And let it snow...

Here we are facing another Winter... Which means lots of snow (for Luke's sake! :D ), ice, cold weather, heavy coats, warm boots, and of course Christmas. It's quite clutter free for us really. We don't do a lot of the Christmas stuff like we used to. No more spending on gifts for people who already have everything, no more sending of Christmas cards. I do like to decorate the house, put up lights and have a really special Christmas dinner with whatever family that happens to be here at the time!

Recently, we took a trip top Ladner, to spend a few days with Earl's brother Elmer and his wife Marlene. We always enjoy their company so much and have great fellowship talking about the things about the Lord and praying for each other and with each other. We caught a ride down and brought back a car that they have donated to Lynn & Dwight for when they home on furlough in March/2008. This was such a blessing because it's always a concern for missionaries when they come home, for how they are going to manage purchasing a vehicle to use while they are home.

This past weekend made a trip to Edmonton. We took the Jasper-Edson route and dropped our daughter Pat off in Edson, so she could spend some time with her mother-in-law Dolly who is not at all well. After that we headed for Morinville where we attended a mission's conference. We had a great time and stayed with Jason & Mayra Michaud and got to know their little daughter Luiza. Jason went to Brazil and spent some time at Mount Horeb and travel around to various places in the country. He met Mayra in Brasilia, they fell madly in love and by the time he was ready to leave they had already decided that she would come to Canada and they would be married here. We had actually never had a chance to get to know her, so this was a very special time for us. And now there's another member to their family: a sweet little girl they named Luiza.

We managed to see some wild life on the trip. The mountain sheep were in the middle of the high way and we had to maneuver around them and managed to take a picture of them to include in this blog, as well. :)

On the way home, just beyond the summit a car had flipped upside down in the middle of the road, fortunately though the two occupants badly shaken up but otherwise suffered no serious injuries. It was snowing, hazy, the roads were icy, and it was a typical thing that happens when people forget to slow down and take it easier.

We also spent some quality time in Edmonton, with Amanda & Russell and enjoyed a couple of meals out with them. They are both doing well in university, and getting along quite nicely. After Christmas we plan a weeks visit to Seattle, where Earl is going to do some renovation work on Ruth & Royden's house, and in February 15th we plan to leave for Brazil. My cousin Rosa from Germany is going to Argentina to visit some relatives on my mother's side of the family and she has invited my sister Alma & myself to catch a flight to Foz do Iguacu, then take a bus and meet her in Argentina. Alma will be in Curitiba visiting her son Stan & his wife Ruth, so hopefully we can work this little extra activity into our schedule.

That's the news the now. Don't hold your breath for my next entry though.

Ruth.

You will be thinking I have forgotten all about my blog…

Not really though!!! It’s just that there isn’t always much news to write about. Anyway, I think I need to update and there is a considerable bit of new news.

Summer is about over in B.C. It’s turned cold rather early this year … and the weatherman doesn’t predict an Indian summer! Luke is anxious to see the snow and swears he will shovel our driveway for us … that will be two driveways, since he lives with Pat and Eric.

I am glad because I actually harvested a fair number of tomatoes off my ‘potted’ plants. First time I tried that, and it works really well.

We are still getting the last minute finishing touches done to our landscaping, so from now on, it will be free sailing … aside from the usual maintenance.

We’ve had a Federal election and both Earl & I worked at the polls and made ourselves a bit of extra cash. We were happy our Conservative candidate Colin Mayes won this riding hands down with 51 % of the votes. Now we can get on with life as usual till our municipal election for councilors and mayor, and after that, the provincial elections. Ho hum … we get really tired of all the hype!

Eric’ s mother Dolly had gone through two cancer operations and was doing really well, we thought. However in her last exam they found a cancerous spot on her liver, and the doctors have given her 3 to 6 months to live. She is a great lady and we are all very upset and sad. You can join us in prayer on her behalf. She lives in Edson, Ab.

We got some good news concerning the mission. When we lost our property we had a great lawyer and he tried to reverse the judges decision but was not able to do so. When it got all the way to the Supreme Court, they decided it wasn’t worth a hearing and annulled the case. The lawyer’s sister (also a lawyer) then took up our case to try and get reimbursement for the original price we paid for the property, plus the thousands of dollars we spent on improvements on the place over the 15 years we carried on our work from there. After 8 years, our first hearing is set for Nov. 14^th 2008. We are very excited and happy, however we know it may take another few years to hear our case and they will likely appeal so we aren’t exactly counting our chickens yet. But we are praying for justice to be done, and want to invite you to pray with us over this situation. Mount Horeb could sure use the money … OR the property back, if the owners can’t come up with the money. Either way, we expect to receive some recumbence for our troubles, traumas and tears over the whole affair.

Here is a picture of Mount Horeb's old building and below that you can see the new buildings:

.... Plans are to go to Brazil in Feb. of 2009 again. I now have a nephew living in Curitiba, real close to the mission and we will get to see him and his wife and spend sometime with them as well. That is very exciting … imagine another family member living in Brazil J. He is an executive for the Exxon oil company.

We have a trip to Edmonton coming up in Nov. We were invited to attend a mission’s conference in Morinville. Invitations like this are always greatly appreciate by missionaries.

Our friend Solange, who came to Canada from Brazil years ago, just had a visit from her niece, and on the video you will see a picture of us at the Kelowna airport… And if you haven’t already clicked on the video below, please do! There are a lot of other pictures of interest to those of you who know us better.

Till next time … Love to all those of you that read this blog.

Our home ‘on the road’ comes home!

The last few weeks have been a whirlwind of activities. A number of friends from Edmonton stopped by to see us, and enjoyed some of our wonderful Okanagan fruit. We get so used to having so much of it around every year, we fail to appreciate it like we should. The first few years we lived here I went hog wild canning and freezing fruit … and we are still eating jam and fruit canned in 2005 … Horrors, I hope our grand daughter Ruth doesn’t read this blog! And talking about Ruth, we had the pleasure of having her and her hubby here for almost a week. They came from Seattle to take in a family wedding, and a grandfather’s funeral, two occasions that don’t really go very well back-to-back. We sure did enjoy them. Since Earl got back from Mozambique he has been wondering and worrying about how he was going to get our little RV back home. It broke down in Fairview last year on our trip visiting churches, and my nephew Dan Litke so kindly offered to winter it for us in his back yard. No one we know owns a heavy enough vehicle, and a long enough trailer to haul it through the mountains… so we prayed. Trust God, He always answers prayer, and meets our needs, no matter how difficult the situation looks. He also has his people scattered here and there, ready and willing to help a friend in need. We got a phone call from our friends Len & Eunice Schamehorn telling us they are on the way to Salmon Arm with our motor home in tow. Earl was one happy camper. Then the last weekend in Aug. my brother Henry and his wife Marion celebrated their 50th. wedding anniversary. Henry is in a home and suffers from dementia, but Marion was determined they should celebrate just the same, so she got busy and planned the event. She worked really hard at preparing him, and that is no easy task. Just getting him to put on different clothes is traumatic for him, and he hates bathing. He lives in Bastian Place, and they prepared a lovely buffet dinner on the patio. The weather was perfect, we had a sunny warm afternoon. Everything was as close to the ‘original’ wedding as possible, right down to the bridesmaid bouquets, the grooms tie and shoes. One of the best men couldn’t make it, but all the others were there. It was also a good excuse for us siblings to get together again, only Ed my youngest brother didn’t show up for the occasion. After that celebration, we had another one on Sunday afternoon. My sister Betty and her husband Henry’s youngest son recently married a girl from Australia and most of us had never met her. They invited us all to the lake and prepared some good food and we all had a wonderful time. All in all it was a great weekend, and we got some good pictures that will help us remember these occasions. Now Earl is up to his elbows in grease fixing the R.V. and even gave me sometime in the garden … we’re almost finished with our landscaping … finally. Now all we have to do is maintenance. We have a big yard and we are getting too old for all that bending, lifting rocks, hauling dirt and keeping the dandelion crop in check. Gotta run … till next time … -------------------------------------------------------------------- Here are some pictures for you to check out! ;) Earl having our RV placed back in our backyard! :) Randy and his Australian wife Heather! What a wonderful time we all had at lake... Us sisters had a chance to take a family picture while we were all together at Randy & Heather's reception at the lake! Here we are at Henry & Marion's 50th Anniversary Celebration! Henry & Marion's family...

Enjoying Summer

Earl got home from Mozambique on June, 30^th just in time for some nice warm weather and lots of work in the yard waiting for him. We have never actually properly landscaped this place. It's been sort of piece meal till now, so we decided that this year we will finish it and then it will be just maintenance. And round here, if you don't have a nice yard and keep it up, the neighbors scowl at us and become quite unfriendly… We've been trying to ignore them as much as we can, but it hasn't been working out that well. Just kidding… :p

We've had a pretty good string of visitors from various places so far this Summer, and it's always and excuse to lighten the barbecue, prepare some yummy salads and enjoy the great outdoors… (at least until the mosquitoes spot us!!!). Our grandkids (Ruth & Royden) also came from Seattle a couple of time this Summer already, and they will be here again for a wedding next weekend, and they are always a delight to have around. Unfortunately, our other two grandchildren (Russell & Amanda) live in Edmonton and we rarely get to see them. They are both busy earning money during the Summer, so that they can pay their university dues.

My sister Betty, daughter Pat and I had a big garage sale this Summer that lasted for a day and a half. And it was quite successful, but we live right on a busy travel road and it was a winner, because nobody drives by a garage sales that's right in your face and doesn't take the time to stop and have a look. I also donated a week to help at the Vacation Bible School in our church, which I consider to be my reasonable service unto the Lord that involves children in my retirement years! lol

Luke is busy making tons of friends around… working hard, and fitting into the Canadian life style. He's loved by everyone and does not lack for attention (I hope…). He is also a great help to Earl & I with the more difficult tasks we have to do for the mission on the computer. What takes us hours and days, he can just do up in a matter of minutes.

It's been a wonderful Summer so far, even though it was late getting started. This is the first year we have the comfort of an air-conditioned house and are we ever enjoying it! It's cooled off quite bit the last week, but it promises to get hotter again this week, so we will wait and see what comes up!

Here are a few pictures for your uhs and your aws… ;)

Till next time, Ruth.

Earl - the new rock mason on our block!

A selvage lawn bench that looks pretty nice in our front yard! :)

Me and my granddaughter Ruthie!

Ruthie & Grandpa...

Royden, Ruthie & the latest member of the family, Luke.

I know we look drunk! But I have an excuse: We are all so tired!!! :D

A mother and daughter trip to Alberta.

Let's just say I would never attempt going to Edmonton all by myself, no matter how important the occasion! But with Patti on long term disability leave, she had both the time and desire to accompany me, so off we went to take part in two important events. The Samms banquet, as well as a niece's wedding just a week later. This meant we would be staying for over a week and would have time to spend with granddaughter and niece, Amanda. We went on a few shopping trips, and even went to her work place to see just what they do there. They are one of few companies in Canada that make prosthetic eyes, and it was very enlightening. The eyes are actually hand painted and are attached to an existing eyeball, if there is one, and if not, they are attached to an eyeball implant. This means they move with the eye muscles, just like a natural eye. We told her she has a sweet job ... and she knows it too. Thanks to her friend Carey's dad. We only got to see Russ at the banquet, and had a short visit over lunch the following Sunday. He's a fine big boy ... and looks every bit the part of an engineer already, even though he still has a year to complete his university education. During the week we even ventured out as far as Camrose to visit my sister Dorothy and met another one of her great grandsons, while most of us Schalm siblings are still waiting for great grandchildren, there is no lack of them in her family! As usual, we were so graciously hosted by John & Ruth Martz, our long-time friends whose home is always made available to us when we're in Edmonton. The banquet turned out very well, thanks to the Sam board, Patti Green, Carole Argo and others that contributed to making it such a special event. it's always such a pleasure to reconnected with so many of our staunch supporters of the work both in Brazil & Mozambique. We also get to visit with pastor Lorne Fisher, and our home-church family at Richfield Christian Fellowship. We simply bask in the love and support we receive from everyone there. For those of you that were involved, and are reading this ... please accept our heartfelt thanks. Earl is doing just fine in Moz. with Lynn & Dwight, I think they treat him better than I do!! But hopefully he will still be glad when it's time to come home. We are expecting him here on June 30th. sometime in the afternoon. As every good housewife ... I already have a to do list waiting for him! Yes, good husbands are mighty fine to have around ... especially the really handy ones! Patti is feeling somewhat better but still has two back surgeries to look forward to. Fortunately she has a good job and all her benefits kick in. Luke is living with her and Eric now since we had someone in my house till two weeks ago. A painter in town was needing help so he applied for a work permit for him, and till that, arrives he's learning all about painting houses. It's not the kind of work he's used to doing, but says he enjoys it just the same. He still finds time to come over and help me with my work on the computer etc. and of course, I always cook him a good nutritious meal, and for a hungry young man, that's what matters the most!

Carol Argo, Pat & I enjoying Edmonton.

Pat, myself & Ruth Martz.

Amanda, Russell^& Carey at the Samm's banquet.

Me and my family.

Bernice, Rob, Leonard, Dwayne & Erin.

Bernice & her dad Leonard at her wedding.

Life is sort of back to normal...

Almost a month has passed since we left Brazil, but with todays technology we manage to çommunicate either via msn, e-mail, or SKYPE almost everyday. Sure beats the olden days when we only managed to hear from one another every month or six weeks, especially when we were scattered between Brazil, Africa and Canada. Earl is busy helping out in Mozambique and won't be home the end of June, while I'm busy trying to get the yard spruced up for the summer.

Luke is living with Pat & Eric, and she is helping him get all his government required ducks in a row so he can work in Canada, he has already lined up a job, so things are falling into place. I'll be by my lonely self in our house when my sister and her husband who were house sitting, move out! Next week we leave for Edmonton to be there for the Samms banquet, and to attend Earl's niece (Bernice Grynke's) wedding. Pat and I will be driving down, a first for us. Pat is on long term sick leave, her health has improved somewhat, but she still suffers a lot of back pain and has two more surgeries to face. We would appreciate your prayers on her behalf.

Back Home Again!

Our six-week visit to Brazil was interesting, adventurous and entertaining… We took a trip to the interior in our Volkswagen mini-bus, a two-hour drive over the roughest dirt roads I can remember. We felt like eggs that had just been scrambled.

We spent a very interesting time visiting in this rural community where Mount Horeb has been working toward helping poor families. They go out there every Saturday, and spend the entire day there helping in a number of ways. The government has closed all the local schools and the kids now have to bus to school about an hour and a half each way. The roads are so bad that when it rains they simply become impassable. The school year started the beginning of February and so far these kids have only managed to get to school for 20 days. We climbed hills, stepped over creeks, and visited a number a families and drank a lot of “chimarao”. A national drink that boasts to cure you of whatever ails you, and if nothing ails you it promises to keep you healthy.

On the lighter side our good friends, the Camargo’s offered us (Earl, I, Lynn & Dwight) the use of their lovely beach house that has a pool in the front yard where we lolled for three days, played games, got in lots of reading, and took some long walks in the beach as a plus we got sun-burned in a few bare spots.

We managed to visit with most of our friends and spent a lot of time at the mission with our directors Bebeto & Suely, and the rest of the staff. It was just so great to be there and know that we are loved and appreciated for so many… at least that’s what they tell us. Frankly, we think they highly exaggerate on it… We are thankful to the LORD for the marvellous privilege of serving Him in this beautiful country with its wonderful people. We all went to the airport on April, 28th where Earl, Dwight & Lynn left for Mozambique and four hours later Luke & I boarded our plane to Canada. We all arrived in our destinations safely and are glad to be back on solid ground. Earl doesn’t come home until the end of June but I have a lot of yard work and gardening to do before then. BC hasn’t had a nice Spring so far, but the last few days it’s been sunny and warm and I couldn’t resist getting out and getting my fingers in the dirt. You will be hearing from me more often from now…

Six weeks in Brazil…

We arrived in Brazil on March, 16^th and we were happy to renew our acquaintances, friends and fellow workers in the ministry. We settled down into the guest apartment and slept off our jet-leg and then started to get into the groove of everyday life at Mount Horeb. The weather for the most part has been rainy with a few blessed hours of sunshine in between, but in spite of it I managed to get sunburned.

The biggest shock in our first week was the beating of someone on the street where he was left to die. A car came by, picked him up and took him to the hospital. It was late at night and hospital was solidly locked so the Good Samaritan went to the door, rang the bell and asked for a stretcher when he heard shots behind him. The crooks had followed him to the hospital and shot the wounded man in the head and fled. Needless to say there was no more need for medical attention. On the heels of that, a bus loaded with people ran into the back of a huge semi-trailer and many people were shook up, but the driver suffered the worst damage and his leg had to be amputated. Thankfully, there haven’t been any more tragedies so far.

Once again we have been delighted by a number of visits by young people thanking us for the help their families received from the mission over the years. These young people who at the time were needy children in the community have now grown up, married, and become contributing members in their society. For the most part we didn’t even recognize them after so many years, but it was very gratifying to see them again and receive their thanks.

The picture above is of one of the families we helped many years ago. They were very poor, and were helped by our sponsorship program. The mother also came to our sewing classes. As you can see, that's the house they used to live in Itaperucu. One of the children, Citia, came to see us a few weeks ago.

Luciane is another one of those young people who came to say thanks. Her mother was a widow and they lived in a clapboard shack with plastic and bits of tin for a roof, with a dirt floor and the beds were carved right out of the ground. For the most part the mother took the four children and went out begging everyday to survive. The first thing we did for them was to build a small board house with a decent roof that wouldn’t leak and a cement floor. Then we encouraged the mother to come to our sewing and literacy classes. Gradually things got better for the family, and today Luciane is a wonderful example of what can happen when a family receives a minimum amount of help to get on their feet.

Luciane is married, has two children, and holds down a good job that promises her a much brighter future. Stories like this our encouraging and make us realize that in the kingdom of God if we plant good seed, there will always be a good harvest.

After three weeks here Lynn & Dwight joined us and we have been having a wonderful time and they have been a great help to us. A friend of ours offered their beach house with a wonderful swimming pool, and we spent 3 and half days just resting, talking an eating and then resting more, and talking and eating again.

We are all leaving on April, 28^th and I will be coming back to Canada with Luke in tow. He managed to get a 3 year work permit to Canada and we are very happy for him. Earl is going to go back with Lynn & Dwight to Mozambique and is going to be away until the end of June.

That’s all for now and I will update you guys in what’s going on in our lives after we get back home.

Spring is in the air

You can't imagine how wonderful it is to feel the sun on our back, see the snow melting, the

crocuses blooming and hear the robins singing their hearts out. It's the time to rejoice and be glad for the new season. We leave for Brazil on Sat. March 15th. so there won't be any new entries on this blog until May, but I'll make it up to you by giving you lots of news about our trip.Lynn and Dwight will be meeting us there too, they come to attend our Annual General Meeting and represent the interests of Sam Ministries.They are also keen on establishing a good working relationship with the Mount Horeb

mission in Brazil. All missionaries planning to go to Mozambique must first go to Brazil to learn the language. We also look forward to some special family time which we get little of. We plan to stay 6 weeks at which time I'll be coming home, hopefully with Luke in tow & Earl will be going back to Mozambique with Lynn & Dwight to help with the many projects he has going on down there, which he thinks only his father-in-law can do. Besides knowing how to do just about anything he can also fix just about anything & has the added advantage of being able to communicate with the locals. Dwight always tell him he's worth 10 men, how can you say no when you get those kinds of compliments & from a son-in-law nonetheless.

Luke just finished getting his medical exams & criminal reports off to the Canadian immigration and we're hoping to get a positive answer within a month. We can hardly wait for him to get here & do a whole lot of work for us which these days requires all this marvelous technology which we don't simply seem to be able to master. He will be coming on a work permit which will give him legal status & besides helping SAM Ministries he will be able to apply for a second work permit for another job as well. He really wants to be an asset to the ministry & not a liability, & more than anything else he wants desperately to come to Canada & make it his permanent home.

The grandchildren are doing just great. Russell is in his 3rd year of engineering & is working in Lloydminster through the co-op program at the U of A. He's liking his work & is getting some valuable hands on experience at engineering. Amanda is almost finished her 2nd year in their Bio Chem honors program & is pulling in wonderful grades which makes us all very proud of her. Ruth & Royden just got back from a much needed vacation in Costa Rica and are back at their jobs. Recently Ruth has been having trouble with her thyroid & she is being monitored by her doctor & seeing a specialist. She has the beginnings of Hashimoto's disease which can take from one month to 10 years to kick in completely. We hope & pray that she will recover & that her thyroid & autoimmune levels will normalize as they are wanting to begin their family.

Our Pat had a rather serious back operation in October & has been on disability leave from work ever since due to complications involving her right arm. She also picked up a nasty virus & it settled into her bronchial tubes & she coughs alot & has wheezing spells like an asthmatic, & has completely lost her voice so we haven't heard a peep from her for 3 weeks. We're also praying that the Lord will touch her & restore her health. Until next time, don't eat too much, sleep more, enjoy the Lord & your family & friends.

Life goes on, even in all this snow....

You're right, snow is the subject matter again, we keep getting more and more and I think we have broken a record this year. We've enclosed more snow pictures, so you can judge for yourself! Neighbours were busy helping each other get out of their driveways, wallowing knee deep in snow. The snow plows can't possible keep up, but we sure are happy to see them come into our neighbourhood. Wonder how much more we will get before winter is over?

Earl's step father passed away on Fri. Jan 25th. We were amazed he live as long after the hip repair surgery he endured. He was a remarkable man and would have celebrated his 99th. birthday in April, had he not fallen. All his family members were just under, or just over, 100 when they passed away, including his parents. You will remember that Earl's mom died less then a year ago on March 1st. while we were in Brazil. Another generation has come and gone, and we're next in line. Mom and dad were both mentally alert and physically able to get around without help. Elmer and Marlene, Earl's brother and sister-in-law drove from Lander and picked up us and daughter Pat, and we drove to Alberta together. Considering the road conditions, we were fortunate to get there without any hold-ups, but did get to wait for an hour and a half on the way home. The crew was blasting to see if there were any avalanches waiting to happen. Almost all of Grandpas Meckelborg's surviving family was there, so we got to see most of the relatives on Earl's side of the family. We had a good time celebration dad's life, he was a vibrant Christian and live a good and long life. We are getting excited about our trip to Brazil when we get to see all our friends again. Like Lynn always said when she was a child, I love to go on holidays, it's just the long trip I hate. I can relate to that, seats in planes are getting less spacious all the time ... or are we getting bigger and bigger as the years go on! Lynn is our second daughter for those of you that don't know, she and her husband Dwight are missionaries in Mozambique, you can see her blog and read all about the at ... lynnlagore.blogspot.com Blessings to all ....

Winter with lots and lots of snow

Here we are just waiting for Spring, seems to be a long spell between winter and Spring! We have had more than our share of snow, and Earl has really developed his shoveling skills. But if he doesn't do it I make him walk with me, and he prefers to shovel snow! So far it hasn't been too cold though. We have already purchased the tickets for our trip to Brazil, we use air miles for one and buy the other. One has to start real early though, if you don't, you run into some serious problems. Last time we did that, we couldn't get on the same flight till we got to Houston Tx. But we think we have it fixed better for this trip. We plan to be gone from March 15th to April 28th. From there Earl will be going to Mozambique with Lynn & Dwight, who will be in Brazil with us for two weeks. I will be coming home .... I hope not alone. If we can manage it, Luke may just get his work permit by then and he can come back with me, that would suit me better. We usually don't both go to Moz. it's too costly, too tiring and too long for both of us to be away from home.

Earl's step father fell and broke his hip, he is 98, and that's not a good time to fall and break a hip. They operated on him and are trying to keep him mobile, but that's not easy. Just today we heard he has come down with pneumonia so we're all apprehensive. You will remember his mother passed away almost a year ago in March when we were in Brazil.

Our grand children, Russ and Amanda spent Christmas with their parents in Mozambique. They only had 10 days with them, but that's all you need when you are really homesick! they got home safely, though not without a few hitches. Our other granddaughter Ruth and husband Ruth Royden spent Christmas in Salmon Arm so we got to see quite a bit of them, they are always such a joy to have around. We get into some serious doctrinal discussions, and she thinks her grandpa (especially) has all the answers ... don't tell her differently! Not any other newsworthy items to write about so till next time ...

Christmas is over and we survived ...

We haven't updated for ages so we hope you haven't all given up on us! we had a wonderful Christmas, and probably about as stress free as it can get. Since half of our family lives in the far flung corners of the earth, we had a nice quiet day that ended up at the local theatre where our son-in-law runs the projectors. We all had a private showing of the Chipmunks. Lynn & Dwight's are in Mozambique and their two kids who are both in the U of A went there for Christmas. Mom and dad had accumulated enough air miles to bring them over! They had a good time even if it was only for 10 days. Coming back wasn't so great, they got bumped in N.Y. the by the time they caught another flight out, they missed their Calgary Edmonton connection. A friend picked them up OR they would have spent the night there. Amanda's luggage got lost in all the shuffle. Our other grand daughter and her husband came from Seattle and they are always such a joy to have around and usually have some weighty subject they want to discuss with grandma and grandpa. They made the rounds, just to keep things even, between her Royden's parents, Pat and Eric's and our house.

Our Brazilian Luke that spent 06 months here went back to Brazil on Nov. 1st. He had applied for an extention of his visitor's visa, but it takes immigration forever and a day to get back to their applicants, so in desperation he decided to go back in case they didn't grant him one and he would lose his return fare. His extention came just a few weeks ago, over 3 months after he applied! He is dying to come back, we tried to get someone to sponsor him so he could get a work permit, but weren't successful. Lots of people need employees, but they don't want to bother going through the government and doing all the paper work. So we are trying another route! He said a soon as he stepped off the plane in Brazil he knew he shouldn't have returned. He just loves Canada and says he wants to spend the rest of his life with ... is that a compliment? Anyway he was such fun to have around!

We are both well, and plan on going to Brazil again this Spring, and Earl will continue on to Moz. to give Dwight a hand with building and maintenance. I will come home, can't both stay away that long or our yard will turn into a hay field. Also there's the added expense we can't afford.

Pat & Eric are both fine, she has just undergone surgery and has to have more done. So she is recovering slowly ... they went in from the front of her throat, so she has a nice scar to show off! Not too much else to report, I'll try to keep up better with this blog and slowly but surely we are getting the hang of managing it .... Blessings to all