Sunday, December 13, 2009

Merry Christmas 2009

Wow… It’s hard to believe that 2009 is almost over. It has been a very full year for us full of change and excitement some tears and lots of laughs.

In April of this year we headed to Vancouver to visit the Greater Vancouver Baptist Church with some other members of our church family. The trip to Vancouver also included a trip to Metro Town Mall in Burnaby where Rebecca and her friend Brianna were able to visit the Build a Bear Workshop where Rebecca chose a very special new friend for her birthday.

Rebecca finished Kindergarten in June at a French Emersion school and was eager to get summer started. We were able to enjoy our summer together with trips to the Water Park and visits to Cranbrook. Our first visit to Cranbrook included a trip to Fort Steele and a couple trips to the beach. On the second trip we spent some time with my dear friend Dana and her son in August and were able to go with Dana on a small road trip to get her cousin. I enjoyed our visit very much and Rebecca was able to make a few new friends while there. We also got to spend some more time with the Grandparents Johnston.

We started School at the end of August. Why so early you may ask? Well after lots of thought, many conversations and countless hours of prayer over the past few years, I made the decision that the best option for us would be homeschooling. Rebecca was eager to get started and it has so far been a great pleasure and joy to be with her every step of the way. I loving being part of her education in such a hands on way and creating our own unique fieldtrips specifically designed for her including a Trip to the museum where we learnt about the history of Kamloops and a fun trip to Riverside Park to people watch. We are registered With Heritage Christian Online School and I have plans of continuing with them for her grade 2 year.

(Rebecca with Uncle Colin in Edmonton)

About mid September our pastor announced that he and his family would be heading off for awhile to try and get more much needed funding for our very small Church. This means that we will not be continuing with our Church until then return. I have grown very close to their family after the last couple years and Rebecca has also grown very close to their children and in particular their daughter. This has been very hard news for us but we know that Gods plan is much bigger then our own and we will continue to pray and hopefully sooner rather then later our close Church family will be together again. At the end of September we headed off to Edmonton for a few days to see my brother Colin play hockey. Rebecca was very excited to see her uncle again and it was nice to be able to watch him play again. While in Edmonton we were able to visit the West Edmonton Mall where we saw sharks, got to pet sting rays and star fish and Rebecca even got kissed by a Sea Lion. We were also able to Visit the Royal Alberta Museum where Rebecca was again thrilled as they had a special exhibit called “Much About Munsch”. Robert Munsch happens to be one of Rebeccas favourite authors and this was a neat experience for her and she talked about when she had gone to meet him last year with Grandma Julie while he was in Kamloops.

October was a very busy month continuing with Rebeccas school. Rebecca also started dance and tennis. These are two hobbies she seems to enjoy very much. I signed up for two more Team Diabetes events and will be heading to Calgary in May for a 5k and to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of Team Diabetes Canada and I am also headed to Dublin Ireland next October for a Marathon. My fundraising goal for these two events is $10,000. In order to help reach my goal I have decided to host a Dinner and Silent Auction early in the New Year (I was not prepared for the amount of work that goes into this sort of thing, but all planning seems to be going well). We chose to stay warm this Halloween and once again went Trick or Treating at the mall with Rebecca dressed as Cinderella



(Rebecca with Bruiser Halloween 2009)




(Rebecca at Dance 2009)




November was off to a busy start. Tennis ended and Swimming began and of course there is also dance. I am very happy that Rebecca is out to discover what she enjoys the most. We have been talking and when dance is over in the summer Rebecca wants to continue so we will see what happens. As for swimming she is just getting started again and is already looking forward to when this session ends and the new one begins and we have plans of signing her up for the diving programs after a couple more sessions.

We are looking forward to spending Christmas with my brother Brian and his Wife Donna. Brian’s Children James and Sarah will be here for Christmas as well this year which should be fun. My younger brother Colin will be home for Christmas also this year and although Dad will be away for work Mom has decided to stay home and spend Christmas with her Children.

Hope You Have a Very Merry Christmas
With Love,
Dannielle and Rebecca

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