random happenings around here...

lov'n the beautiful spring weather!
the sun is soo intense & the trees are budding...too early, b/c it's still march and we could have frost yet :(
but, we're take'n this weather~no complaints!

 the bugs are alive & well in the garden & have been chow'n down on the primula's...

 the pond is full of frogs & tadpoles...

jordyn's class goes to the senior's home to sing for them...

some of the grade 7 & 8 students took a martial arts class, where they learned some defensive moves....

no, they're not choking eachother, they learned how to get out of this hold.

meanwhile, veronica was learing how to rock climb....

then, on thursday, jordyn did her own hair for school....
i'm tell'n ya...kids these days!

na, i kid,it was wacky hair day....she did it all by herself~made mama proud :)!

so that's it for now...
ttyl

spring break...

this season, our junior youth group at church  has been doing more volunteer work.

this past Christmas we headed up the the operation christmas child (samaritan's purse) warehouse to sort, pack & ship shoe boxes to underprivileged children around the world.
what an amazing feeling knowing that all the hands & hard work, together can bring such happiness to a needy child!
we have an over abundance of  'stuff' material possessions & seeing what little can make a child happy is a humbling experience~it makes one all the more thankful for our homes families, country we live in and above all how great our God is in blessing us so richly with our material goods.

today with our youth group we headed here ~the ontario christian gleaners, where we packaged dried veggies for soup.
they are then given to mission groups who send the food over seas where the recipients just need to add water to make the soup!
each package is 100 servings...that's right, 100 servings!!

we get here at 8am & have a bit of a briefing on how the operation works.
8:30 is when the work starts, but not before opening our morning with scripture & prayer.

 barrels of dehydrated veggies~all varieties

 an assembly line of small pails are filled with the measured amounts of veggies.

 this is where i started...first with 1 cup dehydrated potatoes, then they switched it up with the cabbage.

 the finished bags of soup mix when done...

 roni at the beginning of the line...on her left{the senior gent who is partially in the pic}is the man who began this ministry, patterned after those in the west, in 2008. he is 93 yrs old & volunteers frequently.

 leah..

 replenishing our bins...

 another crew in a different area of the warehouse...

 last stop on the line is the salt...2tbsp per bag.

 nate & dave at the end of the line where the bags get filled...

then the bags get sealed with the heat machine...



 barrels stacked to the ceiling full of dehydrated veggies & crates full of the bags of soup mix we made...

we finish up at 11:40 in order to be out by noon...
time to clean up our mess

we also put labels on bags...

our day is done...time to head home.
but not without stopping for some lunch first!

pizza hut~yum!

it was a great way to start the spring break!

they grow up sooo quickly...

high school banquet has come & gone again for another year.

it was eryn's last banquet...but she said it was the best one yet!
this year's theme....
the circus

she sat with her bffs...
eryn & ashley

 eryn & her good great friend jarryd{stop talking & smile already!}

eryn & rachel

the three musketeers...eryn, nicole & ashley

eryn with the two she hangs out with the most just because they make her laugh so much~her cousin aaron on the right & his bestie jim on the left...oohh the stories everyday that come home about these two guys, they're just unending!!

the majority of eryn's class...

then we have dani & her friends...
courtney, tawnya & dani

 her huge group of friends...her class is sooo big this is just a fraction of them all

her cute date ron...{just friends people, just friends!!}

dani & rose...

dani & mary~lynn

and last but not least, my two girls just hav'n fun...

it was def a fun banquet...

wayne & i both served that night & were able to have fun with the girls.

until next year!

{that's when veronica will be there too!}