2016 In Review
Well another year is unwinding.
Jan
10 Hector and I flew, Vancouver, LA, Tokyo, Singapore, Timor-Leste. It was 28
flying hours, and 11 waiting hours. We were very happy to arrive.
The island is not a high tourist place, and Mai and Matt
were both working during the week, but that was totally ok with us. We went to
be with them and to see where they live, so that for the next 5 years,
when they tell us something we can picture it.
We mostly stayed home, cooked, and kept the kitchen clean, and babysat, kitten Nestor,
potty trained him, and...
Taught him to wash dishes for his mommy!!
(actually, we can't claim credit for these last 2 accomplishments)
Matt and Mai were happy
to have meals ready when they got home.
We also filled their fridge top freezer before we left. Staying home was
a very good place to be, when it was a humid 37c (100F) outside. For part of the afternoon, and through the
night, we used the a/c, to be able to survive!!!
On Sundays we usually went somewhere, Cristo Rei,
The view of the city (Dili) from Cristo Rei
.2. The
Brunch on the beach after our hike up 700 or so stairs to Cristo Rei.
the monument honouring the pope's visit,
k-41 beach,.4. .
Friday afternoons were for shopping,.Matt would borrow
the ADRA truck, and we would all go.
During the week Mai sometimes caught a mikrolet (mikro for short),
to school & always walked home in the heat because it was to hard to cross the busy street twice, to catch the mikro coming back. Matt worked on the compound where they
live.
Mai & Matt's house on the left, the ADRA container offices on the right, at the far back the Mission President's house.
Matt & Hector picking Papaya's
The ADRA Container Offices.
The new rented office space for ADRA
After the 1st week,
Hector felt comfortable to walk to a store or market for ingredients, or
building materials, as he built some shelves, and a kitty tree, for Nestor.
Nestor on his Kitty tree.
Hector building a fence for the dog they were hoping to get, but that didn't work so well, so they didin't keep him.
Mai and I with the treasurer's house in the background, and a Mission vehicle, when we were there they only had a small motorcycle, but now they have a car.
One Sabbath afternoon, on a walk along the beach.
The building that Mai transformed from Mission Office, to School.
The church
Feb 7 we went to Kuala Lumpur, to visit with our friend Yen
from Kelowna, who was home to visit her family..7.
A view of Yen's family neighbourhood.
We got to experience Chinese New Year,.
...tour the city for a day,.
Batu Caves
Little India
.
Twin Towers
Mall at the base of the Twin Towers.
...and and we eat out a few times.
That tall thing was really good!!
Banana leaves for plates
Lovely by the pond evening dinner, with Yen's family.
We took an over night trip out of
town to visit Yen’s friend, and attend church.
Got to participate in a several events of a family wedding,.thefirst was the evening we arrived, and just the boy's side of the family, the second, was early on Wednesday morning, and the last was the evening we were flying out, so we had to cut it a bit short, and hurry to the airport.
Hector, Beth and Yen with the bride and groom.
Upon arriving in Seattle,
Sweet Leah!!!
we connected with a friend from
Kelowna (Marleen at the far end of the table), and skipped our last flight to Vancouver, and drove home with her,
getting home 2 days sooner than our bus ticket was going to get us here.
That was good, as Ronald & Tiffany came
for the weekend, to meet up with Royce and Michelle and go skiing, and Nana and
Bapa, got to babysit, that was fun, the kids were so good!!
Jadon's T-shirt from Kuala Lumpur
Jadon and Leah's Indian Outfits from Little India Kuala Lumpur.
When we left in January, I was so sad, as my mom’s youngest
sister Leatha, was in hospital, doing so very poorly, I was so afraid that she
might pass away while I was gone, and I would not be here. And my mom’s youngest brother Melvin had
shortly been diagnosed with cancer. It was very hard to leave for 5 weeks.
But when I got back I was delightfully surprised to find my
aunt doing so much better, and she was in the extended care unit, waiting for a
care home room to open up. I visited her
weekly, and enjoyed every visit. Her
mind was very clear, and she had determined to be happy no matter the
circumstances, and that made visits something to look forward to. She has now been moved to her 1st
choice care home, and is very happy there, and seems to be improving, can walk
with a walker for short distances, is doing puzzles, and getting transit to
bring her to church!! So happy to still
have her loving all of us, and keeping us in her prayers.
Leatha at her 85th Birthday
Leath with a volunteer at the care home, very nice girl visiting from Germany for a few months.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t a happy ending for my uncle. He passed away in May. That was very hard for his 3 older siblings
who couldn’t imagine why the youngest had to go so soon. It was also hard for me, as he was more like
a brother then an uncle to me, my mom’s special little brother, closer to my
age then to mom’s.
Melvin & Eileen a few years ago. My Uncle/brother. Miss him so much.
Early in May we went to Ronalds for a weekend. Jadon had a minor surgery, and so were were there to stay with Leah for the day, leaving Ron & Tiff to be with Jadon, wory free. It was Friday, so I was cleaning for Sabbath, and Leah was playing so nicely by herself, and I kept watch, but she never got into mischeif. Into the afternoon, she was saying (age 2 1/2) "Nana tea party". I was thinking she wanted me to make a tea party for her, so I told her I had to finish sweeping the poarch, then we could do tea party. So as soon as I put the broom away, she was right behind me, but then she ran away into the living room, so I went to see what whe was up to, and here she had the whole tea party set up waiting for me to join her, it was a very special moment for Nana I Leah.
Hector was determined to build another house this year,
wanted to start in March, but the framer dragged his feet, which delayed
everything all summer. Had to find new
renters for one house for April, hate that job, but seems we got a good
family.
April and June we visited our cabin in Westbridge, and
Hector spoke for the church service at the small company that meets out
there. Was nice to spend a little time
out there, we love the place, but for over a year we have been looking for non
druggies, to rent and care for it, but there just doesn’t seem to be anyone out
that far that can be depended on, most of them don’t have jobs, and plan to
farm marijuana for a living. We have
listed it hoping to sell, and get rid of one debt, seeing we can’t seem to rent
it.
June was a crazy,
I started cooking at the beginning of the
month,
for 3 events.
June 20th my
uncle’s memorial,
and many family here from BC, AB, WA, OR.
June 24-25,
Our niece Elisa graduated in
Vancouver..13.
July 1st, our neighbour/cousin’s
son got married,.and more family came, including
Ronald, Tiffany & kids, Mai, Matt, Royce, Michelle. Had a full house again.
July 3rd
Mai, Matt, Royce, Michelle, and I went
to Alberta.
Traveled one day, spent the
evening,
and next morning with my cousin Fay in Calgary..
On to Lacombe visited my aunt Violet .who is in assisted living there, and saw her grandson’s new property, stayed with
cousins Rod & Judy, in Morningside,
next day went on to Wetaskiwin, to see
my uncle Sam,.and stayed with his daughter Judy
for the night.
Early morning of July 6
took Mai & Matt to Edmonton A.P., to fly to Ontario.
R, M, and I came home that day. Then they had to get serious about packing, and I
ended up there for 1.5 days helping, till I was too sore, to pick up another
thing. Their truck arrived on Wednesday the 13th. That weekend, they stayed here with us, and Sabbath we went with them to their
church, and farewell party on the 16th. Royce and Michelle left for camp meeting set
up, o the 17th. Then I had 4 days to get us ready for camp meeting.
We had our family all together for the week of camp
meeting. Mai & Matt came back from
Ontario, and Ron & Tiff, came up from Seattle, so it was a really nice
week. The boys got to celebrate their birthday together first time in many
years..18.
Friday night midnight we were all awoke to shouts of
fire…evacuate!! We did, but within an
hour were back as the brush pile was under control. Saturday night, Mai and Matt were taken to
Vancouver to fly out for another year.
Sunday Royce took Michelle to Seattle to fly to Florida, and he came
back here for 3 days, to finish up some stuff, with his churches, and to do
concrete work around his house, 4 years in the waiting.
His last day was very busy, and we barely got
him to the airport on time, but he squeaked in and his bag managed to get on
too. He went to Florida to be with
Michelle for a friend’s wedding, then they flew to Michigan on Aug 9, to start
his next 3 years as a Masters of Divinity Student.
Aug and Sept were the big push to get the new house ready for renters
by Oct 1..19.
Chimneys were starting and I was pushing the bookings into October. Then October was crazy busy. There are still a few details to finish, but
we rented to 4 young men, sons of friends, and gave them a rent break so that
we could go back and finish up later. We have one lot, that we lived on when Mai-Rhea was born, it is 1.3 acre, and the city has allowe ud now to sub-divide, and plan to put 4 houses onto it. The first 2 are at the back of the lots, and this one is infront of the one we built in 2011, and there is still room to build another one infront of Royce's house (hope it is not next summer).
For Canadian Thanks Giving, Ronald and family came for the celebration, but it was a triple weekend. They arrived Thursday evening Friday about 3 pm, we had our Thanks Giving Dinner, and Jadon's 5th birthday party.
Ane Ronald picked a few boxes of grapes, so that Saturday evening we could start stemming what had been picked. Sunday morning, was full into grape juice production. by the time they left on Monday afternoon, we had about 100 Lieters of juice, and after they were gone, I got another dozen or so.
November rolled around, with very few calls for chimneys to
be cleaned. Hector has gone to Big
White, our ski mountain a few times, but his days, have been only about 1-4
chimneys a day, and some days with none.
He has been cleaning up the garden and yard. I keep trying to get desk work, and other
things done in the house, seems I never get very far.
Still have renters in our basement, and this school year, I
have a girl from 40 miles south, staying here for college, so the house is
full. When it was time to empty the
fountain outside before freezing, I cleaned it up, and brought it into the
living room, as I will enjoy it more here than outside, I never have time to
sit out there, but I try to get a 20 min nap daily in my mom’s recliner, and I
have now been turning it on to enjoy, the sound is relaxing, and covers other
noises.
Royce & Michelle are going to see Mai & Matt before
Christmas, then joining her family in Australia for the holidays. We will be going to Auburn (Seattle) to spend
Christmas with Ronald’s family. We will
stay to celebrate birthdays, Leah’s 3rd on Jan 4, and Hector’s 65th
on Jan 9. He is hoping that some of his
siblings will come seeing it is Seattle, and much less expensive then flying
into Canada.
As
we finish another year, signs about us are telling that earth is running out of
time. Our ticket out of here, is
simple. Get to know the Baby of
Bethlehem, & make Him first in your life. He is the way, truth, life, & the only way to the Father John 14:6. If
you find making a commitment and sticking to it hard, take time to learn more
about Desmond T. Doss, the Hero of Hacksaw Ridge, his life is a great
inspiration to anyone who wishes to stay
true to a commitment they have made. God Bless
Merry
Christmas, and Happy New Year
