Highlights from a month in Canada!

Its already been a month since we arrived back in Manila after a wonderful time in Canada. I started this post several weeks ago but figured I might as well still post it :)

Here's some highlights from our trip….

Spending time at my parents cabin on the lake. Cody and Makai loved throwing rocks in the lake and appreciated the fact that there were no guards there telling them its not allowed! It was nice and cold at the cabin, perfect for warming up by the fire in the evening to roast marshmallows. The boys also loved riding the ATVs and boating.

Cousin time! The boys LOVED playing with their cousins and especially loved all the fun things they could do at my sister’s house.

Going to the Mennonite Church Canada Assembly in Winnipeg. It was so great to connect with a lot of friends and also cousins.

Visiting with Opa.... my dear 99-year-old grandfather.

Speaking at three different churches and visiting with wonderful congregations that love and support us.

Staying at our house for a week! We housesat while our renters/good friends were on holiday. It was such a highlight to enjoy our forested backyard, the new playground down the street, and the quiet walks. These are the things we miss most when stuck in a crazy busy cement city of 12 million people!

Cody learning to ride a bike. He's now zipping around the paths in our complex with all the big kids.... and loving it!

Spending time with friends. We are so thankful for such great friends at home and also for our Missionary Support Team.... we'd be lost without them!

We are so thankful for this visit home. It helps us feel connected to so many people we love and it gives us rest to be away from living cross-cultural in a cement jungle. Its amazing how much you can appreciate parks, mountains, fresh air and quiet streets when it no longer surrounds you.

We've been busy with PeaceChurch this last month and have enjoyed meeting with them again and making plans. We will be starting to really develop an Anabaptist Network this year, as our good friend and PeaceChurch member, Jon Soriano, has agreed to head this up. We're excited for how this will take shape and the impact it will have on our wider church body in the Philippines!

Now its only 2 weeks away from our little girl's due date and we are ready to welcome her into this world! This phase is a little nerve-wracking, knowing that any minute now I could go into labour! My next post will be full of pictures of her, I'm sure :) It's also two weeks until Cody's 4th birthday..... September 4th could be a very well-celebrated day for our family!!

Upcoming Plans

We have our flights booked and are arriving in Vancouver June 18th for a month-long visit! We are really excited to be able to see our family and friends again this summer and spend some time in a place we love and miss. Thanks to our parents' generosity, we don't have to wait 3 years, but get to come home every summer (so far).... what an amazing gift!

And a whole week at the cabin with this as my front yard? Yes, please!!!!!

While we're in Canada this summer, we'll be flying to Winnipeg (leaving the boys in BC with grandparents) for the Mennonite Church Canada Assembly. We're looking forward to this event where we'll get to learn from and dialogue with Mennonites from across Canada. We'll also be sharing at three different churches on Sunday mornings (June 29th at Eden Mennonite in Chilliwack, July 13th at Emmanuel Mennonite in Abbotsford and July 20th at Peace Mennonite in Richmond).

Other summer plans include a week at my family's cabin and a week staying at our house while our dear friends/renters are out of town.... we get to "housesit" our own house :)

Many of you have been asking where the baby will be born. While we'd love to be home with family to have this dear little one, it would mean being in Canada 6 weeks before the baby is born and probably 6 weeks after also.... this is just too long to be away from our work and seeing as the medical care we receive in Manila is just fine, we'll be coming back to the Philippines in July and then baby is due to arrive in September. 

My pregnancy is going very well and baby is doing great and is super active.  I am really looking forward to cooler weather at home though, as its the hottest time of the year here right now and its horribly uncomfortable to be outside in the humidity, especially when I already have my own personal heater in my belly:)  I finally checked the weather network to see how hot it really is here and it said 37C but feels like 56C! Is that even possible?!?!? Even during an early morning walk or an evening stroll we come home a sweaty mess! Oh how I look forward to cool June evenings at the cabin and getting cozy around the campfire with a hoodie on.

We have been enjoying our work here a lot and love our Peace Church community that we gather with on Wednesday nights. We've been busy with different projects and activities... I really need to write more blogs about all the different things we're doing!! We've also had lots of house guests lately, which is always a huge blessing. Our dear sister, Reg has been living with us for over a month, our friend and language tutor, Fread stays about 2 nights a week and we've had several North American guests passing through Manila in the last 2 months and spending a night or two in our guest room/office. Our doors are open, as always, and we love the many ways all these guests add to our family. We do usually have a day a week just as a family, which is also important. But when Cody asks if we can do something fun as a family, the list of people he says will be there always includes a few more than the four of us :)

I will leave you with a photo of two special boys. I'm sure most of you have seen this photo on Facebook, but its just too cute not to share again!

thanks to Marc at banyenfamilyphotos.com for this shot

Birthdays!

Last week we had a great little pool party for Makai's 2nd birthday. After some fun in the pool under the hot sun, we had lunch and cake at our place with dear friends. It was so fun to celebrate Makai.... I just can't get enough of the cute conversations we have now, his rough and tumbly cuddles and his super giggly little personality. What a joy this little curly-haired silly boy is!

On his actual birthday, Makai woke up to a new marble racer game. He loves it!

And then we took him to Active Fun to run around, jump and throw balls with his kuya.

And a family lunch....

That evening, a friend from Peace Mennonite Church, Len Block, came for the night (and brought gifts from Gramma and Grandpa!) before his flight to Davao to meet with Peacebuilders Community, so we had him and Kuya Dann for dinner along with Reg (who's actually living with us now) and Fread (who lives with us half the week). Too bad I didn't take any photos.

Six days after Makai's birthday, it was time to celebrate me :) We had a fun pancake breakfast, lunch at PF Chang's and Peace Church in the evening. 

Darnell had a special sharing about hospitality and how central building community around "the table" is for Christ followers (Jesus spent 25% on his time eating with friends!). The theme of the evening was thankfulness and appreciation for the time and energy I put into feeding everyone (healthy) meals all the time and in so doing, creating an opportunity to share life together. I was touched by the affirmation of what sometimes feels to me like an insignificant ministry. We also had some good laughs about my (rather strict!) no cell phone rule at the table (I love that people affirm it though!!) and I felt blessed hearing how much our friends appreciate the way we include them in our regular family meals, a daily ritual that many in our circle have never experienced before. 

It has been a great week of celebrating! Thank you all for the warm wishes from near and far.