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| Advent Puzzle Complete! |
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| Grace and Jasmin went to a friend's party! |
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| The girls (re)taught Aiden how to skate |
And...
Lots of lovely sleep-ins
Lots of yummy remember-Asia meals: mee goreng, char koey teow, moo palao, teh tarik, dim sum...
A library hour (or 2)
A swim afternoon
A night walk to see neighbourhood lights
A few hours of shared computer games
An evening of popcorn and movie - our yearly treat!
And... us girls made this "video" pre-release of some of Grace's songs:
This week and last week are definitely the "get everything done" weeks. Starting on the 17th, Grace has 4 precious weeks of break from her university and we want to make the most of it! So we're trying to clear the decks to focus on one another and the many Christmas activities we've written on our bucket list. It is a bit of a struggle since Jasmin has her book editing to do this month, Aiden and Mom have school work still to finish, both girls are slogging away at the online instructional portion of their Driver's Ed program, Dad is juggling lots of Zoom meetings and website creation, and Grace is now deep into her final projects and such for the semester. Hopefully we are successful and next week can be the restful fun that we dream of. Since for the last 5 years Christmas traditions and celebrations have centered around a big campfire feast on the beach, we're not just sliding into our usual, but having to come up with "new" ones.
Like most lists, there are way too many ideas to fit comfortably in a week, so curating the list and planning is also on mom's plate for this "get it done" week.
We've had a few Christmassy things happen already. The girls went to a Christian ballet production by an old friend. We tried out the studio's worship evening that same weekend. It was quite interesting and different. Rather than just music with space and permission to dance, it was a guided experience of using gesture and dance to pray, praise, and worship our God. It happens once a month, so we may try again - though it does clash a little with other scheduled things and is quite far.
Grace and Mom headed to Ellel for another afternoon of ministry. Grace with a prayer team, and Mom in the creativity room. Even the 2.5 hours was not enough for Mom to finish her collage, but as far as it is, it looks good and portrays the meaning she desired. Hopefully there will be some time in the next week for her to finish it (and maybe post it?).
We actually had a snow day for Aiden's co-op last Monday! So he had an "extra" day this week - throwing out our carefully planned schedule for finishing school work. He's working away with a will to get finished on time though.
Let's get it done so we can rest and celebrate!
We've had some decently cold days, but this morning we woke to the white world of a long gentle snow. It made the dog walk this morning extra delightful - and reminded mom she'd really better get some decent boots soon. The ones she has are from pre-marriage days and are no longer warm and don't have any support inside for her still bothersome plantar fasciitis. Of course, Aiden talks of snowmen and sledding, but the likelihood of this snow still being around tomorrow is pretty slim as the temperature creeps upward. Now we sit in the in-between of do we put our bikes away for the winter or not? Do we get out the proper winter coats or not?
Mom started an end of semester list of accomplishments for Aiden to see how far he'd come so far in his school. This new way of school can often feel like it just goes on forever and it is difficult to sense the progress. Both mom and Aiden were quite flabbergasted to see that he's read nearly 20 books since September!
Back from Halifax we slid into sick
Coughs and sniffles
Honey lemon ginger tea and tissues.
Mom joining the family in study
Reading, thinking, writing
Assignments and deadlines for everyone
Aiden thoroughly enjoying co-op
Mostly for a day with friends
But also learning through hands-on experiments.
Morning walks in the dark
Fall carpet of bright leaves illuminating the woods
In the faint light of dawn.
A week of hosting and being hosted
Old friends and new
Sharing food and sharing lives.
Travel planning, ticket searching
Spurred on by Halloween sales
Edmonton at Christmas, Thailand in February
Yet quite content and relieved
November and December to be at home
Room for a busy normal:
Driving practice, schoolwork, hosting and being hosted,
Enjoying the different weather,
Swimming, co-op, dog walks,
Consulting, counseling, loving others,
Dreaming about what extra event might be coming next.
Not quite unexpectedly, we had guests for the weekend. One of those delightful, longed for, but not often happening reconnection of friends made in one location showing up in another. We got to spend the weekend with friends we'd made in Penang!
Saturday was loud board games and another surprise of a campfire evening hosted by a couple in our church.
Sunday a restful morning followed by afternoon church and an evening picnic supper by the river.
Monday we all took as a work day, as life doesn't quit when you're traveling or friends visit. But it ended with Chocolat Favori chocolate dipped ice creams (the best ever anywhere!) and a visit to a homeschool moms' evening.
Tuesday we spent the day at the Science and Tech Museum, breaking for a sumptuous lunch of poutine and shawarma - yes, from the same place! - before saying goodbye just before supper.
We joined our new church for their annual church camp this weekend. The emphasis was on unplugging and taking good rest while enjoying one another. It certainly was an unplugged weekend, with only officially designated photographers, and we certainly enjoyed being together, but restful? Maybe only in the sense that we rested from our usual works and did different things.
There were no sleeping in mornings with 50 or so of the attendees being kids under 13 (most under 8!) and breakfasts at 8:30 after morning shared devotions. But neither were there any super late nights for the same reasons as we all stayed in the same lodge building.
Saturday morning was a hilarious blast of adults and kids alike playing games like octopus and blob tag, along with a slightly more serious game of soccer baseball. The afternoon was swimming (for the brave few in cold water!) and boating before settling into a rhythm of volleyball and basketball that, without scorekeeping, went on for hours!
We hardly saw Aiden except for meals as he roamed the grounds with the kids, dabbling in whatever games spontaneously began. Grace, Jasmin, and Mom fit in a good outdoor singsong time with Jasmin playing her violin, as well as crashing the worship team practices - that landed Grace a place on the team for the Sunday service!
Saturday evening we had the mandatory camp experience of campfire and s'mores, of course. We mostly enjoyed the heat, having never warmed up properly from our cold swim, and being still full from so many great meals. And then, the stars! It was a wonderfully clear night so we were able to see the Milky Way and identify a good handful of constellations.
Sunday's service included a wonderfully celebrated baptism as well, which felt like a very fitting capstone to our weekend.
We came home Sunday afternoon, (without injuries, mosquito bites, or sun burn somehow) all thoroughly tired, quite sore from the unusual amount and forms of exercise, fully content with the time spent away with our new church family.
September's here but not Fall weather!
It's like August and September switched -
August was cool and trees started to turn
September started hot: middle of summer heat wave hot.
September's here, with a new dog
Honey got called in for her second hip surgery.
Rather nervous of others
But a calm dog splat in the heat
So wilted not even a frozen treat Kong is worth getting up for.
September's here but in the heat
Sunday we decided on a picnic by the river
Aiden, Mom, and Dad went wading/swimming even!
(hence no pictures)
Jasmin was kept occupied chasing down Max
Who doesn't mix with others very well
She sacrificed her feet to the rocks to intervene
And came home with bruising and a deep ankle gouge.
Still, we'd say, "let's do it again before it gets cold!"
September's here and so is the start of school - for Aiden
The girls simply continue their current semesters' work.
Week one is done for Aiden
A LOT of reading proscribed, but interesting and varied
A year we can look forward to!
Jasmin sent her book manuscript for a review by Friesen Press - a first tentative step towards getting it published. We were all super excited by the positive response she got! Here are a few snippets of the very thoughtful, thorough review:
"Lastly, I found that the story’s beginning was tremendously powerful, capturing my attention almost instantly, and within the first few pages, I found all my trepidations [of having to review a young writer] falling away, leaving me simply excited to settle in and experience whatever was to come."
And here is a taste of the beginning. Hopefully in the not too distant future, you can be reading the whole thing in book form!
Saturday was our church's summer picnic - having been weather delayed...
Despite the aim for a day of better weather, it was actually a rather chilly windy day.
Surprisingly, the park was pretty full of groups gathering anyway, so our group huddle was not alone by far.
We ate well, talked lots, and the kids played on the playground - Aiden getting introduced to a roundabout...
... and on the way home, between errand stops, he threw up in the car, having never recovered his equilibrium! Unfortunately he was sitting in the middle, so it was quite the side of the road cleanup operation... and we still rode the rest of the way home with all the windows down, trying not to breathe :} And the rest of the day was spent cleaning the car, a sometime-before-our-October-road trip task suddenly being an urgent need! Aiden recovered quickly after emptying his stomach; the car took longer, but we think we managed to get rid of the smell.
For a few days Dad listened-ignored a loud cricket sounding remarkably close in his office despite his closed windows. Mom remarked it sounded like it was indoors, but she couldn't place the sound well enough to start a hunt for it. But last night, just sitting down to talk with Dad in his office, she heard clearly where it was coming from and found it. A little black field cricket nestled in the black shorts waiting to be mended!
Aiden went to VBS this week. Since the last one he went to he was 3 or 4 and next year he'll be too old, it was more for the experience than anything else. It was an amusingly old fashioned VBS with very few bells and whistles, Bible memory and Sunday school songs that Mom and Dad sang as kids, but Aiden enjoyed being occupied with other kids every morning - though we missed Monday because we simply forgot to go until it was over for the day!
We tried out a small group meeting of our church last night. We think it will be a good fit for us as a family, so we look forward to getting to know the group better. It was made all the more memorable with the excitement of yet more severe weather and tornado warnings and rescuing our bikes mid-meeting from the fierce wind and rain. Thankfully storm was over by the time we had to bike home.
We've also done yet more travel planning lately. So much travel for us in such a short time! Highly unusual for us. A airfare promo email triggered us to start thinking about our visit to Halifax in October and Christmas in Edmonton with Dad's family. And a call for volunteers for children's program workers from SAFE for the Family Education Conference in February triggered dreams of the girls taking a friend along as volunteers (Mom go as a consultant).
Jasmin started her university this week! So far she thinks it easy and fun. Of course, that likely has to do with her new required set up of large drawing tablet/monitor and the license to draw just about all the time...
Yesterday we had the excitement (!?) of a local tornado - as in it was mere streets away. Mom and Dad were out at a meeting most of the morning. It began raining as the meeting broke up so they ran into a restaurant to wait it out (they were on bikes). While sitting there, mom idly watched the storm clouds, observing them start to circle, watched awhile, then pointed it out to Dad. At that moment, we all got tornado watch alerts on our phones. So we watched a funnel cloud form! Fortunately this one didn't touch down. Once they got home, we all looked at local news and discovered at least three had formed and one had touched down. Thankfully the damage was fairly light as tornados go. Still, at least 5 families couldn't sleep in their home last night. Our kids started counting up their brushes/experiences with natural disasters and concluded they just needed a tsunami for a complete list. No problems waiting for a long time for that to happen near where we are, for sure!
Mom and Dad went away for a weekend (so many trips away this summer!) and the kids stayed be themselves. They survived fine - likely mostly because Mom prepared meals for them and gave them a list of when to eat what, as they are notorious for simply forgetting or not getting hungry enough to feed themselves!
Sunday our foster dog managed to get our of her crate and eat a bag of chocolate while we were out at church potluck...and this after bloodying her paws on the bedroom door while we were at church... so Mom unexpectedly had to spend the evening at the animal hospital... to be told they wanted to keep the dog overnight. And then it took us until Wednesday to actually get her back because communication was lacking: the hospital transferred her back to the shelter without notifying us, the shelter didn't mark her chart as free to go home so we couldn't get her when we went on Mon after tracking down where she was, etc. And now she is on meds to hopefully control her separation anxiety so she doesn't go so crazy when we're gone. Hopefully that doesn't affect her adoptability as she is a great dog otherwise.
We snuck in a week's stay in Halifax with family Wednesday to Wednesday!
Since we flew and had no car to get around, it was a true vacation - we slept in, went swimming, kayaking, and walking/running; tried out hot tub evenings; played board games, laser tag, hide n seek with cousins; talked a lot; reacquainted ourselves with Uncle Arran's pancake suppers, Imma's lunch soup for sore throats, donairs and Scottsburn ice cream...
And took basically no pictures :)
Dad was sick with a cold just before we went so wore a mask on the plane. During our stay there Mom unfortunately woke up a little sicker each day until she lost her voice and was drinking copious amounts of tea in order to swallow without wincing - and travelled back in the mask instead of Dad. She got it much worse than Dad though, as she is still recovering.
It probably didn't help that our already red-eye return flight was delayed for over an hour so we got home about 3am and had to wake for a full next day :}
Despite those things, it was a wonderful, restful week. A little too short to come back fully rested and ready to work hard, but long enough that our car and house felt strange and not quite home to us all over again.
And since we know that we will be heading back there again in October for longer, we don't feel too badly about not meeting the many friends whom we want to reconnect with while we were there.
All in all, a lovely love gift of the Father to us.
Last week we were away. Next week we shall be away again. This week of in-between, we have been busy catching up and aiming to getting ahead...
Grace working hard to finish her university semester work a bit early so she can have a proper vacation next week.
Jasmin getting in lots of dog time with Willow and trying to clear the decks of waiting drawing commissions and writing tasks.
Aiden crunching with his programming course, and trying to get in as many afternoons of park soccer as he can.
Dad and Mom working at the back log of admin and household tasks as well as juggling current.
And a few end-of-school year things we've been invited to: a home school moms' evening together, Adventure club's ending BBQ, a youth group finale.
And then... a week with family, and enforced rest as we'll be there without a car :)
And the tree was so inviting, even Mom couldn't resist the climb :)
We also got to stay for the reptile intro show that was so well done that everyone was drawn in from toddlers to grown ups - and we all learned a lot.
Last weekend Charlotte, our first foster dog, got adopted. Her stay in our home was short! We're happy for her to be in her forever home, but it felt so odd not having a dog in the house even after such a brief time with her.
We ended up having to wait a week before getting another dog because arranging a visit when the shelter, Mom, Dad, and Jasmin were all free was a tad difficult. Jasmin does admit that she enjoyed the week of dog-free mornings to sleep in though!
Yesterday we finally got to meet our new foster, Willow. She's listed as a 11 month old whippet, but we think she's more likely a mix that has a lot of boxer in it. Other than no loose jowls and a small stature, she looks very boxer-ish. She is going to be a lot more work than Charlotte! She has a lot of energy, a puppy bladder, and has no qualms whatsoever about wiggling her way past our makeshift stair gate. She also loves getting up early it looks like.
Mom's actually even a bit happy about that as it will mean another incentive to get up and work her way back into morning runs... as long as Mom's heel will continue to heal with daily walk-runs.
Other things this week:
We had planned on doing more, but Aiden was too cold, even after switching jackets with Mom, so we made our way back home quite satisfied. it was a good early birthday day for Mom :)
It's been a relatively quiet week as most of Aiden's activities that get us out and about had the week off.
We were disappointed we'd lost our raspberry canes in the back yard when the deck had been replaced. But we discovered quite a few new sprouts coming up - excitement! Unfortunately most of them were between the patio stones so not really where we could leave them to grow. Mom tried to dig them up and replant them, but so far it looks like that didn't work, but we're still hoping they're not all dead. It does look like we'll get peas and a few strawberries if we can protect the crop from the backyard rabbits, birds, and other critters.
It's been cold enough that we've had the heat on a few days this week :( Aiden in particular is indignant that the beautiful warm weather has disappeared again so quickly.
Jasmin has settled into 2 long walks a day with Charlotte, and we seem to have chewing under control. We are seeing her true personality coming out more now. She is smart! And rather stubborn. But between eager Aiden and patient Jasmin, she is learning to obey well. And now Charlotte has an adoption appointment this weekend... will we be saying goodbye to her this soon?
We finally got back into a routine of Mom reading aloud at meal times and have finished off Burn Anyway, a fairly satisfying ending to a Christian fantasy series. There is enough world building and character development that I think we'd all love to see the hints of a wider story be fleshed out into more books :) Now we have to think of another read aloud to work on.
Dad is finally free enough for promised lessons/guidance in learning computer programming for Aiden. They both are enjoying it!
Dad, Jasmin, and Aiden have spent a fair bit of time setting up Jasmin's new computer (for her upcoming illustration and concept art courses), and swapping out Aiden's computer for Jasmin's old one. So finally the faithful little box computer that was Grace's, then Jasmin's, then Aiden's can now have a rest as a backup. Aiden's happy to have a faster, non-overheating computer to work with, even if it is a coveted laptop but with a broken screen so it's still a desktop.
Dad took the time then to think of and implement a system whereby mom can listen to her large music collection on Grace's computer (the one with enough space) from her own computer. We're all happy to not have to listen to repetitive ads along with the music, and to be able to choose the songs we listen to without having to pay for the privilege.
Aiden got invited to a birthday party already! He and Dad went to a Father and Son fishing birthday party on Saturday. Dad enjoyed the networking with other dads, and Aiden quite liked learning how to cast his line for fishing and building the budding friendships with this new group of friends. It was a very different experience than his last fishing expedition though!
We've sorted out how Dad and doggo can live in the same house... counter intuitively the dog lives upstairs now, and we're doing an insane amount of cleaning... but it's working so Jasmin is relieved. The first few days we weren't sure, as Dad's asthma was bad, but we seem to have found a manageable solution. I'm sure Charlotte the dog would prefer full access to the house though! Unfortunately, Charlotte likes to chew... so Jasmin and Aiden are kept hopping and Charlotte has to be contained, trying to keep things safe from her as even baseboards, beds, and bath mats are not safe from her.
...giant chess...
We also had a picnic supper, and planned to stay late enough to see the black light board walk and light show, but we'd tired ourselves out already and thought of not-so-patient Charlotte waiting for us at home. So we made our way back home just in time for dark :)
Jasmin has wanted a dog... since forever. After many years of "not possible" and mini pets that sort of scratched the itch, this is the year!
Despite an unknown future, uncertain length of stay, Dad's continued allergies to pets, and still (!??!) being under age to volunteer at the shelter, we've found a possible way.
We waited patiently through the process of becoming a volunteer foster family for shelter dogs. And this week we've become host family to Charlotte, a very interesting husky/retriever mix. She is a pretty well mannered and mostly obedient, almost pure white 3yr old. We don't know how long we have her for, and we're still working on arranging things so Dad doesn't feel pushed out of his own house by a dog, but Jasmin - and Aiden - are more than delighted to have Charlotte!
(Sorry, no photos; the shelter has this policy of no social media for foster animals)
Mom and the kids went to the river this morning just as we used to on a Thursday morning.
Aiden's "Oh, I remember playing here!" exclamations bringing a rush of pleasure and delight to all.
It's much less of an expedition now, longer legs make short work of the distances. Still, we get home with a sigh for sore feet - especially mom who's still wrestling with flaring plantar fascitis.
Contentment with warm sun and spring winds, budding greens and wide open spaces. So different than the beach or jungle yet also still familiar!
No matter where we are, we are bird watching and critter hunting, naming what we remember of plants and trees. Thankful for the abundance so close to home - and spring bare trees to see the birds easily!
Cardinals, red winged black birds, song sparrows, juncos, cormorants, Canada geese, Mallard ducks, muskrats, morning dove, sea gulls... Coltsfoot, sumac, cedar, pines, crocuses, pussy willow, bullrushes, wild rose... And lots of black flies🙃
Jasmin dreaming of walking her hoped for dog, Aiden longing to return without the need for coat and shoes to explore the mud and the great climbing trees, Grace exclaiming how differently things are sized now and eager to introduce Aiden to all the things they did when she was 10.
A very good morning in what has been a pretty tough week. Even better that there is trail left still unexplored for another day.... And then we can take a phone for photos 😁
Flowers in the house are a wonderful thing! Imma left us with daffodils and tulips for Easter, and they give us many a smile
Easter celebrations were very different for us this year - we didn't get to any of our usual traditions, but we attended one very joyful Easter Sunday service, watched another from our Penang church, and hosted NiNi and YeaYea for supper. In-between, we sang together as a family lots of easter songs and went for a quick walk.
We've sent off NiNi and YeaYea to their new life in Edmonton today. We're very thankful for the overlap of our time in Ottawa together, though it feels like it was too short, of course!
Jasmin finished her high school course work and began the process of college choosing an applying. It was a great surprise to us that in very short order, she received confirmation of acceptance into her school of choice - CG Spectrum! We also began the process of becoming a dog foster family. This one is proving to be a lot slower of a process though.
Even after only such a short winter experience, we have been just as infected by the spring/summer weather as anyone else this week:
And then...
- it's March Break and we miss a week of youth, etc. Hopefully not too much momentum is lost.
- Aiden got sick with another Canadian winter bug so we missed a play date opportunity
- Grace got her G1/beginner's! Not that she's eager to start driving, but for ID purposes currently. When Jasmin turns 16 in June, they'll do driver's education together.
- Jasmin joined her longtime friend for a birthday day trip to Park Omega. They had a fantastic time observing wolves, foxes, deer, caribou, etc.
- Mom's been troubled by a sore foot (probably plantar fascitis) that has been painful on again off again since November. Hopefully now we're settled she can get it seen to. We miss the DNS physio on the other side of the world that was treating it effectively...
- Dad has continued to plow through the administration grunt work of setting up life here and reconnecting with people.
- Aiden finished his math and Bible courses for the year. Amazing work considering what long time of monumental transition we've just come through!
- Imma made plans to come for a short visit for Aiden's baptism; Imma and Mom are very happy not to have to wait until June for proper hugs☺️
In the last week we've...
- finally moved into our own home
- and unpacked, rearranged, sorted stuff, and made the house livable
- played in the snow multiple times (at least the kids have!)
- went skating and sledding (again, the kids)
- ventured downtown to restore our Ontario health insurance
- enjoyed the delight of random memories coming back as we re-explore our house and neighbourhood
- took at least three zoom meetings
- reveled in the availability of creamed honey, cheap-ish Nutella, tortilla chips
- gotten reacquainted with Canadian grocery shopping
- begun the discovery process of what a good household budget looks like and the changes we will need to make
- reconnected with various church groups (youth, etc.)
- started to re-engage with things put on hold by our move: PhD, SAFE consulting, etc.
- researched and got a working phone, internet, etc.
- met new and old friends
- begun the research and planning for Jasmin to foster a dog
- begun looking into driver's ed for the girls
- finished setting up? Not quite, but nicely close🙂
Day 14 we lived twice...
...we crossed the International Date Line in flying home. It was a smooth journey home, with only standing in line over and over again through various airports being the worst thing that happened to us.
We arrived in Ottawa
to be met by Jasmin's long-time friend who has been texting with Jasmin daily the full 5 years we were in Asia! How special is that?!
to wait more for our luggage - but it all arrived without any damage or adventures.
to be met with grandparents bringing a suitcase of winter coats and mitts for this stupendously tired and cold family.
to gather around the table to eat a long remembered YeaYea's chicken ala king supper
enjoy hot showers
and fall into bed.
Day 15 Home, yet not home yet
Because of our long flight home starting at 2am and the resulting messed up sleep schedule, jetlag didn't stand a chance. We all slept pretty well, and more or less made it through the day...
although Dad had a morning nap
not much school got done (really some did, how amazing is that!?)
and at the end of it Aiden fell asleep on a friends' couch and our words were getting nicely mixed up!
Mom and Aiden went out in the afternoon with NiNi and got Mom a driver's license, Aiden some winter boots, and Jasmin some snow pants. This was all that was needed (except one more pair of boots) after Mom spent the morning searching through our stored goods - somehow she'd managed to store enough winter clothing to keep us all warm, even though she'd only guessed at Aiden's 10 year old size.
And in a rather last minute arrangement, we went for supper at some long-time friends' house - like we couldn't stand being so close and not get together right away 😄It was a fantastic way to end the day. Just like before we left, the kids were loud in their eager fun together, and the parents had tons to say to each other!
Today ...
A final Asian hotel breakfast of rice, noodles, and soup
A final attempt to get ahead with school and university work sharing computers in our hotel rooms
A final lunch (well, just snacks) from 7-11 and roasted eggs off the street
A final use of BAHT cash
A final repacking of our bags
A final supper with our Bangkok friends
A final wait for dad talking with someone, listening to the mix of familiar Asian languages
And later, A final drive through Bangkok traffic to the airport
A first and hopefully final reunion with a lost (left behind) bag
And much later (2 am), a final flight out of our so familiar and much loved Asia, headed to our no longer so familiar home in Canada.
Today
We got up late - so nice to have that choice!
We are well despite skipping lunch altogether.
Grace and Mom sang worship songs for an hour for morning church.
Mom and the kids braved the "cold" to go swimming - laps of the small pool in each stroke.
We got in some read aloud.
Mom worked on a presentation about second language acquisition for our friends with an English school.
We attempted to go to evening church at the church we used to attend when we lived here, but after trying two different locations we discovered it doesn't have an evening service any more.
Mom and dad have the presentation to our friend and two of his staff (and Grace who was interested). We started at 8pm and finished after 11 - So many questions and discussions!
Today we lost and found...
We flew back to Bangkok this morning, discovering on the way that Grace accidentally left her hand bag at the gate in Chiang Mai😬
With prayer, we approached our airline for lost bags, thinking maybe we could have a Chiang Mai friend pick it up for us. We learned that if the bag was found, our airline would fly it to Bangkok for us to pick it up!
All the way to the hotel we prayed it would be found. And it was! So now we just have to coordinate pick up on Monday night when we are back at the airport to fly to Canada...
We also were reunited with the rest of our suitcases, so now Mom has the job of yet again repacking - for Canada this time!
The rest of the day we spent recuperating in the hotel room: debriefing, planning, snoozing, catching up on work set aside for the last week.
2 more days before the big journey...
Today
We all realized it's the last day and there was a flurry of side meetings to get in all the necessary exchanges before people started leaving.
There was a lot of prayer and praise together as we reflected on the week past and the weeks ahead.
Jasmin's allergies cleared up after the rain last night that cleared the air.
Mom bounced from meeting to meeting while dad fielded the logistics of our check out and early morning flight back to Bangkok tomorrow.
Now we can start truly thinking about landing in Canada...
Today:
More meetings... And the beginning of a new shawl on Mom's crochet hook
Dad's presentation got unusually interrupted: two hotel workers brought in a large computer monitor and started setting it up while he was speaking to the group even to the point of unplugging his computer that he was presenting from!
More school... that yet again got interrupted as:
The kids got locked out of Mom and Dad's room so Aiden didn't have computer access for a bit, and,
Dad met with one of the counseling centers here this afternoon.
Aiden got to jump in the freezing pool with Mom for a little bit after she was done with meetings. And then, there were boys on the small yard playing soccer so Aiden joined for an hour before dark.