Saskatoon

Driving down Spadina Crescent along the river in Saskatoon. (A picture taken out of our rented car.). We just returned from a trip to visit Marilyn's mom and family who all live in Saskatoon. Temperatures were record breaking. It seems that it had not been this cold in March for 125 years. Yikes! Being of fairly tough stock, we still were able to walk outside daily. And, of course, we had a great time visiting with everyone.

Marilyn with brother, Allen and sister, Brenda. We met at the Mendel Art Gallery for coffee one afternoon.

Mom, at the art gallery conservatory, checking to see if this is a real tree.

These three young women hosted the whole family for a dinner. The person in the back is my niece, Katya, middle one is Mairin, my niece also and Allison is in the front. She is a friend of both these gals. They are housemates.

Comforts

A few days ago Lou was enjoying a good book with the comfort of Stella on his lap...come to think of it, Stella looks quite comfortable as well.

Today we had planned to visit with friends in Halifax. However, as we were travelling along the highway we thought it would be wise to turn back towards home as the freezing rain was intensifying. I decided to make some "comfort" food. One of my favorite granola recipes from "More with Less Cookbook"--Koinonia Granola. Smells wonderful!

Lawrencetown Beach--Atlantic Ocean

This morning we walked at one of our favourite places--Lawrencetown Beach. The waves were scheduled to be very high and the tide was low. The white stuff you see is not snow, but sea foam. More than we had ever seen before. With each new wave, more foam accumulates.

There were also very strong winds, making the situation at optimum conditions for Stella. You see, the foam is loosened by the wind making it so much fun to chase. She made us laugh as she feverishly chased the chunks of sea foam along the beach.

We have seen many beaches in the world but the beaches here in Nova Scotia have the most beautifully coloured stones. I am fascinated by the variations in colour.

These beautiful tulips remind us that spring is coming.

Blizzard Action Today

Good thing that I went skating earlier this morning. Yes, I skated out on the lake where now it is blowing snow. Visibility is not that great. (As you can see from the picture). Lou is enjoying a cup of 3 in 1! For those who may not know, 3 in 1 is a prepared drink mix of coffee, coffeemate, sweetener. It is especially popular with many Asians. We had a package lurking in our cupboards. Lou was excited to find it. I am drinking rooiboos tea and making a lentil soup. Yes, we are hunkered down. Preparing to watch what we can of the Obama to Canada visit.

A sunset shot of a few days ago as we drove from Dartmouth to home.

Tacloban, Cebu and Home

These beautiful children tagged along with us as we walked the "stations of the cross" up a mountain in Tacloban. We enjoyed oranges as abit of a snack when we arrived at the view point.

Back in Cebu and Andrey and Jen's house. This is one of our favourite reading corners.

Our last dinner with these kids. We had many good conversations at these times.

We arrived home just shortly after midnight on Feb. 11. We are into our second day back in Nova Scotia. It is good to be home even with the snow and rainy weather. We are so thankful for God's mercy and grace as we have travelled thousands of miles and have arrived safely at home, in good health. And we are thankful for our children both far away and here at home.

So...it is time now to go for a walk with Stella.

Borongan

A beautiful early morning view from a bridge in Borongan.

So many beautiful children everywhere--always delightfully happy and eager to have their pictures taken. These children were playing on the beach after school and followed me as I walked along.

A processional with the people in the church project in which our sponsored child is enrolled. We were walking to Dhivon's house. They were all so welcoming and thrilled that we had come.

Visit to our sponsored Compassion child in Borongan

Picture taken from a tricycab--a side car to a motorcycle with a roof overtop and an extra seat in the back. There were three of us plus the driver.
On our way from Tacloban to Borongan. A bridge had been washed out, requiring us to walk across and switch to a vehicle on the other side of the bridge.

Some of the beautiful scenery along the way.

Workers coming to work in Tacloban from a closeby island.