December visit with the Josoks

Well, those pictures pretty much sum up the 22 hrs that the Josoks came to visit! It was a fun time of Jedi battles, Lego, crafts, ringlets and a movie.

A December Scrap-Blog

Here's a few photos of what we've been up to this month so far.

 Visiting with the Parrishes and Sahota's, and a Johnson too!

Lillian-Ruth and Evelyn enjoyed quiet, girly play. They played with a tea set and plunked out tunes on the piano. Once in a while, Alyssa-Belle got to join them. Mostly, she hung with the adults and made we laugh with her antics.




Ethan and Casey built things and explored and conquered things.  Ethan dumped salt all over the floor, then both boys shifted it all around with their toes...then vacuumed it all up!







Later that day, visiting with the Chidlows and Stephens, and Lewis' and Scotts. It's funny how so many names get added to a family as the girls marry!


 Here is Ryan's step-dad Alec with Tyson (the son of Ryan's sister Dawne).











Anyway, these are the children of Jenny and Karen (Ryan's step-sisters). The kids made candy necklaces and they coloured, and they created some music for us to enjoy.

I loved seeing how each of them went about completing their necklaces in a different way. Evelyn worked on hers for a while, then had issues with beads dropping off. So she decided she was content with what she had and would live with the smaller necklace that remained on the string. Ethan stuck at the task for longer than I expected him to. He has a few setbacks, but kept plugging away. He was not concerned about a pattern in the colours or how it looked, but he wanted all the beads on the string. Megan was the first to figure out that if she made a small necklace and finished quickly, she could just eat the left over candy. Ashley completed her necklace, in a pattern and shyly showed the adults her creation. She seemed surprised that we would want to oooh and ahhh at her. As you can well imagine, Evelyn delighted in being delighted in! Emily plugged away at her necklace and just as she would almost finish, she would drop an end and the beads would fly. She would quietly look at the mess, then start over. After the 3 rd time that happened, she happily accepted some help getting those last few beads on her string. Austin watched the others for a couple minutes, then decided playing with the trains was more fun. Later, he managed to get some of the left over beads from Evelyn's plate and enjoyed a few of those. Reward without work! Smart kid! I had fun making the train track with him and trying to build a tunnel out of a rug.


 Here are Austin, Ethan, Ashley, and Emily playing a song for us. What a blessing to get to know these nieces and nephews.

Evelyn's school had their Christmas Concert this week.  They did a great job! Acting, Dancing, Music... very well done. Evelyn's class was in one of the choirs.














If we looked through the heads, and the other kids in the choir stood just right, we could see her. Can you find her?

 Ryan's mom and Step-Dad also came up for the concert. Nana brought gingerbread houses for the kids to make. Here's Ethan's design...or creation? I don't think he had a vision of what he wanted his house to look like!







Evelyn had a definite plan for her house.

We bought a tree that was grown locally. This is the nicest tree we've ever had! It's really tall too. The kids enjoyed hanging the ornaments and each had their favorite. Evelyn liked the 'Dora' ornaments, Ethan liked the 'Charlie Brown' ones. I liked the teacup, teapot and spoon set and Ryan likes the Rudolph ornaments. A family favourite remains the two 'Christmas Story' ornaments. One shows the boy with his tongue stuck to the flag pole, the other the little brother with his arms stuck out in his snow suit.

Getting the angel on top was a bit dramatic. Ryan lifted Evelyn onto his shoulders, but she decided she now has a fear of heights. So she screamed and carried on but eventually put the angel on top. It doesn't look like the fancy trees in the stores, but if you look at each ornament closely, it has a lot to catch your interest!

Bethlehem Walk 2010

Ryan's Mom and Step-Dad came up to visit the Bethlehem Walk with us.

WOW! Parksville Baptist Church did an amazing job! The line was long, a lot of people went to see it, but it was great! To top it all off, they provided hot chocolate and cookies at the end - served in the fellowship hall with the choir singing in the background.

I loved the potter the best. It made me think of how we are shaped into the people we are by the gentle pressure applied to us by the great Potter. He knows what the end product will be, and over time, through constant pressure, He forms it. The clay, however, needed to be kept moist and soft so it could be pliable. There are so many things that can make us hardened to His hands. Once the shape was made in the way the Potter planned, it was fired in an oven so it would remain that way. The potter at the walk fired his pieces bit by bit. He held one end over the flame, then turned it. I think the great Potter knows how much heat we can take and will carefully allow us to feel that heat. Never more than we can handle. The clay, also, looked like a lump of dirt. I guess that's what we are though. Until He shapes us. Lumps of carbon and water and calcium...we really DO have a lot in common with that clay!

The other part of the night that amazed me was the hot chocolate at the end. They set up dozens of tables and had our party of 6 seated and served in moments. It was a fluid and graceful dance. Incredibly well done!

Picture slideshow generated with Smilebox

Going 'out' for dinner

Tonight, Ryan treated us to dinner at "'Yummy' wine bar and Bistro". We had to wait to be seated, were given a menu to make our choices from, were NOT allowed to enter the kitchen, and were given paper to colour on while we waited for our orders to be ready.

The Menu included:

Grilled Cheese: Our specialty. Grilled to a perfect golden brown and oozing with real cheddar cheese, this will make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside.



Field Potato with Spring Leek soup: More attractive than our orange soup (Butternut squash), I'm not so sure it tastes great. The perfect choice for the risk taker.





Dr.Pepper: Comes from the good doctor.

Asti (sparkling wine by Martini): Doesn't come from where it sounds like. (He loves to mock me whenever I drink my 'Ass-tea'. It's so delicious, I don't care!

Dessert was caramel or blueberry sundaes with sprinkles and shortbread cookies.  




The kids had a blast. Ethan seemed confused because Ryan adamantly denied being his Daddy and stated he was the chef. Ethan came to accept that and started calling him the food maker, or food getter, or chef. When the Chef told us he was off work and heading home, Ethan accepted that. When Ryan walked into the dining room a moment later, apologizing for being late for dinner, he had to work through what just happened and asked if Ryan was the chef too.

It was a very fun supper. 

Bethlehem Walk

I just heard about this event hosted each year by the Parksville Fellowship Baptist Church. It looks SO COOL! I work with a couple people who attend that church, or have gone in the past and they couldn't stop raving about it. They create an entire village with market kiosks and activities. There are people in costume and character helping to interpret the scene and history. I heard there is a guy with 'Goliath's sword' who is a favorite with some of the kids of my co-workers.

We are planning to go on Sunday, Dec 12. I know it would make for a late night for people driving back to Victoria, but it looks like it would be worth it for the experience.

Here are the details:

Parksville Baptist Church Bethlehem Walk.


When Is it?
December 11 - 14, 2010. During the event, the Bethlehem Walk Village is open each evening from 6:00 to 8:30 pm. A morning presentation for pre-school and special needs is held on the Monday from 9:30 to 11:00 during the event run.

Where is it?
Parksville Fellowship Baptist Church -- 550 Pym Street, Parksville, BC, Canada.

Is there a Cost?
You can enjoy everything without cost, however you'll have the opportunity to donate money or food to the local Salvation Army (in 2009 visitors contributed multiple van-loads of food and over $13,000 in donations).  Experience the Christmas Story and then relax with hot chocolate, cookies and carolling indoors.