Scotland. That word looks so weird that I keep second-guessing my spelleeng skillz. Ha!

The folks around here at GoodSeed just wrapped up the annual Alberta TERM seminar. Joe really enjoyed being there as a student AND as a teacher. That’s right, Joe was given the opportunity to help teach at this seminar, which was a great warm-up for the UK TERM seminar coming up this week! That is where Scotland fits in to all of this…Joe and some of the other GoodSeed staff are in Scotland as we speak…or as I type…getting ready to teach the seminar there. Please pray for their travels, stamina, and for the people that they will be teaching.

I hope to have some amazing pictures from their trip to share with you when Joe gets back in less than 2 weeks. Until then, use your imagination

Mr. Snow Man!

It’s nice to meet you, my cold friend. But, quite honestly, I would rather have met you in December - on Christmas Day, perhaps. Or maybe even in January or February. I’ll even give you early March. But not at the end of April! What in the name of Old Man Winter is going on here? So, really. Please come back when you can stick around here a little longer. Because SPRING is coming soon. I just know it. I think. I mean possibly. Maybe. You never can tell around here!

We wrapped up our trip to TX with a drive on over to a charming little town in Mississippi to:

1) have a little family get-together at my sister and brother-in-law’s house. My mom drove us (thanks, mom!) and my twin sister from NY flew in. We hadn’t seen each other in 1 and 1/2 years, so I was excited to see her:

We are a very serious group. We don’t have any fun when we get together:

Actually, good times were had by all as we played games and laughed. A lot.

2) We also got to meet our niece Ashleigh for the first time! She was born the day we arrived in Canada last August, so we had not met her yet (tear). Needless to say, we could not wait to love on her. Just look at her! What a doll. She’s the happiest, smiliest baby I’ve ever seen:

Evan had fun playing with her, too, and he liked to tell her secrets:

There wasn’t enough room for both of them to play in the “pool”…

…so Grandma bought them a “real” pool to play in:

3) My little sister, brother, and his girlfriend also drove in for the weekend. We didn’t take many photos once they arrived, though, since their visit was way too short. We all went to church, though, where my brother-in-law is the pastor, so that Joe could share a little about GoodSeed and our part in it. Take a look at the whole gang:

The people there were so encouraging and kind, and we loved the good ol’ southern hospitality. We enjoyed the warm weather, too, since it was snowing when we returned to Canada. Thanks, everyone, for opening your homes and lives to us.

Texas, that is. It is a very long word and a fun place to visit! And it just so happens that some of our family lives there and it is where we spent our fourth week in TX.

It was one of the first times that Evan was able to play, I mean really play with 3 of his cousins. (A set of twin boys that are 6 months younger and a 3 year old girl). And play they did…in the bathtub:

and in the makeshift tub outside:

We also had another fun birthday celebration for Evan:

And we went to SeaWorld!

I had never been before, and it was AMAZING! We loved it. Evan giggled throughout the dolphin show as there were people and sea creatures flying through the air. This was his face most of the time (until it got close to lunch and naptime, if you know what I mean):

My sister-in-law has a triple, yes TRIPLE, stroller that we pushed the kids around in at SeaWorld. Evan sat with the twin boys in the stroller most of the time, and we kept hearing people say, “OH, LOOK at the triplets!” One of the twin boys also has red hair and blue eyes, so you can see why people thought that.

Joe was also able to give an update at Fredericksburg Bible Church, where Joe’s brother is the pastor.

While there, we were able to display a set of GoodSeed’s new Tabernacle Furniture. It was so exciting to see people as excited about it as we are!

Thanks, J&R for a fantastic week!

Check our Flickr (link on the left) soon for more fun pictures from the week!

And now for an update on week 3 of our Texas trip. Joe and Evan had both been sick, but we managed to squeeze a few fun things in while visiting my family. My dad wanted to take us to the zoo, so away we went:

We did see lions and tigers and bears, oh my! However, they were sleeping. We did see plenty of other more lively creatures, though, and had a great time.

And to top it off, we ended the morning with some good ol’ Texas barbecue with a big side of the best fried okra. Thanks, Dad!

Later that week, we were able to have a small celebration (again) of Evan’s 2nd birthday. After all, Grandma couldn’t be left out! Have I mentioned that this boy loves cake?

And he loves to put things on his head nearly as much:

We also had a fun visit with family…

…and friends:

Thanks for coming to see us! Until next time, Funky Town!

I’ll get through all 4 and 1/2 weeks of our TX trip one of these days - hopefully before we go back next year!

We spent our second week in Lubbock, which is where we lived before we moved to Canada. It’s where Joe and I met, went to college, lived after we got married, bought our first house, had Evan, and made lots of lifelong friends. Needless to say, it’s a place that’s special to us, despite the dust storms and lack of trees!

Some of our best pals had a party for Evan with more than just adults. There were 8 of Evan’s friends there to total 9 toddlers, 9 parents, 1 dog, a ridiculous amount of cups, and lots of fun. Here is our attempt to get 9 toddlers (ranging in age from about 4 and 1/2 to 13 months) to sit still for a picture:

As you can see, only 6 kids made it in the photo plus part of Evan’s backside. Believe me when I say that the other 2 children are just as cute. Here’s the cake - perfect for Evan who LOVES wheels:

And yes, it was SO good. Blowing out the candles is pretty easy when there are only 2 of them!:

Here are our sweet friends (I don’t know where Dad was - maybe searching for a quiet place?) who were brave enough to host the army at their home:

And look what they gave Evan for his birthday:

Again, we cannot thank everyone enough for wanting to do this for Evan. What a fun and memorable night!

We had lots of good times with the whole gang throughout the week in addition to wonderful visits with friends from church. We didn’t manage to get any pictures of our church friends, but we had some great conversations about what God is doing through GoodSeed over great food. We were so blessed and so encouraged, and we thank God continually for the amazing people He has placed in our lives. We love you!

As I’ve mentioned before, Evan turned 2 while we were in Texas. His first party was at Joe’s parents’ house. We got to celebrate with Joe’s parents, brother, grandmother, grandfather, and aunt. Check out the cake that Nana made:

Oh, wait…where is it?

There it is! A train! Blow out your candles!

I think he liked it:

Good to the last bite…

What a fun party! And what toddler birthday is complete without presents?

Here’s the lady (watching Evan open gifts) who made it all happen:

Thanks, Nana, and everyone else for a special day!