December
Wow! We are getting on this early! Woohoo, go us J This month began with
our intern oral book reports. Richard got to go first and tell how he didn’t
like his book lol. Then I got to do mine on how amazingly wonderful my book was
J
This month we also had the Christmas party for the married
students. It was so much fun and Richard’s first time to attend. Both times it
came around while we were students Richard was working in the Resthaven café
and I would have to bring him some food. I was so excited when I realized he
could come with me. It was a get together and white elephant ornament exchange.
We gave a spiderman ornament wrapped in a juice box and ended up with a small,
mounted deer head. The first year we got
a homemade ornament that looked like a tootsie pop and last year we got a Gandalf/Santa/God
the Father tree topper. So much fun!
The next day was the school open house. Pretty much everyone
decorates their houses and dorm rooms and then opens them up for everyone else
to walk through, admire, and eat their cookies and goodies they left out. It’s
always a blast! Tannin loved getting wheeled around in his stroller from room
to room, listening to the music and seeing the lights and decorations. He also
loved the cookies…his face had chocolate chips smeared all over it lol. One
room had racing chickens in it. LIVE CHICKENS! Mine lost but Richard’s won J So in preparation for
that our tree when up, we hung our pretty new garland on the wall and got a
couple of wreaths to hang in the hallway. We had the Veggie Tales, Star of
Christmas, playing on a continual loop on the tv and I even made cookies!
The 12th brought the last day of classes for the
school which meant no more kitchen for Richard and no more desk work for me J He still had buses for
a while but then got the rest of the day off.
Oh yeah. That last week of school Richard developed a weird
swelling on his leg that by Wednesday got so big he could barely walk and was
in constant pain. At that point we realized it was a boil. We tried to get it
to the surface so we could pop it but the thing just kept getting bigger and
bigger. After a failed attempt at lancing it ourselves (we looked it up on youtube)
and Richard’s inability to go to work the next morning, I finally convinced him
to go to the doctor. At the clinic they lanced it and packed it really good.
Richard said that it felt a lot better while he was sitting. He could still
barely walk but at least now he could get comfortable. He told me it was one of
the most painful experiences of his life and gave him a new appreciation for
the plight of Job who had them all over his body. After the lancing the
swelling started slowly receding and now he just has a really nice thick scab.
The staff Christmas party was that weekend. There was a
formal sit down dinner and potluck. Several of the ladies had claimed different
tables and did the place settings and decorations. They were all different and
it looked so cool. After the meal we played family feud with each table being a
different team. Ours won! It was a blast.
To continue the theme of Christmas parties, our small group had
one as well. It was a great time to laugh and talk. Richard almost got an
electric thermos that plugged into the car lighter but it was stolen at the
last minute. I got an interesting glass tankard and Richard ended up with a
pretty, lacy, black apron with pearls on the neck. lol He traded with me when
we got home ;)
Richard finished his buses for the year on the 19th
and we headed to Chicago on the 20th for our flight to Canada. But
before that, on the last day of school Richard went to work in a Santa coat and
batman mask. lol He was Bat-Santa and the kids loved it! My husband is the best
J
Anyway…we flew out of Chicago on the 21st. It was
Tannin’s first plane ride and he pretty much slept through the whole thing! lol
We made it to Great Falls, Montana at about 4 in the afternoon. Richard’s
parents met us at the airport and took us out to dinner at Denny’s. We had a
good time catching up and letting them see Tannin for the first time in about 6
months. He’s grown quite a bit in that time. After dinner they drove us up to
their house in Coaldale, a 3 hour trip.
Our first day in Canada was spent at the memorial service
for Richard’s best friend Cam Enns. The two had been together almost since
birth, in fact they were born two days apart! Cam had struggled with brain stem
cancer for most of his life and had undergone three surgeries trying to
eradicate it. We found out in October that it had come back and there was
nothing they could do. He held on for as long as he could but in the end he
passed away a week before we got there. Thankfully, Richard had gotten a chance
to Facetime with him while he was in the hospital so he had gotten to see
Tannin and the two talked for the first time in a while. If you guys could pray
for his family and friends they’d really appreciate it.
The next few days we spent relaxing and helping out here and
there with different things. Richard got to help his dad with scrap metal again
and I got to go shopping for groceries with mom. Richard finished his slideshow
for his class in February and started working on the homework booklet.
On the 25th we visited Grandpa Reimer in the
nursing home and got a four generation picture.
Christmas day, for us, was the 26th. Everyone was
there except Mike, Amy, and Jayda (Richard’s brother, sister-in-law, and niece).
Amy is expecting and didn’t feel up to the trip. We got to meet Nathan and
Vicki’s little boy, Julian, our nephew. Tannin wasn’t quite sure what to do
with him and ended up barreling him over a few time, poor guy. lol Tannin got
lots of toys and fun outfits from the grandparents and assorted aunts and
uncles. We got some great stuff too, including the famed chocolate letters J The siblings had a
gift exchange as well, Richard got some customized mugs and I got a quad-copter.
Afterwards we enjoyed a turkey dinner and family games.
The next day we headed off to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan to
spend some time with Mike and Amy. We got to meet Jayda for the first time and
her and Tannin seemed to hit it off right away. Tannin followed her everywhere
and she taught him how to go down the stairs. lol We enjoyed a couple of nights
of family games and then headed back home to Alberta.
The last couple of days we lounged around the house and just
hung out preparing ourselves for the long trip home on the 1st.
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