Spring in Vancouver

This is a view of the mountains from our neighborhood.

Caleb and Karis are wheeling their way to the park.

Ben's favorite place to be is "outslide".

This is a little bitty steam engine at a local park.

Cherry Blossoms are Everywhere!

We are learning all about getting around Vancouver now. We learn about a new bus every day that goes here or there. We have been figuring out what to do when we get to the bus stop only to see the bus rolling on down the road. We've learned what sky train stations have working elevators so that we can get to the platform with the stroller. We've learned where to buy groceries and where not to. We've learned what parks have good slides. We've learned about some of the best places to meet up with people in our neighborhood and even a couple of stores where we might run into West Africans.

We have class sessions about four days a week now and the rest is time out in the field. The kids have quickly located some things they want to do. Now they just need to locate the money tree so that they can do them all!!! You can ski or snowboard around here. There is a great aquarium and a zoo. There are all sorts of shops and parks. There are swimming pools and restaurants of every kind. There is whale watching and ice skating. There are beaches and mountains and waterfalls. Of course we have to do our work, but we hope to do many of the things that are Vancouver specials during the time we are here.

I hope you all are having a great time basking in the glory of our risen Savior!
Heather

At Home in Vancouver

Our Home

On the Sea Bus

At the airport

We are figuring out our new home. We have learned to take Sky Trains and Bline buses and Sea Buses. We've seen, at least briefly, many of the sights here in Vancouver.

Our regular day starts out as we catch the bus to catch the train to walk up the mountain to get to the office. There the kids spend time with their TCK friends doing some school, while the adults have our own classes. Then we walk down the mountain to get to the train to get to the bus that takes us home. We're meeting many people from many different parts of the world but are still a little short on West Africans. We hope to remedy that soon. Pray for us for open doors and words to say.

I thought you might like a few shots of our new home.

Love,
Heather

Farewell Photos

Enjoying the Spring Flowers

Cold Day in the Park

Just Goofing at Nana's

Bedtime Story

Homesick

We listened to one of my favorite albums on the way to church this morning. We were to speak at a church about 2 1/2 hours away, so we had a lot of time to kill. It was an album we bought in Abidjan and is my favorite not because of the perfection of the recording or the magnificent voices of the singers but because it sounds just like a worship service in our Abidjan home. It is all in French and decoding what is being said is part of what keeps my attention always on the praise that is wrapped up in the wording of each song. Sometimes when I sing familiar songs in English, I just get caught up in the singing and don't really "hear" what I am singing about. I was also imagining my favorite Africans leading and dancing and enjoying the words of the praise that was being sung. One of the choruses to a really happy song said "...Even when things are bad, I won't be afraid, because You are always with me." It was so neat to hear that and another that says that "God is a God of miracles". I hope and pray that yesterday they were able to join together and sing and believe songs like that.

While we were in worship, I was so thrilled to see several African American families there. To have them worshiping with us was great. All of this and talking about our beloved city and friends and brothers and sisters began to make me very homesick. But even in the middle of all of that, I know how terribly I will miss my friends and family here. So I began to really think about something else. Maybe the home that I am more homesick for than anything else is that day when we are all at home in the Lord. Then my worlds will collide. I've often said that it feels that I live in two worlds, one in Abidjan and one in the states. As our career goes on, I imagine that we will be fortunate enough to call many places home, but we can know that all of those that believe will one day be reunited to worship the Lamb in our many languages. I hope we are yet given more time. There are those that I pray are with us on that day worshiping the Lamb that haven't yet gone that direction.

We are still ever so sad and mindful of our friends in Abidjan. They are still having such a difficult time. Please don't grow tired of praying for them.

We are getting ready to go to Vancouver. We are deciding what will go in a suitcase, what will go in our ocean freight crate and what we need but don't have. I hope we can get it all together because we are now down to less than one week. We have to get the house we have lived in and the car we have used well cleaned and prepared to be returned to their owners. We are so thankful for Joyce, Eastwood Baptist Church and The River that have given us a great place to live for these last 5 months. We are thankful to Macedonian Call for a vehicle that has never failed us.

We love you all. For those we leave behind here in the states, it has been so great to be with you. I wish that we could have seen some we missed and seen others that we did see more, but it has been a good time. To those that we are missing in Africa, I wish we were getting on a plane to come to you, but all in good time. To those new friends in Canada, we are looking forward to a time of learning more of what it means to serve in an urban setting with you.

Serving Him,
Heather

Visiting

After our trip to Cullman, AL for their missions conference, we headed down to FL to see my family. I've been able to visit my grandparents home and enjoy the nostalgia of so many good memories with them and made some new ones. I got to visit with some of my cousins and my aunt and uncle. Now we are back with my parents and sister's family and my youngest brother. There is only a short time left until our departure, so there is much to do!

Please continue to pray for the people in Abidjan. Things have gotten pretty bad since I last reported. We pray that things calm down for the sake of our people and so we can go back in July.

Heather

At the Park

One of the things that we really miss when we are in Africa is all of the great parks you all have here. There is absolutely nothing like that where we are, so we have been not so patiently waiting for weather good enough to go out to play! The temperature was in the mid 50s here yesterday, which is still ridiculously cold to me, but much warmer than it has been. We had a great time feeding the ducks and geese, playing on the playground equipment and walking a couple of miles on the walking trail around the lake. I did inform Caleb and Karis that we are NEVER walking around the lake again without the stroller. I said this as Ben kicked and screamed to get off of my shoulders because "he's a big boy and he can walk too!" I can only imagine how long it might have taken us to walk the 2+ mile trail at 16 month speed!

Heather

Basketball

In between speaking and home school and visiting friends and family, the kids have taken this opportunity to play some organized sports. Caleb has always enjoyed playing sports, but this was Karis time to play basketball. Caleb has been amazing everyone with his quick movement around the court. He is often the smallest kid on the court, but still manages to take several rebounds. He is a good shot when he takes his time and often steals the ball from his opponent before he even knows what happened. Karis has learned to play very quickly. She has already made some baskets and is a good defensive player. She loves to bring the ball down the court and if she gets stuck, she looks for her best friend/cousin to bail her out. Karis has enjoyed getting to learn the sport at the side of her favorite cousin!