Photo Gallery - 2009

We took 20 pictures of this guy and do you think we could get any that were not blurry?

Will made a video from the photos actually because if you look at them quickly, you can see all the movements and quirks of Peter. I wish I could post it.
If you haven't heard the story yet. The boys and I ended up in emergency on Friday afternoon. I was doing groceries with the boys (Aleana was away) and Matthew and I had a little mishap together - long story short, Matthew did not have to get stitches (have to love that super glue) and I had to have a tetanus shot (ouch!) because of the wound on my hand. I was VERY relieved and grateful because A) The boys were great, well behaved and helpful. B) It was only an hour and a half wait altogether (I know from experience that it can by much longer) C) The first aid people at Superstore were great D) I kept thinking "This could be so much worse" and it really wasn't. Thank you LORD!!!

Ethan asked me to cut his hair on Saturday - now he looks much older again.

He was so great on Friday when I needed help - calm and obedient in everything.

He said later "Mom, I was just pushing Peter in the buggy and going along, and all of sudden you and Matthew just disappeared!" He stopped and came back to us and kept Peter calm too.

Ethan is a real hero!!!

Here's another one of my big helpers. The family planner, baker and candle stick maker (just joking about that part). She does like to play with candles though!!! She is currently learning how to knit and practicing long hours in her room. Maybe not quite long hours, but she's working on it.

This is one of two pictures we will chose for our Christmas card this year.

Matthew looks the same on both of them. A sad, beaten up child.

I should post the one with Peter sticking his tongue out!!

I managed to take these shots first before the sun went down - I took 11 pictures and this is probably the best one. It is just so hard to get these boys to stand still!!! I should have bribed them :). It was a beautiful sunset. Today we saw the sun again - what a blessing from the LORD!!

Giving Thanks

Today was, as all Mondays for us are...a busy day. But before I get into my warm, cozy bed I shall do this exercise I promised I would do.
I remain thankful for...
1) Legs that can skate (I went skating today with Matthew's class - fun)
2) The ability to drive our van (I couldn't drive for awhile, without getting sick, so for this I am very grateful - thank you LORD!)
3) The mall (it's not what you think! - On rainy days, we go walking there after dropping Will off at the skytrain)
4) My ancient sewing machine that keeps chugging along
5) Being re-aquainted with my ancient machine today
6) Being motivated today to actually do some mending on old faithful
7) Matthew's teacher who he loves and respects
8) The secretary who eased my mind and developed a solution for Matthew's bus ride this afternoon (long story)
9) Matthew's school which he loves
10) Children who make you smile on a dark day
11) Children who are finally interested in doing some writing - yippee!!!
12) Gems and Cadets - the kids love it!
13) okay this is cheesy - and I'm not bragging - my new slippers (they are so toasty)
14) did I mention how warm and cozy my bed is? Yup that' s one.
15) the kid's piano teacher, they love her and they are practicing!!!
16) Will is done his Wed night course
17) that the LORD is upholding and strengthening several of our friends who are grieving at this time - we are praying for you all!!
18) okay now I really am tired - running water
19) heat
20) shelter

Good night and may the LORD hold you close!!

Ketchup Time!

So we'll go back to Ethan's birthday.

A brief interlude with siblings - I love moments like this!

Back to Ethan...the deal is that if it is your birthday, you get breakfast in bed. Ethan woke up too early so we served him at the table.

Guess what we bought Ethan for his birthday? (We were trying to be funny)
He was very happy with his tools that will help him with all his "fix it" projects and fiddling that he does. I love seeing the things he creates and fixes up. It's really fascinating how his brain works. Have fun Ethan!! We love you.

Aleana made Ethan's cake - in case you can't see, it's a checker board. Cool!!

Brothers focussing on making pies (the ones without pastry).

This shot would have looked even better with an SLR :) - that's okay.

Aleana loves to play around with the camara.

We were treated to another performance by the Faber Fab Four.

This TV didn't have a volume control!!

The group bow after the show - Peter was technical support.

Singing together...

This is just too hollywood - the way Peter is looking at Matthew is so cute.

It just shows his true admiration and love for his older brother.

Monkey see, monkey do.

We move on to Remembrance Day - Aleana made these poppies for our breakfast places.
Real Sweet.

Matthew created a 5 page story with pictures about Hitler and the war and Canada saving Holland. We visit to show him our thanks.

Opa was touched. Notice Matthew's Holland shirt and Opa's poppy.

It was sunny on Remembrance Day - the only day that week.
Opa was bright and cheery too.

We had a special and memorable visit with Opa and Oma after we went to the cenataph.

Oma gave us parsley to take home, Peter insisted on holding it home. It was a long day - as you can tell.

Dad baking with the boys so Mom can take the older kids swimming.
Distraction is our friend.

This is where I'll end.

One morning, Matthew excitingly exclaimed to me, "Mom, I think I saw God!" Well, I proceeded with caution, for surely he had not become a prophet! So I asked him where he had seen God. "Well, He's the rider of the clouds and you should see these clouds, He is right on them!" And this is what he saw. The picture does not do it justice AT ALL. It was much more beautiful the first time we looked and by the time I got the camara the glory had diminished slightly and then the camara does not take pictures into the light very well. It is one of those moments when your heart swells with joy and you seriousily start to wonder if this is what it be like when Jesus returns to take us with Him.

I did explain to him that the sun was NOT God but rather his creation. With all our study of Egypt lately I did not want him to be confused on that matter!!!

That is what I love about Matthew - he is always showing me beauty in everything.

1000 gifts - continued

So I fugured if I typed in 20 a week for a year - I would be close to 1000.
This exercise may bore some, but that's okay :).
I am thankful to the LORD for...

1) For Peter's cuteness that softens every problem
2) For Matthew's dimple that brightens any day
3) For Ethan's grand sense of justice
4) For Aleana's willingness to help
5) For Will's dreams that I love being a part of
6) For Peter's tarzan stance when he has no shirt on (I'll take a picture)
7) For Matthew and his eagerness to learn
8) For Ethan and the way he can fiddle with things, fix them and create new things
9) For Aleana's bright blue eyes
10) For Will's health that is soooo much better
11) For grandparents that lived during the war and helped us gain freedom
12) For soldiers who died for our freedom
13) For the freedom to honor our soldiers we have now and show thanks to God.
14) For a new minister for our congregation
15) For Peter's hugs that are so snuggy
16) For Matthew's sensitive side (he cried and cried today when Matthew on "Anne of Green Gables" died
17) For Ethan's strong and confident persona
18) For Aleana's knack for picking things out when we shop - much better than mine!!
19) For Will's confidence in me that is far greater than my confidence in myself
20) For all these people we call family - purely a gift from God!!!

A Thousand Gifts

Trying to find beauty in everything and gratefulness in dust filled corners of life. In order to do this I will begin my own list of One Thousand Gifts. How many can I write today? Thank you LORD for your innumerable gifts!!

1) For children who are healthy
2) For husband who is feeling more healthy than ever!!
3) For children who played nicely together today - all of them.
4) For warm wind on a November day.
5) For family - the ebb and flow of emotions.
6) For enough food - for cooked pumpkin in freezer - yum!
7) For friends who listen to my banter
8) For giving Grandma Buma her bone scan in two days instead of months
9) For Super Nanny who has helped us with her techniques in the past two weeks
10) For grey days that make the warmth inside warmer and the cozy company cozier
11) For grey hair that signifies wisdom and bestows grace and humbleness :)
12) For laundry which means we have clothes to wear
13) For warm clothes out of the dryer - so nice to fold!
14) fOR QUIET moments folding - many thoughts swirl in the folds of cloth
15) For Sundays to meet your people and to worship you - LORD
16) For the ability to walk and enjoy exercise
17) For love that pours forth from YOU
18) For the gift of books - oh joy!
19) For the Bible - the best book of all
20) For prayer which connects me to YOU


I hope to exercise this - once a week. An Exercise in thanksgiving will be a very worthwhile exercise - the LORD be with you all this week!!
love, Gloria

November 2 - Happy Birthday Ethan!!

This is our son, Ethan William - now nine years old.

Below is an excerpt from my journal, about the day he was born.

The day before you were born I baked coconut squares for your baptism. The night before you were born we went to WillowBrook mall because your Dad wanted to look at shoes. We walked around alot because I was already six days overdue (Oct. 27 being your due date) and walking is suppose to help things move along. I was really craving ice cream too so we stopped to enjoy some - I had an Oreo Waffle cone and quite enjoyed it. We came home and went to bed.

Your Dad fell asleep right away (as usual) and after a half an hour of tossing and turning I began to have contractions. I decided to let your Dad sleep. Finally at 0200 I woke him up. Want to know what I did for those three hours before that? Well, I figured if this was it and I was really in labor I was going to look neat and tidy, so I braided my hair, plucked my eyebrows and I even considered shaving my legs but in the end I didn't feel like it. Then I read the newspaper for over an hour and then I finshed some last minute packing, got dressed, then woke your Dad.

At 2, the pains were five minutes apart, they were painful but managable. At the hospital they checked my cervix (go look it up if you want to know whta that is!) and I wasn't even dialating so it's false labor they told me. As well, at the hospital the pains went backwards to further apart (8mins) so they sent us home. We were not impressed and I was especially disappointed. We got home around 0400 and they had told me to sleep - yah right. Sure, I wasn't in excruciating pain but it was painful enough and the anticipation at this point was high. I tossed and turned (again) until 5am and then I got out of bed and showered for about a half an hour. Once again, the shower did the trick.

When I got out of there, the pain had shifted into my lower back and it slowely became worse. I dealt with it on the couch for about an hour or thinking I wanted to be sure it was the real thing this time. At 6:30 am my mucous plug came out and pains continued to worsen and the pressure was getting intense - I felt like pushing!! I figured now I must really be in labor, so I woke Dad up. He was leary about it, but he phoned the hospital like I asked him to and even they were leary that things would go that fast. Well, Dad wasn't so leary anymore when we were in the van and I started grunting that pushing sound (from all the pressure, not REALLY in transition). He sure, put the pedal to the medal then!!!

Off to the hospital we went and a good thing too - it felt like someone was grabbing all the muscles in my back and pulling them out. I was 6 cm at the hospital at about 0715 (you were born at 0815). We had to wait about 20minutes for a birthing room and by the time we got in things had progressed to 8cm (you were born 40mins later!). By this time the doctor had arrived and she decided to break my water because I was feeling so much pressure. Soon after that I was 10cm and ready to push. At the start I had the urge to push but slowly the feeling diminished and it became just constant excruciating pain.

Eventually the doctor decided to do an episotomy (I was happy for it at the time) and it was a good thing too, because the reason for all the back labor, no pushing sensation, long pushing time etc... was because you shocked everyone and came out posterior (facing up). We were also shocked at how big you were - 9lbs 8.5ozs!!! I was very thankful that I was able to push you out with very little intervention such as forceps or c-section. Your Dad and I were very thankful that you were well and safely with us. I did lose alot of blood with you and didn't get to hold you right away (in hindsight I could of, I wasn't passed out or anything). The bleeding was okay after I was checked out by a specialist and given some Oxytocin for that. There were no serious tears, it was all just from the position and from your size.

When I got to finally hold you - I was so thankful for you - you were so healthy looking!! I was glad for your Dad that you were a boy and I was even happier you looked like him because I think your Dad is so cute (oh gag!! - but still true to me). The proudest moment for me after having both my children is being wheeled down the hall in the wheelchair holding our baby, going to the post partum unit because everyone smiles so nicely at you and you just feel such a sense of accomplishment as if to say "Wow! Look at what I've done". And it's really not us - it's God who gives the strength and deserves the glory but that feeling is so great and so wonderful because of what the LORD has done FOR us and through us.

When you came forth into this world both your father and I cried - we felt so blessed. The first night in the hospital you fussed until 3 0r 4am but most newborns do that the first couple of days before they get the days and nights figured out. I enjoyed our special time together in the hospital.

"Bless the LORD oh my soul and all that is within me bless His Holy Name!! Psalm 103:1

- the verse from the birth announcement we placed in the Clarion.

More thoughts about Ethan's birth.

The day that we spent in the hospital together I remember I called you my little pumpkin and Chinese monk. Your eyes were all swollen shut into slits from being squeezed out the way you were. You also had a small bump on your head (subdural hematoma), just like Aleana had had, which made us wonder if that's just the way it was going to be with all our babies but then Matthew and Peter didn't have it - no big deal just a curiosity.

Your Dad was very pleased that we had a boy - something extra special about that. Also, you were our best baby so far. You were so content with life and we had such a nice relationship from the start. It was a welcome relief after we had learned so much with Aleana and all her crying. You were the total opposite. We had learned abit more about babies and about being parents. It was just a joy nursing you and caring for you. Honestly, your first year was so smooth that I was starting to believe that you were the perfect kid - NOT true, but it was nice to think it for that first year. Good memories.

We are very thankful for our son Ethan and we praise God for blessing us with him. He thinks about things alot and has a very tangible idea of what would be right and what would be wrong.

He likes to tinker with things and fix them up, and make new things that are useful and create artwork that has beauty. We love Ethan and we pray that the LORD will grant us many more years together to worship our Creator, and enjoy Him forever.