Mary and Joseph Revisited--Room in the Inn, twice!

Nous avons termines nos etudes! Tim and I finished our language study on December 14. We were glad to be finished but we absolutely fell in love with Quebec. (desolee que je n'aie pas une clavier francaise avec les cedilles et accents, etc. Pardonez moi) We love our church in Beauport and we will greatly miss the many dear friends we have made.

Our friends in Kokomo who loaned us their truck and trailer for our move to Quebec volunteered to trade vehicles with us again for our return trip. Toronto is a very convenient half-way point between Kokomo and Quebec City as my parents live there and enjoy hosting our friends! The plan was for Paul and Sherrie to bring their truck and trailer from Kokomo and we would bring our caravan from Quebec and trade in Toronto. We planned to do the trade on the weekend after classes were done. We also planned on leaving Mikaylah with Grandma and Grandpa in Toronto while we went back to Quebec to pack up our apartment. We left early on Saturday morning December 15. However a snowstorm in Kokomo prevented Paul and Sherrie from leaving Kokomo. They finally made it on Monday December 17. We traded vehicles and Tuesday Paul and Sherrie took our Caravan back to Kokomo and we brought the truck and trailer with Jayson up to Quebec.

We had pretty good weather but ran into traffic in Montreal that kept us at a standstill for three hours! So we didn't arrive in Quebec until 11:00 at night. Tim's Quebecois friend Marc graciously drove over to the church (where we were storing the truck and trailer) and brought Tim back to the apartment. How thankful we are for good friends. We made quick work of packing the apartment and our friends helped us to empty and clean the apartment. We were all packed up by Friday and Saturday Tim loaded the truck and trailer. We planned to leave after church on Sunday morning December 23 and be in Toronto on Christmas Eve with our daughter and my parents. Some other friends, Norm and Debra graciously loaned us their car and their home as all our possessions were packed in the trailer and there was no place to park the truck and trailer near their home. Sunday morning our dear pastor Rene Labbe invited Tim to make his adieus from the pulpit. We were so thankful for the opportunity to say goodbye to all our dear friends. we were on the road by 1:30 Sunday afternoon. But we were only on the road for about an hour when Tim noticed that the brakes on the trailer were grabbing! Tim pulled over and discovered that the wires to the trailer were shorting out. So he disconnected the wires and we were on our way again but without running lights to the trailer. We were on the road about 15 minutes when one of the tires on the trailer blew! It was cold out and poor Tim was changing a tire on the highway! There was a Canadian Tire store (Like Menards or Home Depot but with mechanics) in Drummondville so we decided to stop there and get a new tire and find someone to fix the wires for us. Drummondville was only another 20 minutes away but before we got there we lost all electrical power in the truck! No blinkers, no dashlights, nothing!
Thankfully we made it to Drummondville without getting pulled over by the police or having anyone plow into us! It was only 3:30 but it gets dark in Quebec by 4:30 so we had to find a hotel for the night. We got a new tire at CT and found a hotel across the street! Tim called Paul to ask his advice and Paul told him to check the fuses! Good call Paul! Four fuses were blown! Tim was able to get new fuses at CT and we had power in the truck again! Hallelujah! But there were no mechanics to be found on Sunday or on Christmas Eve.
We were on our way again Christmas Eve morning hoping to make it to Toronto but without running lights on the trailer we had to stop again, this time in Kingston, Ontario. The hotel had a Denny's attached to it but they were closing early for Christmas Eve. The staff felt sorry for our little Mary Joseph and Jesus family on Christmas Eve so they came out in the lobby and offered to feed us. We were the only ones in the restaurant and the staff was giddy to get home to their families so we ate an early supper at 4:15!! Jayson was properly feted and they even gave him a Tou-tou (stuffed animal in English).

We only had 3 hours left to Toronto so we arrived at 11 o'clock Christmas morning. In time for Stockings! We had a great reunion with our daughter and a happy Christmas with family. My sister and brother in law and their three little boys came for Christmas dinner so we had a big jolly time!
We didn't have time to do any Christmas shopping for our family but it didn't seem to matter. Everyone had a great time and we were just glad to be together!

Snow, snow, snow!

We have actually received more snow than has ever been recorded in Québec at this time of year. Mikaylah loves the snow, she asked Tim if there would be snowstorms in Africa. She would not take no for an answer. Hopefully she will be tired of the snow by the time we get to Niger. Besides she will have all that sand to play with!
We are going to Toronto on Saturday after Tim's exams are finished tomorrow. Mikaylah has been counting the days. Yesterday she asked if there were two weeks until we go to Gramma and Grampa's house and I said no, there were only three more sleeps... she complained, "I don't want to go to sleep!"
Jayson struggles just to get into his snowsuit and then to be tied down in his carseat is almost torture for our active little man. So Sunday afternoon he finally gave in and went to sleep!

Saturady night Mikaylah was able to say goodbye to some of her buddies here in Québec and Jayson found the potato bin! To each his own!
Mikaylah and her Sunday school teacher and beloved babysitter, Rachel
She had to say goodbye to some of her church friends, funny how she knew all the boys' names! Remy, Jacob, Thomas and Gabriel.

Bonne Fête!

Yes, the little guy turned one last week. Hard to believe that our baby is already a year old! My parents came down from Toronto to celebrate with us.


Québec also celebrated with our first snowfall of the year and Mikaylah was SOOO happy to go out and play in the snow!



We are starting to wrap up around here. We had some people come and look at the apartment (potential renters) so I made sure the dishes were washed and they were only here for about five minutes! I was actually a little disappointed! But now my kitchen is spit spot! Mom and Dad left for Toronto this morning and they took Mikaylah's trike with them, since it is snowing now she got the sled out!

Three more weeks before we pack up and move out of here! Hard to believe but we are very excited!

Last Hurrah of Autumn

We went to the Pumpkin patch on Saturday but it was closed because the owners son was getting married. We threw the kids into the pile of pumpkins anyway and got some cute pictures

Happy Thanksgiving!

As Jayson was only a week old last year for American Thanksgiving this was his first Canadian Thanksgiving. He enjoyed it immensely, especially the green beans, see them in his mouth? He was two fisted into the mashed potatoes (sorry no photo) and he ate like a starving man. Unfortunately the turkey did not do its trick with him by sending him to the land of nod. Perhaps he was overstimulated with the company. We had three families over, Ken and Ellen Fuss are going to Togo, Paul and Chantelle McIver are going to Niger and Anthony and Yolande Gould are from Australia. All of us are here to study French. Funny thing was that we all spoke English all evening!

Really, we are in school. After looking at some of the beauty around Québec some of you may think that we are just up here on vacation and not going to school. We are just trying to get as many activities in before the snows start to fly. My friend told me that he is usually snowboarding by the middle of October up in the mountains. While we aren't close to freezing, yet, the weather forcasters have predicted that we will go down to around 50 degrees for the highs next week. But this week was absolutely BEA---beautiful! The colors up here are so vibrant and beautiful. The mountains look as if they are on fire with all the colors. I expect the the mountains will be finished and dropped all the leaves in about two weeks. In the city, it will be a bit longer since we aren't so high up. I will leave this post as is for now. Janice will come back with a post of the kids, because they have been so cute lately.

L'automne à Québec

As you can see from these pictures that fall is certainly a beautiful time here in Québec. We stumbled upon these falls the other day when we drove out to Mt. Ste. Anne to climb up that with all the colors(colours for you Candadians). Because we had the two kids with us and we didn't really have two days to climb the mountain, we veered off a different direction with some easier trails for Mikaylah to hike. We came across some wonderful scenery that God provided for us. While I can't put all the pics on the blog, I thought we would share a few with you. Of course, I had to include some of the kids, too:) I will share more later!

Rentrée; in other words - back to school!

We had one last hurrah yesterday at the canyons of mont Ste-Anne, we had a beautiful day and the kids did great, Mikaylah even climbed down 187 steps and back up again without complaining!

Tim started his last session today! We are on the home stretch! I will add some photos soon, the kids want their lunch!

To Grandmother's house we go

Mommy, Jayson and I just got home to Québec after a week at Grandma and Grandpas in Toronto. Papa had to stay home and go to school!
We had a great week at Grandma's though, we went swimming in my cousins' pool and Grandpa wrestled with me and took me and Jayson to the park. Even Jayson likes the slide and the swings! Grandma shared her cereal with me and made me treats! Everynight she would lay down with me and sing me songs!
On Sunday we went to Grandma and Grandpa's church where mommy went when she was a little girl. It is an ENGLISH church! After Sunday school a nice lady named Heather Graves took me outside to play in the park with her two little girls and her little boy. Jayson stayed in the nursery, but he smiled at all the people who were watching him.

Mommy says Jayson loves me, I think he just loves my hair!
The ride back to Québec was fun, first we took a city bus, then a métro (subway)then we went up the moving stairs, my mommy calls it an escalator. We got on a big train that went to Montréal. Then we got onto another train but after an hour the conductor stopped the train. He said the tracks were damaged so we had to go back to Ste-Hyacynthe. Then we got on a really big bus that brought us back to Québec. I wanted to go on an airplane too, but Mommy says we will when we go to Africa. We will go to Africa after Jayson's birthday. Papa was at the station to meet us. We were very tired because it was way past my bedtime, even past mommy and papa's bedtime! But we are home in Québec now!

We Need to Pray

From the mouths of babes, literally! Yesterday Tim bit the inside of his cheek and was commenting at supper how difficult it is to eat. Mikaylah pipes up, 'we need to pray'. She then proceded to pray that Jesus would help her papa's cheek to get all better! How precious is that? It was a great reminder to me how precious our prayers are to our heavenly Father too.



Jayson has really changed alot lately, next week he will be nine months old!! He is crawling and pulling himself up to stand and 'walks' around the furniture. He now has six teeth, the last four all came in within the last two weeks! He was pretty brave though! Jayson loves his sister! This morning we caught him banging on her door (he gets up a little earlier than she)wanting to play, we would have taken a picture, but didn't really want Mikaylah to wake up so early!He is a little monkey and gets into everything!



Tim and I have finished our summer session at Laval. We were so blessed by Malorie, who watched Mikaylah and Jayson every morning while we were at school. Jesse and Tiffany Shanks, new missionaries to Togo brought Malorie with them from Washington to care for their four year old son Joshua while they are studying French at Laval. Malorie graciously agreed to watch our kids as well during these last five weeks. What a blessing as she loves the Lord and loves our kids too. Every night when we put Mikaylah to bed she says, 'have to wake up early and go to Malorie's house!'
She is going to really miss her as Malorie returned home this weekend.

Tim is starting school again tomorrow at the little Bouchereau school located in downtown old Québec. He wants to take advantage of the time he has here in Québec. He is learning so much. In church this morning he understood the sermon! Please keep praying for us during this time in our preparation. The next four months will go quickly, we know. Pray for our kids too. Mikaylah's friends Lydia & Eliza left last week. But they are going to Niger too, so we will see them in a few months, Lord willing. God is Good--All the Time!

Tim's turn!

Summer in Québec is absolutely beautiful. The flowers are blooming and we have discovered a whole new part of the city…because it isn’t covered with snow anymore.

Mikaylah has found some beautiful parks that were also covered with snow. She loves to go to each one on different days. We praise God that we do have these free parks for her to play in since we don’t have a back yard.

Language Study

The French language study is going well for us. Tim is actually gaining confidence in using the language with some of the Québecois. He is presently taking some extra classes at a different University in Old Québec while Laval is on break. This school focuses more on conversation and a little grammar while Laval teaches a lot of grammar. Between the two schools, it is helping Tim to gain the confidence he needs to speak to people. Please continue to pray for Tim to hear and understand more each day.

Janice is speaking rather well. While she gets corrected quite often, she is not shy about speaking with anyone around. Her tutor has had her read from scripture, memorize it, pray and give the plan of salvation.
That doesn’t sound too bad because a missionary should do all those things, right? But try doing all that in French! It is so difficult to convey just the right concept in another language.

Janice’s tutor, Suzanne, told her that she is ready to give the good news of salvation to a Québecois! Pray for us as we build relationships with people here in Québec and that God will grant us the opportunities to share the gospel with them.

The kids

Jayson and Mikaylah are doing great! Jayson is growing like a weed and is now beginning to crawl around to get to his toys. Actually, he is just doing the one armed army crawl to scoot around the room. He is full of smiles and laughter. Yesterday, he was presented to the church by all the dads and moms. I thought that we just had to stand there and let the pastor do all the talking like in our church. But no….Pastor said, present your baby…I am thinking…in French??? You have got to be kidding! Fortunately, I have a wife who isn’t shy and gave a wonderful little speech. If I had said anything, I would have told them his name and age and then sat down. But Jayson was very good until the prayer, of course.

‘Mikaylah is growing up too fast!’ That is what she often tells us. She is beginning to speak a little bit of French. She is funny because she will often want to watch a movie like Winnie the pooh, in French. Other times, it has to be in English. She is able to understand the difference now.

This past weekend on Father’s Day, the kids got a visit from their three boy cousins from Toronto. They really had a great time playing together. You can tell, because we are still finding toys all over the place! It was great to see family again.


Business

Our support level is continuing to increase. With the value of the Canadian dollar today, our support is over 96%. However, we have kept the dollar at the same we have always had it to be safe. As they say, what goes up, must come down. Our support level currently sits at 94.1%. That leaves us only $250.00 per month to raise. We praise God for the faithfulness of so many people who have caught our vision of reaching MK’s around the world. We are praying by next spring, we will be ready to leave for Africa. That means Tim has to get much better in French and our support has to be at 100% of the minimum required to go. If you have been thinking of supporting this ministry please let us know how we can help you! You can give now directly on line through EBM’s website, www.ebm.org and receive a US receipt. Just follow the links to the giving section to our name and follow the instructions.

That sums up our lives now. Please continue to pray for us to have opportunities to share the gospel with people at school as well as our neighbors. We thank all of you who faithfully pray us each day. It is so encouraging to hear of people who tell us that they are praying for us every day. Thank you, we love you all!

In His Grip,

Tim, Janice, Mikaylah and Jayson


Jer. 29:11 Car je connais les projets que j’ai formés sur vous, dit l’Éternel, projets de paix et non de malheur, afin de vous donner un avenir et l’espérance.

Once in a blue moon

We found these totally flexible 100% UV protection baby sunglasses for a buck at the dollarama store, my new favourite store here in Quebec. Also got some kiddy plates with winnie l'ourson (the pooh)! Had to take a pic of the boy in his cool shades!
We went to the beach on the St Lawrence 'plage à Jacques Cartier' with the Ovenells. Thought it would be a good op for some new updated family pics. But they turned out to be too dark. Besides Mikaylah was not cooperating...

It seemed like the best picture we could get of her was her backside, and she's not even a teenager yet, they aren't supposed to diss their families this early are they?




Seems like a good photo of Mikaylah comes once in a blue moon!

yes, in our timezone we are experiencing a Blue moon today. Last night it looked fantastic as we walked home from the park at 8pm. Those of you in Africa won't get your blue moon until June and in Australia you'll get in in July!

Here's another of our cool dude in the sunglasses!