So it's Surrey then.

"Behold I have plans for you, plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future" - Jeremiah 29-11


God is great. We found out on Monday that D was posted to Surrey, number 2 on our list, but number 1 on God's list.  I wasn't in total shock I must say, as it was 'sounding' like it was a good possibility he was going to be in the Lower Mainland, but I never counted on it. I am happy, Darryl is happy, and my family is happy. I did not expect him to know already, but Monday I had called him around 4:30 and his phone rang but he did not answer. then he phoned me about 1 hour later and I let Jude answer and blab on speaker phone for a while. Then I was telling Jude to show Dad all the new words he knew, like Cheese...and I was saying "Jude say cheese". This went on for a while, until D pipes up, Jude can you say this? Then I knew what he was going to tell me the answer right there. He says "Jude, can you say Surrey?". Well I grabbed the phone so fast, Jude barely knew what happened. Anyways, it couldn't really have been better news, I wasn't really looking to quit my job, uproot my family, and sell my house in a matter of weeks, right after Christmas. I knew that either way, moving or not, God would be with us, and His plan was best, this outcome was just a lot easier to accept. We are hopefully planning on moving sometime in the next year, closer to the school, more into Langley. I am getting tired of the daily (and sometimes twice) commute to Langley (although it isn't THAT far) and having grown up being close to the school, I feel a pull back home. Plus the house is starting to get too small at just over 1300 square feet and 1 bathroom, it would be nice to have a bit more space and a quiet room for D to sleep after night shifts. We had only planned to stay in this house 5-6 years but have managed to stretch it out to 8, which hasn't been too bad because we really have loved this house and living here. It was exactly what we needed, close to Abbotsford for D's work at the time, big yard, and who knew that living so close to the Aldergrove Kinsmen Hall would be a big payoff becoming a Fitness instructor. I can see how God's had His plans for us to move here and why, before we even knew what they were, and it is so reassuring. We will see if and when we move, all in God's time and again much praying for answers about this will come.
D is doing well, the last 5 weeks he has been working very hard and been excelling. Today he told me 2 members of his troop got sent home, and I had met and talked a bit with one of them when I was there, so I was shocked. I can't imagine putting in 18 weeks of hard work, and then not to be able to graduate. But there are reasons for these things and the decisions that were made don't come easy. It was a good reminder for me to continue praying for Darryl as well as he has been doing, it has all been a blessing from God. Only 7 more sleeps till he comes home, and I cannot wait. I can't wait to see the look on the boys faces, on D's face, and enjoy each other like we never have. These opportunities rarely come in life, to be so appreciative of what we have, to miss each other this much, and to realize how dependent we are on God, and this to is a blessing.


Well I have 2 weeks off from teaching as well, and as much as I cherish it, I look forward to the no schedule of life. The longer I teach, the more connected I am with the students and the more I like being a part of something. Today we were playing a basketball game with the grade 7's, and I was 'reffing' the game. They were asking me some questions about what the signs were for things like travelling, subs, and fouls..so I was showing them. Then they asked me how I knew, (because I have told them I wasn't exactly an 'athlete' in school) and I told them I used to scorekeep and ref games in highschool a lot. I even told them I got the 'scorekeeper of the year' award (first time I ever admitted that publicly) and still have my medal, and we all kind of giggled about it together. But then I realized had I not done all that reffing and scorekeeping, I would not have known most of the signs and rules for the different sports we play. I again had to stop for a minute and marvel at God's grace and how he uses things from our past, that we think may have been useless, to better serve others. Thank you Lord. 
So, other than that, everything else is great. The boys are still doing pretty good, but I think we are all ready for a nice break. I don't think we have ever looked this forward to Christmas and the boys are counting down the sleeps everyday. Jude is blabbering more than ever, calling Cody "Cogy" and it sounds really cute. He has really bonded with Cody since D left, and I love watching them hug in the mornings and after school when Cody gets home. If he has been crying in the night, he asks for "cogy" and when I lay him beside Cody, they snuggle up together and Jude settles right away. Maybe Cody is the man of the house for Jude..I dunno, but I am glad. Jesse is missing his Dad and has been coping better than I expected. Unlike Cody, he does not like change in his routine too much and isn't fond of any 'pressure' which I blame entirely on D's genes, but has been a good learning experience for me to try and keep the weekly 'routine' going. He will fair much better in school than his older brother I am guessing, because he really loves a structured environment and feels more in control then. I love his quirky little personality and the fact that he knows what he wants in life, and what he doesn't. Better that then me, where I can't sometimes make a decision if my life depended on it. I think Jude will be the clown of the family, always being goofy, putting anything on his head and pretending it's a hat. Cody is a showman and looking to have the most fun possible, with the least amount of work possible. He likes to push the boundaries as far as he can, but loves music, singing, dancing and anything to do with computer. Hmm, I have NOOO idea where he gets it from, but it has it's good and bad sides. I lived it...so I am ready for the battle.


I have so much to be thankful for, and have been very blessed by so many. Yesterday and the day before my dad came here after work (he starts at like 5 a.m. or something crazy like that) and raked all my front and back leaves and sprayed my driveway. We had some good laughs when we were picking up the leaves about our acreage back in the day and how many piles of leaves Nellie and I had to rake and pick up, and how long it aways took. My Dad would come out and do this little demonstration and be raking like a madman showing us how it was done. Then 1 of us would pick up the rake after he left and pretend to go all crazy with the rake and giggle our heads off together. Then I began telling him about how we felt like it was pure torture on a cold fall day after school to do all that hard work and ho we would bike home from school and try to hideout n our rooms after snack time so he'd forget.  Thanks Dad, for giving us some work ethic, and for coming over and helping me out this week. I really like being independent but there is something about getting some help from your dad that warms my heart. He always liked doing outside work and to this day he really enjoys it. And there are not too many 60 year old guys out there going to work at 5 am and doing the physical job of a 25 year old and keeping up quite well. I love my Dad!
 Well we are down to the wire being 3/4 of the way done 'this' journey and then onto the next one, I cannot wait  to see what the New Year is going to bring. Praise the Lord!