Last Sunday

Here we were on Sunday, our last Sunday at the church. Brad is trying to convince December that smiling is GOOD for pictures!

They took this picture for the church directory...as Brad pointed out, that means that we are now in three church directories all over North America: our home church in Michigan, our interim church in California, and our internship church in Alberta!

December being cute on Sunday...

We leave tomorrow morning! Brad is hoping to be on the road around 6:00am. We'll see if we can drag our weary bodies out of bed by then, hehee. I'm doing the final stages of packing right now, and I hear that the dryer has just beeped at me, telling me my last load of laundry is finished. So I'll fold that, and it should be the last bit of clothes that need to be packed! I keep finding random December toys in out-of-the-way places in the house, so I'm hoping I find all of these treasures before we go! Please pray for us if you think of us in the next four days, especially for December, that she is a good, patient traveler! We hope to arrive back to our apartment on Monday sometime. Thanks for your prayers!

Heritage Park

Last week Monday December and I went to Heritage Park with Erin and Caden, Mike and Kim, and Rusty, Janice, Trey, and Jackson. Janice is Brad's cousin who lives in Florida with her husband Rusty and two little boys (they had come up to visit for the wedding). We loved hanging out with them!

Heritage Park is an outdoor park where they have lots of buildings from the late 1800's/early 1900's, and the entire park simulates what the world looked like in that time period. There are horse-drawn wagon rides, trains, people dressed in costume walking around, etc. Here we are, watching the train pass by.




They also had carnival rides from that time period. Here the kids are, playing on the boat swings.




December on the carousel, which she loves

The view from the ferris wheel. Kim, December, and I shared a ferris wheel cart, and it was December's first time on such a big ride! She did great and enjoyed herself.

Auntie Kim and December, getting a close look at one of the trains.

Here's the snow-plow train. Its front is shaped weirdly so that it can get all the snow off the train track.

This is inside the caboose. It's a sort of living quarters, with a table on the left with a bed behind it, and a bench on the right. Just out of sight of the picture is a little sink with cupboards, even!

December sitting on one of the train cars.

Pushing Jackson around in his stroller. December fell in love with Jackson, which hopefully bodes well for her liking our new baby, too!

This was taken a few weeks ago...sometimes December makes me laugh. She insisted on watching "Sit and Be Fit" on PBS, which, if you've ever seen, is such a dull show. It's made for elderly people who aren't able to move well and exercise, so this show makes them able to just sit on a chair and "exercise." Ha ha! It's possibly the most boring show I've ever seen, but December wanted to watch it and would NOT let me change the channel! It enthralled her.

December loves her Uncle Matt

A sleepy girl. She loves to sleep in the same bed as Brad and I, so this was a special treat one Sunday afternoon when we let her take a Sunday nap with us!

Last week Sunday, on the way to church. December got this beautiful dress from her Grandma, Brad's mom.

Yesterday was Brad's last Sunday at the church. We ended up being there quite late because of all of the kind people who wanted to say goodbye! It was a wonderful church to have Brad's internship at. Everyone was very encouraging. Today is Brad's last day at his warehouse job -- yay! It's not the most favorite job he's ever had, and his days are so long there. On Mondays he wakes up at 5:00am and doesn't get back home again until 7:00pm...long days! Tuesday through Thursday, he'll be finishing up at the church, and then on Friday we leave! I'm not sure if I'll be able to put up another post before we go, but I will be sure to put one up as soon as we have internet back at our apartment in California!

Matt & Tarena's Wedding

On Saturday was Brad's brother Matthew's wedding. December was the flower girl, and she did GREAT! Here she is, getting ready with Tarena (the bride) and her bridesmaids. This is after I've curled her hair and put her wedding shoes on, but before the beautiful dress went on.

Now the dress is on! Isn't it beautiful??

Tarena getting ready...

The wedding was a bit too busy for me to get pictures at, but here we are at the reception! There's Brad, his dad, and his brother Michael -- both Brad and Michael were groomsmen.

More pictures of December. She wore this flower circlet on her head (which she called a "crown" -- and her dress she called her "princess dress"), and she carried a kissing ball of pink flowers. She looked beautiful! She walked down the aisle perfectly. I couldn't have asked for better out of her. She did it much better than at rehearsal, even! I stood at the back and released her down the aisle, telling her to walk slowly (that was a problem at the rehearsal when she just ran down the aisle) and to walk to Daddy, who was standing at the front already. And she did! Daddy had candy ready for her when she got to him. I was so proud of her!

Here are Debbie and I, bustling up Tarena's dress at the reception.

The bride and groom!

Daddy and December...I think they're both soo cute.

December exploring the bathroom at the reception hall...

The girls getting freshened up after pictures and before they are introduced at the reception. December just enjoyed hanging out with the wedding party. She loves Tarena and fell in love with Tarena's two sisters.

The bridal party taking a break and resting their tired feet after being in pictures for the past three hours.

December giving Auntie Tarena a kiss. Tarena made an absolutely lovely bride.

December taking a break from the reception activity and watching an Elmo video with her cousin Caden and third cousin Trey (who is only 15 days older than December).

What We've Been Up To

Life in Calgary has been keeping us busy, as you can tell from the lack of posts! But here's what we've been doing lately...this picture is of December playing with bubbles at my friend Justyne's place

Justyne has kindly watched December while Brad and I go off to our worship team practices -- she's especially kind to do it, because it means that December is with Justyne until 10:30pm at the earliest!

Two cell phones...what could be better?!?

Exploring the rocky terrain

December and I hanging out in Grampie and Grammie's play room.

December with Justyne (or as December calls her, Auntie 'Tine)

Helping Justyne make banana bread. December LOVES to help with baking (and pretty much anything that you're doing). I have a feeling she's going to try to be a big helper with the new baby, which is great!

We went to the mall a few weeks ago with Justyne, and we stopped in to see the pet store (one of December's most favorite places to go). I've grabbed a cockatiel out of its cage, and December is petting it.

This mall also has a kids' play area, and December had the time of her life as she climbed on all of the toys! It was a good mall day for her.

Debbie threw Erin and I a joint baby shower, and my friends from the area were able to come to it. It was really fun! Here's Brad and I opening gifts, with Erin and December watching.

Brad and I before we started opening gifts.

Brad loves baby showers! :o)

Auntie Tarena got December her very first pair of roller skates, with a helmet, knee pads, and elbow pads, too. December is trying them out, with Daddy's help.

Taking a break. Learning how to roller skate is hard work!

She actually did pretty well and got better and better the longer she did it. She'll be a champ in no time!

Since these pictures were taken, we've moved into a new place. We are now living in Brad's sister's fiance's parents' house (I'm very impressed if you could follow that), while they are in Europe for a few weeks. We are taking care of Watson, their enormous English sheepdog (think of the movie The Big Shaggy Dog), which is taller than December and could probably eat her for dinner if he so chose. But he's a good-natured, lazy kind of dog and plays outside most of the time.


It's hard to imagine, but we will be leaving Calgary next week. That means that this Sunday is Brad's last Sunday to preach (and we will be playing with the worship team again), and this week is his last week preparing a sermon for Sunday! He's really enjoyed being at the church, and we've all really enjoyed being in Calgary! I can't believe how quickly these months have gone by...