Carrie Ann's pictures

Carrie Ann took some nice pictures recently:


And she was working on her selca:

I also found another tulip picture which I missed earlier:

It went well!

The dancing went well! The shoes I was planning to dance in actually broke on Thursday, so I headed in early on Saturday to see if I could replace them with real dance slippers. When I got there, the saleslady didn't think they had any ballet slippers, but lo and behold there was one single pair in my size and the colour I wanted (God knew ;-) ). I managed to fake not being nervous, and knowing what I was doing, and enjoying myself well enough that I think I fooled everyone... maybe even myself ;-). It went well over all, and we got quite a few positive comments. Wow!

Today I also taught my first class. I'm a teaching assistant this semester for Syntax and Semantics (advanced grammar, kind of). In the summer I was a teaching assistant for Field Methods, and I did a number of 20 minute presentations, but I was never responsible for a whole class. Today, I taught two 75 minute classes (the same material at the undergraduate and then the graduate level). I used the professor's (excellent) materials, but I had to present it (and answer all the questions) myself. When I asked for questions at the end of the graduate class, about half a dozen hands went up! But that didn't mean it wasn't presented well, the questions reflected that the class was thinking about the topic and digging deeper into it. So it was fun, and went well, and I thank God for that! One of the students even asked if I wanted to be a teacher when I'm done my degree -- and another said the class was a "life-changing experience" -- but I'm pretty sure he was just teasing me!

Israeli Folk Dance!

Well, since moving back to Langley I've had the opportunity to pick up an old hobby I enjoyed last time I was in school -- dancing! Specifically, Israeli Folk Dance. My teacher asked a group of her students to perform at the Abbotsford Multicultural Festival on behalf of Israel (at 12 noon, if you can make it), so I will actually be dancing on stage tomorrow -- exciting and terrifying! Here are some of the dances we will be doing:
Tzadik Katamar -- my all-time favourite

Nigun Atik

Mayim Mayim

Hine Ma Tov -- not my favourite, because it's a line dance rather than a circle.

This is more what it usually looks like:
Ma Na'avu -- our group is about this size, but a little more energetic.

Ki Eshmera -- we dance like this, but don't have so many people or such a large space.

I hope you enjoyed the links, even though you can't all come to the performance! Pray that it goes well, everyone stays safe, and the audience is moved by it :-) .

Strong Enough by Matthew West

I just came across this song on Praise 106.5, and I love the words.

It includes Philippians 4;13, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me," one of my all time favourite verses.

Flowers

I'm having a happy day today, and what better way to celebrate than with flowers? My summer flowers aren't doing so well anymore, but some of the crocuses and tulips from last spring were beautiful.


I like the contrast between the flower and the drain.

I must be Dutch because I always love the tulips.

So, How's it Going?

Well, it's the day before Labour Day, and I thought I'd do a quick update (yes, it's been 8 months. Sorry). In April I successfully completed the first year of my Master's degree in Applied Linguistics and Exegesis. That year was on linguistics. In April, Matthias joined us in Langley, and in June I started work as a TA (Teaching Assistant -- like all fields, mine has lots of acronyms). It was very fun to work and earn a paycheck, and I had a great summer. After the summer session was over, we enjoyed a visit with Dad and MaryAnna, culminating in Kristine and Dan's wedding (yay! see picture below). The next week we visited the kids' Daddy and Grandma in Creston, stopping at Kelowna on the way to visit with my aunts and uncles. I really enjoyed catching up with my friends Karon and Cait in Creston. Visiting with 5 uncles and aunts at once in Kelowna on the way home was an awesome treat!

This month, I get to start Greek! The exegesis (Bible interpretation) part of my degree starts, so I'm taking Greek and Biblical Hermeneutics. I'll also be TA'ing Syntax and Semantics (that's kind of like Grammar, woo-hoo!). Carrie Ann will be starting full time kindergarten -- she is so excited about that! (About as excited as I am about Greek!) Bethany is looking forward to Grade four, and Matthias is going to do well in Grade five at Langley Christian School.

In August I also reconnected with an old friend from Calvin named Tony. It's been fun chatting on the phone with him and getting to know each other again. Lots of laughter.

And in the bad news, I need a crown on my tooth... but wow, that's a lot to be thankful for compared to one little crown! God is faithful and full of grace.

Fun at Fort Langley

We had fun at Fort Langley with Auntie Kathleen. The girls were so happy about the facepaint! We hadn't brought our cameras, so a kind stranger took the picture and emailed it to us.

We also got to try some bannock, pet the bunnies, feed the goat, watch the muskets being fired, and guess what? I was really good at the game of translating native place names into English ones. Who would have thought?