The Overduin's: May 2015

Well, I ended the last post with a mention about surprises. It was kind of a hint. :) My (puny human) plan included a great big surprise for the kids and Opa and Nana. But, with a serious reminder that God's ways are higher than my own (Isaiah 55:9) I ended up calling Mom and Dad the night before to see if I could indeed come out. A precious friend of theirs was in critical condition in the hospital. We spent the night thinking the trip was off but decided in the morning that we would all enjoy seeing each other and spending any time that was available together.

I put the kids on the bus and sent them to school, blissfully unaware.

It was great fun to tell them all at the same time that they had to go change their clothes, the van was packed and we were heading for Calgary. They were very shocked and 8 hours into the drive they were still saying things like, "I can't believe we're doing this!"

The "small" side note was the tire pressure light that came on the minute I stepped into the van that morning. Indeed, we had a slow leak that was probably best of being dealt with at the tire shop as opposed to the side of the highway. Our departure was delayed by two hours as we waited for the kind folks at the Hope Kal Tire to get to our van.

We were told the library was right across the road from Kal Tire and the kids were very excited about that, but, of course, Wednesday was the only day they didn't open till 1:00! :) We instead spent an hour and a half walking around and getting all the kinks out in preparation of the following 9 hours of driving. Baker Books was a great place to stop in - thankful for 50 cent and $1 books!

Once we got on the road we got to enjoy a VERY beautiful drive!

The quote of the day... while keeping our eyes peeled for wild life, Cam all of a sudden called out excitedly, "I see.. I see.... I SEE A TREE!!!!!" Mean while, as we waited for him to get the words out we were all whipping our heads around trying to see what he was so excited about. Rascal!

Early the next morning, the first thing Cody did was hop in the rocking chair with Nana and read his new book to her.

Always a treat when Nana makes pancakes and the girls enjoyed chatting while Nana worked.

One of the favorite things to do. We didn't get out to the courts much because it rained 2 of the 4 days we were there but we did spend a fun morning batting balls around. Leah's quote of the day as she came marching onto the court finally feeling like she was over the flu, "ok Sam, but... take it easy on your little sister!" Haha, we laughed pretty hard, she's only head and shoulders taller than him!

With all that rain there was a lot of time for games inside. Thankfully Opa and Nana's cupboard is stocked full with lots of fun ones!

And when Opa has time to come out of the office, ping pong is always a treat!

Knowing the rain was supposed to continue we went for a jaunt after supper with Opa. Such a cheerful bunch :S

A bit of hiking, a bit of rock throwing and a bit of tag on the playground - all great memories!

And there was Opa's "Uncle Billy" stories - a highly looked forward to bed time event.

You can be sure Cara and Cody made sure they got their story on Opa and Nana's bed the next time around!

More games!

This picture is just for all you other mom's out there whose kids don't like having you see their cards but they can't manage to hold them fanned out nicely. This worked like a charm!!! Thanks, Marianne, for the great idea.

We spent a couple hours at the mall, mostly just to get out of the house. Mom and Dad had their own surprise up their sleeves :)

The kids were surprised once more by finding their Daddy in the house when they came back from the mall. Mom and Dad had flown Steve in to spend the weekend with us and to drive home with us on Monday. So, more games!

It was, in many ways, a solemn Sunday, reflecting on how by God's grace, Pastor Ganger lived (and how each of us is called to live) faithfully for Christ (1John 1:5-10).
A Sunday evening sing song.