Between here and there....

It was over two weeks ago now that we moved out of our home in Stratford. For some reason it seems much longer than that.
From there we moved into a temporary home; a three bedroom apartment on the top floor of a church in Kitchener. It's quite comfortable actually with enough room for us all to have our own space and not get in each other's faces.

A day after moving in to the apartment, Dale and I ordered our new eye glass frames.  It was during a deluge of rain. I remember driving through the storm and the water going up over the top of the van. It was scary and kind of fun at the same time!  I don't know if I have ever seen rain like that before. Fairview mall had to shut down due to the amount of rain that fell. The water was knee deep in places.

 Then the next day we loaded up our camping gear and headed to Wasaga Beach. Almost every year since Dale and I married we have camped at Gateway camping. We love it there. It's about a ten minute walk to the beach and a quiet place to camp. It's within walking distance to Tim Horton's, Walmart and Bulk Barn. They even have a salt water pool that Dale and the kids enjoy. We had dinner each night at Dale's aunt Norma and uncle Jerry's home who graciously had us in for the evening meal. She is an amazing cook. We didn't want to put her out at all but  Aunt Norma insisted. She seems to enjoy cooking for more than just her and Uncle Gerry and she invited us to come in each evening for dinner. Afterwards we would head back to the campsite and have a campfire. Dale made camp pies for him and the kids. They don't appeal to me at all. I actually think they look gross. Dale and the kids all love them so it's all good. Basically it's bread with jam, marshmallows, chocolate chips and peanut butter. Put it in a pie iron over the fire and cook until done.

We headed back to the apartment Thursday afternoon. We all had physicals at the Dr's in Woodstock on the way home. Then once back at the apt. I did a couple loads of laundry and were on the road again first thing Friday morning. This time we went to our old stomping grounds...Essex.  We had arranged to meet a few friends for lunch at the Chinese restaurant there; A1.
I also stopped by the daycare center that I worked in, hoping to see a few friends that still work there.

Then in the evening we met up with our children's biological siblings and went to the mall in Windsor. They all watched a movie. None of the movies playing appealed to me so I chose to sit in the mall with my kobo and read. I kind of needed the alone time.


On Saturday we picked our good friend Maureen and did a little state side shopping. I only spent around ten bucks!

While in Essex we stayed with a lovely couple who have a beautiful home outside of town. Gaye and Gerry were amazing hosts. She too is an incredible cook and we ate well while there.  Elisa's friend Julie also joined us one night and the two girls had a blast catching fire flies. They were everywhere! I guess it's a sign you are in Essex county. They are in an abundance. It's so cool to see their little butts lighting up the sky everywhere. The girls had so much fun together. It was like no time had past since they were last together.

We attended our old church Sunday morning and it was so nice to see everyone. Of course with facebook we never really lost touch with most of them, but it was good to see them all in person one last time.
Sunday night we dropped Jacob off at Bethel camp outside of Rodney where he was to minister with the Rubber Chicken company for the week. We met up with the Powell's who treated us to ice cream on the wharf.

Everything after that is a bit of a blur. So much has happened I know I won't be able to remember it all. I think it was Monday that Dale and I had a call to pick up our glasses so we did that as well.
We went back into Stratford the same day. A lady from our church in Stratford treated me to a free hair cut from her daughter who is an amazing stylist...and a bag full of hair products.  That was such a blessing!  I was so touched! Though I am growing out my hair for Honduras, I desperately needed a trim but in all the craziness had not made time to book an appointment.

Since then Dale has been working on getting documents together for our residency. It's so much we never thought of, things we needed to have signed and notarized before we go.  Passport photos, birth certificates, marriage license, bank statement from the last 6 months and medical certificates.  I am sure there is more that I am forgetting. Actually we are getting a head start on it by starting now rather than when we are already there.  We purolated everything on Friday and hopefully it's all done correctly so we can proceed with what ever comes next. Hopefully we know before we fly out on Thursday morning.

Friday one of my oldest friends, Sandra invited us to her parents for dinner. My friend, her hubby and girls live in Owen Sound but they happened to be "home" when we were in the area. It was good to see her family and her parents. Sandra and I met in home ec, way back in grade ten and have been friends ever since. I am so glad it worked out to see her one last time before we leave.

Most of you know Dale is an amazing deal finder. Before Zellers closed their doors for good, Dale redeemed our club z points. We have been to African lion safari this week for FREE and tomorrow we head to the Toronto zoo for FREE! We also had FREE passes to play mini golf and did that yesterday after spending the morning with his bible college friends. A few of them we got together with earlier in the week for dessert one night. We had a lot of laughs!

Today we went to church at New Life. ( Formerly Howard Park)
What an awesome service that was. The worship was real. Very lively, upbeat and loud!  It was powerful. We all loved it. Elisa said to me afterwards that if we lived in Toronto she would definitely want to go to this church!
It was awesome seeing everyone as well.

So, as you can see; things have been super busy. Tomorrow like I said is the Zoo. Tuesday we are back in Woodstock for another Dr's visit. Wednesday we take the van to get safety checked and to be sold. We are getting together with our Pastor and his wife there as well. Wednesday night is an early birthday bash for Jake and Elisa who both have birthday's in August.
We will not get a lot of sleep that night! I imagine I won't get any. I will be afraid of oversleeping. We have to be up around 3am to be picked up and taken to the airport with our
belongings crammed into 12 hockey bags. We fly out around 6:25am!

Jake will be going to my inlaws  and will be going to braeside kids camp for a week of ministry with the Rubber Chicken company.  He flies out at the end of his time at camp to be with us. Please keep him in your prayers as he flies to Honduras on his own. I am a little nervous of him getting through customs in Honduras!
There are only three and a half sleeps left!