Pillars of greenish hue stretched from the outline of the peaks ahead to the night sky above, hazy and stretching across the horizon; the snow, passing by on either side, glittering and sparkling like a million tiny paparazzi flashes under the beam of the headlights. This was the scene, driving at 6 am in the morning from Whitehorse back to Telegraph Creek, on the Alaska Highway.

Kids playing on the front patio in our little dusting of snow(Nov 9)

So much excitement over a little bit of snow:)

MY NEMESIS: The leaky pipe under, and next to, the kitchen sink. Not looking forward to repairing that:(

We stayed overnight with Trudy, a member of Madonna House, in Teslin on our way up to Whitehorse. Can you tell the kids were excited?

Our time in Whitehorse was quick, as usual, and filled with lots to get done. We had a great time with our friends, the Lefebvre’s, whom we stayed with again! We were able to get a huge grocery shop in, a hardware shop, and even some Christmas shopping, among other things. We were able to go to Mass on Saturday night, something that is quite a privilege for us if it’s more than once a month.

The following pictures are of the kids at drop-in gymnastics!

Hooray for trampolines:)

We all went out for supper to Boston Pizza, in early celebration of Denise’s birthday, a luxury we do not have living in the village of Telegraph Creek.

Aliz all snuggled in, taking refuge from the -12 degree weather.

There’s nothing like a good swing on a cold day!

I’m digging in the… snow?

We attended our Holy Family Apostolate meeting, a group that was started by Bishop Gary Gordon with a vision for families to proclaim the Gospel in the communities they live. Families are called forth to go out to the missionary territories of the world, to the North, to the South or right where they are now. This has been a great source of spiritual support and formation in listening to the voice of God, in our lives, for direction. We  were a part of the group that met in the Fraser Valley for the last 5 years, and now have the opportunity to join with the group in Whitehorse. There are roughly 8 families, along with 4 Madonna House members, who meet on a monthly basis to reflect on a line from the Little Mandate. For more information on what this group is about you can go here, and if you would like to see what we reflected on, at this meeting, you can go here.

It was pretty crazy for us, coming from the small village of Telegraph Creek(with one ‘corner store’) into Whitehorse. Just shifting  from our regular pace of life, even though Whitehorse is still a relatively small city. But I guess that is it, it’s all relative. We have started to realize how we really enjoy the simplicity of being away from the hustle and bustle and ‘busyness’ of city life.

A herd of caribou on the side of the highway(they had actually been blocking the highway) just before the junction of the Alaska highway and the Cassiar highway.

Coming back to Telegraph Creek we arrived an hour and a half before we had to lead the communion service, only to find the power was out. Starting a fire in the church, while fumbling around in the fading light of day, and then starting a fire in the furnace in the house; fortunately the power came on shortly thereafter. However we still ended up celebrating our service with a colder than usual inside temperature.

 Pink eye has attacked us, slowly making it’s way to all of the kids(as of today). Mommy & Daddy are still holding out.

We continue to feel so honoured, yet unworthy, to be able to serve the community here in this way. Equipped mainly with our desire to serve and to live fully in our family life, we pray that God will continue to use our littleness for His great plan:)

Denise’s birthday ice cream cake-in-a-bowl!

Happy Birthday Mommy! If you wondering, Isaiah bumped his head on the rocking chair.