Been a while, hey?

It has been a while - almost a month!

Last time we posted on here, there were a lot of things going on. There still are a whole lot of things going on, which I suppose has shown through our lack of posting. We now know what our summer is going to look like, and when things will be chaotic and when things will lay off a bit.

For the most part, it now looks like a busy summer.



I'll be preaching for much of July and August, and I've already had a few opportunities here and there. The last two weeks, I've spent an absolute ton of time on two videos (one was Dave's farewell, the other was the highlight of the team going to Thailand). Thankfully, I don't have to preach this week. But next week, we've got a pretty neat thing going...

Next week, we'll be joining our community in what's called the Green Square. It's in the center of town and we'll be hosting a Sunday service on July 1, and I get to preach. I think I'm more intimidated by that Sunday than the whole summer of preaching. We'll see how next week goes...

So enough about work! On to the good stuff! Michelle has been busy with babysitting, and she actually took Kaelyn and I out on a date with her money. That was pretty cool. Kaelyn is no longer content with just words here and there. She now talks in small sentences...

"C'mere!"
"Ruuuun!"
"Don't worry, I got you. Won't fall." (that's for when she's on the swings and slide)
She picks things based on colors, like her swings (she likes the black one - "That one!"

And she helps me go get the mail. She's the official keys holder as we walk until, of course, she sees the nearby swings and decides to dash for them ("Ruuuun!"). I think that's her normal mode of transport now - the run. She's got a ton of energy and runs everywhere. She's also an outside girl, which makes time in the park a lot of fun. Can't wait for the cabin!


As I was looking at pictures to put on this blog entry, I came across some stunners! I totally forgot to mention that I climbed my first mountain a few weeks ago. It was 5 kilometers in and 2.6 km up! Pretty amazing hike! And at the top of the mountain, of all things, there were hundreds of chipmunks living in amongst the shards of rock! So I have finally done my first mountain, and I have to say it was pretty amazing. The best part though, was ending off in Miette Hot Springs. Good way to finish any sort of difficult climbing. Michelle didn't make the hike with me, but she joined myself and the Blackmans (my fellow climbers and really good friends) at the Hot Springs after. Smart girl.

We had a pretty great day yesterday too. We took the youth out to Jarvis Lake, which was absolutely beautiful. That's a nice way to end over 30 hours spent on one video. Then last night, out of nowhere, I was sitting down to some TV when I thought the next door neighbor was playing hockey in his yard. Turns out it was ping-pong ball sized hail, which fell for about 15 minutes! So of course, I did the logical thing and ran outside to see what it felt like! After about 15 across the back and arms, and one really good one in the ear, I ran back inside. Then the next door neighbor came out in his hockey equipment...perhaps a good idea.

So with that, we are still cruising along here, although I suspect the summer will go too fast. In two weeks (wow, that short!) we'll be in the Yukon with family, but for the next week, I'll be lone gunning it while Michelle and Kaelyn go up and visit all the visiting brothers (all three over the next month!). Summer is good! So I'll fire some recent pictures up here, and get this post on the 'net!

This one's for you, Al.

I just went through my settings on this blog, and realized that I had saved a draft of a blog from a few weeks ago. I'm not sure if this is appropriate or not, but Kaelyn and I got to share in something very special.

Many of you have heard of Relay for Life. Well, it takes place here in Hinton right behind the church on the high school's track. Kaelyn and I were hanging out at the church, and we decided that we needed to go and do a few laps for a few of the people we know and care about who have had to endure cancer. And so that's what we did.

Kaelyn and I did two laps in a +25 hot sun (without hats too, but that's okay, because we didn't actually have one). While people and teams were setting up their tents around the track, there was one team on the track already: father and daughter. And we did two laps for two special people - one for my Grandpa Dimond, who passed away from a fight with cancer, and one for Al Forrester, who just recently passed away from the same fight. Al is a great friend to my parents, and from what I hear, a deeply missed fellow morning coffeer (yes, it can be a verb with some people). So Kaelyn and I walked around and said, "Here's to you, great Boppa." And "this one's for you, Al." I wanted to share that with you, and didn't realize that I hadn't yet.

So Al, this one is for you.