Give me a break...

Here's the aftermath of yet another lunch hour experience for me. I'm considering staying at work for lunch from now on. Just a few bruises, but otherwise still intact. The other driver was ok too, but I think I took the worst of it. I'll spare you the details though as it's too long and I don't feel like typing that much. Very frustrated right now...

Happiest place on earth...

My kids are at that age where a trip to Disneyland was certainly an interesting adventure. It was great to see their innocence as my daughter's eyes lit up at seeing Belle or Ariel or Jasmine. It was exciting to see my son take risks by riding Space Mountain.

And I wonder how much counseling I'll have to pay for after taking both my kids on Splash mountain (they truly had no idea what they were getting into...does that make me a bad parent?).






My daughter had her moments of meltdowns as she cried all the way through the line for Peter Pan (see pic) and proceeded to tell us she didn't want to go on any rides unless it was the Carousel.

But then there were the moments that her face lit up when she helped Alice hunt for the White Rabbit, or she walked hand-in-hand with Jasmine or when she met Belle. And let's not forget her dancing at the Block Party!



As for my son, he gave a grumpy face for a number of pictures, but he still found lots of time to enjoy himself by dressing up like a pirate one night or meeting Buzz or taking mom and dad on Space Mountain.

We tried to break each day up by starting early and taking an afternoon nap before heading back for the evening. They even made it through the fireworks twice and Fantasmic once.

Was it worth it? Absolutely! Would I do it again? Sure...but not for another year or two. But I will be looking forward to a trip back in November with my wife (sans kids). We really do find this to be the Happiest Place on Earth.

Next time though, I'd love to fly there instead of driving. However, I'll post a few pictures later of our drive back home. Just getting out of Southern California was an adventure!

If I never drive again...

We crossed 4 provinces, 9 states, ate more fast food than I would normally eat in 6 months (mmmm...can you say "Del Taco"?) and took 785 pictures (just gotta love technology!). But we arrived safe and sound back home yesterday at 3:20pm and now it's time to get some clean clothes and finally sleep in my own bed. Here's some pics from week #1 of the vacation...


First, my wife and I bought a new toy for our trip.




Yeah right! Actually, after the rehearsal, my wife and I stole...I mean, borrowed the wedding vehicle.

Here we are at my sister's wedding. You should note that my son has the "cheezy grin" down to an art form.

Fairly self-explanatory...bride & groom, bride's parents (which are incidently mine too), along with the officiating pastor (yours truly), my beautiful wife and the 2 munchkins (who did really well considering they had about 100,000 pictures taken of them that day).

There's always vacation...

Stupid soccer results today, so at least I can rejoice in the fact that as of noonish tomorrow (depending on what time church lets out), we'll be on vacation. You can expect that I'll do very little blogging during that time since I'm still one of those guys who is living in the dark ages...you know, the guy with no laptop!

Anyway, the countdown is on. This week we'll travel across 4 provinces so I can perform the ceremony at my sister's wedding. Then we make our longest family trip ever as we head off to... (insert drumroll here)....DISNEYLAND!!!

It should be an adventure. We're all very excited about this trip too (go figure!). My wife and I have loved the place and can't wait to see the look on our kids faces when they experience the magic of the happiest place on earth for their very first time.
See you in a few weeks!

So diligent...

Yes, it has actually happened! I finished a book the same month that I started reading it...at least I think I started reading it this month. Just the same, I'm going to take credit for it because it just made my "stack-of-books-to-read" little bit shorter!

It was a simple, practical read and a book that every youth pastor should give to their volunteers. It gives lots of straight forward advice for how to deal with students who may be hurting in wide variety of ways. And let's face it, not only are kids hurting, but lots of adults (including those that volunteer in our youth ministries) don't have the next clue what to do or say to a student who is struggling with cutting, or suicide or an eating disorder.

Frankly, I'm not sure that I have the next clue what to do or say in some of these situations and I've been working with students in some capacity for almost a decade. This book will probably come in handy more than once in the months and years to come.

Oh deer...

First of all, I will apologize for the terrible pun. With that said, here's the details...

I was on my way home from church at lunch today when suddenly there was a giant thud against the drivers side of my car. I had my window down and felt a little spray on my neck and I wondered what the heck just happened. I looked back to see a deer stumbling around the road. Yes, you read that right, a deer hit me.

And since I had no clue what a person is supposed to do when they hit a deer in the middle of noon hour traffic in the middle of the city, I drove up a block so I could turn around. By the time I got back, the deer had made its way to a field where 4 other strangers were attending to it and a police officer had arrived at the scene.

I'll spare you all the boring details because the whole event took almost 90 minutes before the city police were finally able to shoot the deer. Poor guy...I just wish he hadn't done this to my car 5 days before I leave for vacation.

Vacation countdown...

It's my last week of work until vacation... Woohoo!

In about 144 hours we'll be on the road. Where to? Well, our first stop will be Manitoba where I have the privilage of performing the wedding ceremony of my little sister. From there we head south. Way south. Way, way south...and kind of west. You know...that place with the stuff and the things...yeah, the fun place...

This will be our first major vacation with our kids. And I may be a litle crazy, but I'm totally excited about it!

Just so you know...

I'm not usually the one to break the latest news event, but there's always a first for eveything....

I actually took this photo last summer with the intent of passing it along but apparently I didn't take it seriously enough back then.

Well I stumbled upon it again and figured that I didn't want to hold precious information like this back from the rest of you.

So, consider yourself warned.

P.S. - visit the website listed on the sign!

House work...

Here's a few of the latest pictures from the house developments. The first picture was taken on June 9th while the second picture was taken this past Friday (June 16). I think they start framing this week.

World Cup's stupidest hair...

Look closely at the Swedish player, Christian Wilhelmsson (#21 in yellow). Forget the mullet, apparently the "rattail" is making a comeback.

Quick, who else wants to join me in jumping on the bandwagon?

One down, lots to go...

So I'm hard at work on my pile of books and since it's been a busy couple of weeks, I thought today would be a great day to try and catch up on some of my reading. I decided that "Simplicity" would be my first project.

I've actually been reading it for almost 2 months now and the book itself reads like an autobiography. Mark Salomon gives an honest and simple outlook on what his life is like and how being a Christian musician has affected his life. For those of you who don't know about Mark, he was the lead singer of a band called The Crucified and is now the lead singer of a band called Stavesacre.

Reading Mark's story gave me new insight into the world of "Christian fame" and to what sometimes goes on behind the scenes of a Christian artist. I honestly thought the book was going to be a rant against the entire Contemporary Christian Music industry, but instead I found myself reading someone's personal testimony.

Mark takes time to explain some of the dark and empty moments of his life, his struggles and his failures without going into nitty gritty details. But he also takes time to show what God has taught him through those experience and how they have shaped him into who he is now as a child of God.

I have never cared for his music. And to be honest with you, I don't know why I even bought the book. But I'm glad I did. And now I feel like I should go out and buy one of their CDs.

Play of the day...

Ok, so this actually happened yesterday...but I'm a little slow. It may not be a goal, but I think this sums up why I love this game so much.

Mexico keeper Oswaldo Sanchez had his father suddenly pass away last Wednesday and he flew back home for the funeral before making his way back to Germany to actually play in the game on Sunday against Iran. And while that alone is worthy of a mention, I was just as impressed by the spirit of the Iranians. While the teams shook hands before the game, one of the players presented Sanchez with a bouquet of flowers to show their respect.

That is another reason why this is the world's game and it is beautiful!

Now, if only I could find a picture of it...

Goal of the day...

Philipp Lahm
Putting Germany ahead 1-0 over Costa Rica
Final Score: Germany 4 Costa Rica 2

If I had a lawn...

And if I had any time, this would be a great idea...

The beautiful game...

The moment the world has been waiting for...

Oh, and if you need to get ahold of me during the next month, I'll be in front of my TV.
Let's play football!

It only gets better...

At least I hope it does...

It has come to my attention that my daughter was kind enough to share her cold with the rest of the family. First it was my wife that got hit with it, and now it's my turn. I woke up to a killer sore throat and runny nose.

To top his all off I decided to stop at Starbucks for a hot chocolate. I didn't have cash so I decided to use the debit card only to have it turned down three times (I'm not sure if it was my fault or the machines, but it doesn't really matter since I'm the one standing there like a dweeb). I don't know of a more humiliating feeling than standing at the front of a line that is getting longer by the second and knowing that I am the cause of that lineup.

Well, then the guy behind me makes the comment, "Well today's you're lucky day. I'll buy his drink." I thanked him in a very sheepish yet grateful kind of way and slunk off to get my drink. I met him at the door again and thanked him again, and he said "Your day can only get better, right?" And I was on my way.

I don't think I can show my face in that Starbucks again.

And I wonder if the day will actually get any better.

Progress is made...

Since the Oilers didn't make much progress, I'll post some of the latest pictures of the house. This first picture was taken last Friday afternoon. We took a slurpee run with the kids and decided we better see how things were coming along.














This next picture was taken yesterday afternoon. And as you can see, progress is being made.

New book day...

It's always great to get a package in the mail. It's even better when it's your most recent order from Amazon and you open it to discover that they actually got the entire order correct! But as I sit looking at the four most recent additions to my library, I wonder what I'm doing.

It seems that I have more books on my shelf that I haven't read than books that I have read. Apparently the idea of buying books and then forgetting (or neglecting) to read them goes hand in hand for me. I have a rather large stack of books that I have purchased since September that I still haven't cracked open. The grand total is 17, with 2 more that I've been trying to read for the last 2 months.

What's the deal with this? Where do I even start?

Moved too soon...

Ok, I'm not one to say that God made a mistake, but I'm beginning to wish that maybe we could have stayed in the Edmonton area for a few more months. My reason for that? Well, I believe it may have something to do with these guys...

Yeah, I know...I'm a Habs fan. But due to the fact that I previously lived in close proximity to Edmonton, I also became a closet Oilers fan. It's kind of the same thing that happens with the CFL. I'm a Winnipeg Blue Bombers fan at heart, but I've also got a soft spot for the Saskatchewan Roughriders due to the time I lived in Regina.

In other news...it's Monday and I'm moving pretty slow today. It might have something to do with the fact that I haven't had a full day off in 9 days. Sure, it may not be the longest streak ever, but I'm ready for a day off.

A work in progress...

Sure, it may not look like much now, but this mound of dirt (stone, rock, rubble...) will only continue to take shape over the weeks and months to come with a projected move-in date of November 30.

They officially broke ground and should be pouring the foundation sometime early next week. Which, if you ask me, is not nearly early enough...but I hear that patience is a virtue...

Over the next 5-6 months we'll find ourselves sporadically making our way up the mountain to see how things are coming along. And I'm sure I'll find a way to document our findings.

In other exciting news, I believe my wife has finally caught the "blogger-bug" as she has now officially asked me to set up a blog for her. I think the hardest part is going to be naming it. I'll make sure to post a link when we finally get it up and running.