Last day of vacation ....

Today is the last day of my 10 days off. I wish I could say that we were off doing all sorts of exciting things during this break, but due to sickness and limited finances we stuck pretty close to home. I got some cleaning done, decided to try my hand at knitting and crocheting, enjoyed time with family and friends. We did head out to Surrey earlier this week because I needed to bring in my passport application.

Over the past week I've had some time to reflect on the past year. Back in February I had that concussion which I'm nearly recovered from, finally. I do find that I'm still much more susceptible to headaches and it requires more effort to stay focused and concentrate but I'm thankful that the constant headaches have eased up. Colin is still taking courses at the university part time while working full time at Stream. I am working day shifts now, which is so much nicer than working until 11pm every night but in switching to days I did lose 10 hours per week (I used to work 40 hrs and now I'm at 30 per week). Working days has been nice, especially now that all three children are in school. Early last year we also made a big decision (for us) and started attending a different church - a decision that some of our family members and friends struggled with as we had been members of our previous church for all our lives and most of our family members still attend there. But it was the right decision for us and we have experienced a rich growth in our spiritual lives. We quickly became active in our new church: we joined a Small Group Bible study, I began attending the ladies Coffee Break on Wednesday mornings, I joined a Worship Team and the Worship Committee, Colin volunteers to help out with sound during Worship services, Kristina attends GEMS, I joined the choir, and all three kids joined the Children's Choir. The children continue to love their school and have excelled both socially and academically. Kristina continues to play violin in the fiddle club and has joined the Volleyball team. Brant is still our busiest child and goes to an after-school program for children with disabilities on Tuesdays, Horseback Riding (PRDA) on Wednesday after school, and he has Occupational Therapy on Thursday after school. Owen still loves playing video games and was thrilled that he received a DS for Christmas. Both Brant and Owen also love playing with their lego and beyblades. Brant is still doing well, health-wise, and is thriving on the gluten-free diet for which we are extremely grateful.

We look forward to 2012 and are thankful that we have made it safely into yet another year. Later this month I look forward to attending a 3 day Worship conference in Grand Rapids, Michigan with some members of our church (the reason I need my passport!). This summer we hope to get together with Colin's family to help his parents celebrate their 40th wedding Anniversary. Colin is hoping for a good employment opportunity this year in the IT field (currently he is working graveyard shifts at Stream which isn't great). I'm hoping to continue to work as a support worker with people who have disabilities and to secure a permanent day position (the position I am currently filling is a temporary position which might turn into a permanent but might not - it goes until June 2012). Again, we pray that everyone of our family and friends experiences a happy and healthy 2012 - may you find love, contentedness and blessings in all you have received!