Life as of December...

So much has been going on these last few months, that have hit us pretty hard. God is shaping and molding us for new things everyday. Since Bill passed away at the beginning of November, we have begun to step up in a few areas of our lives. We are striving to be more organized and intentional in everything we do.

Bill always said, "What I must do, I must do quickly. Twice as much in half the time." I just don't want a day to go by with out being intentional about my walk with Jesus. He has so much to teach and show me.

My prayer life has increased greatly, I would appreciate if you all could join me in prayer for a few things:

1. our Church: the direction is uncertain right now. Well not completely because we are moving forward in expectation that the Lord will do something big.

2. confidence: that we can do everything God is asking of us to do.

3. Christmas plans: they are still uncertain

4. weddings: Eric is performing 2 weddings this month and has never done it before.

5. our students: it is hard to lose someone we all love so much.

I know the list could go on but those are a few.

Here are a few pictures of what is new here:

Noah gave us so much to smile about when we were so sad. He seemed to understand that something was up. He was especially sweet and very easy to take care of.

We decided it was time that Noah begin to sleep in his own room, partly because Chris and the family were coming and we wanted them to have more room in the basement, but also because Noah has grown out of his bassinet. But he seems to be enjoying his own room. Sleeping for a good 5 hour shift every night.

We took the teens to our 2nd annual Lights festival in Galt Gardens. It is tons of fun and the stores are all open to midnight for midnight madness shopping. We only stayed out til about 10:30 but it sure was so much fun. We rode the horse drawn carriage around the park and had hot cocoa at Starbucks.

Went swimming with the little girls and family at the Ramada. It was so much fun to go down the slides and to play in the water with Lou and Maddy. Also it was Noah's first time to go swimming. Such an adventure.

So much fun to have the family here for a visit. Girls loved on Noah so much. They could not get enough of his smiles and chubby cheeks.

It was such a great visit with Chris and Miranda. Noah fell in love and I know they did too. Too bad it has taken me two days to get him back on his normal schedule. Or at least for him to be okay not being held all the time. But I am sure they use to fell that same way when the girls were little and I spoiled them rotten.

The Weather's Changing.

I love when the weather starts to change in Lethbridge. It is getting cooler but it hasn't snowed all that much yet which is nice. The trees are all bare and the streets are flooded with leaves but it has still been nice the last couple of days. Noah is getting bigger everyday. He was 10 weeks yesterday. Crazy crazy. He's getting so big so quick. I wish i could slow down the process because I never want him to grow up but I know he has to. Well today has been good so far. Looking forward to an apple and cinnamon candle burning in our home and homemade chicken noodle soup. Nothing beats a homemade bowl of soup on a chilly fall night.

Eric

What a good day.

Today was great. We finished the babies room today and now we can start moving things into the room and finally get things organized upstairs. It feels good to have it all done. Ashley and Erin helped us paint. After that we had dinner that sybil made, it was fabulous. She's the best. Then the girls went to the movie mill to go see the proposal. They said it was good. I stayed home and finished my dinner because they all had to eat on the run and I watched Transformers. Now the girls are looking through some of our scrapbooks. Syb's so great at taking photos and stickers and turning them into a beautiful way of looking at memories. Well I'm sitting on the couch and watching Conan but I think I'm ready for bed. What a good day. Goodnight.

Eric

What a wonderful world we live in.

Today was a great day. We woke up early and started to get things ready to go to camp for a couple of days so that we could do some work up there. No matter what we do up at the camp I always love to go there. It is one of my favorite places in the world. It is so full of memories and wonderful stories that always bring a smile to my face, and yes, sometimes it does bring a tear to my eye. For those of you that don't know me I'm a bit emotional. A good card, a good movie, or a great story it doesn't matter, I've been known to let a couple of tears go. But anyways back to the camp. I just love it up here. Today we've been working on cleaning the floors and sealing them because it's been a while since they've been sealed. But now it looks like its a brand new floor. It's just beautiful. Erin, Ashley, Bill, Barb, Sybil and I all drove up here together to do some work. And Cody met us up here. Tomorrow we are doing the floors that go into the guys dorm and the main downstairs hallway and into both of the bathrooms. It should be a good time. What a wonderful world we live in. Well I think I am going to head to bed if you care to know. It's 12:12 our time and I'm quite tired. Jon Foreman is the best music to listen to while you are journaling. Just thought I would throw that in there. Goodnight.

Eric

What a last couple of months...

Well the last couple of months have been crazy but they've been amazing. It's been a great summer filled with a trip to Oklahoma City, then Syb's family came up here for a family reunion then we headed up to the camp for Family Camp and then we had Jr. Teen camp and then we had Sr. Teen camp. They were all wonderful weeks filled with laughter and quite a lot of memories were made. It was a lot of fun. Now we are just getting things ready for the baby. Only a couple more weeks before our little guy takes his first breath of fresh air and we get to take a look at his face. I haven't even seen his face but I love him with all of my heart. I can't wait to see him and hold him and hear him cry. I am scared, nervous, and excited all at the same time. It's going to be a new and amazing adventure that I get to experience and go through with my best friend. I can't wait. Here we go.

Eric

I wonder what our little one will look like?

I was looking through these day dreaming about the little one that is kicking and keeping me up at night.... It is the most amazing feeling and how awesome that God is forming his personality already... 

the above 2 are Eric...  what a cutie. 

and then there was me.

the best part of it is that God is using both of us to create our new bundle. How great.

Finally it's summer in alberta!

The snow is finally all gone and the sun is shining and it's actually warm and the birds are chirping in the mornings. Finally it's summer in alberta. The weeks are getting busier and busier planning and getting ready for the season of camps but I am getting so excited about it. For some people summer time is their off time but for us the summer time is probably our busiest time. And this summer is going to be different than any other summer we have ever had because Syb is going to be pregnant in the dead heat of the summer. But it will be fun and cool at times because we will be up at the camp and it actually gets quite cold at night but it feels great. Well this week is busy as usual we are getting things ready for Bill's surprise birthday party and we are getting things ready for a youth lock-in on Friday and we are finishing up our gifts for the graduating seniors this year. Life is good.

Eric

I love Alberta...

so the last two days I have worked in my garden. the first day in the front garden and the yesterday in the back. and you won't believe it but it snowed last night and is still snowing like crazy out. almost 6 inches. I just hope this moisture will only benefit my plants and not freeze them. I did not plant anything new since here in wonderfully sunny Lethbridge the frost free date is the 3rd week of May. what? that is crazy. my tulips which were up and starting to bloom and probably regreting showing their faces. sad day. anyway i am praying this moisture will only help. 

a day in the life of Eric and Syb

today was a very long and interesting day.... quite emotional for a pregnant lady.

1. I was supposed to have my detailed ultra sound today at 9:40. For any of you who have been keeping up with my throwing up habits know that instead of being sick all day I am only now sick in the mornings and then pretty good the rest of the day. Well my day started at 7:45 when I walked to the washroom only to make it to my usual morning puke fest. Well good was what I was thinking. Eric went upstairs and got me a bowl of cereal which I ate rotating with a huge glass of water. Okay now one glass down 2 more to go. Because in order to have a good ultra sound you need a full bladder. By the second glass I was feeling really sick again but taking deep breaths and still drinking. Because I only had a few more minutes to drink all the water before my time limit of 90 minutes before appointment would be past. By the third cup I knew I was going to have to lay there for a bit before moving so I would not lose it. So I did and about a half hour later got up and decided to take a hot shower.... what was I thinking. taking a

 hotshower after having 3 huge glasses of water and not being able to relieve myself at all. It was painful I felt as if my kidney was on fire. So to my screaming Eric comes in the washroom. I am now standing right out of the shower. He looks at me and says, "do not even think about it, you are going to be fine." For he could see the look in my eye that I was about to be sick. I barely turned my head to the shower so that it would not hit Eric. Needless to say after 20 minutes of throwing up all the water Eric called the Dr. and reschedule to next week when hopefully my bladder will be more full. I love Ultrasounds. 

2. Yesterday while cleaning the kitchen Eric and I noticed that there was some sort of moisture leaking down our wall and causing the paint to run. It looked like the blob was coming through the wall. Well yesterday Bill, our Pastor, boss, and landlord, came to look at it while mumering under his breath about how much he hates this house, saying "no worries Syb, tomorrow we will cut a bit of a hole in the ceiling and find the leak."  Well Eric and Bill began this afternoon with a little hole trying to find the leak. Ha but with our luck no leak was to be found but the drywall had to come down that was wet to prevent Mildew which is one of Eric's biggest

 allergies.  So now the wall is just sitting open when tomorrow we might have better luck finding the problem but as Bill said tonight " Sybaroo, we might just have to keep the wall like that til the problem just occurs again." ahhhh. so funny. 

3. Well inbetween the wall stuff Erin stopped by with her new puppy, Toby. She has had him for the last month or so and he is such a cute puppy but like a normal puppy he is in to everything. Her and I sat on the porch while Eric and Bill did their thing. But at one point Bill left and Eric had a bunch more to do, so Erin volunterred to help. The two of them left for 10 minutes maybe to get masks from the church to use while ripping the rest of the wall down. Erin asked if I would watch Toby and I agreed but inside since it was getting hot and I was feeling a bit sick. So I let him off his leash inside and he loved it. Well I was sitting on the couch watching him and he grabbed something from the kitchen and began to eat it. I got his attention and noticed it was the RAT POISON that we keep in the kitchen for the mice we sometimes encounter. My first instinct was to call Eric and tell them to get home right away. In my mind I was thinking I wanted Erin to be here when Toby took his last breath. As soon as I got off with him I called poison control to be informed that poison control was only a human service and that he would likely die but maybe call the vet. what?  So I opened the phone book to Vet and called the first one I saw. and in this I am so glad the Lord is always in control. the secretary was very nice and informed me it would only cost about 175$ to have him brought in so they could make him vomit. I then simply asked if there was a way for me to make him vomit, she put me on hold then told me she was going to put me through to the vet. I was so excited, he took my call in surgery on speaker phone and proceeded to tell me what to do....measure 20ml of Hydrogen peroxide and make him drink it, wait 5 minutes to see if he throws up, if not give him 20 ml more, he said to always wait 5 mintues no less, and he said he would throw up 3 times if it works. 

So by this point they were home, I had Erin hold him while I measured the Hyrdrogen Peroxide we then took him out side and forced him to drink it all. Eric stood by with a timer and by 3 minutes he was heaving. It was so pathetic and sad and I knew exactly how he felt. He threw up around 8 times and I called the vet who told me that was okay but force him to drink some water. oh Boy. what a day. he is now home and doing great. Thank you Jesus. I was so worried. 

that was all before 6 and the day only got more exciting from there I am just so tired to even type more...

a day in the life of Eric and Syb

to catch the world up...

I can't believe it is already February I have not blogged in Months. I have started several blogs and then decided not to post them. Not sure why but I just didn't. so here goes for an update.

1. Laura and Adrianne are coming to visit us in ten days. I am so excited. I wish all of our friends and family could take turns visiting us every other week. that would be the life. 

2. I have never missed my family as much as I have in the last few months. I miss my Mom's face. I miss hanging out with Chris and Miranda. I miss praying with Miranda. I miss Lou and Maddy so much it hurts. I hate being gone while so much goes on in there lives, they are growing up so fast.  I miss talking with Ryan about life. I miss Pizza Sunday nights with the Hawkinson's and Little Mike trips. I miss talking about boys with Deb. I just miss the Family. 

3. Valentine's day was amazing. Eric never ceases to treat me so special. I can always tell he loves me just the way he looks at me. 

4. We have started a new contemporary service at Church on Sunday Nights. It is going really well and I love hearing Eric speak. 

5. everyday I grow to respect Bill even more. the other day we had a heart to heart while crusin' about raising kids and how important family is. I am so glad we are apart of his and Barb's family. 

6. Mexico Pie making is coming up. I think it is one of my favorite parts of the year. I love watching the Body of Christ work and laugh together. So if you want to order one they are 8$ and the money goes to the Orphanage and house we build over Easter. just let me know how many you want. 

7. I have never thrown up so much in my life. Yes I am pregnant, and I have thrown up almost twice a day for two months now. some days as much as 5 times and there have been a couple of days that I have not been sick once.  I am ready to be feeling better but I am also so excited to be apart of working with God create a Human being. 

I guess that is a real quick update but if i try to get to much in there I will end up not posting it again.