A Requested Post

This blog post was requested by my friend Tamara who pointed out that we have not updated in a while and she requested more frequent blog postings.  So Tamara this one is specifically for you!

We have had a few people ask us how much stuff we are shipping ahead of time and what size the boxes are and so to give you a little glimpse, here are two of the four boxes that we shipped and are now making their way to Davao.  Anything else that we are bringing will have to fit into our four large duffel bags and the rest is getting sold.  

We shipped toys for Julia and Daniel, books for the four of us, school curriculum, some pictures, games, medicine, and some treats to remind us of home (Kraft Dinner, Nutella, and granola bars).  I'm sure there will be more things that we decide to take as the time gets closer, but beside clothes, that's basically what we will have once we get to Davao.  

We are still waiting to hear about a house, but we were able to purchase some dishes, a small grill and a fan from a family who are moving back to the States.  It's kind of funny to think about purchasing even small things sight unseen and also renting a house from pictures, without actually being able to see what it really looks like, but I guess such is the life of moving overseas.  It's kind of exciting!  Hopefully we will like our house and the things we have to put in it.

Kerri

Work to do

I am going to be extremely busy in the next two and a half months; not only do we have to finish packing our house, go to Edmonton to get our immigration documents validated and authenticated by the Canadian government and the Philippine Consulate, and many more little things along the way, but I have to read these eight books and do book reports on them before we leave!

I guess it will be eight less books that I have to read when I get there and begin my classes, but yikes!  It's a lot of reading and I'm sure many hours will be spent at my computer.  I have a funny feeling my laptop and I are going to become either very good friends or very good enemies at the end of my schooling! 

Let the fun begin!

Kerri

Thank You

Well this post is a little late in coming, but considering the week we had last week, I think it's understandable.  We had our last fundraiser, a dessert night and silent auction, on Saturday, April 2nd, and once again the weather did not act in our favour.  Steve has said that we should give advice to people on when NOT to plan events:)

However, that being said, it was a successful evening with half of the people there, coming out for the first time.  So it was really great to have new people to share our hearts with and a great way to end our fundraising events.

We want to thank those of you who braved the weather and came out to hear what we are going to be doing in the Philippines.  Thank you also to those of you who provided the delicious desserts that we had for the evening.  A special thank you to Brenda Heywood who put together two beautiful baskets for our silent auction and to Debbie Pearce who provided a beautiful painting. 

We are so thankful for the ways in which people have supported our family, through giving to us financially, encouraging us, and most importantly continually praying for us.  This is not something that we could have done on our own, and we are so grateful to each and everyone of you.

Please continue to pray for us as we wrap up our time here in Canada, and finalize all the little details that we have left.

Kerri

See you later Grandpa

My grandpa died today.

I am filled with conflicting emotions.  I am saddened beyond words when I think about how much I am going to miss him.  My heart aches for my grandma as she now has to adjust to a world which has changed completely for her.  I mourn alongside my family as we all must come to terms with this reality.  At the same time I smile when I think back on all the good times spent with him.  I laugh at the memories of conversations filled with humor and fun.  And I have an inexpressible sense of joy that he is now face to face with God.  Grandpa is home.

My grandpa was an extremely significant part of my life.  I respect my grandpa in a way which few other people can measure up to.  He was one of the few people whose approval I sought.  I hope that I can be like him in many ways.

He was one of my biggest supporters in everything I have done.  He was always interested to know what I was up to, and would encourage me in whatever that was.  He took the time to learn about my life.  He would learn about places we would go to, and would love to hear stories of places we had been.

One of my most special memories will be from a trip to the Oregon coast with Kerri and the kids a few years back.  We had talked with him before our trip, and he had told us about his times spent in the same area.  When we arrived in Newport we emailed him to let him know where we were.  It turns out that the hotel we stayed at was right down the street from a place him and my grandma had stayed at on a previous trip.  That was one of my favorite holidays, and it is even more significant knowing that location was one of his favorite places.

When we told him we were going to the Philippines he was immediately interested in every aspect of it.  He spent time learning about the Philippines and Davao City so that he was familiar with it.  Even when he was admitted into the hospital, he spent time talking with Filipino nurses and staff about us going, telling them what we are doing, and learning from them about their homeland.

His support has always been very important to me, and knowing that he was supportive of us as we head overseas means the world to me.  He was one of the first people to start reading this blog, and it pains me to know that he will not see this post.

Grandpa accepted God's love and forgiveness a few short days ago.  Some of his last coherent words were a prayer, making peace with God.  I am eternally grateful to know that he is now walking with God in heaven.

I love you Grandpa.  I will see you later.  Say hi to Jesus for me.

Things are coming together!

It seems strange to think that in 3 short months we will be getting on a plane to move halfway around the world.  That seems intimidating at times, exciting at other times.  There is still much to do, but things are falling into place.

As Kerri mentioned previously, we have our flights booked.  We all have new passports.  We are having our last official fundraiser tomorrow.  We are heading up to Edmonton soon to get our paperwork certified by the Philippine Consulate.  We have a couple of big boxes to ship stuff and have found a company to look after shipping for us.  We have also managed to pre-sell a bunch of our stuff.  The finances are falling into place, and it is amazing to see how God has provided and how we are surrounded by people who are supportive of us and what we are doing.

I am almost done my schooling.  Graduation is coming up very quickly!  One more month to go!  I will be really glad to be done.  I have enjoyed it a lot, but it's time to be done and to move on.  I am finishing my internship at the church, which has been a great experience - very eye-opening into the life of a pastor!  I even get to preach on Palm Sunday (April 17).  That should be interesting.  I've never preached before, so we'll see how it goes!

There is still lots more to come in the next few months, but it's nice to see that things are coming together!

Davao City here we come!

Our tickets are booked! 
We fly out of Calgary on Thursday, July 7th at 7:40pm and arrive in LA at 9:50pm, then leave at 11:50pm and fly to Seoul, Korea arriving there on Saturday at 4:20am, leaving again at 8:10am arriving in Manila at 11:00am and leaving at 3:30pm, finally arriving in Davao at 5:20pm. 

I have also been sent my class list and there are 12 of us starting in August, a really small class and I'm excited to meet all my classmates in just a few months.


Kerri

Knee Surgery

After dealing with a painful left knee since 2006, from a repetative running injury, I finally had surgery this morning out in Banff.  Dr. Hiemstra did a left knee arthroscopy and debridement of my patella which sounds worse than it actually was.  I arrived at the hospital at 9:00am and was discharged at 11:15am.  The surgery itself was only 10 minutes long and I was able to watch the procedure on the screen that they had beside me.  It was really neat to see the inside of my knee and thankfully other than having a nasty kneecap, the rest of my knee is perfectly healthy.  I have a crack on the inside of my kneecap and had a lot of rough cartilege which was able to be shaved off and the doctor is pretty confident that this will help with the pain and cracking that I have been dealing with.  Now I just have to be a good patient and rest and allow my knee to heal properly.  I have this week off work, so I will be doing a lot of sitting around with ice packs and meds, and I am planning to start physio next week.  The full recovery time is between 4 and 6 weeks, which is just in time for one last Canadian rock climbing season!

Cheers to a good recovery!

Kerri