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A new church home!

I am so excited. I think we have found our new church home, Friends Church. Don’t you just love the name? What normally happens when we visit a new church is we talk about it on the way home. We ask all the questions like “what did you think of praise and worship” and “what did you think of the teaching”. We ask Brock and Sydney “what did you learn today”, “did you have fun” and of course “do you want to go back”. Inevitably at least one or more of us did not like on part or another. Well, we have been to Friends Church the last two weeks and there has not been one dislike. Not one!
Friends Church is a small church that meets in the gym of Master’s Academy. They serve Starbuck’s coffee before service which is always a plus. It is a very laid back atmosphere. I just thought HPC was casual. Last Sunday Pastor Jeff was in shorts along with most of the congregation. I guess they like to take advantage of the few months of warm weather they have here. I love the praise and worship. It is different from HPC, but very good. It has an alternative flair to it. A lot of the songs are familiar. Not just from church but from singers like Matt Redman as well. I find that when we are there I don’t want it to end. There is a peace there that we haven’t had at any of the other churches we have visited. We had planned on visiting another church, but I don’t think we are going to make it. Not unless the Lord tells us to.

We haven’t really met anyone there yet but I am sure that will change next week. They are having a BBQ after service. And of course it’s free. Sound familiar? It seems like this church has a real heart for the community and it lost. They like to call it “giving water” to the thirsty. A water moment.

This past weekend was the May Long Weekend. Brock and Sydney were out of school Friday and Monday and Bryan was off on Monday. I am still not sure what the holiday was, but it was nice, eh (I don’t think that is supposed to be a question, even though it sounds like it). We went to Drumheller which is a small town to the east of Calgary. It was very different than our trips in the mountains. East of Calgary the land becomes flat farm land. We drove about 1 ½ to 2 hours of flat dry land and all of a sudden you drive down into the huge canyon. I now call this the big hole in the ground in the middle of nowhere. Down there is a small town with a huge dinosaur museum. We walked across the Red Deer River on a suspension bridge. That was a little scary. Especially when you get to the middle and it is swaying back and forth. We had a lot of fun. The kids (Bryan included) really enjoyed the museum.

We got our insurance info in so I started looking for a doctor today. I went to a website that has a list of doctors that are accepting new patients. I got about half way through the list and had to stop. None of them were accepting new patients. I had heard it may be hard to find a doctor. One of the moms at the bus stop suggested I try some doctors in Cochran. Cochran is a small town just west of Calgary. It is about 15-20 minutes from my house. So I did and it worked. I have a meet and greet appointment with a doctor in June. Please pray for favor with the Doctor because now he will interview us. Sounds crazy.

Here are a few things I have found funny about being in Canada…..
· I can’t find Rotel or anything like it
· They don’t sell frozen dinner rolls
· They do sell Louisiana Hot Sauce
· When I asked for corn bread mix they said “what is that?”
· Brock and Sydney are allowed to bring stuffed animals to school and have water bottles at their desk
· They can come home for lunch
I love and miss you all. I hope all is with each and every one of you. You are all in our hearts and in our prayers. I just wish I could talk to all.

Be blessed,
Ali

Yeah! My first mountain hike

I finally got to do my first mountain hike. It was such a beautiful day. We were some where out in the Kananaskis. That is about all I know. I was thinking we would do hills, then flat and maybe hills again. Boy, was I wrong. It was all hill from the get go. We started at the bottom by the creek and went up until we got to the top. Two hours of hiking to the top. There were a few stopping breaks in there, but it was all up hill. I didn't think I was going to make it, but I pushed through and got to the top. I never would have thought I would be standing on a beautiful summit, completely surrounded mountains. That is like a kiss from heaven. God has truly created a beautiful place. I just stood there in awh. The video I attached at the bottom is a panoramic view. It was very rocky and uneven, that is why the video is so shaky. If you fall , you are going down one way or another. Though it was quite cold on top, yet so nice. Then we headed down. I thought that was going to be the easy part. Actually, going downhill takes a toll on your knees. More than what going up hill does to you thighs. According to my GPS, it was 4.63 miles round trip.

I was hiking with a group of ladies with Fit Frog. This is the same group I do the Urban Hikes with, though there is always different ones that show up. That is Lori in the pic with me. This is her set up. They are all so nice, very talkative and very Canadian. I just love the accents, "eh".

Brock and Bryan went on a bike excursion yesterday. After we bought Bryan a new bike, he and Brock road there bikes downtown then back home. Well, almost home. As I have told you before, we live at the top of the hill. By the time they made it to the neighborhood they did not have enough juice to get them up that last big hill. So I went and got them. They did 30km, which is about 18.75 miles. My two guys were plumb worn out. I was proud of them.

I think we are going to try to go to Grotto Canyon sometime in the next couple of weeks. This is suppose to be a good day hike for the kids. There is a creek in the canyon, so there is a lot of room for playing and climbing over rocks. From what I understand the drive there gets you over the hills, so there isn't a lot of uphill walking. That's a good thing.

Thanks to everyone for your comments. It is good to have some encouraging words from home. I love you all.

Be blessed,

Ali