Retreat!!!

Our church has put together a ladies retreat every other year for several years now, and I've attended the last three retreats.  They've been held at this amazing little retreat centre in Northern Washington, which is an amazing setting to truely marvel at God's creation, either rain or shine.  The group of ladies changes each retreat, and I love being able to get to know ladies I don't chat with every Sunday.  Its a small weekend away, but an amazing refresher from the everyday life. 

The focus of the retreat was loving well, as seen in 1 John 4:7-21.  So often I try to fulfill my desire to be loved from others, but the retreat brought be back to the truth: that God IS love and he is all I need to be loved.  It is too easy to just look to the physical world for our desires, as it is in front of our faces, but the physical realm always lets us down.  If I allow God to fulfill my hearts desire for love, and drawing on his love and strength, I can love others in my life.  Those that are easy to love; those that are a challenge to love; those I do not love (I have a hard time using the word hate, as we are called not to hate); and those that are not a part of my life, the strangers I am called to love.

Jesus said in John 13:35 "By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." This is a longing in my life, and I trust that God will continue to do a good work in me.

"The best birthday party ever"

According to Natalie, it was "the best birthday party ever"!  Its wonderful to see how life to a 3 year-old is so AMAZING!  Nat had her 3rd birthday last week, and we had a few family over for dinner, cake and gifts.  She was showered with love, and some very cool toys, what a lucky girl.

Nat has a love for care bears.  A long while back she asked for a care bears brithday cake.  So, I set off to figure out how to do this.  I found a cake pan on craigs list (complete with instructions) and made my first drop icing cake.  It was a lot harder than I anticipated, but once I got the hang of it, it was a lot of fun.  Nat helped make the cake, and discovered that licking the beaters is the best part.  Now Chelsea will have to share that honor.  This cake is love-a-lot bear, just like her care bear (which in fact was Chelsea's from long ago).

Nat also discovered that we had a small #3 cake pan, so she wanted that kind of cake too.  It was small and easy, and Chelsea did the honors of decorating it for her.  Although she wants candles on her cake, she's still a little afraid of the flame and did not want to blow it out. 

Trick or Treat!!!

One thing I have always enjoyed doing was dressing up for Halloween.  As kids we would find things in the closet to dress up as, which, more often than not, included a cowboy hat.  One year I even used a curtain for a skirt.  It was fun trying to be creative and come up with costume ideas.  As an adult I've had several opportunities to dress up as well, which is even more fun.  I love rummaging through the thrift stores to find gems to use.  I have this awesome shaggy orange jacket in the closet that I'll keep for future dress up opportunities.

There are many things about Halloween that I am not a supporter of.  We also have friends that have chosen not to take part in the day, which I fully respect.  I think it is important to understand the dangers that the day presents, and to take extreme caution, especially with our little.

All that in perspective, we still dress up and take part in trick or treating.  We dress the kids up and go to Grandma and Babba Ji's, and then off we go trick or treating.  Grandma and Babba Ji enjoy taking the kids out.  We were out for nearly 2 hours and came home with toooo much candy!

The kids had great costumes also.  Chels and Steph combined their options from their mom's old stashes, and looked cool in their rocker and pirate costumes.  Nat got to be a monkey again this year, as the costume fit really good.  Anna got to use Nat's first costume, and was a pumpkin.  She even came out with us, but slept in the stroller the entire time.  Chacha Ji and Chachi Ji were awesome looking nerds, and Arjun was an adorable spider.

Family visits

Seeings as the majority of my family lives in Manitoba, it isn't often that we get family visitors.  This year we've had an abundance of family come out to BC, and we've enjoyed having them over for a visit.  My aunt and uncle came out for a wedding a couple of weeks back, and we got to see them before they headed back home.  Nat, who tends to be shy with almost everyone these days, really took to Aunty Hilda.

Some of our other family stopped by that evening as well.