Transcona Kids

The kids received hand-made Transcona shirts from great friends back home. (For those who don't know, Transcona is the name of the community we lived in, in Winnipeg.) The kids were so excited to have a bit of home that they could show off to their friends here.

A Trip to the Mountains

On Saturday, our good friend Meiram offered to take us up to the mountains to Shimbyluk, the popular ski resort just south of the city. But when we got about half way up, we had to stop at a place called Medeo because the army was shelling the side of the mountain further up to prevent avalanches. So we stopped at Medeo (where there is a huge outdoor ice rink) and Meiram took a picture of the family.

Meiram was upset that he wasn't able to take us up all the way, so he drove us all the way to another place in the mountains where people go camping in the summer. There were also three bear statues up there that the kids really liked. Kate immediately gave them names (as is her custom). But the mountains are beautiful and the sky was a brilliant blue that day. We will have to try again soon!

Thomas Is Three

Thomas turned three on March 19th. Grandpa and Grandma Watt were here from Canada to help celebrate. He had lots of fun eating chocolate cake and opening presents.

He is growing up so fast. Just in the last week he has given up his soother (I know...it should have happened a long time ago) and has replaced me with I (as in no more "me want a candy", now he says "I want a candy".) Now we just need to perfect potty training. We could use some prayer on that front!

Our New Car!

Thanks to the generous support of people back home in Canada, we were able to purchase a new car! We contacted a friend of a friend who buys cars for foreigners as part of his job and, after we had given him a list of our 'needs' and 'wants', he purchased a car that had just been brought in from Europe. It is a 1995 Volkswagen Golf. It has a lot of kilometers on it but it is in really good shape. The extra cargo space in a station wagon has been really handy already.

And it sure has made a difference in our daily lives! It is so nice to be able leave a half-an-hour before we need to be somewhere, instead of over an hour. And it has also been great to be able to give rides to our many friends that do not have vehicles. I'm still getting used to the flow of traffic, but so far things have gone very smoothly. And now that the roads are clear and dry, I'm feeling quite comfortable. Thanks again!