Christmas is coming... really... it is!!

I can't believe the weather these days. There are four days left in November and the temperature is 3... plus 3. We had a mild Halloween (which always seems to be miserable). And now, less then a month till Christmas and I have a front lawn instead of a front snow bank.
I love it. However, there is a down-side! Advent starts this Sunday and we are suppose to get excited about Christmas yet the weather is so balmy and mild I am just not there yet! I need a good blizzard to bring on the festive cheer! Ho,Ho,Ho!

I just jinxed us!!

My heart aches...

We sponsored a little boy from Dominican Republic through World Vision and he has changed my life. His name is Luiyi Orlando and he is 7 years old. His parents have been 'separated' from him for some time and we think that he is living with his Grandmother. We received our first letter from him a few weeks ago and it was hand written by his Aunt is Spanish and also hand written by a translator in English. She made no mention of his Grandmother or if he has any siblings so I hope to learn more if they write again. The letter included a drawing of 'mi casa' (Luiyi's house)that was colored with pencil crayons. It really made the whole process very real for me. Our kids speak of him daily and he and his community are in our prayers each and every night.

I have become so passionate about this charity and my heart aches when I see and hear of others experiences while doing missionary work in areas devastated by poverty. I am humbled by others acts of love and selflessness. I really value the relationship that our family will develop with Luiyi and my hope is to help our kids understand the consequences of poverty and the power of kindness. My husband and I thought that a $35 donation every month was such a huge commitment, but when I breeze over the MasterCard purchases on our bill statement I see that there are dozens of purchase made that are not a necessity( liquor store, department store, theatre, dollar store, even many grocery store purchases). The donation for 35 bucks just gets lost amongst the numbers. I'm sure that if I clipped coupons more frequently I could save that amount or more. We can do this... we have money sitting in a bank and kids like Luiyi are getting sick because they don't have water. Water!! Something as simple as a water pump, yet absolutely vital for life.

I seem to reflect a bunch these days on our lifestyle and our excessive consumption of just about everything. I feel honoured to have Luiyi in my life but helpless and frustrated that I am not doing more to help him and millions like him. I think I have just scratched the surface...

I'm feeling lucky!

So a few weeks ago I stumbled onto a blog by a girl named Nikki. Her blog features many tales of the places she has been and how she is living her life as a humanitarian by sponsoring children and most importantly.... spreading the word. Nikki and her (boy)friend are planning to do more traveling to Ethiopia and Dominican Republic next year and help out in any way they can, I'm sure.

Anyway Nikki held a charity raffle with half of the proceeds going to World Vision, and the other half towards their upcoming trips. I bought tickets and WON!! How great is that! So Nikki also designs blogs and she has donated her services for her raffle and my blog is going to get help... I can't wait. I am also going to get an Ethiopia pouch in the mail 'cause I won twice!!

So am I lucky? Yes. I am learning more through Nikki's experiences and for that I am thankful!

Here is the last family picture that we had done in September. We had a bunch of fun that day. It is always a challenge to get all of the kids smiling nicely at the camera. Photoshop works it magic every time!!
Thank you to Dani for the photos, she is wonderful.

It's official!!

I'm a blogger!!! This is exciting stuff.

And just in time too!! It started snowing today and this means I'll have about four months to hibernate and blog myself silly. Brrrrrrr