Jay’s Blog
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This summer is a special one for our family. We don’t usually come home for the summer after our year of home assignment, but with our kids reaching working age, it felt important to give them a chance to do something they can’t really do overseas: work, earn some money, and start saving for college…
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We often tell our kids we’re on their team. Every choice we make is considering them. These are the gifts we’re working to give them — not wrapped in paper, but built into their lives. Gift 01 The ability to create music Music is a language of its own. We want our kids to know…
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Every family has a rhythm — those little rituals and recurring moments that, when you look back, end up defining your life together more than almost anything else. Here’s a peek at ours, season by season. 🌱 Spring Spring starts indoors for us — we plant seeds inside first and watch them sprout on the…
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Jay made the varsity team this year. This is a pretty big deal since he is only a sophomore (grade 10) but an even bigger deal is all the playing time he got at Winter Classic. This is a tournament that our school hosts every year and invites schools from Austria, Croatia, Turkey, Albania and…
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1) Ask for parents’ insight about how to relate with their kids Parents know their kids best! If you can, talk with the missionary parents before they come to church on Sunday, or before you meet up with them, and ask them how you can best support their kids while you are together. Some kids…
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It has been two years since the war began – here is our family update!
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Every year we begin to prepare for the new season. Not spring, or winter or even summer or fall… but birthday season! From April 15-May 25 we celebrate all of the kid’s birthdays. We sit down with each child and ask, “What do you want for your birthday breakfast and dinner? Is there a special…
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If you saw Jay a few years ago, he had straight hair. Now, with that crazy introduction of being a teenager with new hormones, his hair has gone curly, and his biceps are growing, and he even has a little mustache! He has been playing basketball for the past few months and it is always…
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Well, it is official! He is now 8, and he wanted to have a big party with his friends playing lazer tag. We negotiated a little and decided he could do the big party if he was not expecting any gifts from us. It was a bit of a struggle, but the lazer party won…
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One day we were in the shopping mall and I wanted to test Jay’s ability to read Russian cyrillic. I pointed to a sign and asked Jay- “Can you read that?” He said, “No, the words are too blurry Mom”… and that is when I knew. After a few tests at the eye doctor it…
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Jay is 7 and loves to watch CFL football! He always has a plan and loves to make that plan happen! Smarter than the average bear, he reads like a 14 year old and is doing math problems way beyond his age. But like he says, with much privilege comes much responsibility. Don’t worry though,…
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Jay and I read through this verse the other day and talked about strength, inner strength and outer strength. I really pray he grows up to be a trustworthy man, who is honest, hates bribes and stands against injustice. Later that day he decided he wants to be strong on the outside too and wants…
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As we live our lives, every action we take has some sort of result…good and bad. For example, if I stay up too late every night and then wake up early each morning, the result is a grumpy mom and wife- which in turns affects everyone else! Someone gave us the parenting advice once that…
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April and May become birthday season around here, are three kids celebrating within 35 days. That means cakes and presents and parties, all things we love – and our kids too! This years birthdays included a day at the park with close friends, a superman party and a day at the zoo, also with friends.
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Often this website is a way for us to communicate all of the things that we are doing, to share the excitement with family and friends far away. BUT sometimes it is good to share what is happening with our kids since many of our readers love them too Jay and Cassie are really growing…
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Wooden train tracks with bridges and switches, lego blocks forming garages and cars and transporters, and many little hot wheels racing down those orange roads. Jay is becoming an expert builder since this summer when his boy cousins really expanded his ability to create new things. We’ve even figured out a way to use the orange…
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This last weekend friends of ours gave us a swing set for our backyard. This morning I was so blessed listening to our kids laughing and playing together outside. Our time at home in Canada truly has been awesome for our whole family. So here are some quick updates on the kids: Cassie- lost her…
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Jay’s birthday is coming up in a few weeks. After asking him what he would like for his birthday he replied, “I only want remote control cars!” So I replied, “Really Jay? Only that? You can only play with one remote control car at a time, are you sure?” His response? “Well, I can tie…
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Jay is really into helping right now. If we need to have someone take out the compost, he will jump up and offer. In fact, right now he is dusting the window sills and the tables. Let’s just hope that this can last until he turns… well, let’s just hope this can last!
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Just over a year ago Jay was introduced to the bike with no pedals! Just the right size, he would scoot along with his legs, and then when he was going fast enough pick them up and glide. Well, a few weeks ago we put the pedals back on and when he picked up his…
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