A few things we have been doing lately....

The Beautiful Bride and I! We took a trip to PA to be a part of my bestfriend's Wedding!! It was wonderful to be able to go and also to get to catch up with and visit friends and family!

Us with my family! Unfortunately this is not the best look for some of the family members.. but Elijah's face is just way too cute in this one!

David's Family (His parents, Brother and sister-in-law and niece and nephew) came up to visit Thanksgiving weekend! We were so glad they were able to come visit...it made for a very full house and a crazy weekend.

We had an American Thanksgiving dinner! David made a very big Greenbean Casserole and I got to help decorate!
David chopping down some trees around campus!

On Sunday, we finally got to decorate our place for Christmas... which is always a very fun day!

Our First Huge Gigantic Snowfall!

Well, I think the warm days are over for us here in Durham and we are getting a glimpse of what life will be like these next quite a few months! What we experienced these last few days we are told is a "snow squall" which we think is either a WHOLE LOT of snow at once or when it snows like crazy for a short time and then the sun comes out and the snow stops and goes on like this for a while! Anyways, whatever it is, it is beautiful, and we are enjoying it!

Our little guy "standing up" to show how high the snow is!
Me at the "Narnia Trail".... love this spot!
The Lake

International Dinner and Game Night

On Wednessday Night we had a social for the first year class. We each brought a dish from another country. We picked EMPANADAS from Bolivia. Sadly though, we cannot make them to taste anything like the empanadas in Bolivia. After we ate all the tasty food we played games and had a great time. Here are some pics from the evening...also some pictures of Elijah's first bite of rice cereal!A bunch of us eating dinnerElijah and his fill-in Canadian GrandmaI think he looks ready!mmmm... tasty!

He really wanted some candy.....

We took Elijah out trick or treating on Friday night... we were able to walk around campus and collect candy for ourselves... I mean Elijah of course!

The cutest hot dog we have ever seen!

Sorting through the goods

Can this be my first solid food please?

What We've Done So Far

Well, we have been here in Canada for about 2 months now, besides our classes, of course, I would like to fill you in on what we have been doing around here!

One of our first weekends here, we took a trip to Inglis Falls! It was amazing there, we went with another couple who also has a baby, a bit older than ours! It was quite the adventure! They were actually underground here. The girls with our babies! The 2 classes were broken up into 3 groups to go on a canoe trip! We just so happened to get to go first! David and I hadn't done much canoeing and we warned that last years trip was quite trying for the married couples. Three canoes ended up tipping on our trip (I believe this was a first), but we managed to stay dry and happy for the most part! It was a great time! Taking a snack breakWe are the 40th class to go through the training center here, so we got to take part in the open house New Tribes had to celebrate!David working on a project in Practical Training ClassOur teachers did a skit for our "No Talent Night"We have also had some visitors already. My mom and aunt Jenny and David's parents have all visited so far!

Hope you all are doing well! We'd love to hear from you!

Canada Eh !?

WE MADE IT!! We have been here for about 1 month now and are LOVING it! We left Michigan excited for the new drive to Canada (we are used to just going back and forth from MI and PA and we were ready for something new). After about 1 hour into the farmlands of Canada the excitement began to dwindle, we didn't even get lunch until around 3:30 because there was about an hour between food places! We arrived on campus around 5 and eventually met up with our host family who invited us right over for dinner! After dinner a whole pile of staff helped us move into our new apartment, which is amazing by the way... we have 3 bedrooms.. no running water still... but at least we have an extra room!
We have taken quite a while to get all our stuff packed away with having a little one but are finally almost settled! We spent the first week unpacking and getting to know the staff. We have 4 main teachers for the first year and each of them and their families had us over for a meal that week! Then we had 2 weeks of orientation where we got an overview of our classes for the next 2 years. Last week we started classes for real... we have a whopping 21 students in our class! We have 2 classes right now. Foundations for Living where we learn characteristics of God and Christian living principles and Animism which is the main belief system of tribal people.
We have really been enjoying it here so far. We love the classes, we are having fun exploring Canada and getting to know our classmates and the staff! Here are some pictures around the campus....

Sad to say... We have had to bring out the long sleeves.

We were told a beaver did this!The Lake

A homeless summer...

As many of you may know we have spent the last month or so back and forth between Michigan and Pennsylvania visiting family, mooching off the parents and living out of suitcase. When it was almost time to leave PA for Michigan, David noticed our vehicle was acting funny and there was a problem with the steering. Unfortunately, this was discovered just before the weekend when no one is available to check out the problem and we had to wait until monday (the day we were supposed to leave for Michigan) to even see about getting it fixed. Thankfully my family knows a mechanic real well who is close to their house and was able to look at the car. He wasn't sure right off what the problem was but it didnt look good. I started to wonder if I would ever make it to Canada with our plans seeming to get set back. But, the Lord is faithful, and the mechanic fixed our car the next morning (a 3 hour job). We were so appreciative that he was able to fit us in and we were able to be on our way Tuesday afternoon. The bad news... it cost us 600 dollars for the fix and he also found another problem with our vehicle that needs to be fixed before the cold weather hits. Unexpected expenses are not fun! On a more exciting note... we have been very encouraged to see our support comming along well!! Throught our time with family and friends, many people began to tell us their desire to be a part of this ministry.. which was so neat to see and we are so thankful for each of you and so thankful to the Lord for His provision! Although it was great fun, we are excited that we have finally made it to Canada and are moving into our new place! I will update on life here.. once we get a bit more settled in and have some pictures to show, in the meantime... Here our some pictures of what we did while visiting family! Trying to give him a taste of my favorite restraunt, Chickfila!

Ekijah had many visitors

but, there was time to rest too
One of his first smiles at 5 weeks old....how exciting!!!Us at Shady Maple
We took him for his first swim... then he wanted to do some sunbathing
Camping with my family at Yogi Bear Campground
My Grandparents and Aunt Jenny got to visit
The family at cousin Chris and Sam's weddingMy Best friends Bridal Shower
Uncle Jason with Elijah

...AND BACK TO MICHIGAN...



We spent a day back in Jackson for some doctors appointments and visited friends while we were there!
Napping with GrandpaPlaying a wild game of DominoesTaking family pictures
Elijah in his adorable Sunday outfit.. with shoes!!
And off to Canada!!

MOVING ON...

The time has come for us to leave Jackson, Michigan. We spent our final week packing up and cleaning our apartment and headed out Sunday evening. We are so thankful to the Lord for bringing us here to study His word. It has truly been an awesome time. It was so weird leaving this place. It seemed like just yesterday that we pulled into the parking lot to get all signed up to start school. We cannot express enough how we have just loved this place.. the staff was amazing (they knew our names the moment we walked in the door)... the people were excited about the Lord... and the classes were incredible. This is the only place we have known as a married couple and now we will be headed to Canada excited to see what is in store for us there!
HERE ARE SOME PICTURES OF OUR LAST WEEKA few Staff and Students help David move our things downSomebody was slacking on the JobThe Amazing children's program that we had the priviledge of being a part of at the Church we attended during our time in Jackson... Another rough place to say goodbye to. We met some great people here and truly enjoyed being a part of their ministry!

So all that to say.. it was a pretty rough week of packing and lots of sad goodbye's. But, we are amazed to look back and see all the neat places the Lord has brought us and are anxious to move ahead to what He has for us next!