Thanksgiving

We have an absolutely glorious maple tree next to our house. And as we’ve entered the fall season, its leaves have become the most incredible hues of orange and yellow. We’re in awe of God’s handiwork every time we look at it. The sad thing is that more leaves fall from it everyday, meaning that it will one day be bare and the cold days of winter will be upon us. But we’re trying not to think about that too much yet…except that we've already decided we'd better embrace the cold weather once it comes!

Here's just a glimpse of its glory...

Fall also brings with it the Thanksgiving holiday. This is traditionally a time to celebrate the end of the harvest, and for us as Christians, it is of course a time to especially reflect on God’s rich blessings in our lives. Remembering our brothers and sisters in PNG, who want for so much more than we do, we are thankful for and humbled by everything He gives us—much more than we need and certainly more than we deserve. What a gracious God.

On the holiday Monday, as is tradition, the whole Wildeboer clan got together up at the farm in Markdale, to enjoy food, fellowship, the infamous wagon ride and even some bocce ball!

A few of the Wildeboer men...



Let's ride, Papa!

Nana and some of the grandkids!

Fun on the Farm

This past weekend we headed 3 hours north of here and surprised Ian's mom and dad with a visit. They live on a beautiful farm in Markdale, Ontario. And with many of the leaves already becoming vibrant oranges, yellows and reds, the scenery was breathtaking. We knew that Wayne and Cheronne VanderHeide and family would be spending the weekend there, so we didn't want to miss out on the fun! Much to the surprise of them all!

Here's Nana, surrounded by the kids, reading stories.


Papa took all the kids on an ATV adventure!


We drove through the back trails to the Campfire! property.


Here's Cameron, Jonathan and Sjaan near the barn and the horse pasture.


Getting my excercise for the day!


It was also a blessing to hear Wayne and Cheronne's presentation on their work in PNG at Owen Sound church on Sunday. They began with a powerful photo presentation put to music. It was very moving for me because even in 3 years we've grown to love the country and the people. I think I kind of forgot that lately as I've often only thought about the negative and stressful things we went through there. Wayne and Cheronne helped to remind me of all the incredible blessings and joy too. The Lord knew that I needed that right now.

Our New Home

Here's the beautiful place we'll call home for the next 4 months or so. It's in a nice area of Dundas, on a tree-lined street. We're right at the end of it and have a walking/biking path right beside us. And there's a playground nearby too! It's getting to be a little chilly here already, but Jonathan and Karlyn still love to play outside.

And there's this great tree for climbing in the front yard!

This is Ian's sister Lydia and her boyfriend Adam vanHof who is the owner of the house. These two have put in a ton of work to get the house ready and furnished for us. We're so thankful for them!

My Wildeboer sister-in-laws did a wonderful thing for us--they organized a house-warming shower and gave us gifts of food to fill our cupboards. We were really touched by their thoughtfulness. Here are a few of the guests--Elissa (Ian's sister) and Sheri (married to Greg).

As well as Janet (married to Andrew) and Juanita, also Ian's sister.

Praise be to God for the way He provides for us in every way!

We went to the Zoo, Zoo, Zoo!

Jonathan goes to Jubilee School two mornings a week for Junior Kindergarten. His class took a trip to a nearby zoo and I got to go along to help out. He's been pretty hesitant about going to school, but on this day, he could not contain his excitement. He was so enthusiatic about the animals and ran from one to the next, while the rest of the group followed behind!

Although enthusiastic, he still didn't dare to feed the deer!

He was a little braver when it came to the goats!

Me and another mom were in charge of these 5 little munchkins for the day. Here they are sitting and waiting for the animal show to begin.