Our Life

baby wearing

2011-10-19T15:19:00.000-07:00

I really LOVE my Rockin' Baby ring sling. I love that Micah loves it just as much as I do and will calm down within minutes (usually falls asleep within 5 minutes too) I love having him close to me, but it also allows me to have my hands free to do other things ( like do laundry, take photos at my brother's wedding, stamp, be on the computer, eat, play games, etc) I always knew that I wanted to be a baby wearing mama but never realized how much I would love it!

I love that with the sling Ronel (or anyone else) can also use it and wear Micah.

I also like that we can go for walks and not have to take the stroller. It is also a great workout - especially as Micah continues to get bigger!

Oh - and something wonderful about Rockin' Baby slings is that they have a special Mother to Mother movement and for every sling that is purchased, they give a sling to a mother in Haiti.

photos from my brother's wedding

2011-10-19T13:50:00.002-07:00

October 1st, 2011 was my brother's wedding.

The wedding was great and the reception was a new experience. The reception was a traditional Chinese reception held at a Chinese Seafood Restaurant. Each of the 10 dishes were chosen for their meaning and each was served one at a time. There were quite a few dishes that were very different for us. I tried to have a taste of everything but there were some items that I didn't/couldn't try. Marshalla & Curtis had 3 different outfits - the traditional North American outfits for the ceremony & the beginning of the reception, then they changed into traditional Chinese outfits and then later on changed again - her into a red evening gown and him into a red vest & tie. All 3 outfits looked great on both of them! The reception was long and we headed home just after midnight. We got home just before 1am - over 15 hours after we left home that morning!!

The Newlyweds!

The sisters and the 2 youngest nephews. This was the first time my older sister Tanya met Micah (She's holding Micah in this photo)

Micah did great - he spent all of the ceremony on me in the sling asleep. I had to wake him up after the ceremony to feed him. He did great at the reception as well, I fed him right when we arrived (we were early to help set out favours) and he was passed around the table to hang out with his aunties and then he went back into the sling when he got tired. I had a couple people mention that they were surprised how little noise they heard him make. He was a little upset that we put him in his carseat and drove home -- he woke up on the drive home and wanted to eat and he wasn't so happy that he had to wait till we got home! He ate and went right back to sleep as soon as we got home and slept straight through 9am when he woke us up.

The day was just great and we are happy that we got to celebrate in their special day! That was the last of my siblings to get married!

8 weeks

2011-09-30T00:20:00.002-07:00

Micah is 8 weeks old!!Wow - where did the time go?

He has his 6 week checkup last week and was 12 lbs 1.5 oz and 23 1/2 inches long. Feeding is going well and Micah has started cooing. He loves to be worn in the ring sling and very quickly falls asleep when he is being worn in the sling. Both Ronel & I can use the sling so it is great. Micah spends a lot of time in the sling as it allows me to have him close, he loves it and also have my hands free to do other things that need to get done. This past week Micah has also started sleeping 6-7 hours straight at night. He normally sleeps from 11 or 12 at night until 6 or 7 in the morning. This works out well for me because I get my second wind around 9 and don't want to go to bed until 11:30 or so anyway so it means I am awake for his last feeding before bed and then we both get a good chunk of sleep. Ronel leaves for work most days at 6am so it also means I am up to say goodbye to him.

This weekend my oldest sister will get to meet Micah as she is coming over from Vancouver Island for my brother's wedding. He will also get to meet some other relatives he has yet to meet.

It is currently 12:16 am and Micah is very much awake and alert! I am hoping he has plans to go to sleep soon and that he continues with the 7 hour sleep as tomorrow is a busy day and I won't get to have a nap!

Off to walk him around the house in his sling in an effort to help him fall asleep!
(there are photos but they need to wait till I have more than one hand free!!)

2011-09-10T05:20:00.000-07:00

I just got this photo from my mom. It was taken while when she came to visit her newest grandson in the hospital. I was sad when I realized that we hadn't had any photos taken of the three of us after Micah was born. Thankfully someone else thought of it!!

This photo was taken about 7 hours after Micah was born. Those smiles on Ronel & I's faces are pure adrenaline and joy! This was 13 hours after I went into labour and after a long night with no sleep!

Micah's dimple

2011-09-09T21:40:00.003-07:00

Micah has the cutest little dimples and I've been trying to capture them in a picture but hadn't had any luck. Tonight Micah was lying on the bed beside Ronel and I sat in front of him and asked him to smile for me and he kindly smiled for me and allowed me to capture his cute dimple for all to see! He also has a dimple on the other side.

flashback...

2011-09-09T20:52:00.002-07:00

I was playing around tonight with my picasa web albums and found some old photos of Ronel & I that I thought I didn't have any more (due to computers & external hard drives dying) and thought I would play around with them on picnik.com. These are the results.

photos

2011-09-09T16:17:00.000-07:00

hard to believe

2011-09-09T15:10:00.000-07:00

I was going through photos and found this on Ronel's camera. This was taken only 5 days before Micah was born. Hard to believe there was a 9lb baby hiding in there.

That is also me 26lbs heavier than I am today. I am so amazed and blessed that I am healthier today than I was 11 months ago before I got pregnant. I currently weigh 37lbs less than I did when I got pregnant, without a huge change in my lifestyle, but smaller meals (mainly due to a much smaller appetite), less "junk" snacks and an increase in physical activity (mainly walking more). Ronel & I endeavoured to get out and be active more to help us both be in better shape for our son. It wasn't difficult as BC is beautiful and there are lots of gorgeous places to go for walk. Even just walking around the block gets you up & moving. I am so thankful for a relatively easy pregnancy that allowed me to keep active and also to keep working up until 39 weeks.

just for fun

2011-09-09T11:12:00.000-07:00

milestones

2011-09-08T23:42:00.000-07:00

Two years ago today Ronel & I landed on Canadian soil together. One more year till we can start the process of making him a Canadian citizen! 5 weeks ago today we welcomed our son into this world.

updating...

2011-09-08T10:50:00.000-07:00

thought it was time to update the blog, especially the header photos. I'm under the weather and not feeling up to much and I have a gorgeous baby sleeping on me, so what better way to pass the time!!

hope you enjoy it!

(the photos are in order -- Ronel & I engaged in Haiti, our wedding, Micah at 12 days old and our family photo taken when he was 16 days old)

where did the time go...?

2011-09-06T11:11:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that Micah is almost 5 weeks old already! It has already been over a month since he was born! In so many ways it seems like only last week! He is growing and last Thursday at his 4 week checkup he weighed in at 10lbs 12.5 oz, which means he gained 1lb 12.1 oz since he was born (not counting the weight he had to gain to get back up to his birth weight!)

He is a great baby and has even been sleeping 4-6 hours in a stretch at night which Mommy loves! (though it often starts earlier than I am wanting to go to sleep so I am still not getting quite that much sleep at a time) We are slowly reducing the amount of formula he is getting as a supplement as my milk supply is increasing. He still often gets a 1-2 ounces of formula at one of his nighttime feedings which I think helps with the longer stretches of sleep.

Yesterday, the three of us headed out along with my mom for our first extended outing. We headed out to Deer Lake in Burnaby to do some letterboxing. (see here for more info on letterboxing) We had a great time and look forward to many more letterboxing outings with Micah! It was a day of many firsts for us - first letterboxing outing with Micah, first time changing Micah in the stroller on the side of the path!, first time nursing while walking!!, and for me, the first LONG walk since having Micah (we were walking for probably close to 3 hours)

I have some photos to add to this, but it is harder to do with only one hand so they will have to wait till later.

preview...

2011-09-01T20:34:00.000-07:00

Click here to go see a preview of our photo shoot with Kendra of Bullfrogs and Butterflies Photography.

The photoshoot was a Christmas gift from my sister & her family.

clarification...

2011-08-20T23:40:00.001-07:00

so I found out yesterday that the nurse who told us that Micah weighed 9lbs 4oz misread the scale... he only weighed 9lbs 0.4oz. - just a small difference! I was at a br*ast feeding clinic that my midwife referred me to and they weighed him in grams and when she was looking at the chart to convert it for me, I noticed that it was more in grams than he was at birth but less in pounds and figured something had to be wrong. In this day of internet, I used an online grams to pounds calculator and figured out that Micah's birth weight of 4093 grams equals 9 pounds 0.4 ounces. Then when we were looking at photos from the hospital, I noticed that the scale says 9 0.4!!
He is currently just above 9lbs 3oz, which means he has regained his birth weight plus 3 ounces. Which may not seem like a lot, but when they were using 9lbs 4oz as the starting weight, it meant he hadn't regained his birth weight back. I don't know if this will change anything, but I will be making sure to mention it to the doctor next week at the BF clinic that his birth weight was wrong as I think it may change what they are wanting to do in regards to his eating plan.

Family Photo

2011-08-20T23:28:00.000-07:00

The Cledomins - -a family of three! We had a family barbeque today with lots of family and took some "extended family" photos (a yearly tradition when we all gather) and this year, we also took a Cledomin family portrait. This is us... 16 days after Micah's arrival.

day 8...

2011-08-12T21:22:00.000-07:00

wow, it has been 8 days since Micah joined our family. The past week has flown by, but at the same time seems like it has been much longer than a week! Micah & I have both finally caught onto to the whole feeding thing... it took till Tuesday or Wednesday for my milk to come in, and until then we were supplementing his feedings with formula, which wasn't what I wanted, but was what was best for Micah. He was a trooper though and did great with switching between the bottle & bre*st - which was part of my concern with formula supplementing. His weight was fluctuating and he lost weight again after a small gain after starting the formula. Today at our home visit with our midwife, he gained a small bit since yesterday's visit and she was happy with that, so we get to continue trying only bre*stfeeding and see if he gains again weight over the weekend.

It is so much fun to have Micah around. His expressions are constantly changing and it is so hard to not just stare and watch him all day! He is often wide-eyed and so alert - looking at the world around him.

It is so amazing being a parent. I know that I spent 9 months preparing for his arrival, but nothing can actually prepare you for that moment when they place your child on your chest. It is totally surreal and something I can't fully describe. I love being Micah's mother and am truly amazed that this precious bundle of joy came from my body... that this wonderful baby boy is part of Ronel & I. He is a precious gift from God.

getting a kiss from big cousin Ethan

My nephew Ethan is totally cute with Micah. It will be so neat to watch him as a big brother when his baby sister arrives in December. It will be so neat having a cousin so close to Micah's age. (he will have 2 that are fairly close. Ethan is only 16 months old and Micah will only be 4 1/2 months old when my sister has her baby just before Christmas. )

Mommy & Micah taking a nap snuggled up with Mommy's baby blanket. (the knitted green & yellow blanket)

Daddy loving on Micah.

I love watching Ronel with Micah. I've always know that he loves kids, but to see him with his own son is something special.

Well, my son is requiring my attention so I will leave you for now......

Introducing......

2011-08-05T21:02:00.000-07:00

Micah Jeremiah Clédomin

(minutes after he was born)

He was born at 5:05am on August 4th, 2011 (his due date!!) weighing 9lbs 4 oz and 21 inches long.

Proud Daddy holding his son

The labour and delivery went fantastic. I was in active labour for only 3.5 hours and pushed for about 25-30 minutes before he was born. I did have 2.5 hours of "non-active" labour that was quite intense but still only 6 hours of contractions is NOTHING to complain about. My midwife said I did a fantastic job.

We are enjoying life with Micah.

More photos and stories to come.....

38 weeks + 2 days

2011-07-23T20:19:00.000-07:00

Here is a photo that we took at my nephew's birthday party yesterday.

We're all still doing great. Baby is growing and we had an ultrasound done that confirmed that he is head down and ready to go! Now for him to wait till I'm done with work next week before he decides to make his arrival. We put the car seat in today and got a few things that I needed for while we're at the hospital (will also help when we're at home) Need to pack my hospital bag and then it is just waiting till it's time!

catch up .... week 37!!

2011-07-14T19:39:00.004-07:00

So, it's been a while since I've posted. Sorry, life has been busy! I'm still doing great and baby is growing...

Today I'm 37 weeks and considered full term so baby can show up at any time now. I still feel great and he's been moving ALOT lately and it is such a weird feeling and I can't wait till he's in my arms, not just in my belly! We've been arranging things around the house and making sure that things are ready for his arrival. We've got his name picked out and I can't wait to see his little face. I have been having weekly appointments with my midwife so I get to hear his hearbeat weekly and that always makes it even more real. They are scheduling me for another ultrasound to double check fetal position as the midwives haven't been able to definitely tell his position by feel and they just want to make sure he is head down. I'm still working, but have been moved to desk duty instead of doing fieldtrips.

Ronel started working in the middle of June and that has been an adjustment for both of us... He's working in the warehouse at a Canadian Tire and while he is still adjusting, it is good for him to be working and getting used to the work environment and having the extra money coming in definitely helps.

I will make sure that I let you know as soon as I can when baby decides to make his arrival in case I don't get a chance to post before then!

so it's been a while!

2011-05-23T14:55:00.000-07:00

We are now at 29 1/2 weeks and the countdown is on!! I started having some "not so fun" pregnancy moments... at 26 weeks I started experiencing nausea in the evenings and also started experiencing heartburn. The heartburn is really the big problem... it seems to just keep getting worse and not a whole lot helps, I did discover that it was worse during the day, but lately it is ALL THE TIME! The baby is kicking/moving a lot lately and I can't wait till Ronel gets to also feel all the movement.

On the weight side of things, I have started putting on weight but barely.. my last checkup had me a +1 from my previous checkup 3 weeks prior and the one before that was +2, but my midwives are happy and so was the OB/GYN I had a consult with. This still puts me at -14 lbs from before I was pregnant and if everything continues like it has, I should still be below my pre-pregnancy weight when I deliver!!

Ten and half weeks and we should be meeting our son!!!

25 weeks and happy news!!

2011-04-26T21:01:00.000-07:00

Saturday I had my Gestational Diabetes testing done. I had the LONG 2 hour test done first instead of having a 1 hour test and then going back for a 2 hour test if the first one had abnormal results...

Well today I checked online for the results (A wonderful new thing from BC Biomedical Labs - an online place for people to check their own results instead of having to wait to see if the doctor calls with bad news!) and was delighted to read the following

Gestational Tolerance
Glucose Load     75g
                          Results     Reference Range
Fasting Glucose   4.5           < 5.1   mmol/L
Glucose 1h          5.8    < 10.0 mmol/L
Glucose 2h          5.5 < 8.5   mmol/L

PATHOLOGIST'S COMMENT: Normal Glucose Tolerance.

I had kind of worked myself up to accept a result of having Gestational Diabetes because of my family history of diabetes and my weight. I said I would love to find out I didn't have it, but wouldn't be totally shocked or upset that I did.... well, I am very happy to know that I don't have it and don't have to deal with this! I know that I have had ladies in my church praying specifically that I would get a normal result so I am thankful for their prayers and happy to let them know the results!

Baby is growing and my belly is continuing to grow harder which is so weird to me!! Thursday will be 26 weeks and I am feeling the baby move all the time now, it still catches me by surprise sometimes!

Next week Tuesday I have a consultation appointment with an OB-GYN from the hospital where I will deliver, my midwife wants me to meet with this doctor just so that I am prepared in case I have to deliver by caesarean. That way I also am not having a stranger come in and deliver my baby. We're praying that I can deliver naturally (and so are the ladies from my church mentioned above) but I also figure it can not hurt to meet with the OB and atleast be informed.

I am still not really gaining weight - I gained 2 lbs at my last appointment (form the previous appointment 3 weeks prior) but that still puts me 16 lbs lighter than I was before getting pregnant! My appetite is still on and off and right now fruit seems to be my big staple - lots of strawberries, grapes and pineapple. I don't always want to eat at lunch and dinner, but I do eat something as I know that my body needs that nutrition. My portions are definitely smaller than before but I feel full and don't often get hungry between meals.

On Good Friday after our church's Good Friday service in the morning, Ronel & I headed to West Vancouver and went to Lighthouse Park where we took a hike through the park and got to see some amazing views from the lookout stops. After that, we headed into Vancouver and went to Chinatown & Granville Island. It was a wonderful sunny day which we haven't seen in a while and it was just nice to spend time outdoors with my hubby! I enjoyed strolling through the children's stores in Granville Island's Kids Market and looking at all the baby stuff, especially the boy stuff!! We didn't buy anything but it was lots of fun to look.

I hoped you guys all had a great Easter weekend remembering and celebrating what Jesus did for you & I.

ps I have photos to add but my computer is being a pain and won't let me add them! Will try again later!

got the call

2011-03-27T20:30:00.000-07:00

Thursday while we were running some errands I got a call from my midwife asking if I still wanted to know the gender of our baby. I said YES!! and she told us that we are having a BOY!!! I was super excited cause I was wanting a boy and really thinking it was a boy while Ronel, my mom & sisters all wanted a girl (in my family, so far the grandkids are 4 boys and only 1 girl (the oldest), plus with Neil's grandkids it is 1 of each so the boys greatly out number the girls) The midwife also mentioned that the ultrasound lab had asked me to come back in for a "urgent" follow-up ultrasound as they were unable to get clear photos/measurements of certain parts of the baby so I will be heading back for another ultrasound on April 6th. While I'm not excited about having to drink that much water and hold it again or that they couldn't see certain things last time, I am excited about seeing our son again!!!

We are just over 21 weeks now and I am definitely starting to feel and notice the changes in my body. I am excited to feel HIM kick/move for the first time.

Halfway point!!! 20 Weeks

2011-03-20T18:31:00.000-07:00

Wow - can't believe that we're at the halfway point for this pregnancy!
I have started to notice differences in my body and am now wearing maternity pants as my regular pants are a bit snug around the waist. I have lost 9lbs since finding out I was pregnant - part of that is due to healthier eating, part is due to a total lack of appetite.

My appetite is slowly coming back now that I'm on the mend from the pneumonia (the dr & midwife both said it could be 6 weeks before I'm completely better). We had our ultrasound last Wednesday and got to see our baby again. It was so cool! The baby was moving all around and the ultrasound technician was so great at pointing out everything to us and got us some great photos (I'll try and figure out a way to get them online) No profile photos which the technician tried really hard to get but baby wouldn't cooperate. Hopefully in the next week or 2 we will find out if I'm carrying our son or daughter, then we can start saying he or she and look a little harder on finding names!

Baby's now the size of a cantaloupe!
Baby gulps down several ounces of amniotic fluid every day, both for nutrition and to practice swallowing and digesting. And, these days, those taste buds actually work! Studies show that after birth, babies respond best to tastes they've already had via amniotic fluid. Meaning, think about what you'd like your future child to eat as you prepare your own lunch.

event filled week 16

2011-02-23T14:18:00.000-08:00

so we've had an eventful week 16. We're supposed to be moving this week, my birthday was this past Monday and my mom is getting married on Saturday and what does the doctor tell me today... I have PNEUMONIA! I got what I thought was a cold on Saturday - running nose, etc. Then Sunday I went good to bad and spent the day in bed coughing and I've tried to work the past 2 days but haven't made a full shift yet and now I'm not allowed to go to work for the rest of the week. I'm stuck at home (in bed, coughing up a lung!) thankfully I'm on antibiotics (which are safe for the baby - Dr said these are antibiotics he would prescribe to an infant) so I am praying I start to feel better soon, but currently feel horrible - no strength to do anything (barely enough to be on the computer for more than 10 mins) and coughing CONSTANTLY. I'm glad I went to the Dr and didn't think it was just a cold (lots of people told me it would be a waste of my time as the dr wouldn't give me anything for a cold, but after being up ALL last night coughing (Poor Ronel - I felt so bad for him but he was so good, rubbing my back and praying me through it) Ronel & I both felt I should be on the safe side and go get checked out. And I'm glad I did.

On baby news, I don't think the baby is loving all my coughing, must be like a roller coaster in there when I cough! I can feel my uterus contracting when I cough and I thought I might have felt the baby move this week but wasn't a 100% positive. Can't wait till I feel the baby move and now it is really the baby!

Oh and on top of all that, we've had record breaking cold temperatures (not as bad as back east but still!) and we've had light snow flurries daily since Monday! Spring, please hurry and bring the sun back!

week 16

2011-02-17T11:13:00.000-08:00

Baby's now the size of an avocado!
Watch what you say...tiny bones forming in baby's ears mean she can now pick up your voice. A few more minuscule changes: Eyebrows, lashes, and hair are starting to fill in, and taste buds are forming.

This week I had a midwife appointment and for the first time I got to hear the baby's heartbeat and also got to hear the baby kicking! It almost made me cried! I booked our next ultrasound for March 16th and we'll get to see the baby again and hopefully find out the gender! Still feeling great and my midwife told me that I needed to move into maternity pants... I was hesitant cause I have only lost weight and my pants are mostly loose on me, but she said the waistbands were too constricting for the baby, so I'm in maternity pants and I'm enjoying the benefits of no buttons and zippers when I need to make a quick bathroom stop!

Week 15!

2011-02-10T10:25:00.000-08:00

Baby's now the size of a naval orange!
Continuing the march toward normal proportions, baby's legs now out-measure his arms. And, finally, all four limbs have functional joints. Your fetus is squirming and wiggling like crazy down in the womb, though you probably can't feel the movements just yet.

Wow - I can't believe that we are already at week 15! I've still been feeling good, starting to notice small changes in my body. Since getting pregnant, I haven't gained any weight, only lost it, which isn't a bad thing in my case! I've been eating healthier (mainly just less junk food cause we weren't eating that unhealthy before) and I am not as hungry as I was pre-pregnancy so less snacking.

We're getting prepared to move over the next week and a half. We will be housesitting for my mom and soon to be step-dad. (Yes, my mom is getting remarried on the 26th of this month to a guy we all really like!) for April - June but because we've been having some small issues with our landlords, Neil (Mom's fiance) said why don't you guys move in a month early. So we'll be living with them for March which will allow us to lean about the house and also help my mom figure out her new laptop before their 3 month journey across the US. Then we'll look for a place for us & baby late June and have a month to settle in before baby arrives in August.

I hope you guys are all doing well!

finishing up the first trimester

2011-01-18T10:38:00.000-08:00

This week we hit the 3 month mark! It is amazing to believe that I am already 1/3 way through this pregnancy! I have made it through the first 12 weeks with NO morning sickness and I've been feeling great. We had our dating ultrasound on the 30th of December and got to see the itty bitty baby. I loved watching Ronel's face as the technician pointed out the heartbeat (really just a flutter on the screen) and the baby. I can't wait till the next ultrasound when we'll be able to see the baby much clearer. Just after the New Year, I came down with some bug and got stuck in bed for a week - NOT the way I wanted to start off 2011!!

I haven't started showing yet but my clothes are definitely getting tighter around the waist!!

Happy New Year to you all!!

more changes....

2010-12-05T21:22:00.000-08:00

Well, it has been a while but we've been quite busy since I've last posted. We have celebrated a number of family birthdays, I went away on an awesome staff retreat, we celebrated Harvest Fest (our church's Halloween alternative) and Ronel's birthday, celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary and then last week
FOUND OUT THAT WE'RE EXPECTING!!

Yes, you read that right! I'm pregnant! I'm 5 weeks and 3 days pregnant and should be welcoming our new addition in early August!

So far everything is going good and we meet with our midwife on Tuesday. We are both so EXCITED and Ronel couldn't wipe the smile off his face ALL DAY!
It has been a lot of fun sharing our news with all of our family & friends.
I am so excited to have my first ultrasound and be able to see and hear our precious bundle! (don't have a date for the ultrasound - just super excited about it!)
(and I know that I still owe you guys photos!)

last 5 months in photos!

2010-09-17T10:55:00.000-07:00

I'm trying to get caught up on posting photos of our latest adventures.... I'm just a couple months behind!!

I don't want to do it all in one post as that would be a very long and photo heavy post so starting Monday, there will be new posts daily with photos of our adventures since May.

I hope you will enjoy them!

new journeys.....

2010-09-16T10:31:00.000-07:00

Ronel has now been in daytime English classes for 3 days and he seems to be enjoying it. We were unable to register him for the school location closest to us as their day classes were full. We signed up Ronel for night classes but after we got home, we didn't feel good about it as it was 4 nights a week and we'd have only had 30 mins together between me getting off work & Ronel going to school. I called Monday to cancel him for the night classes and to find out if there were spaces in another school not that far away. There was and Ronel started Tuesday morning. Because of the hours, he has to bus to and from school and he did very well navigating the bus system -- in the afternoon, he has to take the skytrain and 2 buses! I was definitely more nervous about it than he was!

This new English class is quite different than his old one and there are only 4 students which is nice as they will get lots of individual attention from the teacher. The students are all from varied backgrounds which doesn't allow for speaking in their native tongue (which was a huge pet peeve for Ronel at his last English class - most were Spanish speaking and would speak Spanish with each other on the break as well as during class time)
So for like 5 + hours Ronel is only speaking English, which is helping with his confidence level.

Life with both of us out of the house for a large part of the day makes our evenings seem that much crazier but it is nice for both of us to have time out of the house on our own and we also both have an hour or so alone at home which is nice to get things done on our own, and then we have our evenings together.

Enjoy your Thursday!

one year

2010-09-07T21:09:00.000-07:00

One year ago I was in Haiti with Ronel preparing to fly home together .... It seems unreal that it was only a year ago that Ronel came to Canada. Some days it feels like forever and other days it feels like it has only been a few months!! In 2 months and 4 days we will be celebrating our FOURTH wedding anniversary. Even my mom had a hard time believing me that it has been that long already!

We had a great summer - spent lots of time with family & friends. And Ronel got to have lots of firsts..... drove a go-cart, went to Kids' Camp, went camping, got his Care Card! (this one is a BIGGIE!!), went to a Canadian emergency room (he wasn't the patient, I was), played mini-golf (and beat me!) and more that I can think of right now!

I know I promised pictures of many of these things and I have them, just haven't had the time to get them online!!! I'm hoping that once Ronel goes to English classes during the day, I'll be able to get better at keeping up with the blog when I'm on my break (since I won't feel bad about ignoring him while I'm on the computer!)

Yes, we are hoping that soon Ronel will be in full time ESL classes with ELSA.
ELSA stands for English Language Services for Adults. The ELSA program provides basic and intermediate level English training for adult newcomers to Canada. He had his assessment test last Wednesday and they put him at a level 3 (there are levels 1-5) and then tomorrow we go to register him at the school closest to us that offers the classes when we want them and find out when he can start classes.
Ronel will be in class Mon - Fri from 9am - 2:15pm. It will be nice for him to be out of the house each day and also learning more English. He's very good at studying on his own but the social interaction will be good for him. And because of the hours... he'll be taking the bus to and from class which will be a big step for him.

I hope you all had a great summer! and that you have a great September!

we've been busy...

2010-06-22T21:58:00.000-07:00

it's been a while since I last posted, but we've been busy! We bought a new (to us) car at the end of May. We're now the proud owners of a 2001 Hyundai Elantra (which is a HUGE jump from the '84 Plymouth Horizon I used to own!) The next weekend, I took the car and drove to the States for our church's Ladies' Retreat. This is the first time I've driven my own vehicle and drove down 3 other ladies from my church. Since then, Ronel & I have been trying to get out and see things ever chance we get. Most Saturdays we have been going and seeing something! We've gone down to the Vancouver Aquarium, visited Stanley Park, gone to the Greater Vancouver Zoo, Iona Beach & watching the planes land out at Vancouver Airport. We have also enjoyed going to new places in the evenings and going for nice walks in the later part of the evening. We've been to Steveston and walked along the dyke, went out to White Rock Beach, walked the pier and along the beach and also went to Cresent Beach where we got to watch part of a movie(or maybe a TV show) being filmed.

I have lots of photos from these outings and will try and get them on here, but I've been trying to limit my time on the computer and there is only so much I can do on the computer each day -- especially trying to spend only an hour a day online!

Have a great day!

our trip to Vancouver Island

2010-05-18T21:01:00.000-07:00

Ronel and I on his very first ferry ride - Horseshoe Bay to Departure Bay

our morning at the Marina (there was a seal at the marina as well!)

Ronel's first touch of the Pacific Ocean (at Tyee Spit in Campbell River)

We had a fantastic trip to the Island! I got off work early on the Thursday, and we (Ronel, my mom & myself) headed out to Horseshoe Bay in North Vancouver to catch the ferry to Nanaimo. We had decided to take this route as the ferry times worked better with when I could get off work and it put us a 1/2 hour closer on the other side, as well as the ferry ride itself is a 1/2 hour shorter. Ronel was quite amazed at the size of the ferry. We drove up the inland Island Highway and arrived at my granny's house at around 9pm. We found our rooms and then hung out in the living room for awhile with everyone before heading to bed.

We were up bright and early the next morning (like 6am!) and I went to see if mom wanted to come for a walk with us (I knew she'd be up... she's an early bird!) We went for a nice walk in the newer neighborhood that has been built around my granny's house in the last 4 or 5 years. We came back, showered, ate and then headed out to show Ronel around Campbell River. We first headed down to Coast Marina and a lady told us there was a seal in the inner part of the marina so we headed down to see it. After that, we walked around a bit and then headed out to Tyee Spit to walk down the beach. Ronel touched the Pacific Ocean for the first time and Mom showed us the sandstone that can write on dark rocks. We then went and got lunch and after lunch we headed to Discovery Pier to get some ice cream!

Ronel took this photo of me with both of our cones in front of the carved wooden ice cream cone at the pier.

The cones were HUGE and took us awhile to finish but was SO worth it! We walked down the pier and then came back to the parking lot and sat at a picnic table to eat our ice cream. While I was eating my cone, I noticed that the table we were at had a plaque saying that this table was a gift from my mom's high school graduating class! I thought that was neat (and she didn't even know about it so I got to tell her about it)

After our ice cream we headed back to Granny's. We went out for dinner with Granny at her favorite place -- the casino! before heading out to my sister's place. It was fun to see my oldest sister & my husband together.... we hung out for awhile enjoying my sister`s gorgeous house! and then we went out to the porch where Ronel & I spent some time trying to capture some photos of the hummingbirds enjoying the feeders my sister has on both sides of her porch.

and that was our Thursday and Friday... more to come about Saturday and Sunday!!

on our way...

2010-05-06T16:52:00.000-07:00

We are on our way to the Island (Vancouver Island that is!) for the weekend. We're traveling with my mom (and how sweet -- it's Mother's Day weekend!) and going to visit both sides of my family. First we off to Campbell River to see my Granny (mom's mom) & that side of the family and then on Sunday we're headed to Victoria to see my Nanna (dad's mom) and that side of the family. It will be A LOT of new people for Ronel. He's only met my Granny so far of all the people we'll see this weekend!

okay and the cool thing... right now I'm at the ferry terminal, sitting in the car on our laptop about to board the ferry and I'm blogging... The world of mobile internet is still new to me and I LOVE IT! I'll try to post photos this weekend if I can, but there will definitely be photos on Monday! Ronel is about to take his first ferry trip... and we're taking Coastal Renaissance, one of BC Ferries newer boats

Have a great weekend! I'm sure we will!

home sick...

2010-04-20T18:14:00.000-07:00

so I've been home sick since Friday.... spent most of my weekend in bed. Went to the doctor on Saturday and got some antibiotics and a throat swab. Today I got the results of that swab --- STREP THROAT!? Saturday the doctor told me I had to stay home for a minimum of a week (I said... so a week??)

while a week at home sounds nice... on day 4 of being sick, achy, and all around miserable, the thought of 4 more days sounds painful!

Thankfully today I am starting to feel better (well, everywhere except my throat) thanks in large part I'm sure the Ensure beverages my mom brought me so that I could be getting some nutrients & protein. Liquids were all I was getting down up until today. I'm about to try and eat Ronel's delicious CSC rice, (chicken, shrimp & carrots)

I'm hoping that tomorrow is another good day and maybe I can do something around the house... play a game with Ronel, stamp, organize, something, anything!

Ronel says dinner is calling my name so I am off......

Our Easter weekend

2010-04-05T07:53:00.001-07:00

First off, I hope you all had a wonderful Easter weekend. I'm off today for Easter Monday so our weekend is still happening!

We started off the weekend by heading downtown on Friday. Ronel's been wanting to ride the SkyTrain so we did. Our original plan was to go to Stanley Park and take a horse drawn carriage ride through the park, but Thursday night the forecast was yucky so we decided to wait for a nicer day. We drove to the Skytrain station and parked, then headed off on our adventure. It was COLD and rainy but we were determined not to let that stop us.

We took the Expo line all the way to Waterfront Station and were planning on jumping right onto the SeaBus, but because it was operating on weekend schedule (due to the holiday) we had a 25 minute wait, so we got a hot chocolate at Starbucks and headed out to Gastown to see the Steam Clock. We got there just minutes before the hour, so we decided to wait and actually see it go off. It's been many years since I have been to the clock so when Ronel asked me if it was loud, I had to tell him I didn't know but from what I could remember.... yes?! Well, we both had a good laugh when it went off because it really isn't that loud!

After we were done there, we still had some time so we strolled through some of the stores which still had TONS of Olympic stuff left, all on sale. We had never managed to find something Ronel liked (He really wanted some Olympic souvenir) Well, we found way more keychains, clothes & various other items than I'd ever seen this side of the river, so we picked up a nice keychain for Ronel and then headed back to the SeaBus. As we were nearing the SeaBus terminal, we saw the SeaBus head out...we missed the SeaBus by like 2 minutes so we headed off in the other direction and kept a better track of time! We stopped and took some photos, saw the Vancouver Lookout at the Harbour Center (where we've decided we will go on a nice clear day --- I discovered we have a coupon for it in our Entertainment Values book), wandered up and down some streets and then needed a washroom, but because very little was open we couldn't find one so we headed back to the SeaBus terminal. We had a good laugh when we discovered that there were washrooms inside the SeaBus waiting area (not any washrooms upstairs though just outside the Skytrain/SeaBus areas!)

We got on the SeaBus and went across the harbour to North Vancouver and the Lonsdale Quay. We were both hungry by this time, so we wandered the stores outside but didn't find anything appealling, so we stopped and took some photos looking from the Quay towards Vancouver. I even managed to get a photo with the SeaBus in the background!

We then headed inside the Market at the Quay and checked out all the wonderful stalls inside. I love Markets like this! Lots of fresh produce, seafood, meats, cheeses and lots of choices of prepared food as well. We grabbed some some lunch and took it to go as we realized that it was minutes till the next SeaBus. Once we got back to Vancouver, we took our lunch and headed back to this neat little covered plaze we had found just up from the terminal.

We ate lunch and then it was time for some more fun shots!

Even though we were FREEZING COLD! we still had a lot of fun (as you can tell by that gorgeous smile & laugh on Ronel's face!) Using my Nikon DSLR it is hard to take a photo of the two of us by myself, so we decided to use these large and very shine poles that were in the plaza area.

After we had finished lunch, we headed off towards Canada Place. We wandered through the connecting mall/food court (and realized it would have been easier & warmer to have gotten lunch there -- lesson learned!) Wandered around the outside of Canada Place, took some more photos (yes, I enjoy taking photos and Ronel is a willing subject!!... well most of the time! )

We then decided that it was time to head towards home (we wanted to be back for our Good Friday service) and we headed towards the SkyTrain. We decided to take the scenic route home and switched trains at Commercial Station so that we could ride the Millennium Line home (this has been around for awhile but it was also a first time for me on these section of the SkyTrain route) We then switched back at Columbia Station so that we could take the Expo Line back into Surrey.

This is Ronel sitting at the front of the train at Waterfront Station, waiting to head home

Saturday, we headed out for more adventure.... this time to Bear Creek Park. It was much warmer on Saturday and so we were able to enjoy the outdoors more.

Bear Creek Park has a lovely garden area and we wandered around, saw an East Indian wedding party in all their traditional outfits. We strolled through the paths, stopped at one of the bridges over a small pond to see the ducks, saw some squirrels and enjoyed all the beautiful flowers that are already out in bloom.

I also got to play around with my camera using this gorgeous tree full of blossoms.

Ronel gave the weekend TWO THUMBS UP!!and we're not finished yet! It is not even 8am yet and we have a whole day ahead of us! Ronel doesn't have English class tonight because it's Easter Monday so we're going to enjoy our day together!

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter and that you remember why we celebrate this holiday!

HE IS RISEN!!!

settling in

2010-03-28T21:45:00.000-07:00

well, it has now been a full month that we've been living in our new home. We are almost completely settled in, my craft area still needs some work and we're still working on some storage solutions, but we're starting to feel at home in our home. Because the house is really new (like 2 months brand new) there is some settling happening and so yesterday our landlord had a drywaller in to fix some of the cracks that are starting to show in the walls. So now we have white spotted walls and are waiting for the painter to come.

Now that the sun has started to shine more around here, Ronel & I are looking forward to getting out and exploring more of the greater Vancouver area. Sometime this spring/summer we're planning on trips to the Aquarium, Zoo, Science World, Stanley Park, and somewhere in there we'll plan a trip to Vancouver Island to visit my dad's side of the family.

for those of you who still check in on this blog.... thanks and I'll try to post more often.

special Sunday

2010-03-28T20:51:00.000-07:00

Today was a great day as Ronel & I got the privilege of meeting our newest nephew today! My youngest sister & her husband welcomed their first child into this world this morning..... Ethan David Timothy was born this morning at 5:40am weighing 8lbs even. We headed over to the hospital after church and spent a couple hours cuddling the newest family member.

Here are his gorgeous little toes!! (I'll ask my sister if I can share a photo of the rest of him soon!)

moving....

2010-02-24T23:01:00.000-08:00

sorry the blog has been so quiet..... we've been packing & preparing to move. At the end of January we found out that we needed to be out of our current suite by Feb 28th. Our landlady is moving her family to California to be with her husband and is renting out the entire house. So, we spent the beginning of February looking at suites and we finally found one that would work for us, was still close to work, still in our price range and is actually brand new! The house was just finished in the middle of January and the owners just moved in at the beginning of February.

We then needed to start packing and also try to get rid of some items that won't fit in the new place.

I've had to work through some things, but I am finally looking forward to our new place. There are some definite perks - all new appliances (we've had issues with the stove here and the fridge is quite small), more cupboard space, nice new paint job, carpeted living room, but it is only one bedroom (which is larger than our current one) and the kitchen/living area is slightly smaller/different layout.

I've learned how to navigate Craigslist as we searched for a smaller kitchen table & chairs, plus listed some items we no longer need.

another way to help Haiti

2010-01-27T10:45:00.003-08:00

&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://aaronhale.bandcamp.com/track/got-a-lot-to-give"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;GOT A LOT TO GIVE by Aaron Hale&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;

This songwriter & singer has offered his newest single for download (set your own price) ALL proceeds go to help REAL HOPE FOR HAITI.
Check out Licia's blog here - RHFH Rescue Center

Check out this organization and see what this amazing family does! And download this song today! I just did, now it's your turn!

and check out more from this artist here Aaron Hale

10 by 10

2010-01-16T21:11:00.001-08:00

IT’S 2010 — THE START OF A NEW DECADE, AND A TIME FOR CHANGE.

When you join the 10 by 10 challenge, you are joining a community of we thinkers around the world who are working to create a better global future. Take action on your commitments throughout the year, and watch as together we build a better world, 10 actions by 10 actions.

Now, thanks to the generous support of Aviva, your commitments will have an even greater impact. When you share your commitments on this website, Aviva will donate $10 on your behalf to a Free The Children community overseas. That means your actions will create change both here at home, and around the world. Simply by sharing your actions, we will be raising money $10 by $10 that will create great difference in the lives of tens of thousands of people. And, what started with you, will end up with we.

It’s as simple as that!

what are YOU waiting for??

Here are my 10 by 10 commitments to change for 2010

1. Turn off the lights
2. Drink water from a re-useable water bottle
3. Give a donation on someone’s behalf
4. Hug, hug, hug
5. Say thank you – in writing
6. Re-connect with an old friend
7. Hold the door
8. Look for local produce
9. Unplug appliances
10. Carry a re-useable bag

update

2010-01-13T20:34:00.002-08:00

We still have not heard from any of Ronel's family or friends. I did hear back from the mission where I used to work and they are fine, there is some minor damage to the buildings there -- cracks in the walls and such that need to be repaired and they have a workteam with them right now who were going to be building an addition to one of the homes and are now focusing on repairs instead.

We are praying that Ronel's family in that same area are okay and have minimal damage to their homes as well. We are concerned about Ronel's siblings in Port-au-Prince and his father's family who live right near the epicenter.

We spent today praying and trying to get through to someone in Haiti, but so far we have not being able to get through on the phones. I did have a missionary friend say that her cell was back working but I think that the system is too overloaded for us to get through.

please keep praying.....

video on quake damage

2010-01-12T22:27:00.001-08:00

Here's a video I found on the damage in Port-au-Prince.

This is just mind-boggling! I am so thankful that Ronel is here with me and not there but we continue to pray for all of those who are there in Haiti.

Earthquake in Haiti

2010-01-12T17:01:00.002-08:00

This afternoon, just before 5pm EST, there was a major earthquake just off the coast of Haiti. From what I can find online it was a 7.3 earthquake with 2 major aftershocks of 5.8.

I have been able to find out that friends of mine that live in Haiti are okay, but we have not been able to reach any of Ronel's family and so are praying that everyone is okay. Most of Ronel's family is more in the middle of Haiti in the Artibonite Valley so hopefully they didn't get much of the effects of the quake. I have put in an email to the mission where I & Ronel both used to work to check on how they are and have asked if they could have someone check on Ronel's mom. Hopefully we will hear more news soon, in the meantime, please keep all the people of Haiti in your prayers!

Happy 2010 to you...

2010-01-04T17:54:00.002-08:00

Ronel & I had a wonderful Christmas - we spent the morning with my "other" family (friends who have become like family) and then went to my brother's house for Christmas with my family. This year my grandma and cousin joined us (they both live out of town) so it was kind of nice to have them with us. It was so nice to be able to share that all with Ronel -- it was his first "Canadian" Christmas and I think it went well. Boxing Day we were up early and out of the house for some Boxing Day sales! We went to Talize (a thrift store in town) and they had 50% off everything used (they do sell some new items)and we scored. They have some great clothes and we found some items that still had the original tags on them, but they were in with the used items! Ronel & I both got quite a few items of clothing and some of them we paid barely anything for! Most of Ronel's clothes were all well known name brands like Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein, etc. We got him some really nice dress shirts and more pants. I got some skirts, and more "nice tops" - ones that I can wear with jeans and look nice or dress up with a skirt or dress pants. We spent almost all day at Talize - finding items took us about an hour then we spent most of our day trying on the items... they have a 5 item limit and were strictly enforcing it -- you could try on more but you had to get back in line. We didn't have a problem with it cause everyone had to do it. When we were finished we headed home to clean up and then headed over for our second turkey dinner!!! Our friends where we spent Christmas morning have their Christmas meal on Boxing Day so that Christmas day is one of relaxing... I actually quite enjoy it and it means I get two Turkey dinners each year!

Our vacation time (both of us didn't work Christmas Eve until today) was one spent together, enjoying each other's company, watching movies, relaxing and just being together. New Year's Eve we had plans to spend it with friends, but mid day Ronel asked if we could just stay home and so we did. We watched movies and just hung out. It was actually quite enjoyable and we even made it past midnight! (actually we made it quite a bit past midnight as we started a 2nd movie at 11:30 or so~ )

We are both looking forward to what 2010 has in store for us, and as I told one of Ronel's cousins - this year already looks better than last year because Ronel is here with me!

We wish you all a wonderful year filled with God's richest blessings for your life!

snow pictures as promised!

2009-12-14T22:35:00.004-08:00

Ronel seems to enjoy the snow and can't believe that this isn't a lot of snow! For the first time, he actually was cold and only after he stuck his hands in the snow (see photos below where he's laying back in the snow) Unfortunately the snow has stopped falling and it is now freezing rain that is falling, so we'll see what the roads & sidewalks are like tomorrow morning!
Enjoy the photos of Ronel's first ever look at snow (at 36 years of age!)

Ronel's first look at snow

shovelling the snow -- Haitian style
no jacket and a dustpan

Sitting in the snow, just outside our door.

This is the photo Ronel wants to send back to Haiti
He went out into the lawn and laid down in the snow!

Enjoying his first snowfall -- it was 9 cm deep (3 1/2 inches)

the sky is falling.....

2009-12-14T19:51:00.001-08:00

okay, so it really isn't the sky, but white stuff is falling from the sky! Yes, it is snowing here. Ronel got his first snow experience on our way home from church yesterday, when it was falling while we were walking home. A snowflake even fell in his eye!

It didn't accumulate much, probably only about 3-4 cm, but they do forecast 10-20 cm for tonight, but it will turn to rain for the rest of the week so I don't expect it to stay around long.

Ronel called Haiti yesterday and spoke to numerous family & friends, and he kept telling them that so much snow had fallen, and I kept telling him to say that it was just a lot for him, that it was really not much at all. Especially considering what the eastern parts of Canada & the US have gotten already this year!

I do have a photo of him standing out in the snow that I will post later. I'm hoping to be able to catch a better one tomorrow morning on our way to work.

Merry Christmas to all

2009-12-06T15:33:00.003-08:00

I know it is early! This weekend was the Celebration Services at our church and since Ronel & I were both dressed up, I thought we should get our photo taken!

Here we are in our Christmas finery in front of the Christmas tree at church.
We are looking forward to our first Christmas together in years (I think the last Christmas we spent together was in 2004 and we weren't even engaged then!) and Ronel's first Canadian Christmas! Our calendar is already full of various Christmas related activities and events and I'm hoping we get a little bit of snow sometime this holiday season!

some photographic evidence of Ronel in BC

2009-12-04T19:56:00.003-08:00

One of Ronel's new favourite activities! Having some "uncle time" with the boys. (we are aunt & uncle to the sons of my good friends) We get to spend lots of time hanging with Thomas because we both volunteer in the nursery at church on Saturday nights and he's currently the only baby but hopefully that will soon change and we have some new babies due soon.

The following photos were all taken on our adventures letterboxing with Mom and my sisters. We went to Burns Bog the first time (photo of us in just tshirts) and then we went to Belcarra Regional Park which is gorgeous and I have quite a few shots of Ronel that I absolutely love! It is so much fun to take photos of Ronel cause he gets into it and it is like a mini photo shoot!

posing down beside the bay.

My mom took this photo of us. The first couple of photos we took with Ronel in front (because, yes I am slightly taller then he is) but I didn't like them, so we switched and I like this one, I love how Ronel has his hands in my vest pockets (trying to keep them warm.... it was a tad chilly that day!)

This is one of my favourite photos of the 40 or so I took that day. I love how Ronel is looking right at me and the beautiful fall leaves behind him.

I wanted Ronel to stand beside the tree - he decided it would be more fun to jump up and sit on a branch!

Our first "family outing" - this was on our nephew's 5th birthday. We enjoyed the sunshine in early October!

quick overview of the past few months!

2009-12-03T23:52:00.002-08:00

Well, October and November are both behind us now and so I'll try to do a quick look back.

October --
we were pretty much settled into our place by early October and even held a family dinner at our place -- 12 people in our place! We celebrated Thanksgiving twice - first at my aunt & uncle's home on the Saturday and then with friends on Sunday, it was fun and Ronel enjoyed all the turkey. The week after Thanksgiving, Ronel started English class at a local church. He has been enjoying it so far but we are going to look into a program that is a free English program run by the government -- It would be a full time class - 5 days a week and they have 3 locations quite close to us, 2 within walking distance and one that Ronel could bus to.

Also in mid October, Ronel started working - it is a small part-time job at the same place I work, tearing down and setting up for our infant care room as it is shared with the youth and so it gives him some time out of the house and some money. He has also been doing odd jobs for the daycare and it has been helpful to my boss and also great for us as it means more money.

At the end of October (the 31st to be exact), we celebrated Ronel's first birthday in Canada! He also got to experience his first Harvest Fest at the church complete with fireworks. He also got to enjoy the whole "waitress singing to you" experience when we went to Red Robin's with friends for his birthday.

We also spent a couple of Sundays out with my mom, sisters and my nephews enjoying the local parks.

We spent our first anniversary together on the 11th of Nov. and spent most of the day moving the remainder of my belongings which were still stored at my old place. I finally have all my craft stuff here and can craft again!!

and that pretty much brings us up to date!!

we are still alive!!!!

2009-12-03T23:49:00.002-08:00

Well, Ronel & I are alive and well! When we moved into our suite, we didn't move my computer as it is an older desktop PC and our suite only has wireless internet and my computer couldn't connect wirelessly so we didn't rush on moving it. I spent some time trying to get the wireless to work and it didn't. We finally moved it in, along with all my craft stuff and then the computer crashed during a power outage!! Well, we are now the proud owners of a laptop, so no more wireless worries and we are back online!!!

update on us...

2009-09-12T18:02:00.001-07:00

Well, so far it has been a packed couple of days! I am off till Monday so we have used these past three days to the fullest!
Thursday we went shopping, went to work/church to meet people and also went and looked at a basement suite, which we did rent, effective immediately! So then Friday was spent cleaning the new suite (with the wonderful help of my mom & sister), going downtown to apply for Ronel's SIN card -- which was successfully completed!, and then home for dinner and then back to the suite to clean some more (and on each trip we moved some boxes of stuff I had packed waiting for our own place). Today we went and visited friends and saw their new home and Ronel got to meet some more new people -(I've been trying to do introductions in small groups so that Sunday won't be so overwhelming with introductions at church, especially of people who are close to me) after that we came home, packed the van with boxes (had my mom's van) ate lunch and then headed to the house to unpack. My mom met us there to switch vehicles and we got permission to paint from the landlords. We unpacked some of the rubbermaids into the kitchen which was a lot of fun cause quite a bit of it was gifts from my bridal shower and other gifts I gotten over the years which have never been unpacked before! Now we are off to a friend's 30th birthday and more new people for Ronel to meet!

look!!

2009-09-10T09:17:00.001-07:00

This is what the Citizenship & Immigration Canada website says today about our application!

Permanent Residence Application Status : Complete

RONEL CLEDOMIN entered Canada at P.E. Trudeau International Airport on September 8, 2009 and became a Permanent Resident.

Yeah!!!!!!

We arrived in Vancouver yesterday at 5pm to see the wonderful smiling faces of my family -- my mom was there, my brother and his FIANCE (it happened while they were on vacation and then I was in Haiti so it was a surprise for me yesterday! but I'm so happy for them), my youngest sister & her husband and my younger sister and her two boys (her husband was unfortunately at work - he works evenings)

We had an uneventful trip and were glad to be finished with flying! We all went over to my brother's house to eat and hang out. It was fun to sit with my family and have my husband with me.

Ronel says that it has been a big change but he's glad he's here.

I will try to write more about the trip and everything soon but for right now, I'm going to go settle in with my hubby, unpack and run some errands (we need to apply for things like Ronel's SIN, medical, etc...., plus pick up some needed items like a sweater, etc.) and then we'll stop in at work and church so he can meet some more people and then meet my mom later on....

so have a great day! I know we will!!!!

flights are booked!

2009-08-14T19:04:00.003-07:00

Well, it is official! I'm leaving on a jet plane in just 17 short days!
I will fly out of Vancouver on August 31st, overnight in Montreal and then fly straight to Port-au-Prince from Montreal with Air Canada. This will be the first time flying Air Canada into Haiti and I'm kind of excited about having only one stop from Vancouver to Haiti! When I fly through Florida it is often 2 stops and occasionally 3 stops which just lengthens the trip! And this will be my first time flying this far east in Canada! (not that I'm going to see a whole lot other than the airport!)

And then on Sept 8th (Just one short week later) I head back to Montreal with my husband!!!!! We have a 17 hour overnight layover in Montreal before heading home to BC, so I'm hoping we can connect with Ronel's cousins who moved to the Montreal area last summer. We land at the Vancouver Airport at 5pm on the 9th -- my brother has informed me that there will be a welcoming committee so you are all more than welcome to stop by and welcome Ronel to BC!

As you can see at the top of the blog - I've added a countdown to Ronel's arrival I can't believe that in just over 3 weeks, I will have my husband home with me! It has been such a long wait and I can't believe the end is so close!

drumroll please......

2009-08-07T23:20:00.001-07:00

I am very happy to let you all know that as of today - Friday August 7th, Ronel has his permanent resident visa in his hands!!!
I will be looking into flights over the weekend to fly down to Haiti the end of August and help his pack up and say goodbye and then we will leave Haiti TOGETHER and come HOME to BC!!!(probably the 7th of Sept)

I know many of you have been praying for us over the past 3 years and we appreciate ALL your prayers! This has been a long process and it finally has an end in sight!

I'll try to make sure I keep the blog up to date with all the news and such and will definitely post photos of our trip home and Ronel landing on Canadian soil!

Have a fantastic weekend - I know I'm going to!

THERE HAS BEEN A DECISION!!!

2009-08-04T22:57:00.002-07:00

This is what I saw when I logged into the CIC Canada website this evening at 10:42pm...
A decision has been made on RONEL CLEDOMIN's application. The office will contact RONEL CLEDOMIN concerning this decision.

I'm quite speechless! I ran upstairs to tell Terri (one of my roommates), called my mom & called Ronel. My heart is racing a thousand beats per minute and Friday afternoon is SO VERY FAR AWAY! Ronel goes to the embassy on Friday morning to pick up his passport and I am now very much praying that it has his permanent resident visa inside of it! I can't believe that the day has finally arrived where the status page actually reads that a decision has been made! At this moment we don't actually know what the decision is, just that one has been made but I can think of why they would have wanted his passport if the decision was no!?! I now have to start looking at airline tickets and figuring out how I'm going to swing getting me down there and also Ronel back up here (we have to fly Air Canada from PAP to Montreal otherwise we have to apply for a transit visa for Ronel to travel through the US) I know that Air Canada is more expensive and only flies out of Haiti once a week. Please be praying that I can afford to fly down to Haiti to help Ronel pack up all his belongings (and some of mine that I'd left behind) and say good bye to family and friends. I don't know when we will be back in Haiti so it is important to me to be there to say goodbye and I don't want to miss Ronel's first plane ride and his entry into Canada!

Your prayers over the next three days as I wait to hear about Ronel's trip to the embassy would be much appreciated! They are doing to be very long days!!

Hope to be posting soon!!!

actually something to update about!!!

2009-07-30T19:40:00.001-07:00

So I just got off the phone with Ronel and he told me (in English no less!) that he had good news!
He received a letter last Friday from the embassy asking him to bring in his passport to the embassy. He went in on Monday to drop it off and he gets to pick it up next Friday, the 7th of August!!!! We don't entirely know what it means but we're both taking it as a good step! I also checked the CIC website tonight and our status has been updated! (This hasn't happened since June 2008) It now says Medical Results received. Doesn't seem like a big deal but it is!

Status of your application	Explanation
IN PROCESS (A decision has not been made yet.)	Application Received by Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) We have received your application and will review it in order of receipt. We will send you an acknowledgement letter. Documentation Verified by CIC We are reviewing your application to make sure it is complete and that no documents are missing. We will return incomplete applications for resubmission. An Interview May be Required We will review the application and decide if an interview is necessary. If so, we will inform you in writing of the date, time and location of the interview.
WITHDRAWN (An application can only be withdrawn when it is IN PROCESS.)	Application Withdrawn You may only withdraw your application before the Visa has been issued. There are no refunds after processing has started.
DECISION MADE (A decision has been made at this point.)	Medical Results Received by CIC We have received your medical results. We will contact you only if additional tests are needed. Approval Status Determined Your application will be either approved or rejected. We will inform you of the decision in writing. Permanent Residence Status Determined If your application is approved, we will send you your permanent resident documentation and a letter saying what we need to finalize your permanent residence.
COMPLETE (This is the last step in the processing of your application.)	Applicant Arrives in Canada and is Granted Permanent Residence You will need to meet with an Immigration Officer who will verify your documents and grant you permanent residence if all is in order.

Now our status still says In Process but the fact that it says our medical results have been received, by this chart means to me that they must be in the final steps of the decision (and asking for Ronel's passport seems like it will be a yes!)

Anyway -- sorry it's been so long since I've updated, it is hard to update when nothing has changed and I have been going through quite a rough patch over the last couple months dealing with a lot and talking about the "nothing" had gotten quite hard. I finally got diagnosed with depression and went on antidepressants and that has helped, but also realizing that there was in fact something wrong with me has also helped (along with a great support group around me of friends and my pastor) I'm still dealing with stuff but I definitely have a better grasp of life and a better outlook on things.

have a great weekend

Ronel's appointment

2009-03-26T21:07:00.002-07:00

Well, I've kind of been avoiding talking about it as it was not the good news that we were hoping for
.
All they called him in for was to tell him that he need to go get another copy of his birth certificate from the archive office. This will be the THIRD one he's had to get. The first had his birthdate wrong and the second was fine as far as we knew so we don't know why (and they didn't tell him why) but nonetheless, Tuesday was a tough day for me (and I'm sure for DH as well) I had finally let myself think about him possibly coming home soon (like April) and to hear that the appointment was just for more paperwork they need was more than a little disappointing. This was the first time I'd even let myself think about him coming home and to have it all just crash around my feet was more than I could handle right now

Thank you all for your prayers & thoughts and I know that one day I will get to have Ronel home, but right now, at this point, I'm just having a hard time picturing that day.

Good news! actually GREAT NEWS!

2009-03-05T17:53:00.001-08:00

Ronel has an appointment at the embassy on March 24th! I don't totally know what it is for but someone from the embassy called him last week. Asked him to bring in his passport and some other pieces of identification and come to the embassy! I really really hope this means we are one step closer to being done :D but whatever happens -- it means that SOMEONE is looking at our file!

YAY!!!!

ok - funny story. When I talked to him today I was talking about my day and Ronel said "I've got some good news" and then stopped. I said "What is it?" And he said "I'll tell you later, finish what you were saying." Well, now I just wanted to know what the news was, and my day wasn't really that important!! So, I finally get him to start telling me the good news and he totally told me every event leading up to it and then paused! I was on the edge of my seat before he finally told me that the embassy had called and wanted him to come in! I could tell that he enjoyed it a little too much --- dragging out the details and making me wait! But I still love him and can't wait till the 24th so I can find out what they wanted!

Keep on praying!

and all paperwork

2008-12-23T15:08:00.002-08:00

is now in the hands of the Canadian Embassy in Haiti! Ronel finally got to drop off the paperwork on Monday as last Thursday when he tried to get to the embassy, he got stuck in a "blokis" (road block) and didn't get to the embassy during the ONE HOUR time slot that they have (and only 2 days a week!) for dropping off documents!

Ronel said that the person he saw told him nothing other than they would contact him if they needed anything else.

I'm hoping we won't hear anything of that sort but that hopefully we will get some progress on our file!

Merry Christmas to you all!

Going to the embassy...

2008-12-14T22:59:00.002-08:00

Tomorrow morning (EARLY) Ronel will be heading into Port au Prince to get the last piece of paperwork that the embassy asked for and then he will be heading to the embassy to drop it all off. If he can't get the paperwork in time, he will be staying in Port until Thursday when he can again go to the embassy (they have specific days & times for doing certain things)

Please pray that everything will go well and that he can drop off the paperwork Monday and not have to spend the week in Port au Prince. He has not been feeling well for the past couple of weeks (back pains) and is just starting to feel better and I would much rather he be able to spend the week at home resting rather than in Port trying to get into the embassy to drop off our paperwork!! Also please be praying that this will be all the paperwork they require and that the rest of the process will go quickly!! Please be continuing to pray that they won't require Ronel to redo his medical (it should have expired on November 5th, but they didn't mention him having to redo it in the letter they sent us) Not having to redo it would save us a good chunk of money as well as time!!!

I let you know how it went as soon as I hear from Ronel!

clarity...

2008-12-14T22:29:00.000-08:00

Okay - so going over my past posts I realized that I never said where I was moving and so I thought I would explain my new living arrangement!

I have moved in with good friends of mine -- they are like family to me. There are 5 of us in the house (soon to be 6!) There are Eli & Terri along with their 8 month old son Willem (and they are expecting their second son in April), Terri's mom, Lynnette and myself. It is great living here (especially since I spent a lot of time here anyways!!) and is a total blessing!

Terri, Eli & I also work together -- (just to keep it clear!)

finally settling in

2008-12-14T22:07:00.000-08:00

Whew --- after a long day of work, most of my bedroom is now unpacked! I only have 6 Rubbermaid bins left to go through and sort into however I decide to store the stuff in there that I end up keeping. (These are the boxes I didn't go through and sort & junk before I moved... I just ran out of time) I am really liking my set up and am thinking about painting my room -- I want one accent wall that is a dark chocolate colour and then the rest of the walls would be a light green colour (maybe like a light olive-y green??) with most of the accents in the room being white. I went to Ikea on Friday night and purchased 2 adorable bedside tables which are white, a new opaque glass table lamp for my bedside table and a new light cover for the main light as it is currently just a plain bulb. Last weekend I got my computer set up and then we got the internet cord down from upstairs (through my ceiling!) into my bedroom. Terri & I had already started to organize the craft room the same weekend that I moved in (We knew our priorities!) and still have a little bit to do before that is completely finished.

It is nice to have my room settled into before Christmas!

status update

2008-11-12T20:32:00.002-08:00

So, after doing a little more searching on the CIC website - it seems like we are slowly progressing down the list. Where I have italicized and put in purple seems to be about where we are now. The embassy has asked for a couple more pieces of documentation and would like Ronel to redo his police check and also update some of the documentation since he filled it out a year ago.

So, once we get past this step, it looks like they may then call him in for an interview and then the next step will be the decision! This is where they say they check the medical results so this may be where they tell us if Ronel has to redo his medical exam or not, but I am currently taking it as a good sign that they didn't mention it in the letter they sent to Ronel as it was dated only 6 days before his exam was to expire.

What I am looking forward to is the step way at the bottom in GREEN which is when our application will be complete and Ronel will be here in BC as a permanent resident of Canada!

Status of Application

IN PROCESS
(A decision has not been made yet.)

Explanation
Application Received by Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC)
We have received your application and will review it in order of receipt. We will send you an acknowledgment letter.

Documentation Verified by CIC
We are reviewing your application to make sure it is complete and that no documents are missing. We will return incomplete applications for resubmission.

An Interview May be Required
We will review the application and decide if an interview is necessary. If so, we will inform you in writing of the date, time and location of the interview.

Status of Application
DECISION MADE
(A decision has been made at this point.)

Explanation
Medical Results Received by CIC
We have received your medical results. We will contact you only if additional tests are needed.

Approval Status Determined
Your application will be either approved or rejected. We will inform you of the decision in writing.

Permanent Residence Status Determined
If your application is approved, we will send you your permanent resident documentation and a letter saying what we need to finalize your permanent residence.

Status of Application
COMPLETE
(This is the last step in the processing of your application.)

Explanation
Applicant Arrives in Canada and is Granted Permanent Residence
You will need to meet with an Immigration Officer who will verify your documents and grant you permanent residence if all is in order.

Happy Anniversary to my double cabbage!

2008-11-11T11:51:00.004-08:00

Happy 2nd Anniversary Ronel!
I can't believe it has been two years already since I walked down the aisle and became your wife! I wish that I was able to be with you today, but hearing your voice was great! (even at 3am!) I love you and know that someday soon we will be together and not just for a short period of time either, but for the rest of our lives! I know that the future holds so much for us and that we will be stronger as a couple because of what we have been through over these past 2 years. Thank you for your patience, your gentleness, your willingness to follow what you know God has for you & I - even though it has meant being apart for so long. Thank you for your love of ironing!!! Thank you for your smile - it always brightens my day.
Babe - one day soon, I hope that I can have a photo of you with YOUR luggage as you head for the airport on your way to Canada!!!

I love you so much and pray that all our paperwork will be done soon so you can come home and meet all of our family and friends who are waiting for you!

m'renmen ou anpil mari'm e m'ap tann ou!!

toujou madamn ou!

some news from Haiti!

2008-11-11T11:50:00.000-08:00

I got a call this morning from Ronel (at 3:18am my time!!) telling me he had some news. Well, since it was the middle of the night here, I told him I would call him back (and he was calling from his cell which was almost out of minutes) So, after school was done (for him) I called him - wished him a Happy Anniversary (which I hadn't even thought about at 3am!) and asked what his news was. Well, he received a letter from the Canadian Embassy about his case. They need a few more pieces of info (basically to update his file - since he filled out the paperwork a year ago) They didn't say anything about the medical exam so I'm hoping that they are just going with the one they have. This means that someone has actually LOOKED at his file and looked over all our paperwork, so the fact that they only need these couple of things is promising to me!

There are a couple of things I need to send to him for him to take to the embassy - copies of my passport pages with the entry & exit stamps of my trips and copies of all our emails - well we don't email anymore, we just talk on the phone so I've compiled all my Skype records to send down. Thankfully, I can just scan & email all those to Karen and she is willing to print them out and pass them along to Ronel which will make the process that much faster (hopefully!)

It made a ordinary day much better and put me in a much better mood (though I'm still trying to pack and move so....)

Happy 2nd Anniversary Ronel! I love you and can't wait till we get to live in the same country!!!!

lack of posts....

2008-11-08T13:48:00.002-08:00

I'm sorry I've been such a bad poster! Life has been crazy busy - both at work and at home.
At work - we've been short staffed and have had a couple big events at church which took lots of time to prep for. Also, I'm moving December 1st and so have been trying to pack and go through all my stuff. I've also been making my girlfriend's wedding invitations. They look great and I'm really pleased with how they are turning out as one of the techniques on them is one I hadn't done before!

On a immigration note - Ronel's medical exam has now expired and there has been no progress with his paperwork so now we are at a standstill as we are not sure of what to do and I've emailed the visa office in Port-au-Prince to ask what we're supposed to do and am waiting for a response. This has been hard because it is highly unlikely Ronel will be here before my 30th birthday in Feb which was kind of my "deadline" in my head. Please continue to keep us in your prayers as it is getting harder and harder for us to be apart.

from the heart

2008-09-29T23:37:00.002-07:00

I've been avoiding posting anything because I'm having a hard time dealing with being apart from Ronel and I don't really have much to say other than that.

Since I've been home from Haiti, I've been calling Ronel nightly - even if it is only to say goodnight and to say "I love you". I really thought that this trip would make the waiting a little easier but it has now had the opposite effect - We are both totally done and most nights one, if not both of us end up crying before we hang up. If I thought it would help, I wouldn't call every day but I know that it wouldn't help either of us, it would only make things worse! I have even begun checking the CIC application status site daily hoping & praying that the status will have changed from the day before.

I'm having a hard time because it isn't like I don't believe that God is still in charge of this whole process and I still believe that this was and IS God's plan for Ronel & I, but this isn't what married life is supposed to be. I'm not meant to be separated from my husband for more than 20 months, with no end date in sight. The fact that it is getting harder for Ronel as well is also making it harder for me - Ronel has been the one with the most patience and confidence through this whole thing and it is now wearing on him, and it is quite obvious even over the phone. My mom overheard our conversation tonight (it is over my computer and I use a microphone & speakers so anyone within hearing can hear Ronel) and she came back after I said goodbye and asked what was wrong. Without understanding what Ronel was saying, she could tell by the sound of his voice that something was wrong.

I don't doubt that Ronel will one day get his visa and be able to come to Canada, but it is when that one day will happen. I want to start life together with the man I love, I want to start a family, I want to kiss my husband goodnight and to tell him I love him in person. I want to introduce him to my family & friends. I want to go to church with Ronel, at my home church. I want to set up a home with Ronel. I want to come home to my husband after work.

so please keep praying for us and the paperwork process. It is getting harder but that just means that we need your prayers even more!

--- if you made it this far... wow! I know it was a long post and a vent at that, but that is where I am at right now.

And I will get more stories and photos from my trip to Haiti up soon!

adoption

2008-09-23T22:38:00.000-07:00

Saturday when I was home sick, I watched a show on domestic adoptions in Canada and learned that there are over 22,000 (yes that would be twenty two THOUSAND) children who are waiting to be adopted in Canada. I cried alot during that show on Saturday and it reminded me of a conversation I had in Haiti with Chris & Leslie who are in the process of adopting in Haiti where they live. Chris really brought back to my attention domestic adoptions and that there are children here who are waiting for forever families. Well, tonight while I was doing some other things online I decided to look up some more info about domestic adoptions in BC especially and the ministry of children & family's website has a list of children waiting to be placed - there are more than a 1000 children right here in BC who need a family! Well, you can pick a name and learn more about the child and reading through some of the profiles I started crying! I just want to take them all in and give them a loving home!! But it really started stirring up my heart and reminding me that there are children right here who need a family! Who knows what the future has in store for Ronel & I but we both are quite open to adoption and we had always thought it would be from Haiti but now who knows!!

Anyways - I just wanted to let you all know what is going through my head and ask you to pray for us that God would reveal quite clearly to us what HIS PLAN for us is in this area (well, really in all areas, but especially in this area!)

Have a great night! (oh and please keep Haiti in your prayers as they are having more rain as there is a tropical low pressure system above them right now! (It isn't yet a tropical depression or even a storm yet but could still cause flooding and other damage to an already struggling country! )

Finally, stories from my trip to Haiti

2008-09-18T18:29:00.001-07:00

Okay, so I decided that it is finally time to tell you some stories from my trip.

It started off smoothly with my good friend dropping me off at the Vancouver airport for my LONG trip... first stop was in Dallas, then onto Atlanta where the problems started! I arrived in Atlanta at 1:30am and was scheduled to leave at 6am. I woke up from what can barely be called a nap at about 5am and went looking for a bathroom. On the way, I came across a lady from my previous flight and she asked me if I was on my way to Miami. I said yes, and she said that our flight had been CANCELLED! What! So the two of us went out to the ticket counter and had to wait to see what could be done.

I had been rescheduled for a flight that was supposed to leave at about 2pm. This meant that I was going to be missing my connection in Miami and I needed to contact Ronel and tell him that I would not be at the airport at noon. I couldn't get through to Haiti on my cell so I tried calling my mom to get her to call Ronel on Skype. I bought a calling card and tried to call my mom but since it was only 4am in BC, she didn't answer. But, needing to get through to Ronel, I called my youngest sister and asked her to keep trying to call Mom to get her to check her mesages. Well, it turned out that Leslie had to drive over to Mom's and wake her up. She send me a text message once Mom was awake and I called her so that I could help her get through to Ronel. It was quite interesting being able to hear my mom, sister and Ronel all at the same time but Ronel was not able to hear me. So knowing that Ronel knew I would be late I set out to wait for my next flight.

Well, it got delayed and ended up leaving almost an hour late which meant that I arrived in Miami like 15 minutes before my flight to Miami was supposed to board. So I rushed down to the next gate only to find out that the flight to Haiti was also delayed!! (not that it was a huge surprise! Flights to Haiti out of Miami are frequently delayed! This is one reason I prefer to fly through Fort Lauderdale!) So we finally boarded the plane only to sit on the tarmac as some lady searched for a missing purse. At one point, the flight attendant came on over the loudspeaker and said to everyone that if they didn't all sit down and we left within 10 minutes that we wouldn't be leaving that day! Well that got people's attention and soon we were on our way!

We arrived in Haiti about 5:30pm - only 2 hours after my rescheduled arrival and almost 6 hours after my original time. I was surprised at the changes to the Port-au-Prince airport and was quickly through immigration and at the carousel waiting for my luggage. My carry-on came out quickly (they had gate checked it in Miami) and then one of my two checked bags. I waited and waited for the second and as the bags dwindled, it became clear that my bag was not arriving. So I went over to the counter to report my missing bag and was given a number to call the next morning. I then went through customs and headed for the outside. As soon as I got through the doors I saw Ronel's smiling face and that totally made my day! I was so thankful to see Ronel that it almost made the long journey and missing bag okay! (but not quite!) We greeted each other (I'll spare you the detail! ;P) and then I greeted Jean Jean and Gerald and saw our niece and Ronel's youngest sister (she's 8) who had been visiting in Port au Prince with family. We then loaded into the truck and headed for home. -- funny side story -- When I told Ronel that one of my bags was missing and that it might be brought in the next morning, Ronel asked if I wanted him to spend the night in Port so he could pick it up in the morning. I quickly said "NO" The suitcase was not that important to me! And we'd figure something out the next day but we were definitely heading home together. I know he was only trying to help as it is almost a 4 hour trip to the airport but I just wanted my husband by my side.

We got to Borel about 9pm (which is late in Haiti) and headed straight to the house. This trip we stayed again in the same compound where we stayed after the wedding but a different house this time. This time we stayed in the house where I lived when I first moved to Borel to work with Karen & Kevan. It was kind of nice as it was a familiar space and this was where the previous missionaries had lived so it was quite americanized - fans in every room, it had an inverter (which meant that we had electricity even without the generator - as long as the batteries lasted) so the fans would still work at night and it was fully furnished.

Ronel & I unpacked and shortly after headed to bed. I was EXHAUSTED! and hadn't slept well in 2 nights. It was SO NICE to be back with my husband and just be able to curl up in his arms. Friday morning, Ronel kindly let me sleep in. We started what turned into our routine - just hanging out with each other and enjoying being together. Early afternoon we called the airport to find out that my luggage had arrived and we arranged for Marc (a good friend of ours) to head out early Saturday morning to pick it up for me (by early I mean 3:30am!!) He got the suitcase and got right back on the bus and came home - he got in about 4pm! As I said, he is a GOOD friend and a real blessing to us! When I opened my suitcase, I discovered that it had been opened and items had been stolen - some of which were gifts for Ronel, others were items for me - like my conditioner! Atleast they didn't take my shampoo!!

Friday afternoon about 3pm we headed up to the orphange to see "my kids". It was so fun to see their faces when they saw me. Moyiz just came running down the driveway calling my name with the biggest smile on his face. All the kids were so happy to see me and it turns out that they didn't know that I was even coming to Haiti so it was a total surprise! The staff were also happy to see me and all of them asked me when I was coming back to live and work there. It was so nice to see them but also reminded me that God had called me back to BC and that it was no longer the place that God had for me.

Okay - so that is my first 3 days and I'll be back with more stories and photos....

wordle

2008-09-10T18:29:00.003-07:00

try out Wordle - go to wordle.net and click on Create. You can use your own words or it will search your blog for the most popular words and create one for you...

Haiti links

2008-09-09T21:28:00.004-07:00

check out the sites below for more on what is going on in Haiti and this news article on Haiti from the Miami Herald

Haiti Rescue Center
They run a rescue center and a clinic and the work they are doing is amazing!

Livesays in Haiti
A missionary family in Port-au-Prince

Please keep praying for Haiti and all the people there.

Haiti links - hurricane aftermath

2008-09-08T18:00:00.004-07:00

Check out these links with news & photos about what is happening in Haiti

Storms batter Haiti - photos
More news & photos -
Hanna's impact on Haiti

A woman outside her home in the Artibonite, Haiti

You can also check out the following blogs for more links & photos about what is currently going on in Haiti

Rollings in Haiti

Lifeline Mission

Matt & Esther in Haiti

Please be praying for all of Haiti and for Ronel and all his family members there. The Artibonite river which is close by where Ronel lives (in the Artibonite Valley) is in danger of flooding and that would cause the canals which flow out from it to also flood their banks. There is a canal that runs right in front of the HATS orphanage where I lived & worked and it flows down and behind where Ronel lives. Both of the bridges which connect the central part of Haiti with the capital city are not passable - the one in Mirebalais has collapsed, and the one in Montrouis is in danger of collapsing and they are not letting vehicles cross it. Schools have been closed which means that Ronel is not working and is without an income - this makes life difficult. This has been hard on me as well as I can not do much from here and when I can't get through on Ronel's cell phone, I have no way of contacting him and that makes me nervous as I then don't know if he is safe.

Please also be praying for our paperwork as I don't know what this is doing to the paperwork process. With all the flooding and deaths in the country, I don't if the embassy is still getting work done on the visa applications.

I will keep you updated and will try and get stories from my trip posted.

a quick post...

2008-09-01T20:24:00.006-07:00

So I'm back from Campbell River and enjoying the small time I have left of my day off before heading back to work tomorrow and the craziness of back to school time!

I wanted to post this photo of Ronel - it is one of my favourite photos I took this last trip. I have no idea why he decided to wave but it makes for an adorable photo!!

Enjoy the photo and I will try and post some stories about my trip soon....

sad news

2008-08-25T20:25:00.004-07:00

Sorry I've been so quiet even though I've been back from camp for 3 days. Last Thursday I got a call from my mom while I was at camp and found out that my uncle died Thursday in a logging accident. He is was a heli-logger and apparently was falling a tree and stepped away from it and a tree that they weren't even touching, and which looked healthy but apparently had bad roots, decided to fall and the top ten feet hit him from behind and pinned him. He had a broken leg, broken pelvis and lots of internal bleeding. They put him in a air ambulance to Vancouver General Hospital but he died on route and so they returned to Bella Bella with his body.

The service will be in Campbell River on Sunday, Aug 31st and so now my sisters and I are making plans to travel up there. My youngest sister and her husband, my brother & his girlfriend and my mom were all able to go up as soon as they heard but my other sister and myself were both out of town and unable to get up there. My youngest sister and her husband have returned so that they can work all week and will go back up with us on the weekend. This has been a hard week as my uncle was just married on the 26th of July and I was unable to be there for his wedding. He was only 42 - just 9 months older than my oldest sibling. He has a 9 year old daughter and just in the past few years started turning his life around. I was very proud of all the changes he had made to his life and the choices he had made because he wanted to be around for his daughter, and now he won't be.

My grandma has now had to bury both her sons and her husband. And two of them in less than 3 years.

I will try to write more about my trip to Haiti but right now my heart really isn't into it and trying to arrange the travel for this weekend is taking up a lot of my energy. Plus I am back to work and school starts next week so there is lots to do. Please keep my family in your prayers - especially as there are many who are unsaved.

Home for the night and away I go....

2008-08-18T08:48:00.001-07:00

I arrived safely home from Haiti at about midnight last night. It was an adventure getting home and many changes to my flights but I made it and I slept in my own bed last night!

I had a great time in Haiti with Ronel and it was a MUCH NEEDED time of reconnection for both of us. I have lots of stories and photos to share but they will all have to wait for a week as I am off to the BC Foursquare Kids' Camp today for the week where I will be assisting with Photography & Computer stuff. I am totally looking forward to a week of fun & also a week of seeing God move in these kids' lives. I will be back on Saturday and will then begin telling you about my trip~!

Have a great week!

and I'm off...

2008-07-23T06:56:00.001-07:00

Well it is 6:51am and I am packed and ready to go! I just have to make a quick stop at the bank for some US cash and drop my car off at Canadian Tire so that my brother in law can make sure it has an oil change while I am away (He manages the auto service dept.) Then my ride to the airport will meet me at CT and away to the airport I go!!

I'm am so glad to be done and packed!! Last night was a little stressful as the dryer here stopped working after my first load of laundry and it was all stuff I needed for my trip (majority anyways!) It did mean I ended up getting to hang with friends while I did my laundry but at first it just made all my emotions come to the top!!

I will try and update the blog if I can, otherwise you will have to wait till late August to hear all about my trip!! I know many of you will/are praying for my trip and I thank you for those prayers!

Please pray for safe flights & that I make all my connections! Also that any tropical storms/hurricanes stay far away from Haiti & Florida during my trip!

Ok - off to double check that I have everything and then get ready for my day!

Orevwa! M we ou pita!
(Good bye, I will see you later)

blisters...

2008-07-10T22:29:00.002-07:00

So I've had a sore throat and this morning it started to really hurt to swallow so when I went to the doctor (previously scheduled to see about my ankle) this afternoon, I asked the doctor to check my throat and it turns out that I have a rather large blister on my throat! I had never heard of such a thing and found it kind of funny! Except that it HURTS - - my doctor gave my a prescription in hopes of it going away before I leave for Haiti in 12 days!

I'm also on anti-inflammatories for my ankle - the same one I hurt in Oct of 2006 when I fell out of the bus a month before my wedding! It has started to hurt again and with me leaving in less than 2 weeks, I didn't want to risk it getting worse while I was in Haiti.

To help you understand the steps....

2008-06-12T22:25:00.009-07:00

This is taken directly from the CIC website.... This is the info given to us to understand the application process better and the explanations of the Status

Application for Permanent Residence for Family Class Members Living Outside Canada

This diagram explains each step in the application process.

Status of your application	Explanation
IN PROCESS (A decision has not been made yet.) WE ARE HERE - in one of the THREE different explanation areas......	Application Received by Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) We have received your application and will review it in order of receipt. We will send you an acknowledgement letter. Documentation Verified by CIC We are reviewing your application to make sure it is complete and that no documents are missing. We will return incomplete applications for resubmission. An Interview May be Required We will review the application and decide if an interview is necessary. If so, we will inform you in writing of the date, time and location of the interview.
WITHDRAWN (An application can only be withdrawn when it is IN PROCESS.)	Application Withdrawn You may only withdraw your application before the Immigrant Visa has been issued. There are no refunds after processing has started.
DECISION MADE (A decision has been made at this point.)	Medical Results Received by CIC We have received your medical results. We will contact you only if additional tests are needed. Approval Status Determined Your application will be either approved or rejected. We will inform you of the decision in writing. Permanent Residence Status Determined If your application is approved, we will send you your permanent resident documentation and a letter saying what we need to finalize your permanent residence.
COMPLETE (This is the last step in the processing of your application.)	Applicant Arrives in Canada and is Granted Permanent Residence You will need to meet with an Immigration Officer who will verify your documents and grant you permanent residence if all is in order.

In Process

2008-06-12T22:21:00.002-07:00

Permanent Residence

We started processing RONEL CLEDOMIN's application on June 5, 2008.

This is what I was delighted to see tonight when I logged in to check on Ronel's application status. For weeks it has said - Not Available under status.... tonight it said IN PROCESS! While it doesn't mean that Ronel gets to come home with me in August, it means that SOMEONE has actually looked at his file and that there is progress being made with getting Ronel here, home to BC! I really needed this tonight and I'm so glad that I decided to check. I haven't check for like a week and a half because it was just getting too hard to always see... Not Available. There won't be another status change until the decision is made which could be months away but I will be checking to see if the description (which is what is in blue up above) changes as the time goes on.

Thank you to all of you who have been praying for us.... please continue to pray for us as the waiting is only getting harder and I think that leaving will be difficult in August. I know that the wait after the visit will be shorter but the emotions of leaving with all be fresh again and so I've been praying that God will give us a lot of strength in that area....

Thank you God for "In Process"!

sorry it's been so long!

2008-05-28T19:00:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry that it has been so long since I have updated my blog. Life has been BUSY! Since I've last posted, I've tried to have 2 garage sales, but first time it POURED so that one was cancelled and then finally on the long weekend, we had a successful garage sale - I raised approx. $270 Cdn which will go towards Ronel's immigration costs. There is still more stuff in my friends' garage so there will be more garage sales in my future!!

That weekend was crazy busy with my friend getting her ordination that Sunday and we threw her a surprise "Congrats" party after church. It was a lot of fun. Then on the holiday Monday a bunch of us headed south to go to the Seattle Zoo. It was so much fun and I LOVED it! I can't wait to take Ronel to the zoo...

This past weekend was a little more relaxed with a clean up day at my church and then a craft flea market where I found a couple things at a good price. After that, I got together with a couple friends and we stamped. Sunday afternoon we stamped some more and it was so relaxing and an enjoyable way to spend the afternoon.

This week I have been getting ready for our church's Ladies Retreat this weekend and trying to figure out what I am going to bring for food for myself as the retreat center can't provide gluten free meals. Then I return home on Sunday and head straight to my youngest sister's wedding! I know - I'm just a tad bit crazy but I couldn't miss a whole weekend away just for a Sunday afternoon wedding! Then yesterday I was home sick for the afternoon as I have been feeling nauseous since Monday and knew that I needed to take the afternoon to rest so that I will be better by this weekend. Today was a bit better but still a bit queasy. (No, there is no reason for the nausea! - that can't happen till July :P )

The countdown is getting closer - it is less than 2 months now and I am getting a bit more excited. In January it seemed SO FAR away and now it is more of a tangible date. Plus I got my summer schedule which helped cement in the fact that I am away for 3.5 weeks!! Now if I could just get some progress updates on Ronel's visa application. The website still says "Not Available" which means that the embassy hasn't even looked at it yet. It is a tad bit frustrating but we've been praying at minichurch that the right person would look at Ronel's file and that it will be approved A LOT FASTER than the 7 - 17 months that the CIC website says that visa applications are approved at the embassy in Port-au-Prince.

Well, I just wanted to update you....

Happy Mother's Day

2008-05-11T00:00:00.000-07:00

to each and every one of you! I pray that you will enjoy your day and be surrounded by those who love you! And to those of you who have been a special part of my life - Thank you and may you be blessed as much as you are a blessing to those around you!

good news!!!

2008-04-21T18:23:00.003-07:00

I got HAPPY MAIL today! I had an envelope from CIC(Citizenship & Immigration Canada) today and figured it was a confirmation of the arrival of my paperwork but it was SO MUCH BETTER!! It was a letter telling me that I have MET the requirements for eligibility as a sponsor and that Ronel's application for Permanent Residence has been forwarded to the Visa Office in Port-au-Prince. The letter is dated April 14th so that means that it was less than a month since the paperwork arrived and 10 days (not just business days!) since they started processing it! Praise the Lord!! Now if the next step can also go so quickly!
I have included a scan of the letter (with some highlighting and framing of the oh so important part!

ticker changes

2008-04-12T21:25:00.002-07:00

Okay - so some of you will notice that the ticker at the top has changed. I did this so that I (and all of you) can see how long our file has been in process, and not just since it has been mailed. So the 36 days countdown for my approval process was only started 8 days ago and that means that IF all the paperwork was in order (and it should be!) that I should be approved to sponsor in just 28 more days - that is only 4 weeks!! Then the file will start the LONG process of getting approved at the visa office in Haiti.

waiting game...

2008-04-12T20:39:00.002-07:00

Sorry it's been so long since I have posted anything!

Since mailing the paperwork there really hasn't been much going on. It is now just a big waiting game and I haven't heard ANYTHING from CPC-M (Case Processing Centre - Missisauga) and so I am just waiting to hear if I have been approved to sponsor. Once that has been decided, the file will go to the Visa office in Port-au-Prince, Haiti and Ronel's application for permanent residence will be assessed.

Okay - so while I was writing the above part I decided to go look at the CIC website and check out the application processing time. Well, there was a link to check your application process and so I went there and one of the ways you could log in was with your receipt number from the application payment. YEAH - so I logged in and this is what it says

We received your application to sponsor on March 13, 2008.

We started processing your application on April 4, 2008.

So the process has started and it says that the current processing time is 36 days for applications received up to March 13, 2008.

I looked at the link they provided about what this all means and my file is IN PROCESS - the following is the explanation given - to me this means that there are two steps in the "in process"

Application Received by Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC)
We have received your application and will review it in order of receipt. We will send you an acknowledgment letter.

Documentation Verified by CIC
We are reviewing your application to make sure it is complete and that no documents are missing. We will return incomplete applications for resubmission.

So, now with a little more info that before I started this post, I am still waiting and trying to listen to what God has to tell, show or teach me during this time. (And also counting down the days till I see Ronel in July!!)

snow.....

2008-03-28T20:28:00.003-07:00

that's right - we got snow?!?! It was hailing on Wednesday when I went to work but it turned to rain, then apparently yesterday we got some snow and then today it snowed for most of the morning, it wasn't sticking to the roads but was sticking to the grass & buildings. I can't believe that we are getting snow at the end of March!! I hope that the sun & warmth come out soon and that they stay around!!

Guess what!

2008-03-19T18:27:00.002-07:00

I met Mike McCardell from Global TV! and was on Global News last night! We were on our fieldtrip yesterday and were flying kites outside the Planetarium and he & his cameraman came up and asked if they could video the kids. I had to call and check with the "boss" and she said yes, so he talked to the kids and got some footage of them flying their kites.

And we made the evening news! You can go HERE to see our time in the spotlight! The kids were so excited to see themselves on TV - we even watched it this morning at work as one of the staff had taped it last night!

hello....

2008-03-13T00:56:00.000-07:00

Anybody out there??

I can tell by my site meter that you are there but I'm beginning to wonder if it is all in my imagination!

I would love to have you leave a comment - let me know that you are alive and well and that I haven't bored you to death or scared you away with my lack of regular postings!

Have a great day!

done, done and done...

2008-03-10T18:33:00.003-07:00

As of 12:30pm this afternoon, Ronel's immigration paperwork is on it's way to Mississauga, Ontario to the Case Processing Centre. It should arrive by Thursday. So, this now means that the countdown is ON. This starts the process that will bring Ronel here, to me.

Dropping the paperwork at the post office was quite the emotional event. This has been such a HUGE process and we have hit many stumbling blocks and I have had many personal struggles with the whole thing as well. Struggles that I apparently hid very well, even from those who I can't normally hide anything. Last week at minichurch was the big breakthrough. The sermon the week before had been about how nothing is impossible for God and that God is not a liar so if He says it is possible, then IT IS POSSIBLE. Well, at minichurch we discussed that some people have fears that seem impossible to them and how we really needed to come together and pray for each other. While they were talking about this, I was crying. A few weeks ago, a girlfriend asked me how the paperwork was going and I said it wasn't done yet and she said "Don't you want Ronel here?" It was a HUGE wake-up call for me, I did (and do) want him here, more than I can express in words, but I was also terrified about sending off the paperwork and taking it out of my control. As of today, I have NO CONTROL whatsoever over the paperwork and the result. I can't make them say yes and I also have no control over how fast or slow it is. Now, I do know - in my head - that God has COMPLETE CONTROL over all of it, but that doesn't always make it to my heart. On my good days, I am happy that God is in control of the paperwork and that it is now all out of my hands, but on the not so good days, that terrifies me. This is really the only thing I have been able to have control over and now it is out of my control.

Friday was a hard day, there were a couple of times where I thought I had - once again- missed things and that it would delay things but each time it was only a misunderstanding and everything was fine. I had all the paperwork I needed, all our communications and photos were added and there is NO reason why anyone should deny our claim for Ronel to be allowed entry to Canada. When I was finally done everything, I called my friends (and also minichurch leaders) to share the good news and then went over to hang out with them & celebrate (after 10 hours of working only on my paperwork I needed out of the house!) It was a great feeling to know that I had overcome my fear and finished the paperwork!

Sunday in between services a few of my friends & I gathered to pray over the paperwork (and also Ronel & I) and then today I sent it off. Even now, part of me wants to cry and part of me wants to get up and dance with joy! This is such a big step in the whole process and it has taken SO long to get here. Tomorrow marks 16 months that we have been married and 15 months & 1 week that we have been apart. The big prayer on Sunday (and still) is that the paperwork would be done before Ronel's medical expires on Nov, 5th 2008. And even more, that it would be done in time that I could make changes to my ticket for July and Ronel could come home with me then. That thought makes me shake - with joy and anticipation. I leave for Haiti in 135 days and it could be possible that Ronel could be home in that period of time. It would require a God sized miracle but it is possible. Current timelines for CIC is 35 days for the approval of my sponsorship application and then 7-18 months for the approval of Ronel's permanent resident application which take place at the visa office in Port-au-Prince. 10% of files are approved in 7 months in Port-au-Prince. We're asking God to have them done in less than 5 months!

Please keep this in your prayers! I'll keep you updated on the progess

drumroll please......

2008-03-07T19:25:00.002-08:00

The immigration paperwork is
DONE

There is a LONG story that goes with this all but for now I will say that I took the day off and all I did ALL day long (10 hours) was work on completing all the needed paperwork!

It is such a great feeling to have this all done and now the hard part comes - waiting for the government to approve our application or not! The current wait on the approval of my sponsorship application is 35 days, once that is done, Ronel's application for Permanent Residence gets sent to the Visa office in Port-au-Prince where the decision is made. The current wait there is anywhere from 7-18 months! Please be praying that it is decided quickly! Ronel's medical exam expires Nov 5th, 2008 and if we aren't approved by then, he will have to redo it and that will delay the whole process!

Ok, off to shower and then am taking the paperwork over to get prayed over by some good friends of mine!

I'll try and be a good girl and post more of the back story soon!

in only...

2008-02-24T22:58:00.003-08:00

5 months from today I get to see Ronel's face.

Just thinking about it makes me smile!!

I have lots to catch you guys up on but life has been busy so I will have to post that later. I just had to come let you know how soon I get to see Ronel!!

M'ap vini mari'm!!

a new toy!

2008-02-16T22:11:00.002-08:00

I received a MP3 player today - I was talking to my youngest sister, Leslie, and asked her what this thing in her room was and she said, "oh that's a MP3 player I got at (work's) Christmas party. Do you want it?" I said "Sure, I've thought about them but didn't really know it I would use it" She has an Ipod so she didn't really have a use for it.

Well, I LOVE it! I set it up and put all the songs I had on my computer on it (only 55 songs) and I've been listening to it all night while I've been stamping. I can't wait to add more songs!

I think it will come in really handy on my trip to Haiti! It is A LOT smaller than my CD player and I won't have to lug all my CD's with me! I can have all my favourite songs and all on one little player! I also enjoy that I can walk around with it and it isn't in my way or cumbersome. It has a neck strap and it is so handy to have it just hanging there! (I've always kind of laughed at people who wear their mp3 players around their neck! To all of you - I apologize and I've joined you!)

Annie

2008-02-14T22:25:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day!

Tonight I went to see the musical with some friends of mine.

It was put on by Burnaby South High School
and the cousin of one of my friends was in the play.

The play was SO much fun and really well done.
It was a great night and just a fun way to spend Valentine's Day
especially since I couldn't be with Ronel!

Happy Valentine's Day Ronel!
M'ap vini mari'm!

another update on paperwork...

2008-02-07T18:31:00.001-08:00

so, my notice of assessment arrived yesterday in the mail! It was so nice to have that in my hand! But, I realized that I shouldn't be sending in the originals of any of our letters and such that I need to send to prove our relationship! I had all the written letters and such in the STACK of papers to be mailed and when I went through the papers, I realized I probably want to keep the originals and mail in copies! So that is what I will be doing for the next couple of days! First snag was the fact that my printer ran out of ink (which after the amount of emails I had to print out - that Ronel & I have sent to each other - I really am not surprised!) So, my mom is picking me up ink on her way home! Then I am going to scan and print all the letters off. I have 2 notebooks full of letters between us (we used to keep notebooks that we wrote to each other whenever I was out of the country - we would then switch when I would get back. It was like a journal but to each other of what had gone on while the other was away.)

So, my original goal was that I will have all the paperwork mailed by Valentine's Day but I have revised it to have it mailed by my birthday which is only 2 weeks from today! I think that it is a bit more realistic, especially since I have been SO tired lately and have been going to bed quite early lately and I have a busy week ahead.

I will definitely be posting and letting you know when that package goes postal though!

Closer....

2008-02-02T16:22:00.000-08:00

I went and checked my bank account online and my tax refund has arrived in my account (by direct deposit) and that means that my notice of assessment should be here soon!!

I am going to double check and make sure that I have all the rest of the paperwork ready and then I can send it all in as soon as the notice of assessment arrives! I think that I need to print out some photos to send in but other than that, everything should be ready!

This means that the paperwork should be filed by Valentine's Day (giving myself a couple of days for the notice of assessment to arrive and for me to get it into the post office!)

What a great Valentine's gift for both of us!

And here's hoping & praying that Ronel gets to come home soon!

prayer needed...

2008-01-25T00:00:00.000-08:00

The Livesay family are missionaries in Haiti and their 3 month old baby girl Lydia Beth needs your prayers. She has bacterial meningitis.

Please go here and learn more about what is going on with Lydia and keep her lifted in prayer! To get the whole story you will probably want to go back in the posts to the Tuesday, January 22nd post.

Thank you in advance for your prayers for this family and especially for Lydia Beth.

It's done!

2008-01-22T16:47:00.000-08:00

My ticket is BOOKED! I leave out of Vancouver on July 23rd.

YEAH!

now to wait...

2008-01-20T16:25:00.000-08:00

So my mom said that I can use some of her AAdvantage Miles and I had them transferred today and they tell me that the miles will be in my account within 7 days. It cost me $84 US to transfer the miles ($50 US for 5000 miles, $4US GST, $30US Processing Fee) and it will cost me about $150 US in taxes and fees for the reward ticket so in the end I will have a round trip ticket to Haiti for less than $250 US and I get to leave from Vancouver! This is such a blessing and it just goes to remind me that God is in control and He has every detail taken care of!

Haiti, here I come!

2008-01-19T22:21:00.000-08:00

Well, I have been given the go ahead for the time off work and now the only thing I am waiting on is talking to my mom to see if she will let me use some of her AAdvantage miles so that I don't need to buy the extra I need. She is currently away on vacation so I called my uncle on Skype and asked him to talk to my mom and get back to me. (They are staying with my great aunt & uncle just down the road from my aunt & uncle) Transferring the miles will take 72 hours and then I can finish booking my ticket! I am SO excited!!! I went ahead and put up the countdown because now that I know that I can have the time off, there isn't much that will stop me from getting this ticket. The only difference is whether I buy the extra miles or get to use my mom's miles.

I will be flying out of Vancouver which is awesome as it means a 20 minute trip to the airport rather than a 3 hour trip! I will be leaving July 23rd and arriving in Port-au-Prince on July 24th at 11:25am. I will be in Haiti till August 16th and arrive back in Vancouver in the early evening on August 17th. This means that I will be in Haiti WITH Ronel for 23 days and I will be away for a total of 26 days.

Since Ronel is off school and won't be working, I am hoping that we will be able to do some visiting around Haiti. There are some friends I would like to visit and if possible I would also love to meet the Livesay Tribe! I have been reading their blog since before I left Haiti in February of 2006 and I have never met them but would love to!

I am looking forward to just spending as much time as possible with Ronel and getting "recharged" before having to come back home by myself and waiting again till Ronel is able to join me here.

M'ap vini cheri mwen!

I'm leaving on a jet plane....

2008-01-17T22:59:00.000-08:00

but not yet! So today I started looking into flights to go see Ronel - I am looking at going mid July for 3 weeks - possibly a little bit more. I wanted to wait till our anniversary & Ronel's birthday in the fall but last night Ronel asked me if I could come while he was on vacation for the summer and I said that I would look into it. I would rather not take my vacation in the summer as it is a fun time at work and it is going to be HOT in Haiti but Ronel would like me to be there when he doesn't have to work and I want to see my hubby so I will handle the heat (somehow!) and go in the summer. There is a 4 week period of time that I can be gone from work in the summer. We have two large events in the summer - our VBS which is the 3rd week in July and then the Lower Mainland Foursquare Kids Camp which is the 2nd to last week in August.

So I started looking at flights leaving right after we finish VBS and I found some good flights for around $850 Cdn flying out of Seattle (Tickets were $1250 or more Cdn flying out of Vancouver!) then tonight I started looking at American Airlines website and I almost have enough AA miles for a flight to Haiti - I need less than 5000 miles and it turns out the I can purchase the miles I need for approx $150 Cdn and then there is approx. $120 in flight taxes & fees. This way requires me to take an extra 3 days off of work but that also means I get 3 more days with Ronel!! so before I can go ahead and book it (and purchase the additional miles) I need to find out if I can get those 3 days off. I should be able to work & bank the hours needed to cover those 3 days so that I don't have any unpaid time off so I just need to find out if I can get that extra time off (especially since it is 7 days more than my vacations days!) I have the flights on award miles on hold until Jan 31st so that gives me some time to figure it all out!

So hopefully very soon I will be able to put up a countdown to my trip to Haiti! It is so absolutely amazing to think that in 6 months I should be seeing my husband face to face again! (for the first time since December 1st, 2006 - 18 months!)

You can also be praying for a miracle in Ronel's immigration paperwork - I am hoping to have it all filed by mid February (am just waiting for my notice of assessment) and I would love to be able to bring Ronel home with me in August but that would be only 6 months and for that to happen God has to have His hand on the paperwork and make it fly through. I know that God can do this but your prayers are all very appreciated!

Okay I have to go to bed now but wanted to share this with you all!