2004 Highlights

January, 2004 - March, 2004

2004 has been a year of continued growth for our family. The experiences and challenges we shared this year have acted as a lever to push us even closer together in our relationships. The following pictures are a small sampling of memories from throughout the year, a reflection of God's faithfulness and blessing in our lives. Although there are also many challenges, we look back with thanks and appreciation. We hope you'll enjoy this snapshot of our year.

Rather than retreating indoors, our family takes full advantage of the Canadian winter. The more snow the better...

... snow is magical, an amazing gift for kids both young and old.

Each weekend we spent hours exploring the trails in the area.

During the season, we covered roughly 85 kms of trails. At the end of one long trek, we even managed to exhaust the boys...

.. but it's nothing that a little dip in the hot tub can't remedy!

Jared and Derek both have birthdays in January. This year we wisely planned a combined party in the school gym (and locked the doors!).

Derek's birthday gift, Squeak was a welcome addition to our urban zoo...

... and although Bear, our family cat, appeared uninterested, she was siltently scheming for an intimate moment with this latest pet!

April is Howard's birthday. Each year he's been in the habit of taking the day off of work to celebrate and reflect.

Howard discovered he had a twin brother! Jean is a friend from church who was born the same year, month and day.

After breakfast with Jean, it's off to the butterfly museum with a side trip to visit Henry. Henry bends glass rods to create amazing neon works of art for businesses all over town.

This spring we also had a reunion of very special friends. These are people who participated in a significant part of our spiritual journey, and have since been dispersed to different areas of Ontario and beyond. It was an awesome evening of music, prayer and sharing as we saw God powerfully touch lives and it felt as if we had never really been apart. Every once in a while, you get a taste of heaven while still on the planet Earth.

We also decided it was time to redo our basement. We had been talking for some time on how to make our home more attractive to the teenage set.

The entire family eagerly pitched in to destroy the premises. Once we had it down to the bare walls and concrete floor, the difficult work of reconstructing began...

... thankfully Harry, one of our friends from the reunion, was available to help put Humpty Dumpty back together again.

Soon we had what resembled a livable room, perhaps with a little paint...

... or grafitti ...

... it can be converted into another "living space" that the kids can enjoy...

... and another quiet place for a little privacy away from the bustle of family life.