Pictures, Pizza, and Pride

We're so thankful our older girls are such hard workers and have great employment this summer. Altho at times, it means a little juggling of activities, cars, and other resources. Father's Day was one of those juggling times. The kids gave Robin his gifts on Saturday night. Kaylin even threw in some Pinterest inspiration and put together a collage in a frame. Really sweet.

On Sunday Robin asked for pizza for his lunch so Peter and Gaëlle worked with me to put the meal together.

And Robin lounged around. 

On Sunday there was a 3 Km Run for 3 Fathers. It was hosted in Moncton for the 3 RCMP officers who were killed. However, anybody could sign up and do a virtual run. So, 5 of us signed up and we met Emily and Penny in Halifax and ran together. 

The run was an incredible success. They literally planned it in just a few days and Moncton had a couple of thousand runners. The final numbers aren't in but they are saying that they raised around $120,000. Amazing. All of the money will go to the 3 families. We are still hurting from the events of the past few weeks, but so proud to be able to help out in some small way. 

Today, God is speaking my language.

I have been thinking about the ministry that my parents have been involved in throughout the years. Both of my parents love the word of God and love sharing scripture with others. My mom has shared exciting Bible stories with lots of children in every community we have lived in. My dad has discipled men over the years and has always studied scripture. The Seed Company is an organization committed to spreading God's word around the world.   They train translators and send them to people around the world who do not have the Bible in their language. For Mother's Day I donated to a project training women to share Bible stories with women. For Father's Day I donated money to The Seed Company to train translators. It's a gift from my parents that I can read God's word. It's time for all people to hear and know about God's love.

Playing Catch Up

Food really speaks to the kids. One night Robin was gone and so I took the 3 of us out to eat and then to the library for a quick visit. One of the kids said later, "This was a fun night." It was a simple evening, but we had been having a few days where one child was not very happy. For some reason, the outing of food seemed to soften hearts and helped us move past the anger. Anyway, a great night.

Our puppet group ended the year with a full service in Junior Church. We had a few hiccups along the way trying to put this together, but by the end of it, we had a GREAT time and it all went smoothly.

Robin loves his sound system.

We had a nice group of kids show up which always helps the puppeteers.

One of the moms came out and joined us for the last few practices. She was a HUGE help and we are so thankful she jumped on board.

We also pulled a ringer in from olden days. Kaylin was home and agreed to help us as well. Needless to say, she jumped right in and was a BIG help. 

We ended our time with some backlight fun. We had the kids make their own backlight props and then we just let them go. Emily did this with her group a couple of months ago at The Club. She said that it was a hit there so we borrowed her idea and it definitely was a hit with these kids as well. They loved it. 

Our final group. A really great bunch which we enjoyed so much. They pulled together so well and our show was a lot of fun.

Robin and I have gotten out a few times together over the past few weeks. On this night, we hired a babysitter for Gaëlle while Peter was at youth group and we went for a long walk on a trail near the church. What a blast.

Gaëlle had her first shot for Precocious Puberty in June. It was quite an experience. It was a large shot and she definitely felt it. And she knows that she'll be getting this monthly. So it called for a treat afterwards. She asked for a Starbucks Treat. Once we got there, she went for a fancy drink while I got coffee.

Emily is passionate about rights for people living with disabilities. One of her beliefs is that we  need to provide more options for adults living with disabilities so that they can have more freedom and a better quality of life. So she participated in a demonstration in front of a local group home. I went along because I also believe that we can do more. 

Robin had a birthday this week. Wahoo. Emily made him potato salad. It is definitely one of his favourites and I think this was Emily's first time making a traditional potato salad but you would never know it. It was great.

Kaylin made him one of his favourite cakes for his birthday; Lemon Meringue Cake. It was also delicious. 

I'm so blessed to be a part of Robin's life. I can't imagine a better partner to be sharing this journey with. Happy Birthday.

I'm just sharing this because... what a fun little bottle of ketchup. Last night Kaylin stayed home with the kids while Robin and I went out again, by ourselves. Wow. Robin had a burger and fries and they came with this little jar of personal ketchup.