Makayla Goes to Swimming Lessons

Makayla and I had the joy of spending two weeks in Parent & Tot swimming lessons. I had so much fun watching her embrace the cold water that is Londonderry Pool and learn to splash around, blow bubbles, do back floats and front floats. We also got to play games with water toys and sing lots of super fun songs. Grandma was around to see her at the beginning and then daddy, Auntie Elaine and Mama were able to come and watch her at the end. She grew leaps and bounds and her swimming teacher was thrilled with her progress. She passed the class with flying colours! Here are few pics of our time together!

Nothing new, so will post pics from the summer...

Playing with toys

Cousin Nicole's Visit


Playing before church

Being cute

Grandma and Grandpa Gray's visit

Eating a chicken leg... mmm...

Levina and Joe's Wedding - Makayla was a flower girl - I will have to post more pics of her when I get them.

7 Years Ago...

I can hardly believe that it has been seven years since...


Phil and I met in Bible School in 2000/01. We hung out a lot as our dorms were paired up for the year. But I didn't really notice him or think of him as more than just a friend. At the end of that school year we said goodbye and went our separate ways, I went back to BC and Phil back to Ontario. I took the summer to get ready to go on my internship (in Ottawa) and Phil prepared to head back to school.

When I arrived in Ottawa I was working at a Chinese Church. I really had no idea about Chinese people or working in that setting as I grew up in a predominately Caucasian community and church. I was ready to embrace the task at hand. After the first few days of being there I called my friend Dave, who happened to be Phil's roommate and when I phoned, Dave was out but Phil was in. We chatted for awhile and I was really glad that we were able to connect. A few days later he phoned me to see how I was doing. We continued to chat on the phone, msn and send emails on a daily basis. It was so great to be able to connect with someone and have someone to talk to. A few months after this all began we knew that this was going to be a relationship that lasted. We began to talk about the future and what are dreams and hopes were and what we wanted to accomplish. We knew that we were going to be together, we just didn't know when or how it would all come to be. By March we were engaged with a date set for August. When you know it's the one, why waste time! You can see Elizabeth's story! We were really excited to be together and begin to serve God together, impacting lives for eternity.

That day was a truly special day as we committed our lives to each other and to God, promising to be there for one another and to serve one another and our God until the end. And I guess that is what we have been doing ever since.

We have lived in 4 different cities, been employed at two different churches, have made many friends and have seen our lives change and our family expand! I couldn't be more happier than I am today. I can't wait to see what the rest of our life will be like, but I know it can only get better!



Here's to you babe! 7 wonderful years and many more to come. I love you!

Another long weekend...

has come and gone!

Where does the time go. I was so lucky this weekend to have my cousin from BC come and visit us for the weekend. She arrrived Saturday afternoon and we took a quick trip out to the Mall, cause everyone has to go to the Mall at least once. Apparently when we were in the Mall there was a huge storm. We didn't know about it until the next day! It was so bad that there was a concert in Camrose, which is about 45 minutes south of here, and at the concert the wind came in and blew through an outdoor concert and the stage collapsed and killed one woman and injured about 75 more people. Sunday we were going to go and enjoy the Heritage Festival, but it was pretty windy and a little rainy and so we decided to just stay home and do some photo lessons. Monday we were able to get to the Festival. Boy, it was so neat. There were about 80 different culture booths and so much food. We didn't realize that there was going to be so many people. We waited in line at the Mexico food booth for about 30 minutes and then someone came by and said they only had one item left. So we moved to another line for other food. We tried a few different things and really enjoyed it. Next time I know to go with more people and more time and more food tickets! It was really neat to see all the different culutres and their music and dance and food. What a wonderful thing.

The weekend was great and went by so fast. Now we are back to work and back to the groove. Kids Camp starts next Monday and there is so much to do. Phil is busy on a trip to Mexico and will be back next weekend! I can't wait. My parents are also coming next week and I am really excited to have a chance to see them.

There is a busy week ahead so stay tuned for more summer adventures!