Furlough Summary

Sorry friends. As you may have noticed I haven't done a thing on this blog for at least 3 weeks. Sorry about that. We're back in Cebu after a fine month spent in the US and Canada. I'll start by giving a synopsis of what's gone on since my last entry.

We had the most FABULOUS time in Nova Scotia with Andrey's family until October 11. It was such a relaxing and refreshing time for both of us. A highlight was seeing an influx of relatives (including Andrey's last living grandparent, 85-year-old Grandma Loewen) come from Saskatchewan & Manitoba to celebrate Thanksgiving with us. While they were in town we surprised Marilyn with an early 60th birthday celebration brunch. She was surprised and entertained as we, with all the cousins, wrote and performed a rap for her - complete with kazoos, shakers, homemade drums and stick-on mustaches. Here's a shot of the occasion taken by our very own Uncle Allen (thanks, Al).

"Sixty schmicksty, she's still quicksty, our radiant hero nears 6-zero!"

We also spent some time at the numerous nearby beaches and took a trip to Cape Breton (see last post). Here's a great family shot (by Allen). (In fact most of our pics from this trip were taken by others since our camera was being repaired in Manila while we were away.)

After our time in Nova Scotia we traveled to Montgomery, Alabama to be with my parents for a few days prior to driving to North Carolina. In North Carolina we met the rest of my family members who came up from Tampa for a week in the Blue Ridge Mountains. The time with my family went exceptionally well and we were so blessed to spend time with everybody. We had a lot of fun. It was the perfect time of year to be in North Carolina. The weather was cool at night, warm in the day, and the leaves had just begun changing. We did some hiking, visited a few waterfalls, watched NFL, played games and ate really well. At the end of the week we stayed with dear friends Pam & Charlie Lee in Asheville until our departure on October 23rd. I'll post some photos of North Carolina and more from Canada soon.