2010

2010

Merry belated Christmas and New Year greetings!

2011 has pounced on me and I'm attempting to get out from under it and establish a memoir from 2010.  After all it was an important year with many milestones to celebrate and interesting tidbits to remember and savor even as life flies by at an alarming pace.

In January we returned from our Christmas visiting with some exciting news. This news made me a little sick at first, and caused me to gain weight rapidly, but it was good news indeed.  We were happy to announce the impending arrival of our third child some time in August.  Other than that stupendous news life pretty much carried on as usual. At the start of 2010 I returned to substitute teaching.   Mike continued to work on our house and look for interesting business ideas that he could jump into.  In April he found a great opportunity in the form of  two water stores.  Mike joined forces with a good friend and they established themselves as business partners and owners of  The Water Warehouse stores in Sherwood Park. Mike is responsible for all the water treatment sales and service, so if you have yucky water or a system that isn't working to it's full potential, you know who to contact (mike@watermechanic.com).  Since Mike was quite busy with setting up the stores I stopped subbing and was able to stay home full time.  I was thankful for this because I felt much worse for much longer during this third pregnancy. Being able to choose my own agenda each day was sure nice for me when I needed to take it slow sometimes. 

Even though Mike had his hands full with the water stores, he still felt that we should try to do a few key spots with our ice cream concession. We started with a weekend fair in Wainwright with the Ponoka Stampede right on it's heels.  Soon the water stores had some reliable staff, and Mike was able to fit some of his service calls in between our ice cream locations, so we decided to take on a few more fairs. Eventually one thing led to another and we spent all of July and August selling ice cream.  It was probably the most strenuous summer we have had yet, since we were pulled in so many different directions and I was quite heavy with child.  Through it all the Lord blessed us with fine and honest staff and a successful summer of work.

My top 10 list from the summer is a little different this year because it includes some things that weren't necessarily good, but reminded us of God's goodness through everything...
 10. Safety!  Our travel trailer came unhitched from our truck while driving 100km/h down the highway in the middle of the night, but angels must of held on to it because it didn't roll, or cause an accident or pull Mike and the concession into the ditch.  It simply skidded to a stop in a shallow ditch and Mike was able to hitch it back up with no help in the pitch dark! We drive a lot and it is no small miracle that we have enjoyed safe journeys everywhere we have gone.
9. Good health.  I enjoyed a healthy and uneventful pregnancy. Matia got a touch of the flu for a couple days this summer, but that was all. For the most part we all enjoyed good health.
8. Good help.  We seemed to be able to find reliable and competent staff to help us everywhere we went. Sometimes we were able to hire people we knew, other times I was phoning through the phone book asking churches if they knew anyone who would like to make a little bit of extra cash at the fair on the weekend.  Either way we felt comfortable handing over our concession to the people who worked for us.  This was a huge answer to prayer for me because I simply did not have the energy to work as much as I usually do.  We also did some bigger fairs that required a little extra man power. Our good friends, Glenn & Naomi, even stepped in and ran a separate concession at a different event  for us while we were still in Saskatoon.  Now that was definitely above and beyond and an incredible encouragement and blessing to us!
7. Fun times with the family.  Throughout the summer we look for ways to make travel and work fun for the kids and ourselves.  We always stake out the swimming pools in each town and the parks of course.  In addition to our usual haunts we also were able to spend some time at the beach in Slave Lake, and we took the kids to a 3D movie on one of the rainy nights in Lloydminster. These small pleasures make for great memories.  The kids also enjoyed visits to both of the grandparents houses and got to do things like go to the museum to see dinosaurs, ride a camel at a petting zoo, run around in the sprinkler, and ride bikes around the block.  How great it is for our kids to get to spend time with their grandparents!  They loved their adventures and we appreciated the break it gave us from our parenting responsibilities in the midst of a busy summer.
6. Making new friends.  A student from our church who drove hither and yon to work for us, our friend's new bride who won the hearts of our kids in a very big way, and new carni friends who showed care and concern as they watched me drag my swollen body from town to town are all people who have a special place in our hearts since this summer. We're blessed to know them.
5. Saying good bye.  My Grandpa Jimmy passed away on this, his 95th summer.  I was thankful to be close enough to attend his funeral, to see all of the cousins and aunts and uncles, to hear the stories I love about the wonderful man Grandpa was. 
4. Saying hello.  Our new nephew Axsen Lee was born in July, in the very town we were doing a fair in.  How nice of him to arrive when we were nearby to welcome him!
3. Raining Blessings.  The weather through most of our province was not exactly ice cream weather for the most part.  In spite of that we saw the sun often enough to make the summer of work and travel worth our while.  No matter what the weather, blessings abound and God takes care of us.
2. Visitors.  We had many visits from friends and family this summer.  When you are traveling away from home you don't  usually get to have much company.   Some of you found us and went out of your way to come hang out with us and we sure enjoyed that. 
And the #1 most memorable event of our summer was....
The birth of Kayla Susann McKenzie in August, while on the road doing "just one more spot". Yes, it is possible to have a baby while traveling.  It worked out very well indeed for us.  Kayla is an easy baby and adjusted to carni life very quickly, with no compunction what so ever.  Dade and Matia stayed with Mike's parents for the 3 weeks remaining in our ice cream season, so while Mike worked Kayla and I had a very nice "baby moon" all cozy and comfy in our travel trailer, getting lots of sleep and snuggles.

Our fall was spent celebrating.  We celebrated Kayla's arrival, Dade's 5th birthday, my birthday, and Thanksgiving in what seemed like a blink of an eye.  In between all the parties we managed to renovate our bathroom and partially renovate our kitchen. We still have a few things to work on.  Mike actually has an endless list of projects.  In addition to our home projects one of the water stores changed locations so there was plumbing, electrical, dry wall, painting and moving to do there as well.  We are so blessed to have such a talented and capable daddy taking care of things at home and at work. 

I keep busy at home.  I am homeschooling the kids and Dade is doing Kindergarten and Matia is doing Pre-K.  I enjoy the challenge, but have to keep from getting to distracted by the mega amount of resources to choose from.  It is quite different from class room teaching.  I think the kids will keep me on my toes this year and every year to come! It should be lots of fun.

Dade is 5 now.  He has grown so tall and has exchanged his baby cheeks for a mischievous grin and strong muscles that he would be delighted to show anyone who asks.  He wants to grow his hair long so that he can spike it into a "mowhog".  He likes to solve puzzles, work on dot to dots and complete mazes, but hates coloring or cutting and pasting.  He is loves sports, watching and playing.  He is taking swimming lessons right now and seems to have become part fish!  He is in Sparks in AWANA and has a knack for remembering his verses.  He very badly wants to learn to carve wood with a real knife, so hopefully when he works on his birch wood race car with his daddy he'll get to try his hand at it.  He is protective of his little sisters and is a peace maker.  He is always doing little things to make others happy (sharing his treats, bringing me items that I need, entertaining Kayla with a toy or story). He says he wants to be an inventor or a hunting guide when he grows up. I hope he puts off the growing up plans for just a few more years.

Matia has grown into a lovely little dancing drama queen!  She loves wearing her ballerina costume everywhere.  She has given up her "Elphie" (her stuffed elephant) to Kayla and seems to have stopped sucking her thumb.  She loves playing with her dolls and dressing up in a variety of different outfits.  If given the choice Matia will always choose to wear a dress, and rarely leaves the house without her purse containing jewelry and lip balm. She loves perfume and make up, having her fingers and toes decorated with nail polish.  She is all girl!  She is also very determined that she should always be in charge, which doesn't always make for the most peaceful times.  However she loves to be helpful and adores her new little sister.  Matia is in the same swimming lessons as Dade and has recently learned how to swim under the water.  She is in Cubbies at AWANA and learns a new memory verse each week. She adores her leaders and quickly and easily makes friends whereever she goes.  Matia is growing in to a lovely young girl and I so badly want to stop the clock and just keep her the way she is for a bit longer.

Kayla has grown very quickly out of that dreamy new born state and is now hitting developmental milestone as if she is working her way through a check list.  She now coos and smiles and blows raspberries and giggles.  She has found her toes and rolls over and is learning how to keep her balance while sitting up.  She loves jumping in her jolly jumper and chewing on her toys.  She is still an excellent traveler, which is good because taking the kids to swimming and AWANA requires quite a bit of driving.  She is also a good sleeper and has been an amazing blessing to us all. 

 Mike and I celebrated a milestone of our own this year.  10 years of marriage and we're still going strong.  I can't believe that so much time can go by so fast.  We have been richly blessed through the years and we look forward to the changes and opportunities that we will encounter in the next decade together.

We look forward to the rest of 2011 and all the surprises it will bring. We pray that you, our friends and family, will have a safe and happy year, and will enjoy achieving your own milestones as time continues to go by.

Love the McKenzie Clan