Our Second Home...

The time finally came, when we said goodbye to our little 'apartment' at 702 Mt. Pleasant Road, and moved to our little rental home on Ellis Ave... It was such a blessing to be able to stay with Mom and Dad and the brothers, and whoever else was there at the time, for those almost three months while we waited for our place to be ready for us. Everyone was so good about having us, from what was supposed to be only a week or two there, to 11 weeks. Made lots of memories at the Windmill!The Lord does all things well, and He used the time to teach me some things...He knows what is best!
Our front door entrance:

Our little suite (after we had cleaned it up, and moved all our furniture out... :)

Moving Day!

After almost three months of living at the Windmill, moving day came!! It didn't really feel like we'd ever get in at times, but in His timing, we made it. :) It was one exciting day to walk into the house, clean it up, and unpack our clothes, our wedding gifts, and items I hadn't seen for 7 months or more.... Our living room with boxes... We right away put Grandpa and Grandpma Jost's china cupboard in place, and I found one of my dishes from our set to set on it....couldn't believe that we were moving in....tears of joy!

Us in our new home. :)

We had some awesome help that day cleaning out the kitchen cupboards, the fridge that needed some major TLC, and hauling boxes up and down: The Eastons' - friends from our church came over in the afternoon, and really blessed us, and brought us supper. :) This is Rhonda (the mom) and her eldest, Morgan. They work at Circle Square Ranch which is nearby. The other three children did a lot of work, but I just didn't get a picture of them...they are all sweethearts and I appreciate them a lot.

After the Eastons left, and after the yummy supper with Ian (our landlord) Rob, and another guy Shayne, the guys set to work to get our queen box spring up the stairwell....it turned into a few hour ordeal, as they removed the top tread of the stairs, cut into the wood/drywall at the top.....and push and shoved...and after the dust had fallen onto our clean walls....they made it up. :) And a few minutes later, Henry (brother)called to say that William had a split queen box spring that is made to go up small areas....what you know after.... :) But the guys did such a great job and stuck to it, and I'm so thankful we have it upstairs - maybe to stay upstairs...

Unpacking....it's like Christmas! Such fun to be in our home, and rejoice in God's continued faithfulness together.

"As for me and my house...we will serve the LORD."

Winter Banquet

This year I helped Diane out a bit with the winter banquet which the youth of the church puts on. It went really smooth, and thanks to Diane, had delicious food and atmosphere. This is the banquet that Sarah normally does, but since she's gone....Diane picked up the baton. :) And it was different too, cause for the last two years, our family has sung at it as well, so this time, I was wearing an apron, helping to assemble the meal.The desserts...

Some of the young people getting the tea and coffee out.A picture of dear Sarah, displayed in honor of all she's done for the winter banquet in years past. :)
James and Shane doing dishes...
Me and James at the end of the long day....

James' and Diane's Birthday!

November 14th was James' (and Anne-Marie's) birthday....so it was party time. :) And since Diane's birthday was the next day we had a great time.
Then for James' birthday gift, the family (headed up by Henry and Heather) sent us away for an evening at a hotel where we went swimming and watched a movie and enjoyed our evening so much....such a blessing.

Five Month Anniversary!

November 7th, 2008 was our five month anniversary, and it was lovely. We went and ordered our dining table chairs in Norwich, looked at some dishwashers for the Windmill in London, and got our very own milkshakes to celebrate our love. :) It was lovely....

Andrew & Rebecca's Visit in October...

I know I am really behind...but I still wanted to include photos from our special time with Andrew, Rebecca, and Karina. What fun to have Rebecca's laughter around again, my older brother, and little 'foozlehead' Karina...who I got to know more over those few days.
We went to St. Jacobs Market in Kitchener, and after touring the market, went to the nearby shops and 'petting zoo'.... :)

Then we went to a store that sold Lego, and we made cars to race down the Lego Speedway....

My handsome man with the cars.

The Happy Fehr Family with dino.

That evening we stopped in at an older couple - friends of the Heikoops - who presented us with a wedding gift- a beautiful watercolor picture painted by this dear man - who is an amazing artist, and who helped Dad Heikoop get a job at one time. He is a recognized artist, and we are very honored that we got such a special picture from him. It is a painting of trilliums....the Ontario flower, (my new home) and are the flowers on mom's china (my home) and a reminder of hospitality....special gift.

Then we went bowling....at the same alley where we announced our engagement to our family one year earlier.

Dad talking to little Karina.

Tim and 'foozlehead'.

James and my hands....a replica of the picture we took after we were first engaged - though this time, he's wearing a ring too!

At work...Andrew going off to price produce, with Karina managing from the top of the cart. She was quite the hit at the Windmill.

Rob winning her over...or trying to. We had her in the highchair to keep her contained. :)

One night, Henry and Heather took us two couples plus Karina out to eat...so yummy and special to be triple dating.

Andrew and Rebecca also helped us get our wallpaper on in our new house. (the master bedroom) We first had to strip the walls, and 'prime' it, so Karina oversaw us in her playpen.

Andrew taking the ugly, pink, upholstry look of wallpaper off...

Helping James tray up in the bakery one evening...

This little darling doesn't mind showing off her weight....neither did she know what she was sitting on! :)

I had Karina with me for a bit one morning before she was out of her sleeper...

...making faces and being absolutely adorable...

We played indoor volleyball one night at our church gym, with brothers, and co-workers from the Windmill.

Then the time came to say goodbye...and take them back to the Toronto airport... James had the little dolly on his shoulders, which I thought was pretty adorable.

Eating a quick bite before security took our precious family away from us... :)

And Karina walking around everywhere....just a few minutes before they left...such a special time with them all, and so thankful to God for the family He has given to us on both sides!!! Thanks for coming and sharing your lives with us Andrew and Rebecca....and Foozlehead. :)

Quick Thoughts

Life keeps moving here....no pictures to put on today, as much as I would love to, until probably next week. Then I'll have the pictures up from our awesome time with Andrew, Rebecca, Karina and Cheerio. :) That was so special to have them here, but more on that later.
Today was such a lovely balmy day, that makes me think winter must be about to attack us...but I'm hoping it will wait till a week or so from now, cause, we hope, we hope, we really hope to move into our home next week....:) That will be a dream come true, and it will be like Christmas! We've been married for almost five months now, :) and my stuff has been packed up for 6 months...and then there's all those wonderful and special wedding gifts that will so awesome to have. We're blessed! I just can't wait. : )
Tonight I"m going to an Epicure party which should be interesting and fun....get to know some more people around here.
So till next time - love ya all!