The view from here.... (:

We have been in BC for almost a week and it feels like much longer (in a good way).

The kids and I flew out last Wednesday and had a fabulous day. It was the most fun I have had in a long time. Ken's cousin Rob had us at the airport just before 6. We checked in baggage, went through security and just hung out. I wish I had a picture of Grace's face when she had to put bunny in the bowl to go through the XRAY machine. She didn't understand what was happening and she was so worried. It made us all laugh, although the airport people were awful serious! (: The kids did some plane watching, but mostly just sat. Since some of them were awake at 4, by 7:30 they were tired already.  

Girls on one side.... (These pics are super fuzzy. Too bad!)

 Boys on the other..... These guys did so well.
 

I knew Natalie would be nervous on the plane, but I was also concerned about Grace, so I put her favourite music on my phone and put headphones on her as we started to taxi down the run way. To my surprise, she started patting her knees saying adagio, then as we went faster she patter her tummy and said allegro and then as we were at our fastest, she patted her shoulders and said another musical term that I forget. When we started to lift off she threw her hands in the air and yelled, "BLLLLLAAAASSSST OFFFFF -THIS IS SO AWSOME!!!!!!!!". She surprised me and made me laugh so hard. It's typical though. She seems to do everything with a little extra gusto.

She loved looking at the emergency instructions. She thought the raft looked fun! lol

I was so proud of Natalie. It was a big deal for her.

We had a brief lay over in Minneapolis. That airport is like a mall and the kids enjoyed the walk ways that were escalators. It was a great trip and I was so thankful to the Lord. I was a slight bit nervous flying with the five of them on my own, but everything went super smooth. It couldn't have been better. The best part was that Ken was waiting for us on the other side. (:

On the way to Chilliwack, we stopped off at White Rock, which is on the Vancouver coast. The tide was out and the kids loved finding shells and crabs. All of those pics are on Josh's phone and he is at work, so I will have to add those later! (: 

We arrived in Chilliwack after supper sometime. With the time change our day ended up being about 19 hours. Nuts. But fun. We are staying in a guest suite in Chilliwack for the first 10 days. The scenery in stunning, it's beyond our imagination. The kids love it as well. At our house there are bikes, an electric scooter, skateboards, playground, trampoline, a pool down the road and a little gator for Grace. I love the location and the sweet woman who lives here.  She is a treasure. It's going to be hard to leave. We are trading the beauty of the valley and the fun place for a full sized house. That will be nice. We will be able to have a little more routine with more space. So it's a good thing in the big picture. 

We have a 360 degree mountain view at home. This is my favorite side. It's also the side that our room is on. Crazy beautiful!

The church in Chiliwack is so lovely. The people here are very welcoming and so kind. I enjoyed my Sunday here very much. I am looking forward to meeting the congregations of Abotsford and Langely as well. 

On Sunday night, we were invited somewhere for supper and it was rather eventful. The company was great and they also live at the bottom of a mountain. It is my most favourite mountain so far. I took this picture from their trampoline. 

As were sitting around chatting and waiting for supper, the kids came yelling that someone on a scooter was hit on the highway. It was a hit and run. We all ran. Pastor John laid on the road with him to see how he was doing. Thankfully, he was conscience and talking. He was an older man and bleeding a lot out of his nose and was laying so still.  I would love to know how Henry is doing and if they got the person who hit him. Thankfully, an on the ball young woman got the plate number of the running car. Things like this sure put life into perspective. It reminds us how things can change in a moment.

Ken and I went walking and this picture was a "QUICK stop at the side of the road" picture!  

Ken takes Mondays off and that is our day to explore. Yesterday we went to Manning Park. WOW. The kids first fed some cute squirrel-chipmunks or whatever they were.  At times there were like 10 surrounding the kids! So cool!

Maybe not so smart to cuddle with a little wild creature? (:

Then they went kayaking.

These two were cold waiting for the others to come back. Grace was making cookies in her boat to give to Josh in his boat! (:

This looks like they don't know what they are doing, but they really did great. The kids love kayaking.

Then we drove to the top of a mountain. At times there were no sides. That is not naturally my thing, but we made it to the top with me only gasping a few times and with a phone full of pictures. I almost gave up on the pictures, they are just so inadequate.

Some over the edge action... (:

It was freeezing at the very top and some were wet still from kayaking.

When we got to the top, there was an old man going to his car. He had to be over 80. We ended up leaving around the same time. The old man left us in his dust. Literally. He booted down that mountain like he was just driving on the highway and  no possibility of plunging to his death over the side of this mountain. We all laughed so hard. We thought he was nuts, he probably thought were sissies! (: 

It was a great day.