Simeon is a biker

Our friend Dave Kehler (the other pastor I work with) returned from Burundi (kehlermusings.com) and came over to catch up, so while he and I sat in our garage and talked, Simeon donned Dave’s bike gear and hopped on for an imaginary ride that was more exciting than most of the real rides Dave’s had. I hope the pics turn out.

We don’t know what happened here, only that we left Buff (originally named David by his parents, c.1984, renamed “buff” by Simeon c.2004) with the kids for an evening. We were told that “everything was fine,” but when we checked our camera, this disturbing image appeared. Feel free to duplicate at your own risk. Buff recently left for a year to work with orphans and survivors of genocide in Burundi, which is really great, but he will be sorely missed by two little people. At least they have pictures.

Minneapolis Holiday

We went to Minneapolis for a holiday and had a great time. The day after we arrived, a major bridge collapsed, but we only found out about it because the camper next door was watching her satellite TV news. We did a lot of relaxing and shopping (cashing in on that record high Canadian dollar), and the kids played and had a good time. We slept really well, which is something we’d prayed for. We visited a zoo and saw all kinds of animals, and the kids enjoyed several rides at an amusement park.

Trying out the camper

We went to St Malo park, just 25 minutes away, to try out our camper. We liked it, and so did the kids. And having since then tried some other camp grounds in other places, we think St Malo is hard to beat.

Chloe likes dolls and tea parties

While Simeon enjoys wrestling, sport and bugs, Chloe likes dolls, clothes and bugs. It is remarkable how gender is both nature and nurture. Her new word is “nice,” she often helps herself to clothes in stores or points out jewelry, and here she is having a tea party with her dollies. And about 3x a week, if I am really well behaved, I get a kiss.

The Camper

We bought a camper. We’d prayed and prayed and wondered and talked and consulted with friends and looked and decided the make and model and finally ended up getting one on ebay. So for those of you skeptical about ebay, it worked for us. It is a Coleman (by Fleetwood) Utah and has heat, air conditioning, a screen room awning, stove, toilet, outside mini-shower and can theoretically sleep 7. God is very kind and we are very grateful.

Simeon helps the plumber

Sometime in the spring we had a minor problem with our water pump. We called our friend George Harder, who came and fixed the problem. Here is a picture of Simeon helping Mr Harder. If you look carefully, you can see that Simeon brought his own tools.

We’ve developed quite a relationship with George. It’s not that our plumbing is bad, but I keep doing silly things like flushing Simeon’s underwear down the toilet. And as George is such a friendly guy with a real knack for fixing things, we get on quite well. I’m also developing my own fix-it skills, not only can I now hang pictures, but recently I relocated a light in our basement ceiling and replaced the canister in a tap. I’ve also fixed the wheel on Chloe’s stroller one and a half times (though it took George to complete the second mend).

Happy Birthday Simeon

On March 12/07, we celebrated Simeon’s third birthday. Ruth made some cake, spider cookies and other treats, and Simeon invited his friends over. We had a great time. Simeon's prize gift was a fish, which he named “Fishy.”