Away She Goes!!

The Long anticipated day has arrived!!!

Katie and her classmates had to endure the day at school before loading into the bus for the airport. They had an overnight flight to London.

Day 1

Wednesday March 9

They will drop off their gear at the hotel and then go right into seeing London.

Westminster Abby

Day 2

London

Piccadilly Circus

Fish and Chips

London Bridge

Take the Eurostar to Paris

Day 3

Paris

In the morning they will see

Les Invalides (Napoleon's Military Museum)

Free time in the afternoon:

Eiffel Tower

The Louvre

The Opera District:

Louis Voutton

GUCCI

Hugo Boss

In the evening they will visit The Notre Dame Cathedral

and then go to Montmartre (Mountain of Martyrs)

Day 4

Paris

A visit to Palace of Versailles

Built by Louis XIV and made famous by his Grandchildren

Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.

They will then travel to the Normandy Region of France.

The final stop for the day will be at Dieppe

Day 5

The focus will be on the D-Day landing sights of WWII.

Omaha and Juno Beach as well as the Cemetery at Beny-Sur-Mer.

The kids were all assigned a Canadian soldier to research before the trip.

At Beny-Sur-Mer they will find their grave and place a Poppy there.

Katie was assigned an American Soldier and will find his grave as well.

A very somber time as the kids realize that most of these soldiers were their age when they died. We appreciate Katie's teacher and the fact that he teaches that Freedom, weather American or Canadian, came at a very high price.

He Shared with us that this is not a Happy Day on the trip, but it is one of the most meaningful for the kids.

Day 6

A visit to Mont St. Michel. A monastery dating back to the 8th Century.

In the afternoon, they see William the Conqueror's Castle in Caen and visit the

Caen Museum (a tribute to the efforts during WWII).

Day 7

The Battlefield tour continues with

Somme and Vimmy Ridge.

Day 8

Belgium

First stop will be at Ypres

The Menin Gate: A tribute to the fallen at the Battle of Ypres

In the afternoon they will travel to Ghent where they will have a free afternoon in this beautiful city..... Then off to Dinner in Amsterdam.

Day 9

Amsterdam

The tour includes a stop at the Concentration Camp at Vught

A visit to the Westerkerk (West Church), and

Anne Frank House

Day 10

Flight home from Amsterdam

You may need to Google some of these places like I did, but this gives kind of an overview of what they will be seeing. Of course they have been studying all of this all year in History class so it will mean so much as they see it all first hand. What a great experience!!!

We can't wait to hear all about it when Katie returns. She has two cameras with her and a Journal so the trip should be well documented.

This and That

It is hard to believe that it is the middle of February already.

We have been very busy since Christmas. Here is a little of what has gone on;

A visit to Houghton College in Houghton New York.

Katie and Danielle had a good time and we all enjoyed the

College. Katie has a tough decision to make in the next couple of months!!

January brought exams. We are so proud of Katie and how hard she studies.

Chester did all he could to help out.

A wonderful visit from a very special friend from Palomar. Hope is now in New York, but

will soon be moving to Georgia, so it was so much fun to spend some time with her.

We had talked about getting together and we are so thankful that

she journeyed up to see us.

The first of February took us to Grass Valley where we celebrated

Ken's Mother's 80th Birthday. It was a successful surprise and it was so good

to see her and the rest of the family.

She sure looks great!!!

Happy Birthday again Mother. We love you!!!

Bad Dog!!!!!!

We got home and jumped right into a busy weekend.

Chester had to be left alone quite a bit so he found things to entertain himself.

We have learned that we need to close his crate once he is out in the morning, otherwise he pulls his blanket out and .......... well you see! Someone forgot to close the crate.

This is his second dish. The other one looked quite a bit better.

Two bucks at Walmart. I guess we will need to invest in a third one.

This is really the first shoe that he has eaten. There is an appropriate place for shoes.

This one just didn't get put away ........... Katie?

Other Stuff

Ken is busy with Camp Fairs each Sunday through April. Different Churches invite camps to come and share. It has been good to get out there and introduce Guelph to local and neighboring Churches.

He has been dealing with snow although, we have had a heat wave lately so he has been able to park the plough and focus on some other things this week.

I got the summer brochures mailed last week. What a task. I did have lots of help stuffing and sealing and stamping and am so thankful for that. Now I just wait a week or two and the registrations will start rolling in!!

I had the opportunity to cook last weekend. About 80 on Saturday. It was a lot of fun, but with my other responsibilities, I am glad we have a full time cook!!!

I have also been talking to some potential summer staff. It is exciting to see where that will lead and who God has to fill those summer positions.

Katie is thankful that exams are over with. Our trip to Northern California came at just the right time. She is in the school play and practices on Mondays and Wednesdays. The play, "When in Rome" will be presented in April.

She leaves for Europe on March 8th and is very excited about that. She will be gone for 10 days with her grade 12 class. It won't be long and she will be graduating. (We try not to think about that too much).

Until Next time.......

Happy New Year Everyone!!

It has been a busy month and I have neglected my blog, but I

Thank you for checking in. I wasn't sure if I should write a bunch of short posts, or one long one. I opted for the long one. Here is a bit of what has been going on in our lives

lately.

The first part of December Katie and I took a trip to California to visit CBU.

Two of Katie's friends from there came a long and they had a great time catching up and spending time together.

I was able to stay with Marlene and Steve and visit Tom and Kari in the desert. It was also nice to be warm for a little while.

Briana, Audrey and Katie

We didn't have many guests at camp during December, but there still seemed to be lots to do. We worked on getting our 2011 summer brochures ready to print, as well as some year end things. It is hard to believe that Camp Registrations, as well as summer staff applications, will be coming in soon. We have really enjoyed the quietness of winter, but as always, we will welcome the business of summer when the time comes.

Lisa was scheduled to come in late on the 21st, so we got to Buffalo early to do some last minute shopping. Of course Lisa had to spend the night in Chicago, (again), but was able to catch the first flight out in the morning. It was so wonderful to see her and although she was very tired, we drug her along to do some more shopping before heading home.

Christmas Eve is always special. Fondue again, before going to church.

It was discussed and decided that it takes 3 times to make a tradition. What do you think?

Once is, well,........once. Two times is,.... "That was fun, lets do it again". Three times, a tradition is created! We will see what next year brings! This year was #2.

Church was wonderful! Lots of singing and special time of worship, bring our hearts to focus on the reason we celebrate. Looking not only at the manger, but at the Cross and the empty tomb as well!!

Here are some photos of Christmas

Katie gave Lisa a picture that she had Holly paint of Ribbon. Katie has had it since she was in California last March for Spring break. She was so excited to finally give it to Lisa. Holly's husband, Pete made the frame so it is an extra special treasure.

New Coat!

Katie also got Ice Skates. All of her friends have been skating since they could walk, but she does well. We find that most places don't even rent skates, everyone just brings their own.

What girl doesn't need a pair of red mittens from Canada?

Who's gift is it anyway? We all enjoyed Ken's new Keurig

Love my shirt from Corban!

Christmas Dinner

Still catching up on much needed rest!

A perfect spot to read.

On the 26th we headed to the Nations Capital, Ottawa. We had gotten the information and had planned out what we wanted to do while we were there. Unfortunately much of the attractions were closed until after the first of the year. We still enjoyed ourselves and did get to see some things. We had a comfortable room with a kitchen, so we were able to relax and just spend time together.

Canadian Museum of Civilization

This museum featured "The Horse" which was interesting.

The museum was actually across the river in Quebec.

How many "hands" tall is Lisa?

From the Quebec side we had a beautiful view of the back side of Parliament

It was a very cold day!

One of the things that we were most looking forward to was the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police), tour. "Closed until January 3rd".

Parliament was open and we were able to go inside . All the buildings are so old and ornate. Very beautiful!

This was taken in the Rotunda of the Parliament building.

Lisa's Birthday isn't until the 10th but we thought that we should celebrate a little early since she would not be with us on her birthday.

We went to the "Symposium". This was the third birthday that we celebrated there. Must be a tradition!!!

Happy 22nd Birthday, Dear Lisa!!

We put Lisa on the plane on Wednesday. Does that ache ever go away?

We had such a wonderful time together and cherish all the moments that we had.

January is full as we get back to regular life again.

Guests start coming in,

school fund raisers,

puppy class,

play practice,

snow removal,

and the list goes on.... Just like yours. We miss you all and wish you a wonderful 2011!

Thanksgiving

We celebrated Thanksgiving on November 29th

Katie invited two friends from school to join us and experience a

US Thanksgiving. Not too much different from the Canadian Thanksgiving. Katie told them the story of Christopher Columbus and the Mayflower. Pilgrims, Indians and the first Thanksgiving.
Interesting version....... It's hard to think back to second grade when you have Senioritis.

Laura, Danielle and Katie

Winter has come!

Bambi: Mother look! What's all that white stuff?

Mother: Why, it's snow!

Bambi: Snow?

Mother: Yes. Winter has come.

Our first snow!

The Branson Birthday Bash

She sure doesn't look 80!

We had such a wonderful time with Family! All of Mom's Brothers and Sisters were able to share in the Celebration!

Loyal . Ray . Alton

Joyce . Valdean . Bonnie

Dianne . Marlene . Pat

Sisters!!!!!
More Sisters!!!
The Friesen Sisters with 3 of the Lennen Sisters!!!!

We enjoyed spending time with Bill, Aunt Carol, Aunt Patti, Aunt Dolores and Uncle Dan as well. We saw six shows, did some shopping and ate a lot!

The weather was perfect and the Christmas decorations were abundant.

Most of all it was wonderful to catch up and visit with everyone.

Steve, Mom, Mike, Peggy and Tom

Firsts and Lasts

Last year was a year of "FIRSTS".

All the excitement of being in a new home, a new town

a new job, a new school, a new Country, etc....

As I am looking at this year it finally hit me......

This is somewhat of a year of "LASTS".

As Katie is diligently applying to Colleges

and arranging visits, we realize that we will soon

be empty nesters.

(excuse me while I go get the box of Kleenex).

We have so much fun with Katie and are so Thankful

that she has enjoyed all of the "FIRSTS" along with us.

The "LAST" time we will all be scurrying around putting a costume together! From Clowns to Pirates and everything in between, we have put together Fall Costumes for 21 years.

We know that Katie will be ready to go next fall when it is time, and we are excited for her as she looks toward her year of "FIRSTS", again and all the fun experiences that await her at college and beyond.