Gianna’s preschool graduation!

The last 2 weeks of June we travelled to Juneau, Alaska for Denise to take the second half of her Level 1 Catechesis of the Good Shepherd training.

We played at the park in Skagway while were waiting for the ferry. We also took some time to take in some local historical sights, including an old hearth(top right) which is all that is left of an old building run by one of the hearty pioneering women of the goldrush age.

Playing on the “beach” at the Mendenhall Wetlands (in Juneau), with our friends. The tide was out, leaving these sandy little rivers winding through the wetlands.

Going for a hike, with our friend, and picking wild blueberries, which were everywhere.

The touch tanks were pretty great also; starfish, urchins, crabs and sea cucumbers.

Working on marshmallow/toothpick creations at our friend’s house. It was very nice to have a place to stay with other people and have 2 friends to play with. Their hospitality was wonderful and made our stay in Juneau that much more memorable.

More creations and blueberry picking, again. Pretty much any time the kids were outside they would be looking for and picking wild blueberries.

Hanging out with their new cousin, Christine

At the park in Castlegar

Flying with Grandpa during our time in Chilliwack. We flew over the city and city limits. We all had a blast! We even saw Granny wave to us as we flew over Granny & Grandpa’s house.

(below) Posing with animal mounts at Tatogga Lake Resort. Aliz was completely freaked out!

After getting back from our trip south Josh went out to Good Hope Lake to put a new roof, as well as fixing up the front porch that was rotten, on the church there.

During the first week of August we hosted a Bible Camp sponsored by our twinned parish St.Andrew’s Cathedral in Victoria. Fr.Harrison, Deacon Michael, Will, & Karl came to help us.

A nature hike to collect sticks for making crosses (left). Deacon Michael helping Aliz make her cross (right).

‘Recycled creations’ projects, and ‘recycled’ tabernacles 

The closing bbq supper

We summarized the Bible Camp in a write-up that we put together:

Transformation was the theme for our Bible Camp here at St.Theresa’s Catholic Mission in Telegraph Creek, BC this past August. Five days filled with music, crafts, games, and the message of the Gospel. If you’ve ever spent time with children you know that you can only hold their attention spans for a couple minutes at a time. So it was great to see them taken in by the dynamism of the newcomers: 2 young men, a deacon, and a priest, from your diocese of Victoria. These 4 young men; Karl, Will, Deacon Michael, and Fr.Harrison, brought an infusion of energy and realness that comes from giving your life to Christ and really living for Him, and we could tell the kids could feel it by their response. With a small attendance, the same number of adults as children, it was a beautiful experience both for the adults and the children present because it was so intimate.

We started out with Fr.Harrison introducing who Jesus is, that he was and is a real person, and what the cross is. A nature hike followed as the young ones collected sticks to make their own crosses. It was beautiful to see, afterwards, their excitement as we were singing songs and they were raising their handmade crosses to “Our God is an awesome God.” To the singing of “Jesus I trust in you” they processed with their crosses to the altar in the church, before a closing celebration of the Mass.

Day two saw us making recycled creations with a group of a couple friends, emphasizing that we become friends with someone by spending time with them and getting to know them. We talked about how Jesus is a friend who wants to spend time with us.

From friendship, going with our transformation theme, we moved in to talking about the Eucharist; Karl shared that Jesus makes himself present to us and that during Mass we join with the whole communion of saints and angels praising God as one. The children made their own tabernacles and repeated their daily procession to the altar in the church.

On day four we moved to the topic of prayer; that we can talk to Jesus as we would talk to a friend on the telephone. Fr.Harrison taught the “Jesus” prayer and blessed rosaries were handed out, as gifts, on which we prayed “Jesus” for each bead of the five decades.

On Saturday we closed off our camp with a visual presentation on the gifts of baptism; the water, holy oils, and Jesus as our light which we carry with us. The church community joined us in our closing Mass followed by a BBQ and farewell to Fr.Harrison, Deacon Michael, Will, and Karl.

Over the past two years in our time here, as lay pastoral administrators, we have never felt such incredible support, knowing the cost of this endeavor and coordinating 4 people to travel all this way and yet also the infusion of life that it brought into our family and the community here. Being able to close each day with the celebration of the Mass was a real blessing, as we only ever have Mass out here once a month. It is great to see the Lord working in His faithful, and it is equally wonderful when you get to be on the receiving end of what feels like, and what truly are, abundant blessings.

Praise the Lord!

Swimming lessons at Sawmill lake(pictures below also). Funny to think we thought our kids would never get actual swimming lessons while we were up here. We felt very blessed when this opportunity came up:)

Shelling peas from the community garden, and putting stickers(from Grandma) in their sticker books

Shooting archery, and making a new friend from the Czech Republic. We thought we would be the only people camping down at Glenora. But there were people from Czech Republic, Germany and Victoria. It was quite something as we usually don’t get to see the tourists that come in. 

Celebrating the Coronation of Mary

Josh attended a men’s camp. This is a picture of Telegraph Creek, quite a ways up the creek from town.

Drum making and decorating at the camp

Supper cooking over the fire and visiting with the elders before a community supper at men’s camp.

The Salt & Light film crew came to town to film for one of their upcoming documentaries, “A Woman’s Place.”

At the old cemetery, looking down to ‘Old Town’

Playing games at our friends’ house, the Lefebvre’s, in Whitehorse. Salt & Light was also filming all of us there. It was a neat experience for all of us!

Another job well done, with helpers Arnold & John