Visitors...

Almost all the grandkids... Just one little cutie was missing...

Providence...

It's been a crazy week. On Monday I returned from Manitoba while Hugo got off the plane in Calgary and made his way to Prairie Bible College in Three Hills. He has been doing some avionics work on a Cessna 206 that will later be used in Angola.
This morning as I was driving the kids to the bus stop the temperature gauge on the van we are using began to rise dangerously high. I pulled over and watched it ready to kill the engine if it rose any further. It suddenly dipped down again so off we went. After watching it rise and fall a few more times I decided that it would be prudent to go to our mechanic, who thankfully lives right around the corner from our kid's bus stop. His wife brought the non-school going kids and I home. He called later pronouncing the vehicle unusable unless a significant amount of funds were spent. I called MAF and was told that they actually have 2 vehicles in Three Hills and we could use one of them! And, guess what, Hugo is in Three Hills right now! So instead of flying back, he's driving back. I'm so thankful that this didn't happen yesterday as I was driving for Aidan's class field trip... I'm so thankful for God's providence!
I've since heard from Papua that the situation with Ice's mom has been "resolved". By resolved I mean that money and pigs changed hands... Nice eh? One would hope that bringing the Gospel to people would change their lives from the way they were. Before being evangelised the people lived in a state of constant watchfulness and fear. They never knew when an enemy tribe may attack or may attempt to kill one of their people. Now, they still live in fear. Fear of false accusations. This has happened twice to Ice's family in the past year. First after the death of the young girl and now with the death of a young man. In both cases, Ice's family was completely innocent, but they were still forced to make restitution for their supposed "guilt". It is very clear that these people are Christian in name only and are allowing greed to drive them. Please pray that they would come to an understanding of what it is to truly be a Christian.

I just heard a few minutes ago about a terrible situation up on our hill in Papua. Ice's mother has been accused of using witchcraft in the death of a young man. She was dragged from her home and beaten. Apparently Ice and her sister were barricaded in their homes and prevented from going out for some time as well. Please pray for this awful situation and that the people involved would see the truth and stop their terrible actions.

Just a little update...

Hugo and I are in Manitoba right now enjoying the hospitality of the Holtvluwer family. (The kids are staying with friends for the weekend) So fun to catch up again! We did 2 presentations this weekend and tomorrow (Monday) we are heading back west. Hugo will get off the plane in Alberta and make his way to Three Hills to do some work on an MAF plane destined for Africa. I will go home and begin a three day stint of solo parenting.
In other news, Hugo has just been appointed as MOM - Manager of Maintenance for the Papua program. This will be a new adventure for him but he is looking forward to it!

Found at a local Asian Food market...

YIPPEE!!

An Afternoon at the Zoo...

Wonder if it cures malaria...

Our trip to Alberta...

We sure had a nice time visiting with family and friends on this trip! We're very thankful for the hospitality of the folks that we stayed with on this trip. We sure do appreciate it!

But we're glad to be home again and sleeping in our "own" beds. The kids'll be heading back to school again on Monday so thing's will be back to a regular routine.

Little update...

So here we are, back in Valemont, B.C. on our way back to the coast. First we plan to make a stop in Vernon to do a presentation. This will be the last one on this trip. We had a couple good presentations in Edmonton (where we enjoyed the hospitality of Rev and Mrs. Slomp-Thanks!) and in Neerlandia (land where all drivers wave to eachother upon passing); where we were able to use my aunt's house (she was in Aussie). We had a great turnout in both churches! It was neat to meet some supporters that we'd never met before and also talk with folks who've lived in Papua and know exactly what we're talking about!
In Neerlandia we enjoyed catching up with family, particularly my sister and her fam. Our kids thoroughly enjoyed the snow in Alberta and loved snowmobiling on the creek! (no photos yet, I'm on a computer at the hotel...) I think the kids are getting ready to return home and sleep in their own beds... and maybe the parents too...

Update...

Here's a little update on us and where we're at...
Hugo arrived safely back home yesterday. The kids and I drove down to Bellingham airport to pick him up.
This morning we picked up a rental van and loaded it up with stuff and kids and began our journey to northern Alberta. Right now we are staying in a hotel in Valemont. There's a pool with a crazy slide so the kids are happy campers. We encountered all sorts of weather during our 7 hour drive up here... snow... rain... sun... The kids were thrilled to see snow again for the first time since we've come back to Canada. They can't wait to play in it this weekend.
Tomorrow we make our way to Edmonton where we will do a presentation and then on Saturday we will drive to Neerlandia where we will do another presentation and visit with some family. After a few days there we will drive down to Vernon where we hope to do a presentation on Thursday evening and then on Friday make our way back home.

I see it has been a week since my last post...
Hugo has been in Spokane, Washington since last Saturday. So I've been solo parenting for the past week. Hugo is taking some courses related to the new Kodiak aircraft that we have just received. As this aircraft is completely different than our other aircraft in addition to being a newly designed aircraft, there is much to be learned about it. Hugo reports that the course has been very worthwhile and interesting.
He is scheduled to return on Wednesday and the following day we will begin our drive to Alberta to visit family and make a few presentations. If you are able to attend one we'd love to meet you!

As today was a school holiday, we made our way to Heineken House in Richmond. We were there early so there was no line-up to get in! Didn't need to use Hugo's passport after all. We had fun on the simulators. Aidan did a great job of driving our sled. Then made our way to the arena area where we ate kroket on a bun, a delicacy more appreciated by dad and mom than the kids.... We watched the first bunch of teams in the mens long track pursuit on the big screen there. Then we walked around a bit, unfortunately nothing else opens until 3:00 so we went to Ikea... The kids enjoyed checking out Ikea. When we go to stores like that you see that we've been living in a third world country for the past number of years.

Last Saturday we walked around Campbell Valley park. It was beautiful weather! As we see virtually no wildlife in Papua, the kids thought the chipmunks and ducks were very cool.

Olympic Curling....

It was a raucous night! Just getting to the Curling event location was an olympic event! Parking at skytrain was a nightmare leaving us begging permission from Home Depot to park in their parking lot. They acquiesed... (free parking!) Then a squishy skytrain ride to meet Chris at his building on Robson, right where the CTV live broadcast booth was located. Then we walked around a bit and saw the flame; behind fences. Apparently, Vancouver is allowing the public to get a lot closer to the cauldron then other cities have allowed in past Olympics. They have since replaced the fence with plexiglass. We grabbed a bite to eat at a crammed restaurant in Gastown, sitting beside some members of the Russian delegation, who took photos of everything. Then we made our way to the incredibly long line-up for the Canada Line. The line went extremely fast and soon we were on our way. Then we took a bus for a couple blocks and then walked a few more blocks before getting into line to have our bags screened. Finally, we were in! A whole 53 minutes before the event was to begin! There was an atmosphere not unlike one you'd encounter at a hockey game. Foot stomping was a favourite way to through off opponents of Canada while they were making crucial shots. Canada beat Denmark 4-3, needing an extra end to do it. After that we made our way back to Robson where the streets were loaded with people cheering and having a good time. We viewed the nightly laser light show and then made our way to this teeny tiny shewarma place where we joined the line-up for sustenance. I don't think they could have made this place any smaller! But the food was delish! Finally we made our way to the sky train station and home. What a fun Olympic experience!

Christiaan's birthday party...

The very happy b-day boy!

Nearly 10 years ago, our oldest son made his entrance into the world. Tomorrow, D.V., he will celebrate his 10th birthday. We held his party on Friday after school.

Four friends came over and after sending them on a "treasure" hunt ending in chocolate bars all around, they made their own pizzas and headed to the park while I baked them. Then they ate them while watching the Olympic opening ceremonies (of course!). Good times!

Extracurricular stuff...

This is totally not related to anything... but the guy who made this was my parents neighbour in Vernon. I've met him a few times....

Ontario

This past week Hugo and I went to Ontario. First we spent Friday evening til Monday noon with my folks in Owen Sound. There was a lot of snow there! My brother and his wife were there and my sister and her hubby and new baby came down from Burlington for a night too. It was fun to catch up with everyone! On Monday Hugo and I headed out to Guelph and on the way stopped in to visit my sister Marsha at her new home. Got to meet some of her fun roommates too! Monday and Tuesday we had meetings with some of the MAF staff. And on Tuesday we got to have lunch with Clarence and Jeanette Togeretz! So fun to catch up with them! It was an incredibly quick trip but a very good one.

Safe and Sound in Owen Sound...

Hugo and I, without our brood, flew from Abbotsford to Kitchener today and then drove from there to Owen Sound. It was an interesting drive in the dark on the somewhat snowy roads but we made it safely! It is great to see the folks again and catch up!

Kodiak...

MAF is sending one of our new kodiak aircraft to help out in Haiti. Avgas supply is an issue there and the Kodiak can just carry more stuff and people. There's a little news story about it here
If you click here you can follow the path of the airplane as it makes its way to Haiti.

Check out an interview with MAF pilot Jason Krul of B.C. who was in Haiti during the earthquake here

MAF in Haiti

You can read more about what MAF is doing to help in Haiti here
There's a family from BC that is with MAF in Haiti (they have been evacuated) and you can read about their experiences here