Pumpkin Carving

Joel asked last week if we could buy a pumpkin and carve it. I can't remember the last time we've done a pumpkin, so I figured it would be a great idea. Kezia and I went to Vallarta yesterday and carried home our pumpkin. Today after school, I made aprons out of grocery bags for Joel, Kezia and Soh. I was surprised that the boys were totally grossed out at the thought of sticking their hands in to retrieve the guts, but Kezia thoroughly enjoyed it. Joel and Kezia each drew a face on either side and I did my best to cut out the face true to the artistic design of my children (well actually I'm not a expert carver!). We had a good time.

Asha is 3 Months

Asha celebrated her third month with us on the beach at the ocean. She really had a great weekend. Everyone said that she was such a quiet and content baby. And though I was worried, Asha slept so well at night and loved being held and passed around all weekend.

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This month Asha has learned the great activity of hand chewing. She is determined to roll over, though her arms get in the way. Asha has lots to say and loves it if you make weird noises to make her laugh. We have discovered that Asha is very ticklish. And of course, she continues to spit up profusely.

Camping in San Simeon

It has been over a year since the Heppner family has gone camping. So this past weekend was something to look forward to. We joined 5 other families from church and headed south west towards the coast to San Simeon. Carl and I had borrowed a bunch of camping gear from Ray and Kelly, who are in our homegroup, and were very excited about the novelty of camping in October!

We had planned to leave on Friday at 1 p.m., but that turned into 2 p.m. not counting the trip back from the freeway to pick up our camping chairs. The drive out reminded us of driving out to the Whiteshell; the view would have been nice had it not been for the dawdling RV in front of us, and the RV in front of him and so on and so forth. We arrived around 5:30 and located some of the families that had arrived before us. After we set up camp, we went into Cambria and dined at the local Mexican restaurant. I had a really nice visit with Karen and Tamara amongst the chaos of 10 children at the table. When we got back to the campsite, we welcomed the other 2 families, and then put the kids to bed. The temperature was considerably cooler than in the valley (about 12 degrees at night), so we put on the layers and stood very close to the fire. Carl and I were the brunt of some of the jokes, “Look at how close they are to the fire! Isn’t this weather like camping in July for you guys?”

I must admit I felt a bit like a visitor around the campsite that night because we hadn’t known any of these families for more than a few weeks. We didn’t have the history on all these people, we weren’t familiar with the group dynamics, and so I was hesitant to join into the conversation. I spent more time observing everyone than chatting up a storm. That might seem strange to many of you. Yes, I was quite quiet and just listened. I think that was a good thing for me personally.

That night as I lay in my l sleeping bag, I could hear the haunting sounds of the coyotes and the crash of the ocean waves on the rocks and felt thankful for this experience. Around 3 a.m., I heard some raccoons rustling around the campsite. Apparently Cam and Shauna had left out some garbage by mistake which provided a nice snack for 4 large raccoons. In the morning we all had a good laugh at how Cam was trying to shhh the raccoons away without getting out of his tent (since raccoons are not too friendly) and without waking anyone up.

About mid morning, we all packed up and headed to the beach.
The weather was very nice and warm, about 24 degrees, and the kids were so excited about playing in the surf and the sand. I think Carl was pretty thrilled about seeing the ocean since it had been about 15 years since he was last at the coast. We got there and decided to give the kids some lunch before they headed out into the water. So there we all were making our sandwiches and sharing with one another; and it was so nice how everyone helped each other’s kids. Joel and Kezia really enjoyed playing with their new friends and Carl and I were blessed by how all the other adults took an interest in our kids.



At 4 p.m. it started to rain and so we decided to pack up. On the way back to the campsite some of us decided to go see the Elephant Seal Sanctuary. It was pretty neat because there were probably about 200 females lined up on the beach, just resting on top of one another. There weren’t any males around since mating season is in January, which apparently is quite the graphic show.

Once we arrived back to the campsite, we decided that since everything was wet we would head into town and go to the famous Grill Restaurant that Kevin had been raving about for weeks. I’m glad that we didn’t try and roast wieners in the rain. On the way back Carl stopped into a gift shop and was tickled pink because they had fleece jackets on sale. He came bounding (okay, happily walking) out of the store and exclaimed, “Kathy they’re having a sale on fleeces! I don’t have one, so I’ll get us both matching ones”. So we are now the proud owners of matching Cambria fleeces.

That night around the campfire it wasn’t as chilly, thanks to our new fleeces, and I felt very comfortable. Carl and I realized that this was our first camping trip as a family with friends. We had never been able to go camping other than with our extended family because we always had Sunday responsibilities at Braeside. So it was kind of neat that we could have this first time experience here with our new friends. I felt more at ease and both Carl and I got right into the conversation and the jokes. I probably had way too many smores and indulged in all the sweet snacks at the table. When I went to bed that night I thought, man I could do this all the time.

On Sunday after breakfast we adults spent time sharing. That was really meaningful. Just before lunch a few very eventful things happened. 1) Madison wanted me to take a picture of all the girls that were there camping; she said it was important to take a family portrait,


2) Justin found an enormous 2 in. Jerusalem Cricket http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerusalem_cricket by our tent (which was very disturbing) and, 3) Joel got bit on the finger by a squirrel. Joel figured the squirrels here in California are mean because they get up too early and are grumpy.



So in all, it was a very good weekend. We got to deepen relationships with friends from church. And our family got to do many things that we’ve never experienced before.

It Just Gets Better

I usually take some time to think about what I'd like to blog about, but today I'm going to be impulsive.

Today has been a good day. I received an encouraging phone call from Winnipeg this morning as well as two uplifting comments about my earlier blog. So I'm feeling pretty good.

Yesterday Carl and I were talking about our upcoming camping trip. We need to borrow a few things like a tent, some sleeping bags, an air mattress, and a bike rack for our bikes. At home group Kelly said that they had all the camping gear for us to borrow. Awesome! But...

It only gets better.

Carl just got back from the student's centre and he came across a big box with a paper attached to it. It said, I Need A Home. And in the box was a bike rack! Carl brought it home and now we have a bike rack to use for this weekend.

Caught in my Pajamas

This past week at our home group, we had an interesting conversation. What was so interesting about it was not the topic for the evening, but an awareness that I came away with. I became more aware of the clothes that I wear.

Clothes? Well, let me start from the beginning. While we were still living in Winnipeg, I remember a day last year that I was home from work with the kids. I had made a hearty breakfast, gotten the kids into their clothes, we all brushed our teeth, but I hadn’t gotten around to getting dressed. The doorbell rang and without thinking, I went to answer it; it wasn’t a big deal since I was wearing my housecoat. Well, who should be at the door but Murray. He came to drop something off for Carl and we chatted at the door. I wasn’t the least bit embarrassed that I wasn’t dressed. At the end of the conversation Murray said, “Well, I hope you’ll feel better soon”. After I closed the door, I laughed to myself, because I realized Murray thought I was sick since I was still in my housecoat!

This past Friday I got up with the kids and we all ate breakfast. I did Kezia’s hair and changed Asha’s diaper. It was at least 10 o’clock and I still hadn’t gotten dressed. There was a knock at the door and Joel answered it. Rhonda from our home group had dropped by to give me a card and a little thing of chocolates. I wanted to go to the door to say thank you to her, but hesitated because I was embarrassed I wasn’t out of my pajamas. I went to the door anyways because I didn’t want to be rude. I thanked her for her thoughtfulness, made a funny comment about my home wear and said goodbye.

And so over the last few days I was thinking about those two situations and wondering why I didn’t feel embarrassed with Murray, but I felt awkward with Rhonda. Shouldn’t it be the other way around? Shouldn’t I feel mortified that I was seen in my pajamas by a man?

At home group I shared about how I was and I guess still am, processing my emotions about our move to Fresno. I tried to explain that I felt lost and though I was starting to build relationships, there was still a feeling of uneasiness and loss in my heart. This was a complex loss; was it a loss for my home, for what was familiar, for my friends and family? Then Kevin, who is Rhonda’s husband said, “It sounds like you are mourning the loss of identity”. And that’s when it all made sense to me.

See moving here to Fresno has meant very different things to Carl and I. For Carl, if I can refer back to clothes, he wore a nice pastor outfit for many years. Then one day he took off his pastor suit, and put on a student outfit. It has taken some getting used to this new set of clothes, it doesn’t feel as comfortable as the pastor suit, but over time, the student clothes have become quite a nice fit. But for me, I took off my Teacher pants and my Pastoral blouse and my Council shoes but didn’t have anything else to replace them with. So I guess all I have are my pajamas! And so I’m feeling a bit underdressed.

I figured that I didn’t feel embarrassed for Murray to see me in my home clothes aka pajamas, because literally and figuratively, he had seen me in different outfits. I had a history with him and so it didn’t matter that he saw me in my house coat. But when Rhonda came over and saw me in my pajamas, I felt self conscious because she hasn’t seen me in many different clothes, both literally because we’ve only known her for a month, but also figuratively. People here haven't seen all the outfits that I used to wear.

At home group Kevin continued by saying that sometimes God allows all that we do to disappear so that we can get to the heart of who we really are. So often we define ourselves by all the things that we do. And the things I used to do, the things that defined me, I don’t do those things anymore. My wardrobe has been downsized and all I’m left with are my pajamas, so to speak.

Over the last few days, God has started to show me that I need to understand my identity outside of the things that I do. Maybe those “outfits” I used to wear have been things that I’ve been using to hide behind. Maybe I’ve never taken the opportunity to take a hard look at myself and not just focus on what I do. In time I know that God is going to show me more of who I am.

Kids Will Be Kids

We have had a pretty good few days. This past week was module/reading week and so Carl was busy working on his thesis proposal. He spent most of his days and evenings in the library doing research and was relieved when he finished on Saturday night. So on Sunday evening we had Nate and Maddy over to play their Wii. Boy, it was fun! Even Joel and Kezia had a chance to work on their Wii skills.



Joel and Kezia spend a lot of time in the sandbox, and this week was no different. It's actually more of a dirtbox, since most of the sand is gone (but we've requested that more sand be hauled in). They enjoyed getting filthy in their Sunday clothes by making a sand soup. Oh kids will be kids.


Kezia continues to love playing dress up. Almost every day she'll get into a princess outfit, courtesy of Kaia, and dance to her VBS CD. But lately she's taking a keen interest in colouring. We're impressed that she can stay inside the lines for the most part. Sometimes she likes to be silly with her Dad and Asha. Kezia can be a real hoot!


Joel spends most of his day riding his bike. Around and around the courtyard he goes. And if he's not riding his bike, he's play fighting with Soh. Those boys pick up palm fronds, which they call Quawquaws and chase each other. Then someone gets caught, gets hit, and then gets angry. Joel and Soh are constantly tattling on each other and then no sooner are back to playing again!

Joel has become more interested in doing homework. There are times when he brings papers from school to finish. He'll sit at the table after supper and practice his letters. It's amazing how fast he's growing up.

Our kids give us lots of joy!

Thanksgiving - Canuck Style

On Monday we celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving. The weather was pretty nice that day, about 26 C and very sunny. Joel and I went to the chiropractor and grocery shopping in the morning. It was nice to spend a morning just with him. Once we came home, I started baking my sweet potatoes. At 2:00 we set up the Webcam and had an internet visit with the Heppner family. It was so nice to be able to see their faces while talking with them. I wished I could have jumped through the computer for the afternoon to join them, and the jump back to bask in the sunshine. We miss our family.

We were having a potluck supper with a few other Canadians. Derek and Laura Thiessen were hosting, along with Laura's sister Sara and their roommate Michelle. Katherine and Nate and Maddy from the Courtyard were joining us as well. Laura and I thought it would be nice for each of us to bring something that was a favourite from their family Thanksgiving. So Nate and Maddy brought the potatoes and an awesome three layer jello salad, we brought salad, peas, Canadian ice tea and my special sweet potatoes. Katherine brought apple crisp and ice cream. Sara and Michelle bake pumpkin pies and Derek and Laura did the turkey with stuffing inside. We also invited John Isaak, who is on staff at MBBS and his daughter Reyanna.
Joel wanted to take pictures of everyone at the supper, so I made a collage of his masterpiece. I'm proud that he's able to take such nice pictures. From the top left corner going across: Kezia and Joel, Sara (Laura's sister) Maddy (married to Nate), Derek (married to Laura), Katherine in the centre, Nate and Asha, Carl, Laura, and Michelle, me and the puppy.

It was such a good meal and great fellowship. We all got to showcase our culinary skills and celebrate Thanksgiving together. You knew the meal was awesome because Joel finished his plate before anyone else even started! And Kezia had three helpings of sweet potatoes and jello salad. Afterwards, the kids played with Lego and dressed up in Laura's beautiful scarves. I felt very full in my tummy and my heart.

Happy Camper

This weekend is Canadian Thanksgiving and we're looking forward to getting together with other Canucks tomorrow for a potluck. I decided it was high time I started exercising more, so I pulled out the work out video. Asha sat and watched me (when she was suppose to be sleeping) and found the whole thing quite amusing.....

All Aboot Language

Language is a very fascinating thing. I noticed that there are a lot of differences here in Fresno as compared to Winnipeg. The first obvious distinction is the amount of Spanish that is spoken here. A bunch of the radio stations are in Spanish, half the television stations are Spanish, the stores have Spanish signs and all the announcements in the grocery store are in Spanish. But there were a few other things that were a bit more subtle and that I only noticed lately.

First, Americans have a few different words than we Canadians do. I was laughed at when I asked what could be put down the garborator. “A What?” “A garborator”. “No, it’s called a garbage disposal”. “Oh”. And there are a few other words like Soda is their word for Pop, and the letter Zed is Zee here. I get corrected every time I spell Kezia’s name. The garbage bin is the trash can here. People comment on Asha’s binky and the kids look at them weird. It’s actually a soother or a Nuk-nuk. We are confusing when we talk in Celsius or Metric, though I am learning to translate Celsius into Fahrenheit. Americans don’t know what a toque is or what a keener is either. The most tragic thing is that Smarties here are actually what we know as Rockets. Americans have no idea that Smarties are little yummy colourful chocolate candies. And they don’t know what a Double-double is. What a sad thing!

It was pointed out to Carl and me, by another Canadian here, that we have some very distinct phrases that only Canadians have. The most famous one is “eh”, but I don’t really use that very often. What I do say quite often that I am totally unaware of is, “You bet” and “Right on”. Apparently those phrases are very Canadian.

Joel and Kezia have also picked up new language. I figured since most of their teachers at preschool are Spanish they would pick up a few more Spanish words and phrases. They have and it’s really nice. But a few days ago I overheard them using other words, words that I didn’t recognize. When I listened more carefully, I realized they were saying Japanese words. I guess they learned them from the Tanaka children.

On Thursday I was at the chiropractor and the receptionist said to me, “Your speech sound strange and you have an accent. Where are you from?” I told her I was from Canada. I didn’t think I had an accent. Everyone else has an accent!

I find language and phrases very interesting. It’s neat that just by the way someone talks you can tell where they are from or where they have lived. Will we sound different when we return home? Who knows what we’ll pick up here.

Making Connections

This past week has been a week of answered prayer. We had been feeling quite lonely and ached for relationships here in Fresno. Thankfully we have made more connections and those relationships are starting to form.

On Sunday we went to Butler MB church. We first checked it out because it has the preschool where the kids go and it’s only a 3 minute walk from our apartment. We went back there because the people were very welcoming and the music and style of worship were very comfortable for us. People there didn’t take any time showing us where the Sunday School classrooms were or where the nursery was. There are quite a few young families that attend the church and we think that this is the place we would like to call home while we are here.

While at Butler, we met some very nice people; Rhonda and Kevin Dueck. They asked us where we were from and lo! and behold, Kevin is Canadian too. In fact, his family lives in Winnipeg, in East Kildonan. What a neat connection! Anyways, their home group was getting very large and they were planning to split into two groups. They asked us if we’d like to join either of the groups so that we could make friends and have a place to connect. So we took them up on their offer and decided to check it out.

The home group we joined meets on Monday nights for supper and then either a study or discussion afterwards. The first time we went, we felt right at home. The home group includes Eric and Michelle, Ray and Kelly with their girls Emma and Paige, Tamara and her son Robbie, Gerry and Mika and their son Jay, Kevin and Rhonda (who host) and their kids, Justin, David, Adam and Grace. Kezia is excited about having Emma and Grace to play with and of course, there are lots of boys for Joel to play with too. And the neat thing about the group is that including me, there are 6 teachers! So discussion is always lively. We have enjoyed the openness and honesty of the group; feeling overwhelmed with raising children, culture shock, the heaviness of church leadership…all things that we can relate to.

And if that weren’t enough to find a church and a home group to join, I found a coffee buddy. Derek and Laura had been studying at CMU in Winnipeg and had come to Braeside a few times in 2005. They came to Fresno to study last year and when we moved here, we connected up with them. This past week I bumped into Laura on campus (she works in the administration building) and we decided to go for a quick coffee. It was such a nice visit; it was my first social outing since we arrived in Fresno. Laura suggested that we get together each week for an hour or so to visit. I was thrilled at her suggestion because I wondered if I would end up meeting someone who would have time to fit in a new friend into their busy schedule. So Tuesdays are my coffee dates with Laura.

Our family is feeling like we have a place to belong now. We have people to relate to and places to be supported. It’s such a comfort when we’re so far from home. God has answered prayers and we are very grateful.