Laura here!! I finally have the chance to write something! Yay… anyway…

We’ve been seeing quite a bit of Noonie these days (4 times in ONE week!!!). She came over tonight for about 5 minutes with Grandma Betty (a really close friend of hers) on her way to Whitby. She brought along this adorable alien/bug hairband thingy that she found at her place of work. She’s been nannying a one year old boy for a couple of months in Uxbridge. The mother of this little boy is a dance instructor and I guess the hairband was part of costumes for her most recent recital. Kylah doesn’t really look like herself in this picture but it’s cute anyway… you can at least see that she’s getting quite the little chubster. Chubby cheeks, legs and arms!! She’s turning into a real baby and not a newborn!

Click for Full Image

Also, here are a couple of new videos that we’ve taken over the past couple of days. Enjoy!

 

Get the latest Flash Player to see this player.

 

Get the latest Flash Player to see this player.

So yesterday was a beauty day eh? Hot sunny weather, not a cloud in the sky. Perfect day to spend roofing a friend’s house

I helped Craig yesterday to reshingle his parents’ house. Arrived at about 7:45am and finished at 6:45pm. And let me tell you this is not advisable if the extent of your physical activity for the past three years has been walking from your desk to the water cooler. Craig’s roommate Jeff (The Jefferson) also came to help. He’s a musician and also works part-time at Mitchell’s book store. I have to say it started out really well – but as the day went on and the sun got hotter and the 70 lb bundles of shingles seemed to increase in weight… Jefferson and I were having a rough time. We finished strong though, I tell you what. And I kept saying that for a musician and an IT guy we were doing quite well. I’m sure he’s still sleeping it off I am definitely paying for it today!! Craig’s friend Justin came over as the roofing professional – he sure knows what he’s doing. Turned out great!

Awards for the day:

Largest chunk of shingles torn off at once: Jefferson & Craig

First nail stuck in shoe: Al Henkelman (who incidently had his first ever visit to the rooftop yesterday – way to go Al!)

Longest time having nail stuck in shoe: Josh (basically found it after I went home to pick Laura up)

Best nail-gun target: Craig

Best accuracy with nail-gun: Justin (see Best nail-gun target… )

Most 70 lb bundles of shingles carried up to rooftop: Tie – Jefferson & Josh, though I think Jefferson carried all of his bundles at the same time.
Most holes put in roof by means of foot: Craig

Best meal: Karen Henkelman… our consensus was that every job site should have a Karen Henkelman

-

All in all it was a fun day, though today should be equally as fun just trying to move around. At least for Jefferson and me.

One more quck story for all of our benefits. And here is the moral of the story: Ask better questions…

Al helped out for a bit throwing shingles into the bin, but then had to go to thier church to mow the lawn (big church, lots of lawn). So he comes back after finishing and says that as he was pushing the lawnmower around cutting the lawn at the church a woman pushing a stroller came up to him and said, “What are you doing here??”… Al says he just doesn’t get that. Maybe she thought he was making scones for a ladies meeting or something So again the moral of the story: Ask better questions.

Have a great time in this amazing weather – get outside but be sure to wear sunblock!

I was so surprised this morning to get an msn message from Steph Holt (Laura’s sister) who is in Nepal on a mission with YWAM. She is doing so well over there!! She is getting a little homesick so please keep her in your prayers that she will finish her time there strong and continue to bless the people she comes in contact with, and grow even more than she already has!

I was even more surprised that she was able to use a webcam in the Himalayas!! It was so great to see her face! I took some screen shots and put this image together for you all to see. It is funny, so it’s okay to laugh, but remember to bless her when you look at it. She is there for another 3 weeks, and then returns to YWAM for 1 week to debrief which will finish up her 6 month experience.

Here is the collage. Click for the full image:

Steph we bless you and pray you continue to bless others on your journey. Stay focused, stay strong, and we’ll keep praying you through!! Love from all of us!!

And what a weekend!! We had a great time up in Bancroft visiting with Phil and Linda, James and Jen, and other friends we happened upon. James had us up in Lakeside at Joy Bible Camp – we love staying there – it’s a big beautiful room overlooking the waterfront with big huge windows, and it’s really quiet this time of year. We went out to James and Jen’s house on Saturday night, which was also great. Their house is amazing!! I saw it months ago when they had just purchased it (for a steal!), and now they’ve had some time to completely reno the place. Craig helped with the first stage of the floors – man of many talents. Take a look at the album for some photos of James’ place… note the built-in wine rack in the foreground. I will have to remember to take him a bottle next time we visit. James if you’re reading, let me know what kind you like.

Okay so we woke up and mosied over to the main building and played some cribbage until about 1:00 when we were told to come for lunch so we could visit with Linda while she was on break (she’s the main kitchen dudette). Lunch was great, so we stayed for some coffee and chatted with Phil (Linda’s husband, who has a gun that I think is reserved for hunting T-Rex). Well before we knew it they were serving dinner! Ahhhh what a great way to spend the afternoon – so relaxing. And it was a good chat.

And I don’t think I could have a post about visiting Bancroft without mentioning our 2 visits to Kawartha Dairy. Seriously if you ever go to Bancroft you absolutely have to go there. Best ice cream on the face of the planet. Hands down. You know how there’s cookies, and then there’s my mom’s cookies (Mrs Lake cookies) ? It’s like that – there’s ice cream, and then there’s Kawartha Dairy ice cream. Oh ya. I said it.

Home time was fun. We stopped in Peterborough for some lunch at Swiss Chalet (all of us ate, including Kylah). And once we got home we gave Kylah a bath. I love it when she’s clean. Makes me feel like a good parent.

To top off the weekend we watched a movie, during which Laura and Kylah fell asleep. I noticed during the end credits and grabbed the camera to video these two sleeping beauties. Things to note: The first video you can still hear the credits rolling in the background , the second video Laura scolds: “I know you’re filming us”

Get the latest Flash Player to see this player.

Get the latest Flash Player to see this player.

What a fun weekend! Though I did accidently leave the camera charger up there, so there might be a small delay in the next post. I hope you can handle it! Here’s the weekend’s photos:

Okay, I have always found this funny so I thought I’d throw it together for you to look at. As you know, Laura and I have a real passion for Japan. We were able to visit there last year (Laura’s second time, my first), which until Kylah came along was the best thing we ever did. I hope we can go back one day and stay longer.

So here’s what I want to share. That’s Tokyo on the top, and Toronto on the bottom This is a good image to have if you ever get confused about the TTC… it’s really, REALLY not that complicated!!