Happy Valetine's Day!

It is our family tradition to have a nice Valentine's breakfast. Most of the time we have red waffles of pancakes. Ruth had used all the red food coloring last night to make red chocolate chip cookies for her class and Titus'. So we had waffles that I cut into hearts instead. While I was working on the waffles I heard some thing out side. What an awesome surprise to see two men working on shoveling our path! That sure was a neat way to start the day. At class this morning Rosie and John bought down a snack for the class. Some wonderful heart shaped and decorated cookies! Yum, Yum! (Those are the cookies I have in the picture.) Then while I was getting lunch ready I got a phone call from my hubby! WOW! (Thanks so much for praying for him, his time in Venezuela is going well.) This day is really turning out nice. Before Vern had left, he told me where he put some Valetine's cards for the kids and I. We opened them at breakfast this morning. How sweet of him to remember us like that and to get that phone call. I hope you are having a very Happy Valetine's Day doing some thing special for a family member or a friend letting them know how important they are in your life.

Girls Just Having Some Fun

Monday was a very snowy day and it was hard to get around the campus here as well as town. We were feeling like we were getting snowed in. Sherry, one of our first year students, got the spur of the moment idea of having a girls get together. She put together a BIG pot of chili and many other ladies baked corn bread, cake, and other goodies so it ended up being "Dinner and a Movie". As you can see there were quite a few of us squeezed into a very small living room. (I think there were around 25 of us.) The chili was GREAT and it was a lot of fun to get together on a cold winter night with the girls.

On Friday night four of our second year ladies, (Melissa, Kay Zue, Amanda, & Julie) invited all the ladies to their apartment for some "Girl Time". The theme of the night was chocolate. Everyone was asked to either bring a chocolate dessert or something to drip in chocolate. Since I am a chocoholic all the chocolate hit the spot. It was a fun night! (I think Titus is ready for someone to call a "Kids Night Out".)

Winter Greetings

We enjoyed a nice warm December here in Ontario. People were actually worried that we might not have a winter with snow. (I was of course not one of those people as I can handle a snowless winter.) For the past week we have had quite a bit of snow and very cold temperatures. With Vern being gone it seems like I spend quite a bit of time outside dealing with the snow. Although, we have been very blessed by several people who have come by to shovel snow for us. Besides going to town to run errands or take Ruth to work and back I have not ventured beyond our town of Durham. Since we had spent many winters in Venezuela I don't really enjoy driving in the snow. And although Ruth would love for me to take her out driving again, we are going to wait until the snow settles down a bit. Titus is of course glad for all the snow and can spend hours out playing in it. I however, think Ruth has the right idea that on a snowy evening a cup of hot chocolate is what hits the spot.

SOAK IT UP!!!

Ruth has been working the last couple of months on her science fair project. She put in many long nights working on her paper, board, and power point. First thing this morning she did her oral presentation. She was supposed to give a 5-8 minute presentation that was timed. Points were going to be taken off if she went under the five minutes. Therefore last night she practiced with Titus and then a couple of times with me. Since Vern is gone and Ruth and I don't know how to set everything up to do the power point she made up, we called in Peter Baker for help. And at 7:30 we all met in Ruth's classroom to get things set up. The school doesn't have a lap top for Ruth to load her presentation on. So we used Vern's lap top, but since it is old it was not wanting to boot up for us. It took about ten minutes for us to see signs of life. And we all breathed a sigh of relief to see the computer starting up. Ruth did a GREAT job in her presentation. She was very relaxed and seemed to be having fun up there. WAY TO BE RUTH!

A Disappointing Finish!

Well, for all of Us Bear Fans out there the Super Bowl was a disappointing game. It sure started off to be an exciting first quarter. But things went down hill from there. We went to the game with our horns and ready for victory which did not come. We were surrounded by Colt fans but never the less we were there to cheer the Bear On! Well, we will look forward to Super Bowl 2008. Go BEARS!!!

SUPER BOWL SUNDAY! GO BEARS!!!

The pictures are from some emails that I got in this week. (Chicago Bears Fever!!!) Being born and raised in Chicago this will be an exciting game. GO BEARS!!!! The last time Chicago won the Super Bowl was when our son Caleb was 11 months old. We were in Chicago watching the game with famaily, and it sure was exciting. I would love to be in Chicago with all you Bears Fan, GO BEARS!!!! We will be watching the game down in the basement of the office building on a big screen. It is always a lot of fun to get together with everyone and watch the Super Bowl. I am hoping there will be some other Bear Fans besides Ruth, Titus, and I. GO BEARS!!!

Packing Up

Vern was able to spend some time with his brother Howard and his wife Susan. They have been in the middle of packing up and getting ready to leave Venezuela. Vern was able to be a help doing some cleaning and packing so they could do paperwork and other things that needed to get done. Howard and Susan have served almost 20 years on the field. As you can imagine this has been a very difficult week. We know only too well the pain and tears invovled in leaving a ministry and country that one loves. They are on their way back to Canada and are praying for the Lord's direction to the next place of ministry. Please be praying for them as they have now left a piece of their heart in Venezuela. We love you Howard and Susan and are praying for you!

SURPISE! (NOT QUITE)

On Friday night we were going to have a surprise baby shower for Angie Bechtel one of our first year students who is soon going to have her first baby. It did not end up being a surprise but we had a very nice time anyway. Leah, Liz, and Angie G. planned the shower and had some fun games for us to play. Rosie made a beautiful cake. Angie is due in a couple of weeks. We are all very excited for her and Jason. They will make great parents!

Thursday Mornings

Every Thursday morning the first year student and staff ladies get together for a ladies sharing time. Us staff ladies take turns making some sort of snack. The students all take a turn sharing what God is doing in their lives. This is a highlight of the week as we get to know each other in a deeper way. We have a great group of ladies that will be a blessing on whatever field the Lord directs them to.

Venezuela!!!

First thing this morning I left with Vern to drop him off at the Toronto airport for his trip down to Venezuela. He will be gone 25 days and will be spending the majority of his time with some of the church leaders and their families. Please pray for him as he travels. Also pray that the time together with the Pume is encouraging and refreshing as they spend a lot of time fellowshipping over the Word and as they "do life" together these weeks.