives that I won't start naming them.
After owning our new Uplander only something like two weeks we drove it into a coyote on the way home from Swift Current on the night of Oct 17. It did almost $4,000 damage to the front of the van. Consequently, we were without a vehicle for the next three weeks during which we had to rely on the kindness of friends (thanks Pat for driving out to save us in the middle of the night)
Then it was out to Steinbach on Oct 19 to report with the Board of Missions. That was the purpose of the trip, but we were able to celebrate Thanksgiving yet again with my family (no turkey this time, but Nicaraguan food which I think is actually more traditional for us to have when we're together) Friday morning we woke up to find snow that wasn't there the night before. We all had lots of fun playing together and teaching the kids to make snowballs. Our first romp in the snow for many years!
Friday night we went to Moose Jaw to do some business and discovered Crescent Park downtown. We had just enough time to walk around and meet the resident moose family (not real) and pair of swans (real) and to decide that we absolutely had to go back the next day. So Saturday afternoon we drove out there again, this time with a bag of bread to share. For us this park is spectacular. It's small enough that by the time we were done there, we had reached the 
other side, but big enough that there was lots to discover. After we fed the swans and ducks we walked along the creek until we found a neat play area. The Great War memorial captured Scott's imagination and I liked the fountain. We watched more than a few bushy tailed squirrels go about their business and all the while we enjoyed the soft green grass. And I know I'm sounding like a scratched record, but the fall colours are beautiful.
We drove to Saskatoon for a wedding this weekend. The weather warmed up on Saturday afternoon so we headed to the reception early enough to take a walk on the Mewasin Trail down by the river, where we took this picture. The kids had lots of fun climbing on and around the bandstand. We noticed that it was almost like a Mexican plaza with the bandstand in the centre of the park. The noteable exception being that we were allowed to walk on the grass, of course. Ezra found about a million ladybugs there.
Ezra needed to take a bunch of leaves to school for a math/science activity so we all went leaf-collecting together before supper yesterday. It was a beautiful sunny afternoon and the trees were looking gorgeous. There are so few deciduous trees in Cuauhtemoc that it doesn't make for a very colorful season. We haven't had such a beautiful fall for a very long time and are thoroughly enjoying it.
Last week, Lauren & I worked together to make birthday invitations for the 13 girls in her class. Then we planned the party: bake cookies, make marbleized paper, decorate bags to take their cookies & paper home in, and finish with pink punch and birthday cake. Oh, and of course... the presents!
rdly walk through the house for the boxes stacked all over the place. Two weeks later the boxes are almost all unpacked. Lauren & Ezra are happily settled into their school routine and Scott has enjoyed his first seminary course. Avery asks every day if we can go to Emily's or Hannah's house (in Mexico) and I find myself looking for something meaningful to do, as though caring for my family weren't meaningful enough.
When Avery woke up yesterday morning, the day of her birthday, I asked her how old she was. Her answer was, "Two." We realized that she didn't think she would turn three until the actual party. Even on the way to the party she still maintained she was only two years old. At some point during the party someone asked her age and then I heard her answer, "Three!"
Here's the little graduate himself. He was given a fish as a graduation present from his teachers. My suggestion for a name was flatly turned down (Simon is a perfectly good fish name if you ask me) and it was promptly named Fishy Fish. Also known as Pezy Pez in Spanish.
celebration of the year's end, the entire school hiked up a small hill to symbolically represent working to reach a goal. At the top they held a little gratitude service thanking God for a great year. Lauren was kind of volatile this afternoon, so I think she's feeling a little sad at the prospect of not seeing her teacher and classmates again. Last week we sent her to school with a disposable camera to take pictures of her friends. I hope they turn out. She looks through her photo albums often and it would be nice to add those as well.
For those of you who haven't talked with Avery recently, I thought I’d give you a little peek into her unique vocabulary. See if you can make out these words... 
Ezra loves cooking. Sometimes he prints recipes that he finds online, from kids websites like Postcards from Buster, Zoom or Maya & Miguel and then he wants to try them. He makes a great hummus, actually. This morning we made pancakes and now that he can read so well, I had him follow the recipe himself. As you can tell by the big spill on the counter, he did most of the work today. Except I was still on clean-up duty.
