Good Bye Hockey, Hello Disney!

Yesterday Grace played her last hockey games of the season. She was a pretty sad little girl. She loves getting out there on the ice and doing her best. They melt the ice tomorrow so it's off to play some road hockey to keep up the skills.

Kailtyn had her achievement day lunch for 4H yesterday also. It was a very busy day with hockey games in the morning and evening with Kaitlyn's lunch in the middle. All the kids each had to make a dish on their own. Kaitlyn made a tropical ambrosia salad. It was yummy. So her 4H class is done now. We will see if another one comes up that she would like to do.

Today has been spent packing and planning for Disney. We are taking off tomorrow around noon. Heading to Detroit where we will spend the night in a hotel near the airport and we fly out at 9:22 in the morning. We are all very excited and can't wait for the adventure. We have a couple "down days" planned in there so we won't over do it. We will be taking our computer with us so watch daily for pictures and posts. We will do our best to keep it updated.

I'm off to finish my "chores" then off to Brooke and Jim's. They have so graciously invited us over for dinner so we don't have to worry about that. Plus it will be nice to get out of the house and away from it all and come back refreshed to tackle the last minutes things before bed.

Kaitlyn's OEC Trip

Kaitlyn's 6th grade class went to the Outdoor Educational Center just an hour north of us. They had 3 days of activites. Some were: mapping, using a compass, animal survial games, leather making ( Kailtyn made a leather pouch ) a barn dance and of course a campfire where the kids did a skit. It was 3 days and 2 nights. Kaitlyn had so much fun and said she really didn't miss home. They kept them pretty busy the whole day. The girls were in one dorm room and the boy in another. The place is on about 300 acres. With a new dining hall and dorms. They got to see how they make maple syrup also. She took over 80 pictures and so this is just a sample. She talked non-stop when I picked her up but crashed into bed at about 8:00. We are so proud of her and how well she did. She made a point to tell me she chose milk for dinner every night and ate her veggies and even tried soup, which she said she still does not like. Next time you talk to her you will have to ask her about it. It was a great experience and one she will never forget.

Tobermory

We headed up north to Tobermory to check out the area. It was a beautiful day and the scenery was awesome. On the way back we stopped at Sauble Falls to check them out and as a bonus the girls got to play at a park. It was wonderful to share the day with my dad.

Dad's Visit

Dad arrived in Thursday night about 10:00. It was so great to see him again and we all were anxious for him to arrive. Friday we decided to hit the road and drive up to Collingwood, about 2 hours north of us. We took the back roads through the country to Collingwood. Once we were there we had some lunch and walked around a bit. We decided to drive back on the main highway home. Grace put on all her hockey gear and Kaitlyn played her flute for dad. Then it was a walk through the park to the lake. After dinner we played Apples to Apples and WhooKnoo. We all headed to bed a little early after being up late the night before and have a big day.

Today we decided to have a slower morning. We headed in to Kincardine to show dad around the town. After lunch we took another walk to the lake and drove up to see the hockey arena Grace plays in. Matt is making his yummy ribs for dinner then it's movie night.

Tomorrow we are planning to head up to Tobermory to check out that area. Matt and I have not been up there yet so it should be fun to see what it has to offer.

Skate and Swim

Both girls had a friend spend the night last night. So today we went to the free skate and swim at the local activity center. Skating was a blast and the girls really enjoyed themselves. Swimming was a zoo. As you can see by the picture it was a Where's Waldo scene. But all the kids had a blast going off the rope swing and just playing around. We will have to do swimming again.

Park Day

So with the weather hitting upper 40's today we took a trip to the park for some fun. We met Brooke and the boys there and had a picnic lunch. The kids all had a blast running around playing. Connor and Grace had the most fun on the titter totter. Tomorrow is suppose to hit 60. So we will see if that actually will happen. I hope so!!

Good Bye Snow

Our snow is melting away. As you can see from the pictures and video slowing it is all going away. We have more yard than snow now. Matt and I have been planning out our garden we will have this summer and I am already getting excited about planting flowers.

We spent Friday night and all day Saturday at the 60th annual Young Canadians Hockey Tournament. It was in a town about 45 minutes south of us. We got stomped but it still was lots of fun.

This next week the girls have off for March break. Tomorrow Kaitlyn is going on a field trip with her 4H group to the local grocery store to check out an industrial kitchen. Then Tuesday we are going to go ice skating and swimming. The local activity center has free ice skating and swimming. So that should be lots of fun. Then in Thursday Grandpa Ed shows up. We are all getting pretty excited about it. Our first visitor!

Weekend update

Are those pictures cute? Grace with her teams mates Rachel and Danielle. Had to share these first....

So I was able to head back to Washington last weekend with Brooke and Kris for Columbia Community Churches ( our church back in Kennewick) Women's Retreat in Spokane. We left late Thursday night and got in to Spokane about midnight. Friday afternoon was all about shopping. It was so great to be back and at a mall. We did a bunch of shopping and ended up eating at a great Italian place for dinner. Then it was up to Newport to the retreat. What an awesome weekend. It was so much fun seeing everyone again and catching back up. I was able to spend a good amount of time with my friend Karen. I sure had really missed her. We had some wonderful worship with our churches women's band "Beauty Within" and had a great speaker who really spoke right to me. We were done by Sunday at noon so we headed back to Spokane to a different mall to do even more shopping. We ate lunch at P.F. Chang's and then went to a martini bar for a drink and dessert. After our friend Andee who picked us up and was dragged everywhere by us took us to our hotel near the airport. We caught an early flight out on Monday morning and made it back home by about 10:00 that night. Looking back a feel so blessed to have been able to go back and have that time with our church family but I also realized even more that this is where God wants me and I can't wait to see what He will be doing.

Matt and the girls had a fantastic weekend. Friday Kaitlyn went skiing with her school. All the 6, 7, and 8 grade students went up to a local ski resort. Kaitlyn told me she was "shredding up the snow". She had a great time. Sunday Grace had a hockey game and Kaitlyn went to 4H. Then Sunday was another hockey game. I think Matt was just as tired as I was getting those girls all to their activities. They didn't have time to miss me.

Next week is March break so the girls will have the week off of school and my dad is flying in on Thursday, which we are all getting excited about. My security paperwork has gone through so now I just have to go through the required training then I can get my badge and start working. That won't happen until the 26th but it will be good to have it all done.

That's about it for now.

The girls Choir performance

The girls choir singing the Star Spangled Banner at an Owen Sound Attack game on Monday night. We drove up to Owen Sound, about an hour away. They have a hockey team that is like the one we had in Kennewick. The girls choir got to sing both national anthems. They had so much fun and it was great to be able to see a live game again.

Here they are sing O Canada.

Weekend Round Up

Another busy weekend here in the Halsted household. Friday night Matt and I attend a Marriage Course class through a friends church. We all have dinner together then watch a video and have a lesson. It's been a great course, it's put on by the same people who founded the Alpha Course.

The girls had our friends children over for dinner and a movie. Olivia is in Kaitlyn's class and they have been come great buddies. And her brother Alex is the same age as Grace. All 4 kiddos have so much fun together and it's great that they can all hang out together while us adults are out.

Olivia stayed the night on Friday and then for most of the afternoon on Saturday until it was time to take the Kaitlyn and Olivia to 4H cooking club. Grace and Matt headed out to practice some puck and stick handling in the road in front of the house. Then Matt made a wonderful Indian dish for dinner~Butter Chicken. Oh SO good!!!

Today we tried yet another church. The one we had been attending we just were not sure of and so we went to our friends church that we do the Marriage Course with and it's also Olivia's mom and dad. Come to find out there are quite a few families that we know that go to this church. They are currently looking for a pastor but many of the members of the church have been stepping up and speaking on Sunday mornings. It reminded us of a "Little House on the Prairie" church. The girls LOVED it mainly because they know most of the kids their age but also I think they just really felt at home there. We will continue to go over the next few weeks and really see if this is where God wants us.

Grace had another hockey game today and we have to say that she is really starting to understand the game and get her stick on the puck more. She was crying the other day when she found out that hockey ends at the end of March and they melt the ice for the summer. Poor girl was so upset. But there is talk about possibly finding out if we can get some roller hockey going over the summer. So we will see.

I am preparing to head back to the states on Thursday. Our church back in Kennewick is having their Women's Retreat this weekend and before we left Matt and I agreed that I could go back for it. So us 3 gals here ( Brooke, Kris and I ) fly out Thursday evening and will be back Monday night. I can't wait for the retreat, a time of worship and learning and fellowship with the women I miss back in Kennewick.

Matt will have a busy weekend while I am gone. Kaitlyn is having a class field trip skiing on Friday. So Matt is taking Grace out of school and they will also go up skiing with her. Saturday and Sunday Grace has hockey games and Kaitlyn has 4H on Saturday. Don't think they will have much time to miss me.

Well, I need to get going. I'm kind of long winded today but it's bed time and I have a couple little girls tucked into bed........