My friends the Shepherds

I love reading this story freshly each year. This year I also borrowed a whole collection of illustrated childrens Christmas books from the local library. The lady serving me asked if I had a child. I shook my head and sheepishly asked "Am I still allowed to borrow this many?" Thank goodness she answered yes. My favourite people in the story are the Shepherds.

As always, my plans for hand made cards to be posted a month in advance and extraordinary-recycled-home-made-and-baked-ingeneous-gifts never seem to work out quite as (or anywhere near how) I hope or envision in the months preceding. I had also (theoretically) planned to take a break from technology over Advent but that was easier said than done. Until our internet connection failed that is, and our landlord went on vacation to Fiji for a month. Not having internet over Christmas made us feel really disconnected from family and friends in Australia but really wasn't the end of the world. Here are a few photos of Christmas in our home.













Looking back through photographs of the year it truly has been an incredible time of exploring Vancouver and Canada beyond. Making new friends, starting a new job, a new college for Josh, a new church, moving home a few times... There have been lots of firsts. I have had the 4 seasons I so hoped to find, and I have learnt about many other seasons of life. We've also missed out on many births back home and the joy and pain of ordinary life. We think and dream about Brisbane often.We look forward to returning. But for now, we love our home here.


We're grateful to so many people who allowed us to leave, welcomed us, befriended us, taught us, lead us, made us laugh and cry and prayed with and for us. We're learning more about each other and growing in commitment to our wonderful Saviour. Goodbye 2011. Hello 2012.

The photos above in order:
(housemate) Matthew with our Christmas tree and advent candles with a wreath made from herbs
the view driving home from school on my last day
stained glass cookies - also Matt's handiwork
bare trees outside
all 5 advent candles alight on Christmas eve (project for 2012 - make beeswax candles...)
frosty rooftops
local quinces from which I made quince paste... which was a lot of effort and not that impressive :(
making real egg-nog - delish!
evergreen boughs above the windows
our real tree - a Grand Fir
and our full house after morning prayer one December morning NB: not all these people live here all the time but all have at some point over the last month.

The last of fall

It feels like summer was late arriving in Vancouver, but hung on tightly in September  with a last glorious burst at the end there. Then fall happened all of a sudden. On the 17th of November we had the first snow (snow on the mountains doesn't quite count). At my school it snowed at home time. What a thrill! A lovely thin white dusting of snow. It looked like they had received some new electronics in heaven and the polystyrene packaging was being (carelessly, though undeniably beautifully) thrown down to Earth in the frenzied excitement of the angels. I need to add this type of snow to my other technical drawings. (A few days later we had even more snow - this time it was shaved ice style.) Perhaps there will be a thesis in this work one day... Anyhow, to keep the colour lasting a little longer, here is some more of this magnificent time they call fall (it's always been autumn to me) as we welcome in Winter and the Advent season.










This last image is the view out our kitchen window. A few windy days was the only difference between the first and last picture. One upside to the bare branches is a better view of the city and mountains.

Laundromat sketches

Ok so only the top one was actually from the laundromat this Saturday but I found the others in my sketchbook from over the summer. The "Washing Well" as it's called down the road (as we don't have a laundry facility at our new place) fluctuates in my mind from being a really novel and exciting local hang-out, to a massive drag (lugging 2 large baskets down our slippery stairs (landing flat on my bum), walking in the pouring rain etc... you get the idea). I'm going to make a point of enjoying this time though. Cup of tea, sea salt chocolate and a sketchbook should help...!