Trip to Vancouver Island

We are back from our Vancouver Island trip. It was such an amazing time! Several months ago Kenny was asked by Christian Life Assembly in Maple Ridge/Langley to speak at their youth camp. So we had been looking forward to this trip for a long time.

We spent the week at Cowichan River Bible Camp with about 200 people. We had our own little cabin, we ate great food and my boys very quickly made their way into the hearts of those youth. My boys loved that they were on the "green team" and made sure to cheer their team on. Brayden even joined in on volleyball and soccer with his team. The youth there are so passionate and excited to grow closer to God. It was cool to watch. Kids were getting healed and many were having extreme encounters with God. One girl had a vision that lasted for hours. On the last night after Kenny finished speaking the youth and some leaders stayed to pray until 6:00 am!!! We saw many lives changed in that week which was just awesome.

We also took 2 days to spend as a family. One day we went to visit our friends Darrin and Rebecca Meier who just moved to Duncan this year. Another day we went to Parksville to spend a day at the beach. It was a wonderful trip for us!

We are now finishing all our back to school shopping and getting ready for one last getaway before school starts. We will be meeting our good friends, Sarah and Randy Dueck, at my parent's cottage this weekend. Sarah was my room mate in college and our families have been very close ever since. They also have 2 boys so it should be lots of fun!

Here are some pictures of our trip to the Island. I don't think they are in order but that's ok. You'll figure them out!

Goodbye Ashley Furniture

Kenny is officially done at Ashley Furniture now. His last day was on Monday. Kenny has worked there for 2 years and it has be awesome for him. For those of you who know him, you'll know that he is a great salesman! He wanted to find a job that worked better for our family until we find a place for him to do ministry again. So, right now he is working privately doing reno work. Next week we will be on the Island where he will be speaking at a youth camp. And once we get back he will start his new job...construction. The pay will be the same but the hours are much better for our family. He will work mon-fri 7-4 which is great. This will be the first time in our 10 year marriage that he will have weekends off! YIPEE! We can't wait.

Here are some pics of Kenny on his last day of work and at his farewell party last night.


Kenny wearing his Ashley shirt for the last time!


Kenny and his buddy, Ed goofing off at work!


Kenny and some of "his girls" at the farewell party.


Kenny opening a gag gift... they gave him junk food because he was always eating junk at the store!

Small Town Life

Ok, so I've been living in a small town (like 3000 people small) for the last 8 years. Never did I think I would end up in a small town. I grew up in Calgary and the smallest town I lived in was Abbotsford. Until Enderby. I remember coming here for the first time and being terrified that there was NOTHING in this town. However, I have come to love life here and can't imagine living anywhere else.

But I must say that small town life brings with it some weird, sometimes creepy things. Like the time a guy from our church walked in on me naked (people in small towns just waltz into each other's house when no one answers the door). Or the time I opened the door with just my towel on, thinking it was my friend Tanya, only to find a guy from a neighbouring church and his kid standing there. Oops. Or what about the time a boy from down the street walked up to me and said, "Oh, it looks like you guys have put your winter tires on your van now." Mark my words, no one in a city would notice that!

There have been other weird things too. Right after we bought our first house, I was at the bakery. The man working there (who I had never met before) looked at me and said, "How do you like your new house?". How did he know who I was and that I had a new house anyway? When I told him that it was great he responded, "Yah, that was the house my sister wanted to buy. She totally wanted it." Hmmm, how do you respond to that??

But yesterday was the icing on the cake. Two weird, small town things happened at the same time. Kenny was out rollerblading with the kids and dog. They were going past a row of houses and suddenly saw someone he recognized on one of the front lawns. He thought it was a customer of his so he said "Hi". However, as soon as he said that he realized who it was. It was the couple that first tried to buy our house only to back out of the deal. It would have been fine except that things did not end very friendly with all of us. Talk about awkward!

At exactly the same time as that happened I was at home. The phone rang and it was a stranger on the other end. Here is how the conversation went:

Stranger: Hi, is this the house where Kenny who used to work at Ashely furniture lives?
Me: Well, Kenny still does work there.
Stranger: Oh really. I thought he was leaving.
Me: He is leaving but he's still there for the next couple of weeks (yes, Kenny did quit his job and will be working elsewhere soon).
Stranger: Can you please tell me why he is leaving. I mean, I have been wanting my wife to apply there. I think she needs to move on. But then I heard that Kenny was leaving and another worker had just quit too. I just want to know why they would both leave.
Me: (laugh out loud) Well, I am not about to give personal info about my husband to a total stranger. If you want to know that kind of stuff you should really ask Kenny (knowing full well that Kenny would never give that kind of info to some curious Gerorge).
Stranger: Oh, ok, I'll call him at work. Bye.

Like seriously, what was he thinking? That is the weirdest thing! And stranger still is that he did call Kenny's work but didn't ask Kenny about it. He decided instead to ask another co-worker about Kenny's personal life. WEIRD!

As strange as small town life is, I have come to love it. It's a great place to live and raise kids. And of course, it provides some great stories!