An Audible Sigh of....Relaxation...

Well, here goes! Sorry it's been so long but I can't even start to describe what the month of March was like for Floyd and I!

First of all, there was Africa! Oh my goodness!! I can't even start to tell you how wonderful our time there was! It was so different than I had ever imagined and so beautiful!! Jeffreys Bay was a vision of beauty with miles of white sandy beaches and hardly anyone taking advantage of the view. We spent many days just walking the beach, looking for shells (I got everyone up at 4:30 one morning to try and get the "best and biggest" but didn't find any trophy ones) and swimming/wading in the surf. We took a lot of road trips - to a lion park, an elephant sanctuary (where we rode them!), to the world's highest bridge, to the Garden parkway (where baboons play along the road), to the city malls, and to many, many craft markets! We also went for four days to Capetown and enjoyed, amongst other things, a "romantic sunset cruise" on a sailboat - which turned into a challenging, wet, stormy ride on the high seas!! Ha ha...lots of "long stories". We enjoyed countless hours with Kristy and Bob and their friends at the YWAM base there and came to love them all. I can't wait to go through my photos - soon I'll post some in My Photos and I'll let you know when. My goal is to soon get my scrapbook done of the trip so I can show my Edmonton friends when I go back to visit. We also had our first experience with lost luggage which was a gut-wrenching experience for the first three days we were home. I honestly never thought it would happen to me, but it did. We arrived in Edmonton minus all three of our bags, including one that was filled with souvenirs. It took three days of anxious waiting, praying, and trusting God, but they did arrive safely at our door...

The move. It...it...happened. Ha ha. I don't know how else to say it. We were totally unprepared, even though, before we left, we thought we were. But things just kept coming out of the woodwork that needed to be packed. Mandy and I packed like packrats while the men moved it all out to the truck. The question of the day was, "Where's the duct tape??" We were blessed by many friends who showed up on "the day" and helped us out. They were all a God-send as, when we woke up that morning, we had no one scheduled to come help. Our Pastor, Keith, was awesome as he brought to the scene a lot of experience with moving (himself and his kids!) and performed miracles fitting everything into the U-Haul. Then there was an angel named Gudrun who showed up at lunch time with Quizno subs and drinks for everyone! We were so blessed. Thanks to everyone for your help!

The drive down was uneventful, for which we were thankful. We went in convoy - Floyd drove the U-Haul truck, I followed in Bert and Mandy and Jorge brought up the rear in Ebenezer (yes, yes, we name our vehicles in our family...ha ha). Bob drove his Dad's van and Kristy was in their car but they were ahead of us. We got in late at night, set up some air mattresses to sleep on and then, the next morning, started unpacking the vans and truck. Tom showed up for that, along with a couple of his friends, and we sure appreciated their help on this end. Tanya and Amethyst also came over, with all the kids, to help organize some of the stuff. Thanks, Tan and Am, for your help as well!!

So now we're in Picture Butte and, I gotta tell you, we are loving it! There were a few glitches with the new house - things that should have shown up in the inspection, I think - but we're surviving. The first major thing we discovered about the new house was the fact that the ceiling going down the stairs to the basement is very low. Eeeek. I don't know how we missed that when we were looking at it before. Everyone but Jorge and I have had the head-busting experience of encountering the ceiling - especially the tall guys like Tom and Bob. It's something we're gonna have to really look into even though the four of us now have all become accustomed to bending as we go down and up. The code word for Day One was definitely, "Watch your head!!" - yelled out to anyone we saw going up and down the stairs. We also discovered a noticeable lack of electrical outlets in the rooms which has caused a bit of problems but nothing major. I gave up a bit of stuff in Edmonton because there was no room in the truck and I've discovered that I have more to give away because there's no room for it in the new house. Going from five bedrooms to three leaves a lot of surplus "stuff"...

Bottom line, though, is that we LOVE small-town Alberta. It's incredible how quiet the neighborhood is. We live on a dead-end street as well, so the only people that go by are only our neighbors in the two houses past us. Ha ha. Floyd kept looking out the front window to watch traffic go by and there wasn't any!! Love it! We quickly discovered a favorite in the local Cactus Grill restaurant that puts out meals to die for at wonderful prices. The guys enjoyed the steak lunch special on Wednesday - yeah, I think that may become a regular. Floyd has already met so many people. He goes to the cafe every morning to meet with the regulars that gather there. As for me, my days (when I'm not working) are filled with unpacking and finding the right place for things. Mandy and Jorge have been invaluable to us as helpers and good company. We've made many shopping trips together and have many more to go!

My work is going well - I was thrilled to find out that once my training is over (end of May), my shifts will be 8 hours instead of 12 and that works for me! We have a big garden to take care of and I'll need time to do that. I'm hoping that the weather will stay cool for a bit (did I just say that out loud??) so that I can finish the house before the yard work starts... Having said that the sun was shining today and everyone was out without coats and I even saw some shorts and tank tops!!

Anyway, that's just a quick review - I'm babysitting the grandbabbies today - another joy of living so close to Tanya and Tom.

Bottom line? We're LOVING it!! Thank you, Lord...