Sunday we went to our Halifax home church - it is good to have such a wonderful church home to come back to! There all are invited to worship "in ways that are real and authentic to you." For some, this includes dancing with flags... Grace and Jasmin thought this was a wonderful way to respond to worship and praise songs!




It was something special to see their delight and watch them respond to the music and words in how they danced waving their flags. And their expressions of serious thoughtful concentration, joy, delight....

Abba and Imma's church had a family fun day this last weekend. Grace had a marvelous time! Made all the more special because she made a new friend:

This picture is from the Saturday pancake breakfast that Abba and Daddy took her to. Mommy and Jasmin didn't go because they can't eat ordinary pancakes and sausages!

Saturday afternoon Mommy took Grace and Jasmin to the sledding activity. Jasmin went down the hill twice and then was content to watch Grace and her new friends go down over and over again. Grace was using a soft saucer of Imma's, and didn't mind the turning around and unsteerableness at all. Mommy really wished she had remembered to take the camera...

In the evening after a sledding induced nap, Mommy and Imma took Grace and Jasmin to the free skate. Grace has been asking to go skating all winter, so Mommy was glad to finally have the chance. Grace was intrigued by the idea of skating inside... a house colder than outside? Don't be silly, Mommy, ice is on rivers not inside... :o)
Once again Jasmin gave it a try and then was content to sit by and watch. Mommy had bought bob skates, and the rink had low enough frames that Grace could give learning to skate a good shot without breaking Mommy's back. By the end of the hour, she could propel herself all the way down the rink and back, her legs working twice as fast as she was going forward. Again, Mommy kicking herself for not bringing the camera!

We were all packed and ready to go to New Brunswick for a few days last night when we went to bed. When we got up to the alarm early in the morning to set off, we discovered this:

It will take us an hour or more just to get out of the driveway! Since it was still snowing and the road report listed all highways in Nova Scotia as "passable with caution" and the weather report saying New Brunswick would get the snow today....
we went back to bed instead :o)

Saturday we introduced Grace and Jasmin to winter beach activities with our friend Jo...
It wasn't too cold, but a grey day when we left home. But by the time we arrived at the beach it was clearing up to be a bright sunny day. We hunted for just the right spot to make camp to cook lunch... three spots later we found it: a ready-made fire pit in a small clearing on the backside of the point... with great views...

a hurricane cached stack of dry firewood - and not so dry wood so we got our fill of wood smoke and teary eyes to start with...
an easily built seesaw playground...

bird watching... a merganser diving for his lunch...
good food: roast potatoes and apples, bannock with butter and jam, and tea...
and, best of all, marshmallows and chocolate - the correct way. The girls were introduced to marshmallows in Ottawa in a rather tame way (see here). They were so excited to give the real thing a try...one fantastic day in February with a great friend.

Grace and Jasmin are loving been a bit more settled at Imma's house. They are enjoying all the new/old toys and books. Mommy is enjoying seeing them enjoy the things she enjoyed playing with as a child, and the extra story readers :o)

Here they are actually using a few New Testaments as song books to sing a meshed version of the ABC song and the Chicka Chicka Boom Boom book!

And, bedtime stories with Imma from her special Children's Treasury storybook.

Settling in at Imma's house...

promised snowmen because "God gave us the right kind of snow!"

hairdos all 'round

Taking some time for rest and recuperation before setting off on any road trips... Jasmin's taking the longest to feel sorted and safe; mommy and daddy are just about all caught up on sleep, and Grace is over the moon to be going to preschool 2 days a week.