BC trip part 1

Well, my blogging kind of fell by the wayside this summer…just too much going on! I’ve been meaning to do a “catch up” blog for a while now, but just haven’t gotten to it. After many reminders from a dear friend & cousin (you know who you areJ) about how much I’m missed…I’m finally hereJ. I will start doing my “Mondays” blogs again hopefully next week, but for now, to catch up from the summer! I’m going to do it in separate parts so I can put a few pictures here & there & it’s not so long…

I was looking back & realized I’m not actually as behind as I thought I wasJ…I already told you all about VBS. So the week after VBS was done the kids FINALLY got to use our pool. They were thrilledJ. We were also thrilled to get company…a couple that we got to know when we lived in Africa…and I haven’t seen them since then…16 years!!! The kids had a great time playing hangman with Susan while Ben & Chuck enjoyed talking hunting…I just took picturesJ.

At the end of that week we headed to BC to spend some time with my grandparents & go to a Steven Curtis Chapman (& Michael W. Smith) concert! We left on Friday, just before noon. Travelling has gotten so much easier with the kids! I used to bring along a bag of toys for each kid & a big bag of books, plus coloring stuff, etc, etc. It’s been 2 years since we made this trip & all I brought was a few coloring pages & some books. I have come to appreciate the library…books they haven’t read before keep their attention longer…and audio books which they love!

Anyways…we were making good time & pretty happy that we were actually going to make it to my grandparents between 9 & 10 (early compared to what it usually is!). Then just before we got into Sicamous we came to an accident…at least that’s what we assumed…after being stuck there for nearly an hour we had finally crawled ahead enough to see a sign that said there was an accident. We were there for just under 2 hours before traffic finally started flowing & we were on our way again…never saw a single sign of the accident…no emergency vehicles, no glass, nothing…completely cleaned up before we passed. Anyways…we ended up getting to my grandparents just before midnight…hauled everything in & crashed.

On Saturday we headed to Westbank to see my Darrel & Debbie (my aunt & uncle) & their 3 girls. Our kids are really close in age & she’s always been much more of a friend than an aunt!

This is the family that I wrote about it one of my last blogs whose home was very near the fire in Westbank. Their house was untouched…the wind changed direction, saving many, many homes (thank you Lord!!!). Anyways…they were supposed to be leaving Saturday morning, but because of the fire, they decided to wait till Sunday. This gave us the opportunity to see them for one day at least. We had lunch with them on Saturday…the kids played…we visited. Visits with them are never long enough…we had hoped to go see them again at the end of this month…but with no work…

On our way back from Darrel & Debbie’s there was a HUGE rainstorm. I’ve never seen rain like that in Kelowna, it was crazy. I was a bit worried the concert would be cancelled, but the storm was shortlived. We got back to Gram & Gramps’ in time to get changed & get the kids settled, then headed out to the concert.