Escape to the land of sunshine...

Jon, Callie and I had the awesome privilege of going to Palm Springs for a week at the end of March/beginning of April. Jon's parents were heading down for their annual holiday and offered to treat us to some time away. Of course, we happily accepted :)

This was Callie's 3rd time on a plane, but her first time as an almost-2-year-old. When we flew to Thailand, she was only 5 months old-- therefore, a piece of cake. When we flew to Saskatchewan last Easter, she was about 9 months old-- also a piece of cake. But this time, I was NERVOUS. We had a 1 hour flight to Calgary and then a 3 hour flight from Calgary to Palm Springs. I was pretty concerned that with the busy-bee stage she's at, this would be a complete disaster. But... I was wrong... thankfully :) She was awesome on the flights. Thank-you WestJet for Treehouse & Bits n' Bites.

Having breakfast at the Abbotsford airport.

You'd never know we had woken her at 4:30am for this flight. She was bright-eyed & ready to fly...

It ended up being a scorching hot week in Palm Springs. The day after we arrived, they hit record temperatures for this time of year... over 106 degrees F. That's well over 40 degrees C. Jon and Callie weren't big fans of the intense heat, but I soaked it up. I live for hot, hot heat! Plus, its good practice for Thailand :)

The week was full of golfing, swimming in the pool, shopping with Gramma, BBQing, visiting the Living Desert zoo, very few naps for Callie and late nights (also for Callie). Although Callie made the vacation a lot less relaxing than previous ones, it was still a delight to have some time away from 'real life.'

Cooling down with some Haagen Daz...

One of the highlights of our trip was getting to visit with our dear friends, Tracy & Cecil and their son Solas. We went to Thailand with them in '09 and anticipate having them as MB Mission teammates someday (Lord-willing). They live in Bakersfield, CA and made the long 6 hour trip down, just to see us. What a blessing!

Callie & Solas reuniting...

They're only 9 days apart & I'm sure, will be great friends for life! :)

Complete & utter delight to be playing in the air-conditioned mall on a VERY HOT day...

Our last day in Palm Springs was spent at the Living Desert Zoo.

It was another very hot day but we had lots of fun!

Getting the low-down from one of the zoo curators...

Listening very intently...

My attempt at a picture of Jon & Callie with his parents.

Terrible attempt, I know...

So much to see,

even though half the animals were hidden away for their afternoon naps...

"I see dat Daddy!"

Taking a quick snack break...

Callie's zoo highlight: riding on the carousel with Grampa.

Every time the carousel came around to where we were standing, she would SHRIEK with pure excitement. It was priceless! I'll try to get the video on here soon.

Classic Daddy face, classic Callie face.

Visiting my personal favorite... the zebras!

Meeting the goats...

The giraffes were another highlight...

This picture makes me chuckle...

mostly because it brings all new meaning to,

"like father, like daughter." ;)

The true sign of a good day at the zoo... :)

We felt so blessed to get to do a vacation like this, one last time before we head overseas. I think both Jon and I would say we feel refreshed and ready to tackle the last half of our internship & fundraising. Hard to believe we only have another 2.5 months left to go!

A picture is worth a thousand words...

Its another rainy day here in Chilliwack. All of the laundry is done, the bathroom has been cleaned, the dishes have been washed & put away, the floor has been swept, the garbage has been taken out and Callie is sleeping, so I thought I'd share a few pictures from the last week or two.

Having some fun with the iPod camera...

Backyard fun...

Enjoying a walk at the river on a sunny day...

Posing for Mommy...

Complete & utter delight...

We've been pulling out stuff to sell on Craigslist.

Callie doesn't seem to be ready to part with her baby bathtub... :)

Callie went to her first 'friend' birthday party on Saturday. Norah turned 3!

I thought the kids looked so sweet sitting at the table, waiting for their dinner. :)

Happy 1st Birthday Elijah!

We celebrated my nephew Elijah's 1st birthday today. Hard to believe that a year has gone by already!

So, in celebration of Eli's birthday, I thought I'd share a video of Callie's rendition of "Happy Birthday" with you.... as well as a few pictures from today's party. (*Note: Sorry for the poor quality pictures. Jon is away for the weekend & has our camera so I had to use my iPod to capture the birthday action.)

Enjoy! :)

Me & the birthday boy

Getting ready to blow out his candle

Callie & Grampa

Mmmm.... first bite of cake

Opening presents...

(Callie was right in there like a dirty shirt!)

I think Callie was more excited about Eli's gifts than he was... :)

Happy Birthday Eli! We love you SOOOO much!

Unintentional hiatus...

I kind of miss blogging.

But what I miss even more is having spare time.

Life is BUSY beyond description these days and its been hard to keep up.

So, as much as I would love to write a big, long blog post right now, all I have energy for is sharing a few pictures and possibly throwing in the odd caption here and there.

Sorry folks, but its all I've got right now :)

I do plan to keep up with this blog more frequently once we leave for Thailand because for some, it will be the only way of knowing what's going on in our lives. (Speaking of which... if you don't already receive our monthly email newsletters and would like to, please just let me know and I'll add you to our list. All I need is your email address!)

Anyway... without further ado.... my picture post...

Trying on another dress we got in Thailand last year...

Watching Curious George from her 'perch'...

We got to have a reunion supper with some of our MTE friends last month...

... it was awesome to reconnect again!

She's not too fond of the vacuum so this is where she "hid"... :)

My latest hair-chopping...

Out for date night at good ol' Billy McHale's...

Callie let Auntie Naomi put her hair in pigtails the other night.

And by "let" I mean, she stopped crying fairly quickly afterward.

Definitely not too keen on having her hair done,

as you can see from her sad little face. :)

But she looks sooooo cute...

Morning meeting with the Doodlebops...

All tuckered out from a morning at Costco...

Trying out Grandpa E's 4-wheeler...

Like daddy, like daughter...

Playing with Mommy's iPod...

So, until next time...

Here's what happens...

... when she gets to pick out her outfit.

Its a good thing Mommy gets to do the choosing for a little while longer.

Join us this Sunday!

If you live in the Fraser Valley and want to hear more about our journey to Thailand, come on out to Central Community Church this Sunday evening, Feb. 13th @ 7:00pm. MBMS International is hosting a "Celebrate Mission Night" and will be focusing the evening on what God is doing in North Thailand. I'll be leading worship and Jon & I will be sharing a bit about our call to Thailand. Randy Friesen will also be speaking about the exciting stuff that's going on in Thailand, so it will be a great night of stories & celebration!

Come on out & join us if you can!

Sunday, Feb. 13th

@ 7:00pm

Central Community Church

46100 Chilliwack Central Rd.

Chilliwack, BC

Thai style...

A little over a year ago, while we were in Thailand, one of our fellow teammates ("Uncle" Paul) purchased a gift for Callie. While he & Jon were doing some shopping at the night markets in Chiang Rai, Paul found a beautiful little Thai dress and picked it up for our (at the time) little girl. I knew it would be quite a while before she'd fit into it, but I kept it hanging in her closet, anticipating the day that she would finally be able to wear this beautiful white dress.

As I was going through Callie's closet a few weeks ago, I came across it and discovered that it would probably be a perfect fit for her now. Turns out, I was right. She was a good sport and happily modeled it for us.

Checking out the Thai elephants...

VOGUE...

Aren't I pretty Mommy!?

Our little Thai angel...

Pretty as can be...

Too bad we're not in Thailand already. This would be the perfect dress for the weather over there right now. Unfortunately, rainy BC isn't a great place for a thin cotton number like this. So, all I can hope is that she won't grow TOO much over the next few months and maybe... just maybe... she'll still fit it when we head overseas :)