Christmas is all over

Christmas is over if you can believe it. I had a fabulous weekend with my family in Richmond. And it all began with them coming out to my church on Saturday night for our Christmas

service. There’s a catch here…. I go to a Spanish church and no one in my family (besides me) speaks Spanish. Even though they only understood about 6 words in the sermon they really enjoyed themselves. Myself and my friend Nadia attempted to translate for them but the pastor talks way too fast. After a special service we always have a big dinner and fellowship time. And we were served Tamole. This is such a very special dish. And my Dad ate ALL of his! He eats so little and doesn’t really like ethnic foods, that must have been some good food, we were all shocked! My friend Jen and her two little girls wanted to take Sydney home with them. Tam said sure but they never did follow through with it. It was great having all of them out with me.

Christmas Eve Mom, Dad and I went to see “The Nativity”. This movie was very well done. I love biblical movies that make biblical people real. So many times we read the bible and are in awe of the obedience and faith that these people had. They were average people just like you and I. Mary was probably scared out of her tree when she said to the angel “may what you have said be done unto me”. Just because she agreed to it and believed it didn’t mean that all fear or doubt would be taken from her instantly. We tend to put the “Biblical Heros” on a pedestal and think that we could never be a woman or man like them. Their triumphs tend to stick out in our mind apposed to their failures, which isn’t a bad thing. But they were human just like us and fell as many times as we do. King David was labeled as a “man after God’s own heart”, he fell into adultery and murder. It is their desire and passion to seek out God and to earnestly follow him and change that impresses me. No matter how many times they fail they look to God and accept his hand and they are lifted up. We will never measure up to what God intended mankind to be. But that’s the amazing thing about God, he loves us just as much anyways. So when you’re reading about David and Goliath or Mary and Joseph and thinking to yourself that you could never have the dedication that they had, remind yourself they probably had the same thoughts and doubts, they were average people just like you and I. But God is BIG and amazing and with him and his strength and power….. that’s when we can do things beyond ourselves, beyond what we ever thought we could do. I took this leap of faith a few times on my trip to Ecuador when I was presented with challenges (like speaking in front of 500 people or eating intestines) and I know for fact that I can not do that, but with God all things are possible and I did it. He never ceases to amaze me. It was great watching the Nativity on Christmas Eve, it really gave me a great opportunity to really reflect on what God has done for us, and the reasons why we celebrate Christmas. He left the comfort and beauty of heaven to be born as one of the lowest of these, he was born into a very poor family and in a stable! He wasn’t born into a royal family in a castle. He was born into an average struggling family. Just for us. He came to experience the things we experience. And then was tortured and killed for us. I am so thankful that he was raised from the dead and returned to heaven to prepare an amazing place for us, a place that is beyond beautiful.

I pray that each of you have had a chance this Christmas to reflect on just how much God gave up for us, just because he loves us that much. Never doubt the strength and faithfulness of God; seek him and you will find him.

Can you believe Christmas is next weekend! Puedes creer que Navidad es la proxima fin de semana!

My Gingerbread house (mi casa de galletas)

The WINNING house (la que gano)
My Trophy (mi trofeo)
I can’t believe that it is Christmas next weekend! It is coming SO fast. I am ahead of the game this year and have all of my shopping done, wrapped and under the tree at my parents house. I don’t think I have ever been so prepared.

Last Friday we had our department Christmas party and we had so much fun! It was our wrap up to our 12 days till the Christmas party countdown and I think everyone really enjoyed it. We drove everyone to the party so they didn’t know what was going on until we got to the place. We were at a beautiful B&B and had a full catered lunch and then a Gingerbread House Competition. Everyone did a great job on their house….. except for Rita and I. We were going for the “advanced” house and one piece fell and broke, OOPS! So we decided if we couldn’t have the prettiest house we would have the most, um lets say “unique” house. The picture above with the melted Frosty would be mine and Rita’s house, isn’t it pretty????? But everyone had a great time!

Monday we had a department meeting and they have started a new employee of the month program, in which the winner gets a “beautiful” trophy and a present. Well, they chose me for the first one. So I now have a very tall and beautiful trophy/ pencil holder on my desk. (picture above). Along with it I got a SkiCard from Cypress!!! I am SO excited!!! I get one free day of snowboarding and every time I go after that I get 20% off the lift ticket, woohoo!!!! I really didn’t know what to say when I got the award… it’s so awkward, they said it was for all the work I did on the Christmas party and everything. But I just had so much fun working on it, and seeing everyone’s faces every morning was just so great.

Tonight I am off to an Ugly Sweater Party. I think I have a good shot at winning. My friend Holly found me a VERY bright and ugly sweater, with BIG shoulder pads. Maybe everyone will be lucky and I’ll post some pics tomorrow. Dave, Charlene and Raynae have some very ugly sweaters too, so picking a winner will be very hard. I hope everyone is doing well and that you’re all ready for Christmas!!!!! It’s NEXT weekend!!! YEAH!!!!!!


No puedo creer que la proxima fin de semana es Navidad! El tiempo esta pasando tan rapido. Pero ya compre todo de los regalos y estan en la casa de mis padres bajo del arbol de navidad, asi estoy preparada por Navidad.

El viernes pasado tuvemos nuestra fiesta de Navidad por mi departamento de mi trabajo y eso fue el fin de doce dias de juegos y todo. Fuemos a una casa a donde comemos almuerzo y despues tuvemos un competicion para hacer “Gingerbread houses” este es un tradition a donde hacemos casitas de galletas y dulces. Son muy divertidos y muy bonitos. Pero mi casa no fue tan bonita….tratemos a hacer una casa mas bonita de todo pero un parte se cayo el piso y se rompio asi, si no podimos tener la mas bonito, quisimos tener el, como lo digo el mas diferente. Pero fue bien, todos paseron un tiempo tan chevere.

Lunes tuvemos un reunion dentro de nuestro departmento tambien y los jefes comezeron algo nuevo, una programa del emplador del mes. Y yo gane por este mes, asi tengo un trofeo en mi mesa, es TAN bonito, no mentiras es feisimo, pero tambien recibe un ticket por snowboarding! Estoy super feliz! Todo fue por el trabajo que hice por la fiesta, pero lo fue muy divertido para mi a hacer todo los planes.Hoy por el noche estoy irando una otra fiesta de navidad pero esta fiesta es de sacos feisimos! El mas feo va a ganar un premio. Lo que concontre es FEISIMO! Asi hay la posibilidad a ganar! Posible manana voy a tener fotos que puedo poner por este blog tambien.

Bueno, espero todoes estan bien y estan preparados por Navidad.

Snow, Snow and More Snow! Nieve, nieve y Mas Nieve!

The weather out side is frightful!!!!It is BEAUTIFUL!!!! We have so much snow! I haven’t seen this much snow in such a long time. In Abbotsford we have over a foot. Sunday we got to play in the snow for about 45 mins or so, it was so much fun!!!! Making snow angels, running, throwing snowballs….unfortunately I got tackled a few times too. When we got home Raynae and I built a little snow man, which was quite tilted the next day from the weight of more snow. We asked a neighbor to take a picture of the four of us and she said her father had just arrived from India a few days before and this was the first time for him to ever see snow! It was so fun seeing an older Indian man running and throwing snowballs for the first time. Snow brings out the child in all of us, my Mom even mentioned that she really wanted to go and build a snowman, don’t know why she didn’t, you’re never too old to play and have fun.

With the snow has come ice. Getting too and from work has been quite fun! My car was almost completely buried, you could see a slim bit of red at the bottom. And I don’t have the best tires on my car so didn’t want to chance driving. My co-worker Amy and her husband have been my heroes and have given me rides to work this week. I unburied my car a couple of nights ago and at 10am yesterday morning it was just sunny enough that with a few good hits on the door to loosen the ice I was able to open my driver’s side door, finally! I ran the car for 25 mins with the heat on full blast and the other three doors still won’t budge. It’s warming up today, with a high of - 1, oh so warm!!! But it sounds like the worst is yet to come, with more snow and freezing rain expected tonight they are predicting that the roads tomorrow will be worse than they have been all week. We’ll see if anyone makes it into work. It’s crazy driving down the highway and seeing all the cars in the ditches, if it is worse tomorrow I think we’ll be staying in Abbotsford and having a snow day off work.

Unfortunately, tonight is the night my nephews are playing with the Canucks and I won’t make it, very disappointing but I would be stupid to try to drive to and from downtown Vancouver in this.

Despite the crappy road conditions and everything, it is beautiful! I love the snow, it really feels like Christmas is coming now.

The pictures are of my parents house and of Raynae with our snowman. We got a lot more snow out in Abbotsford compared to Richmond where my parents live.

Es HERMOSA aqui! Tenemos mucho mucho nieve! Hace mucho tiempo que veo tanto nieve. En Abbotsford (mi cuidad) tenemos mas de 30 centimetro de nieve. Domingo fuemos a jugar en la nieve, fue tan divertido!!!! Hicimos angeles, coremos, hicimos bollas de nieve tambien! Que chevere! Cuando regresemos a la casa Rayane y yo hicimos un hombre de nieve, pero la proxima dia casi fue a su lado por el peso de mas nieve en sima. Pregunte a una vecina a tomar una foto para nosotros y ella me dijo que su padre llego de India solo 3 dias antes y este fue su primera vez a ver nieve! Fue tan chevere a ver un adulto indio a jugar en la nieve hacienda las bollas y todo. Todos portamos como ninos cuando hay nieve. Mi mama quiso hacer un hombre de nieve tambien, no se porque no lo hizo.

Pero con la nieve hay mucho hielo tambien! Las calles estan muy peligroso asi a llegar a mi trabajo esta semana esta dificil. Mi carro fue bajo de mucho nieve solo podria ver un poquito de rojo por el parte inferior y nada mas! Y no puedo moverlo por la nieve atras del carro, asi este semana vengo a mi trabajo con mi companero y su esposo. Ya saque todo la nieve de mi carro pero con el hielo no podria abrir las puertas hasta ayer, podria abrir solo una! Las otras todovia no puedo abrirlos por el hielo. Hoy hace un poquito mas calor, lunes fue -18 degrados, y solo es -1. Que caliente verdad? Pero manana va a estar peor! Hoy vamos a recibir mas nieve y un poquito de lluvia tambien que va a estar hielo manana por las calles! Asi no sabemos si podemos venir a trabajar manana. Hay muchos carros en la cuneta ahorita y si manana va a estar peor no quiero estar por el autopista!

Lasitamente hoy es el dia que mis sobrinos van a jugar hockey con los Canucks (el equipo de nuestro cuidad) y no puedo irme a mirarles. Es muy peligroso y muy lejo. Que pena.Pero la verdad es hermosa aca, me encanta la nieve, siento mas como lo es Navidad ahora.

Las fotos estan de la casa de mis padres y de Raynae con nuestro hombre de nieve. Tuvemos mucho mas nieve a mi casa que la de mis padres, ellos no recibieron mucho.

Christmas is COMING........Navidad es aqui.....

Well, life has been not really boring but nothing out of the ordinary or exciting lately. Hence, no posting to the blog. But here we go….Christmas is coming and things get exciting!!!!

This week we started our Christmas celebration in our department at work. Our Christmas party is a surprise to all the staff, but I get to know EVERYTHING!!! And to build up to the fantastic event we are doing a 12 days till the Christmas party countdown. I made everyone in the department festive envelopes and every morning they have to check their mail, and there is a surprise or game for them to do each day. They get to win points and prizes…. All leading up to winning the GRAND PRIZE at the party! And it is a sweet prize. It has been so much fun watching everyone come into the office all excited to see what’s in their envelope. They are like a bunch of kids on Christmas morning. And they haven’t even seen the really fun stuff yet!!!!! Oh it’s great!

I think the most exciting thing on the go right now is with my nephews, it’s like an early Christmas present. Next Wednesday, November 29th, they get to go and play hockey with the CANUCKS!!! I am so excited, I have been given the afternoon off of work so I can see their faces as they skate on GM ice, with some of the CANUCKS!!! They get a tour of GM Place and then some ice time with the coaches and some team members. We have no idea which Canucks will actually be there but who cares, it’s still a thrill for Stephen and Caleb to get to skate with real professional hockey players. I can’t wait to see their faces and share the excitement with them, I am so thankful for getting the afternoon off of work to go. YEAH!

I’m also preparing for our Christmas program at church. For those of you that don’t know I work with a youth group at a small Spanish church in Surrey. And as a group we get to do something in the Christmas Program. So Hermana Lillian had a great skit for us to do, and I get to be CINDERELLA! How fun is that!!!! It’s a short skit with Cinderella, Snow White, Little Red Riding Hood, Aladdin, Pinocchio and Santa. And yes it all ties into the birth of Jesus. I only have a few lines which is good because I have to learn them in Spanish!!!! I also get to be in a short skit about the birth of Jesus and for that one I will be playing Mary, thankfully no lines to remember. Our Christmas service is in just a few weeks on December 23rd. Everyone is more than welcome to come….. however the service is in Spanish, I can translate when not on stage.

That’s about all the excitement these days. Will keep you posted after our amazing afternoon with the Vancouver Canucks!!!!!!


Navidad esta aqui!

Bueno, no habia muchas cosas interesantes pasando en mi vida este dias, eso es porque no estuve escribiendo por mi blog. Pero ahora es Navidad, y con Navidad vida esta muy ocupado y apasionante!

Esta semana comenzemos nuestro celebracion de Navidad en mi departamento de mi trabajo. Este ano la fiesta va a estar una sopresa, nadie sabe que vamos a hacer, pero Yo se de TODO! Y estamos haciendo una cuenta atras de 12 dias hasta la fiesta! Yo hice sobres bonitos para cada persona y cada manana tienen que mirar por su sopresa, hay juegos y sopresas cada manana. Y cada dia pueden ganar puntos por el premio grande que vamos a presentar en la fiesta. Y el premio esta buenisimo!!! Es muy divertido a mirar mis companeros cada manana mirando que recibieron en sus sobres. Estan como los ninos en la manana de Navidad. Todos estan muy felices y piensen que este esta muy divertido.

Pienso que la cosa mas emocionante que esta pasando ahorita va a pasar el proximo miercoles el 29 de dicembre. Mis sobrinos van a jugar hockey con los Vancouver Canucks, este es el equipo profesional de hockey de nuestro cuidad! Asi este es un evento tan grande!!!! Especialmente por dos ninos enamorados con hockey! Este es como si tuviste la oportunidad a jugar futbol con el equipo national de tu pais. Y yo tengo el tarde libre de mi trabajo asi puedo estar con ellos a mirar sus caras cuando entran el hielo con los jugadores profesionales. Es tan emocionante para todo de nosotros. Casi no lo creo.

Tambien estoy preperando por nuestro programa de Navidad a mi iglesia. Creo que todos saben que trabajo con un grupo de jovenes de una iglesia espanol aqui. Y como un grupo vamos a hacer un sketch para Navidad. Una hermana de la iglesia me ayudo a consiguir un sketch y voy a estar CENICIENTA!!! Cual chica no quiere estar Cenicienta!!! Que divertido! Esta drama tiene Santa, Aladino, Pinocho, Blanca Nieves, Cenicienta y Caperucita pero lo ensenanos del nacimiento de Jesus. Estoy feliz que lo esta corto porque tengo que aprender las lineas en espanol. Tambien estoy en un otro sketch del nacimiento de Jesus y voy a estar Maria por esto. Asi solo tenemos algunos semanas para practicar y aprender los sketchs. Navidad esta tan cerca! Eso es todo ahorita, la semana proxima puedo escribir de nuestro tiempo con los Canucks!!!!!

Halloween and Haunted Houses

So Sunday night a group of seven of us went to check out "Reapers" in Chilliwack. This is a great Haunted house AND Haunted Maze!!! You can check it out at www.reapers.ca. The house was quite scary with lots of things and people popping out at you. It's great when you've convinced yourself that it's just a maniquine and NOT a real person then NOPE, it's a person running at you now. Good times, good times. The best part was the checker room! This was amazing. It's a room that is painted in white and black checkers and there is a strobe light in it... AND a man dressed in a black and white checkered suit. It's hard to see him and when the light goes off he moves and when it comes back on it takes a second for your eyes to adjust and find him... and of course he's right beside you. That was great! Very trippy.
The maze was pretty good, the wind outside made it creapier by blowing the plastic walls around. We had creapy man in mask follow us around for a bit, Taya really didn't like him. They could have used a few more actors in the maze to make it really good.
Tonight I get to help hand out treats at our house. I can't wait to see all the little kids dressed up. I got pictures of my nephews and my niece all dressed up for school this morning. I'm SO sad that I don't get to hang out with them tonight. It's a far drive late at night on Halloween and thanks to a practical joke about 9 years ago, I don't drive late at night on Halloween by myself... isn't that right Sarah, Charlene and Janet!!!! I know you're laughing still.
Anyways, everyone have a great time tonight, keep safe and have some fun. PS I really, really, really like CANDY, Rockets being my favorite. Just FYI.

The Dance! El Baile!

So yesterday in Chapel one of our directors Mike shared bits of his testimony and what God is doing in his life right now; and he made a comment on something that I have thought about before and he has caused me to think about it again.

Do you like dancing? Have you ever tried to learn a new dance? The waltz or Swing dancing? I have and I love to dance! Dancing is just so much fun and it's just so amazing to slide around a dance floor with a partner and be in total rhythm and sink with each other. I thought about this in relation to my relationship with God. Trying to walk a life with God is like trying to learn a dance. When I was learning swing dancing if I had a strong lead it was the easiest thing in the world and I TOTALLY looked like I knew what I was doing. I looked really good because of the strong lead. Well, I love to dance with God. I love when He pulls me close to Him and leads me to where I should go, He shows me the next move or the next turn. Some days are easier to follow His lead than others. Sometimes I feel like I'm just spinning in circles, some days I'm stepping on His toes. These days I realize are the days that I am trying to take the lead, like I know how to dance better, or I’ve figured out the next spin on my own. But when I'm in total sink with God, when I'm praying to Him and reading what He has to tell me in the Bible, when I leave everything in God's hands and let Him take the lead in my life, the steps of the dance and the spins are done with ease and excitement. We glide together beautifully along this dance floor of life. Even though I go through trials and harder times I know that God has me in His arms and He knows where He’s leading me to.

Lately I feel like I have been stepping on God's toes, trying to do life or the dance my way. It doesn't work. So once again I find myself in that place handing over control of my life to my God, to the one that is always there waiting patiently to pick up the pieces and hold me in His arms and lead me through this dance called life. He is amazing in his faithfulness, we are so unworthy yet He picks us up again and again. I love my God because HE loves me so much that 1 He created and first love me and 2 He never gives up on me. He’s a constant in my life.

Ayer en nuestro culto de trabajo uno de los directores compartir partes de su testimonio y que Dios esta haciendo en su vida. El nos comentio de algo de que yo pense alguno tiempo atras, y ahora estoy pensando en este otra vez. Te gusta bailar? Trataste a aprender un baila nueva, como el Waltz? Lo hice y me encanta bailar!!! Bailando esta muy divertido, es incredible a mover con su pareja en rythmo con la musica. Yo pense en este en relacion de mi relacion con Dios. Caminando con Dios es como aprendiendo como bailar. Cuando aprendio a bailar Swing si tuve un companero que supio como hacer el baile y estuvo fuerte el baile fue facil y muy divertido y parece que YO supe el baile tambien! Me encanta bailar con Dios. Me encanta cuando me lleva cerca a su lado en sus brazos fuerte y me guia el proximo paso. Algunos dias son mas facil que los otros, a veces siento como estoy solo hacienda los vueltos y pisando a sus dedos! Estoy aprendiendo que estes dias estoy tomando el posicion de Dios como yo se el baile, yo se la proxima vuelta. Pero cuando estoy en communion con Dios cuando estoy orando y leiendo la biblia a aprender de que esta hablandome, es estes dias que el baile esta facil! Hago los pasos facilmente y hago las vueltas con entusiasmo. Este dias son los dias que el baile esta buenisima y bonito. Y con los dias dificiles yo se que estoy en los brazos de Dios y el va a giuarme al proximo paso del baile.
Este dias siento como estoy pisando a los dedos de Dios y solo haciendo las vueltas. Este no vale! Asi otra vez me encuentro mi mismo pasando los controles de mi vida a los manos de mi Dios. El siempre esta esperando pacientamente para mi, para tomarme en sus brazos otra vez a guiarme en este baile que llamamos vida. Es incredible, no importa cuantos veces que cayamos, El siempre esta esperandonos a tomarnos en sus brazos otra vez y otra vez. Estoy enamorado con mi Dios porque el me ama tanto que me creo y primero el me adoro y el nunca va a renunciarme! El esta fiel!

To Our Tulsa Friends

We hope you guys all had a fabulous time on your cruise!!!! We saw your ship, the beautiful Galaxy docked in Naples. We were watching out for you guys hoping to run into you again. Welcome back home and hope to hear from you.

Oh the Lord is good to me

Well, I am back on Canadian soil and it feels good. We had an amazing adventure and have so many memories and stories. And already looking back the thing that sticks out the most is seeing God’s hand in our trip every day! Every day we can see something that we thought “Wow, God is good and is really taking care of us!” We had a theme song for our trip. Some may remember it as a camp song but we changed a line in it to fit our trip. We sang this often as we didn’t book any hotels before we left and sometimes had to call a few places before we found something and they always turned out amazing in these situations. So our song was…..Oh the

Lord is good to me, and so I thank the Lord
For giving me the things I need,
The Sun, the Rain and A PLACE TO SLEEP
The Lord is good to me 3 amigas AMEN!

His blessings were abundant from places to sleep to local people helping us with directions, to really short line ups getting into Vatican City. There was a German man that didn’t speak a word of English but was determined to help us get around a highway closure (and he did) and Charlotte that drove with us for 20 minutes to get us on the right track, and a Mother and daughter that let us follow them to our hostel. Driving into Salzburg we got turned around with some of the one way streets and were driving down a “mostly pedestrian” road….. if there wasn’t another car coming behind me I would have said it was ONLY pedestrians. I was driving and there was too many people walking in front of me…. Out of frustration I turned down the next road I could and stopped so we could look at a map to get our bearings… as Rita pulled out the map I looked up and saw the sign “Institute St. Sebastian” the place we were staying that night, I had stopped right in front of the door, you couldn’t get closer without driving through it. These kinds of things happened over and over again, things that are too much to be a coincident… and I don’t believe in coincident. God’s hand was upon us and kept us safe, and helped us to have fun through it all. Not only were we seeing some of the most beautiful parts of the world that He created for each of us to enjoy but we saw His hand guiding us daily too.
Our last night of travel was spent on the island of Capri off the coast of Naples and it was amazing! We treated ourselves to a nice hotel to relax before coming home. To our wonderful surprise we were upgraded to a Junior suite and had our own private terrace, a HUGE soaker tub and the most fantastic shower I’ve ever seen (three shower heads!). We spent an hour on the beach and swimming in the Mediterranean Sea, I couldn’t believe I was actually there! The water was so clear, it was about 10 feet deep and you could see right down to the bottom. The rest of the afternoon/evening was spent on our terrace. As we were sitting on our terrace watching the sun set over the beautiful blue Mediterranean (life is rough), I said “the only thing that would make this perfect would be fireworks.” Well at 6am all three of us woke up and to our amazement there was a thunderstorm. It had past over us already so we sat on our terrace and watched God’s fireworks light up the sky with fork lightening. It was beautiful and amazing. What a way to end a trip. God’s blessing upon blessing. He is good to us always, you don’t have to look to hard to see his blessings each and every day even in a day at work. The first day back at work was fun, my eyes were heavy but so many people stopped to welcome us back and ask questions about the trip. And Holly made the day perfect by buying me a Dr. Pepper! I don’t know how I survived three weeks without it! Well thank you to everyone for following along with our adventures, and a special thank you to everyone praying for us, God is always faithful, He kept us safe and gave us just an amazing experience. He answered your prayers. Thank you! This isn’t the very end of this blog site…. Just the end of this adventure…. Hopefully I’ll be disciplined enough to keep this up to date with life. Have a great day and thanks for coming along to Europe with us.

When in Rome......

So they say "When in Rome do as the Romans do", we tried to do this on the subways and local transit...however there was a transit strike! We ended up getting an all day ticket on a tacky tourist open top double decker bus. This is full of tourists sitting on top with their cameras flashing and maps in hand. But it did turn out to be a great way to see the city. I have heard that Rome had random ruins just scattered throughout the city....but until you see it, it's amazing to turn a corner and see massive aquaducts or VERY old buildings. We stopped at the Coloseum, I had no idea that this was built in 80A.D.!!! It was very strange walking around a building knowing it's that old, and learning all that took place there. In the first week it was open 2000 people were killed and 6000 animals. We also saw the Arch of Constantine, this was very cool to see. It represents Constantine who in 312 A.D. made Christianity legal in the Roman Empire, it sits right outside the Coloseum. It's ironic considering many Christians had been killed in the Coloseum because of their faith. Once we left the Coloseum we had to wait and wait and wait for our bus. With the transit strike the traffic was insane. From the top of the bus it was very interesting to watch seas of Vespas weaving in and out of traffic. We made our way to the Vatican.... over an hour on the bus.... normally 30 mins. The line up wasn't too bad, we were in within 15mins. We hurried our way through the Vatican museum to get to the Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo's greatest work. It's beautiful! Our necks were soar just looking at it for a few minutes... I couldn't imagine four years of lying on your back to paint this. We had a tip from a book to go out the tour group exit to get into Saint Peter's basillica faster....so we joined a tour group and ducked out the door..... the funny part was how well we fit in with the Chinese tourist... tee hee... no one stopped us and we bypassed a line up that would have taken about an hour to get through. Gotta love good travel tips. The Basillica was amazing, it is two football fields long and one football field high at the dome. The statues and artwork were beautiful, about half way up the wall there is blue lettering which is every word that Jesus spoke to Peter. These words from the floor looked no bigger than your hand... when in fact they are 7 feet tall!!!! Some statues of babies that are a quarter of the way up the wall looked life size... they are the size of an average adult. It was alot to take in but amazing. We walked out of the basillica in to Saint Peter's square, this is where you see the balcony where the Pope pokes his head out of his appartment and waves...if you've ever seen that on tv that is where we were.
We then hopped back onto our bus and waited in traffic again, it wasn't as bad as before the strike only went till 5pm. Which was nice, apperently there were protests right by our hotel and all the streets were closed, we were tired and very hungry (forgot to eat lunch today). We had an excellent dinner and have booked train tickets to the nice tropical island Capri... YEAH!!!
It will be a perfect way to end our trip...... sitting on the beach and taking it easy in a clean hotel where the toilet should flush properly.... you don't want details!
This may be our last posting from Europe, I plan on sitting my butt on the beach and not moving tomorrow, UNLESS it's to jump into the Mediterranean Sea to cool off CAUSE IT IS HOT HERE!!!!!!! How cold and wet is it at home????????
We come back to Rome Sunday night and fly out early Monday morning for a day in London and get back in time for Turkey dinner!!!! I am so looking forward to mashed potatoes! YUM!!!!!
See you all soon and hope you enjoyed the blog... I will write about London FROM HOME SWEET HOME!
Love ya's.

Charm and Fairytales

The Charm of Venice

We had two nights and one full day in Venice. If you have never been there you have to go. It is something that you see in movies and understand that it is a city with only water ways and boats, no cars no roadways, but in reality it is nothing that you could ever imagine! It's so amazing, taking boats everywhere and seeing houses that literally the first step out the door is a wet one if your boat isn't there. We toured the Duke's Palace and met a GREAT group of 6 retirees from Tulsa Oklahoma. These guys were so nice and we tagged along with them touring the palace. (if you guys are reading this we plan on taking you up on your offer to visit you). We ran into them later in St. Mark's square feeding the pigeons and pigeon feed was quickly put in our hands and we had birds ALL over us!!!!! I never thought pigeons could be fun. It was so much fun feeding them that we went back later and did it again. Katie got a great picture of me with a bird on my head. I think the record was 7 birds on my arms. Some guys from Montreal video taped the whole thing, saying their friends will have a great laugh at my expense, great! We did alot of shopping in Venice and got some amazing souvenirs. The souvenirs were the cheapest we've seen but the food and drinks where the most expensive! The belini was born in Venice so we had to try them....at $15 each!!!! That was cheap though, we also had an ice coffee (heaven in a cup) and that was $15 as well!!! Italy is not a cheap place when it comes to food. In the evening we went on our Gondola ride, we had a true "Italian" gondalier that made our 30 min ride very interesting. It was very cool going down the narrow "streets" and down the Grand Canal in a gondola. It was very touristy but a must do when in Venice. It was really hard to leave Venice, one day is not enough. We were supposed to go to Milan for a day but skipped over that to ensure getting enough time in Rome to go to Vatican and see the Sistine Chapel. Skipping over Milan brought us the Cinque Terre a day early.

The Fairytale land of Cinque Terre (Five lands)

The Cinque Terre is an area of five towns that are only connected by a milk run train and walking trails, no cars in the towns. Each town is small and filled with bright colored buildings (red, orange, yellow, white, green, blue) built on on cliffs leading to the Mediteraean Sea!!! The trails lead you on a walk that is beyond belief. The ocean on one side and vineyards on the other. The sea was rough today so we looked down on the massive waves crashing into the rocks below us. At some points we were about 50 above the water and we could feel and see the mist from the waves breaking. One man that we met in a restaurant described it perfectly.... "It's like you are in a fairytale, the views are to beautiful to be true!" At times we were walking through olive groves too. Katie said one part reminded her of the Secret Garden. Another reminded us of the seven dwarfs... as another hiker was whistling whistle while you work. The hike was just amazing... our pictures will do it absolutely no justice. We stopped so many times just to take in what we were seeing and trying to etch it into our minds: The crashing of the waves a constant reminder of God's amazing creativity and power. We have been so blessed in this trip seeing God's amazing creation. We have seen so many beautiful places. And the weather couldn't be better! Last night we were sitting on the beach at 7pm, no jacket needed...actually it was a little warm for pants. haha. We are finishing our hike tomorrow, we got into the forth town (were we are staying) after 5pm, not enough time to hike to the fifth town tonight, so tomorrow morning we will get up and hike to the 5th town and take the train back to pick up our bags and head to Rome. We will be in Rome for two nights and Saturday we'll head to Capri for some rest before we head back home on Monday. Can't believe that we have just 5 days left. Italy has been amazing, a great way to end this trip as it's been so completely different from the other three countries we visited.

We'll see if we can find internet in Rome.... must go now and make some hotel and train reservations.

Buns of Steel

Today we got to go on our first European train ride. This was Katie`s first ever train ride! So exciting. We went to Bern, the capital of Switzerland and where Einstein came up with the theory of relativity (if you cared, i didn`t). We walked around just trying to get ourselves lost for fun, we did a good job and went in the opposite direction we wanted to. We found the church we wanted to see and walked up 354 stairs to the top of the steepel. After that our butts were sore and our legs were jello, it was time to stop at a cafe. Man, I love the cafes here, just tables out on the sidewalk, great for people watching. Katie and Rita had heaven in a cup!!!! Cappaccino ice-cream with espresso and whip cream. Man it was SO GOOD!!! Me and my tummy could only survive a taste. I will be having one a day in Italy along with tiramisu every day. Tomorrow we have an 8 hour train ride to Venice Italy. I am SO excited to learn some italian, I`m sure I will do better at it than I have been doing pronouncing German words. Katie says when I don`t have a spanish sound to every German word, I sound like a wookie (the fuzzy guys from StarWars).
Don`t know what the internet access will be like in Italy, we`ve been spoilt having it in our room the last few days. Noldi and Pia were WONDERFUL hosts and it was such a blessing to have a free place to stay four nights.
We love Switzerland and were so blessed to have Simon as a tour guide and to get a real cultural experience with the people. We will miss it here.
Auf wiedersehen (so long)

Running off a Mountain

Yes, today Katie and I ran off of a mountain!!! We drove an hour to Innterlaken, where we were in the heart of the Swiss Alps, and what better thing to do than to run off of one!!! We were 1000 meters so about 3,300 feet above the town of Innterlaken when we entrusted our lives into the hands of a stanger and his parachute. We ran down a steep hill until our feet came off the ground, this was the wierdest sensation, you really couldn`t tell that you had left the ground. The view was nothing short of amazing, again words would not do it justice. The flight down was about 20 mins and at the end we got our rollercoaster ride...... we both got to do a few super fast spins, I have a really good video that shows abit of it. It was a relaxing ride to the ground but of course ended way too soon. The drive to and from Lucerne was so beautiful, nothing but Alps, cows and quaint little towns. Once we got back to Lucerne Simon met us at the train station again and took us to his grandparents house where they had CHEESE FONDUE, we have had experienced every traditional swiss tradition now. So they say that cheese fondue doesn`t sit right... well, when you`re kind of lactose intolerant (as I am) it really doesn`t sit right....so they told us to drink black tea with it and then afterwards gave us some schnapps....hello it was more like Granny`s moonshine!!! His grandma gave me less than a shot of this stuff and i just wet my lips with it and it burned.... I drank about half of what she gave me and the room was spinning abit! that was some powerful stuff. They said it was farmers schnapps so it`s always stronger. Tomorrow we have our last day in Switzerland and drop off our cute little car....then we are 100% reliant on buses and trains as we leave for Italy on Sunday. For those who are following our intinerary, we are changing it once again.... we will be going to Venice on Sunday and then to Mulan. Shopping is the big attraction in Mulan and most stores will be closed on Sunday so that just isn`t good!!!!!

As you may of noticed... we got to download some pics....scroll down and take a look at some more!!!!!! Hope you enjoy them.

Nein Danka (No thank-you)

Thursday was yet another amazing day! We got to sleep in, first time on the trip. And Simon skipped German school to be our tour guide. We went into the old town of Lucerne and saw the Chapel bridge ect. Then we went up the mountain!! This tour was maybe 10 more dollars than the gondola up to Grouse Mountain and SO much better!!! We took three gondolas up to 7000 feet and got the most breathtaking view ever. In the distance all you are seeing are the Swiss Alps and we were above the clouds to it looked like heaven with mountain peaks poking through the clouds. We ran into one of the men that was playing the Alp horn for us on Wednesday night. He was in traditional dress and played a couple of songs for us in the mountains and we got to take some great pictures with him. We hiked around the mountains for a bit and then took a cog train down. This is apperently one of the steepest trains in the world....it goes down the mountain at a 48 degree angel, it was pretty cool. Then we took a 90 min boat ride on Lake Lucerne back to downtown Lucerne. For the evening this is where the "Nein Danka" (no thank you) came in handy. We went to Hans` house where 14 Alp Horn players where meeting to play. It was amazing to hear. And afterwards was appitizers and drinks, and more drinks and more drinks......that`s where we used nien danka alot!!!!! Boy does the alcohol flow freely here!!! With our cokes and water we learnt "cheers" in Swiss German and just got to hang out with the locals. This is the best kind of travel. We were surronded by people we couldn`t understand but had the greatest time eating bread, cheese and wierd dried meats. I`m going to attempt to attach some pictures to the blog.....here`s hoping it works :)

WOW Switzerland

We have made it to our third country, we are now in Switzerland. The drive from Salzburg to Lucerne was about 6 or 7 hours, it was such an amazing drive. The mountains are indiscribable. We went through a tunnel (through a mountain) that was 14kms long!!! THEN we drove through a COUNTRY that is only 12 miles long and 4 miles wide!! Crazy!! We made it to the train station in Lucerne where we met Katie`s friend Simon. He is our tour guide for the next few days and we have had an amazing time so far!!! Last night right away we went with him to hear him and two others play the ALP HORN!!! It sounds so cool! And we each got to try them out too. It`s a bit hard to get a sound out of, very difficult to actually get the right sound out of it. Then the guys took us out for coffee and then Simon took us to the place he arranged for us to stay at. We are staying at a family friends house. This is the travel that I love!!! Getting to know the culture and the people. Today we are going up a gondola in the ALPS and tonight we are going to a guys house to hear 14 people playing the Alp horn!! We haven`t even been in Switzerland for 24 hours and we already totally love it! It`s so much fun getting to know the people and the culture, we are getting an experience that we never would staying in hotels and being on our own.
We`re so greatful for the hospitality from Simon and his friends. There is so much for us to do in just a few days, we head to Italy Saturday or Sunday, guess it depends on how much fun we`re having.

Sound of Music and Mozzart

On our way to Salzburg from Vienna we stopped at Mauthausen, a German Concentration camp. This was, needless to say, a very heavy experience. It was incredible to see the small areas that they forced hundreds upon thousands to sleep. This a camp mostly for prisoners of war, and most of the jews held here were Hungarian, but they were the minority but still treated the worst. The audio tour had passages from peoples personal diaries while at the camp, which made it very depressing but very impactful. I will spare the rest of the details, it's too sad.
Salzburg is all about the Sound of Music and Mozzart, this is Mozzarts birthplace and where he grew up. We toured his house, it was interesting but it was a house. The sound of music tour was fun. Our group was a good group that enjoyed singing along to the music. In the evening we got really touristy and went to a dinner show. The show was "Sounds of Salzburg" they sang some Operetta and some Austrian folk songs that the VonTrapp family singers sung on their tours. AND of course they sang ALL the songs from Sound of Music, it was so much fun to sing along and see everyone else sing a long too. It was very corny and very touristy but so much fun.
Now we are off to Switzerland, and just found out we have a free place to stay!!!! Man, God is taking such good care of us, we have some pretty amazing stories of how we've found some places to stay and how we've gotten "unlost" getting places. thank you all for your prayers we definetly see the evidence of them every day!!!!!

Music in Vienna

We spent the day in Vienna today and had quite the amazing experiences. We started off by going to mass in the morning to see the Vienna Boys Choir! I have some amazing videos to share when we get home. You pay big bucks at home for what we got to see today and it was free!!!!! We didn't stay for the entire mass (tourists get to stand), so we took the trolley around the outer ring of the old city for a short overall sightseeing trip. The transit here is amazing with all the trollies and subways, we've had a lot of fun figuring out how to get places and haven't gotten lost!!!!! We visited Schronnburn Palace in the afternoon and spent over 2 hours there! This was the "summer" residence for the Emperors AND the place where Mozart had his first public appearance in 1816 at the age of 6. Yes Mozart stuff is everywhere, especially since this is the 250th anniversary since his first public appearance. The palace itself was spectacular. We got to tour some of the inside, the queen had 1,500 in her enterage so the place is massive to say the least. It was shoulder to shoulder tourists inside, a little overwhelming. But we got to tour the grounds as well, a beautiful garden, a lookout over the city and palace property, and best of all a maze! that was so much fun, and I think we made pretty good time.
I got schintzel for lunch again today, SO YUMMY, I'd like to eat it everyday!
This evening I think was the best experience of the day. We got to see an OPERA at the Vienna Opera House!!!!! Tourists can get "standing room" tickets for just €2 (About $4)!!!!! We got there JUST before curtain call and had to RUN up three flights of stairs, if your late you don't get it. We made it just in time and took 2 steps at a time. We were out of breath and sweaty but we were there! And oh my goodness, it is breathtaking! The Orpheum is nothing! This Opera house was lined with boxes from floor to ceiling. To hear the orchresta start up and see the singers come out on stage....it was seriel (sp?, i love not having spell check). I couldn't believe I was watching an opera in Vienna! The singers where amazing, I think the best thing was hearing the clapping and people actually yelling bravo!!!! Yes, I yelled it once, I couldn't help myself, gotta do it. Of course the singing was in Italian, and it was fun that I actually understood some of it! Then we discovered little screens infront of us that showed the words in English! It was of course a tragic love story of some sort. We only stayed till intermission as we were standing and we had a side view and were straining our necks. If you get there early some of the standing tickets had quite an amazing view.

I forgot to share a story about our trip through the Medivel cities..... Dad you will LOVE this one!!!! We were in Dinkelsbruhl (love the name, eh), and walked around and came back to our car.....we had a parking ticket!!!! Apperently we missed the sign OUTSIDE the city that said you had to have a pass of some sort..... well we found out that you pay the ticket at city hall, we found city hall and Rita went in to pay for it, and yes Dad we sure did get out of it!!!!! I can get away with warnings even in Europe!!!! It's awesome! I know one day my luck will run out and I'll get a really big one to make up for all the warnings I've collected.

Time for bed...... we've got a day of driving ahead of us tomorrow.....of toSalzburg for the Sound of Music!!!!!!!!

Oktoberfest...nothing like you would think

Well, after the last time I wrote we went over into a small town in Austria (just for a few hours) looking for traditional festivals that they sometimes have, we apperently missed it just by a few days. But we met up with a couple, Lindsey and Ryan, from Colorado that we had met earlier on our tour of the castles. So we went out for coffee with them, and just sat and chatted. They're a really nice couple and Lindsey is very excited that I'm going to email her a recipe for Nanimo bars!!!! Then we headed back to Germany..... it just seems so strange how we can go back and forth so easily between countries....like take a wrong turn and end up in France!
Friday we were at Oktoberfest.... this was nothing like I had ever imagined it. The best way to describe it is the PNE minus the cows and add ALOT of beer. It's at a huge fairground with rides, carnival games and food stands. I think the rule is if you are German you wear your leiderhosen or durndle, people were wearing them everywhere, it was great! And we rode what might possibly be the best rollercoaster I have ever been on!!! (Taya you have to come to Germany) It's the Olympic rings, so you have five huge loops and some crazy hills! It was 5 Euros (about $7) but worth it. When you take away the barns and the cows from the PNE you add beer and lots of it. There are six beer tents, each representing a different local brew, and inside these tents is udder craziness, in the middle on a raised stage is a band playing traditional German music and EACH of the six tents hold 5,000 to 6,000 people!!!! Yes that is thousands, we were there at 11am and they were FULL! The beer only comes in one size, a litre beer stein! Since it was so early and I have had my German beer experience we did not have one. I couldn't even drink my one little glass of beer with my brastworth so I wasn't going to waste more on a litre. We spent our afternoon wandering around downtown Munich being entertained by street performers, then it was off to AUSTRIA! We got stuck on the Autobahn..... traffic came to a complete stop for over 10 mins, so in true tourist style we entertained ourselves with taking pictures and playing some games. We had planned on staying in Salzburg our first night but who would have thought there would be an International Cycling tour there. So we carried on... and were going to stay in Linz....but we quickly nicknamed that city Slinz sister city to Surrey. So it was off to Melk which was another 2 1/2 hour drive! We got there late and again we had troubles finding a hotel with rooms available. But God is always faithful and provides for us and we always get something super nice in these situations. And for really good deals.
This morning we toured a huge abbey in Melk that had one of the most beautiful churches I have ever seen. Rita said wait till we see St. Peter's in the Vatican, it's even more amazing. I can't imagine what would be more amazing than what we saw today.
Now we are in Vienna and have once again found a very nice place to stay in. It's a huge city but with a great subway and trams it is so easy to get around! We've taken it easy today and did laundry for the first time in Europe.... that was an adventure trying to figure out the machines...they have a very wierd paying system here. So we don't stink anymore and we are ready to visit the palace tomorrow and pop in to see a bit of an Opera. Monday morning we will be visiting a concentration camp on our way back to Salzburg and then on Tuesday is the highlight of the trip for me.... THE SOUND OF MUSIC TOUR!!!! I have heard amazing reviews of this tour and am SO excited for it.
Our trip has been so much fun so far. I can't believe we still have over 2 weeks to go!

Castles...Castles....and more Castles

So I don't have too much time to type, we found FREE internet.
We spent an entire day in Rothenburg, which is a medival city. Very quaint and very beautiful! Dad you would have loved it!!!! The BIGGEST Christmas store in the world!!!! We spent well over an hour in there looking around. We went on a Night-Watchman's tour which taught us alot of history of what life was like in the medival times. We left Rothenburg yesterday and heading on a drive called the Romantic Road which connects a dozen or so medival cities. We of course got lost due to a few detours and had to stop for directions....well we met a FABULOUS little lady Charlotte, she was trying to tell us how to get out of the city but couldn't quite explain it.....so she came with us. It was about a 20 minute drive and she was just such a sweet lady. She was so excited to see three young ladies exploring her country and commented that travel is good for you because it changes your heart. When we got to the place to drop her off, we took a quick picture with her so we wouldn't forget her kindness. She was so excited when I gave her the Canada flag pin from my bag. I got a big hug and kiss on the cheek. We went to an old Boroque church which was very ornate, but I always have such a heavy feeling in these churchs, seeing and hearing about all the people that come from so far for healing from a statue... it breaks my heart and I'm sure it breaks God's heart even more.
Thankfully we arrived in our next town early...in Fussen we had booked a hostel on the internet, not so good. It was dirty and the owner was creepy!!!! We polietly told him that we didn't want to stay and left as quickly as possible! We have found a great >B&B just minutes away, it's a typical German home with clean comfy bed, and SAFE!!!
Today we got to tour the most beautiful castles... Hoenschwangau and Neuschwanstein. The later is the castle that Walt Disney used to design Cinderella's castle. It is a breathtaking view! What we got to see of the inside was impressive, hard to imagine the money and time that went into it. Anyways, we are having a wonderful time, thank you everyone for your comments and prayers. Miss you and love you.

1000kms in

Hello Everyone!!!

The search for internet has finally ended. We have driven 1000kms in Germany so far and it has been an amazing adventure. Our flights went really well, and seemed quite fast! BA is a great airline to fly. Once we arrived in Frankfurt we picked up our adorable little car, a Corsa Opel, and started driving. I got to be the first to drive and OH SO FUN! The autobans are crazy, we'll be going about 120km (the suggested speed) and people will FLY past us! Literally fly. You barely see them pass you. Our first night we had a hard time trying to find a place to stay and ended up paying about $200 for a room, yuck! Driving around though we were excited to see the views in the day time, we could see castles litt up everywhere. Sunday morning we got up early and headed to St. Goar for a cruise down the Rhine River. Castles everywhere you look! It's beautiful. The cruise was fun, some interesting folk tales. We cruised to Bacharach and back, then drove to Bacharach to look around afterwards, that is the picture attached. In St. Goar we toured Rheinfels Castle. My first castle experience. SO COOL! I felt like I was in Lord of the Rings or something, peering out the look out tours, seeing real canon balls and the spots where crossbow snippers would sit and wait. We walked through some dark passage ways and when I say dark I mean you could not see your hand infront of your face. I kept taking pictures to see our next step with the flash, gotta love deleting pics from a digital camera. That night we drove to Baden-Baden. Our following the maps has been pretty good but we do stop for directions. Rita's German is really good (and I'm losing my Spanish accent with my few German words). People are really friendly and more than willing to help us out. Determined to get us there and help us understand their directions. In Baden-Baden a couple of ladies actually let us follow them right to the hostel we were staying at. Yesterday we drove south to take a drive through the Black Forest....with a small detour to France.....yes we took a wrong turn or missed a turn and ended up in France! Nothing out of the ordinary. The Black Forest was beautiful!!!! We drove to Kandle for a beautiful view overlooking the forest..... yeah the fog was really pretty, we didn't get to see anything. And driving through the Black Forest i found my COO-COO CLOCK!!!!! I bought it right from the man that made it! It is beautiful, i fell in love with it right away. It even came with a certificate as an authentic Black Forest clock, coo-coo clocks originated there. And don't worry Charlie and Dave the Coo-coo can be turned off :)
We were going to go back to Baden-Baden to look around (there are theraptic hot springs there) but we wanted to get to Rothenburg by 8pm for a Night-Watchman's tour..... but we needed to be in RoTHenburg with a "TH" not Rottenburg with a "TT"... we went to the wrong city!!! It ended up ok though. We have decided to stay in Rothenburg an extra day and NOT get in the car today. Rothenburg is AMAZING!!!! It's a gated city with cobble stone streets and quaint buildings, flowers everywhere. Dad you would love it here!!!! Christmas shops everywhere. I wish I had a bigger budget and a bigger bag cause boy would you get alot of stuff!!!! The hostel we are staying in here is amazing, we have the coziest room and the people that own it are super nice, breakfast was delicious and lots of food. An American couple we met there gave us a calling card to use in Switzerland, gotta love travellers. The plan for today is to go into every store in Rothenburg, they are all different and have some pretty cool stuff, Christmas decorations, beer stines, coo-coo clocks..... lots and lots to just look at. And today for lunch I am going to have brotsworth (sp) and beer. Gotta do it once in Germany..... you can even get a McBeer at McD's.

Hola a todos!!!!

Estoy en Alemania ahorita... y lo es incredible... no tengo el tiempo a escribir todo en espanol ahorita.... bueno....voy a tratar un poquito. Rentemos un carro y a manejar aca es muy divertido...no hay un maximo por el autopista. Tienes que ir 120km y los otros se pasan! Manejan muy rapido aca, es incredible y divertido. Estoy aprendiendo un poquito de aleman, es divertido. Vimos muchos castillos! y pasemos por un tour de uno. Son muy divertidos. Fuemos al Black Forest (bosque negro) lo es famoso por los relojs, compre uno!!!! Es muy bonito. Hoy estamos en Rothenburg cual es un pueblo dentro de paredes, es lindisimo!!!!! vamos a pasar el dia aca solo para mirar en todo de las tiendas, se venden todo tipco de Aleman. Los edificios son viejos y muy bonitos. Bueno amigos perdon que no prodria escribir mucho.... posible pueden practicar ingles y leerlo de arriba :) Es dificil a encontrar internet en Alemania espero que otro paises esta mas facil

Sorry... can't attach pictures here.... will try again next time......

The weekend flew by with TAYA'S WEDDING!

I can’t believe that it is only four more sleeps and I will be off on a plane!
This weekend flew by as I got to celebrate and be part of my friend Taya’s wedding. It was a beautiful ceremony and they started their marriage right by celebrating it not only with family and friends but with God as well. They have dedicated their marriage to each other to bring glory to God and to serve him together. It is always amazing to see people united together in a true holy matrimony. Their day was beautiful, Taya and Denny both looked amazing and were both glowing. Their love for each other is undeniable and I’m so excited for them as they start their lives together as husband and wife. So my next post will be from EUROPE!!!!! Thanks everyone that have left comments and have sent me emails, they have been really fun to read. Thank you for your prayers of safety and fun as well, they are greatly appreciated by all three of us.

No puedo creer que solo tengo cuatro dias y voy a estar en un avion!!!
Este fin de semana fue muy rapdio! Yo celebre y estuve parte de la boda de mi amiga Taya. Fue un cerimonia tan bonita y comezeron su matrimonio perfecto, no solo celebrando con amigos y familia pero tambien con Dios. Dedicaron su matrimino a la gloria de Dios y a servirle juntos. Simpre esta incredible a ver un pareja a dedicar sus vidas juntos a Dios. Su dia fue hermosa, Taya y Denny miran incredibles, brillando de su amor. Estoy muy emocionada por los dos a comenzar sus vidas juntos como esposos.Asi la proxima vez que escribo……voy a estar en europa!!!! Gracias a todos quienen dejaron sus mensajes y sus emails, son muy divertidos a leer. Y gracias por sus oraciones para la seguridad de las tres de nosotras. Muchas gracias y espero a verles cuando regreso de viaje.

11 Sleeps and Counting.......

On September 15th, 2006 I am leaving for Europe with two friends, Katie and Rita. We will be flying into Frankfurt, Germany and hoping into a car to drive around Germany, Austria, Switzerland and finally flying out of Rome, Italy for our journey back on October 9th, in time for some turkey at my parents house.
This is a fully packed 24 day adventure. We will be visiting castles, the black forest, a concentration camp, going on a luge, paragliding in the Swiss Alps, gondola rides in Venice, hiking through the Cinque Terre and wandering through the Vatican and the coliseum in Rome. I'm sure there won't be a dull moment on this trip!
I am very excited to be getting on a plane once again and can't wait to see what lies ahead. The unexpected in travel is always exciting and the only one sure guarantee. I'm looking forward to experiencing driving in another country, trying to read road signs in another language and trying to communicate through hand signals. It has been a long time since I have travelled and have had a language barrier, as most of my travel has been in South America and I speak fluent Spanish. I'm sure I am in for yet another fun ride and look forward to learning about these amazing countries, learning about Katie and Rita as we have 24 days of each other, learning about myself and learning about God. It never ceases to amaze me how much I can learn about God when I'm travelling, seeing His creativity in diffferent parts of the world just really brings me closer to Him, I always look forward to what He'll teach me on each new adventure.

El 15 de spetembre voy a europa con dos amigas Katie y Rita. Vamos a llegar en Frankfurt, Alemania y rentamos un carro para manejar a Alemania, Swiza, Austria y Italia. Por el fin tomamos el 9 de octobre con un vuelo de Roma, Italia por el regresa a Canada. Y vamos a llegar justo por el dia de gracias y vamos a comer pavo en la casa de mis padres.

Este 24 dias de viaje esta llena de adventura! Vamos a visitar catillos, el bosque negro de alemania, un campo de los judios de la guierra mundial, paracaidismo en swiza, vamos por los rios de Venice, caminando del Cinque terre en italia, y vamos a pasar por la cuidad de Vatican y las ruinas de Roma. Estoy cierta que no vamos a tener ni un momento aborrido!
Estoy muy emocionada a tomar un avion otra vez y no puedo esperar a ver que Dios tiene para nosotros en europa. Quiero manejar en una otra pais y tratar a entender las signales en un otra idioma y a comunicarnos con las manos porque no hablamos, aleman, swisa o frances. Estoy emocionada a aprender de estas paises a a prender mas de Rita y Katie porque vamos a estar juntos por 24 dias, a aprender mas de mi mismo y a aprender mas de Dios. Dios me asombra en su creatividad que veo cuando estoy viajando y viendo las partes diferencte del mundo, siempre me cerca mas a El, voy a ver que El va a ensenarme en cada adventura nueva!