buggy birthday bash

Our Ezra is now 6 years old. Ask him how that feels and he'll say he feels proud to be 6.

We celebrated by inviting the entire grade 1 class to our house for a buggy birthday bash.
Activites included an indoor bug hunt (plastic bugs, some of which I am still finding now), a worm pinata and of course, a bugs-in-the-dirt cake and presents.

The head count was 16! Our house was so full that while Ezra was trying to open presents he kept saying, "It's getting a little crowded." and move to a new spot but of course all the kids moved with him and it became just as crowded as the previous spot was.

I asked Ezra to describe the party afterward and he said, "I played with my friends and I like all of my presents!"

let's catch up

It's not that my Caronport life is so much busier than my Mexico life. My routine is different though and I definitely spend less time at the computer which results in fewer emails and fewer blog posts... have you noticed? So here's a quick review of significant events...

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!

two thumbs up for crescent park

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.