fun, friends, funding and farms

I feel like we need to be blogging twice a day to keep up with life!

We spent all day yesterday with Rick and Carol, good friends we were blessed to make in Haiti!  Spending the day with them was fabulous, though difficult to accept again that they have joined our list of "dear friends who live crazy-far away and we only get to see them once a year and we hate that."  

It's not even so much that we greatly wish they still lived in Haiti.  It's just that we greatly wish they would always live 10 minutes away.

We had a great time walking around down-town Elora, getting ice cream and catching up.

I need to apologize to Canada for lots of misconceptions, like the idea that the weather is always foul.  On the contrary, it has been just FABULOUS weather and beautiful countryside.  To my defense, my only other experience in Canada before this week was 5 months in Quebec in the middle of winter (think, MINUS 36 degrees and blizzards).  

our car, and experience, last time we were in Canada

Lily is incredibly excited about her new bike helmet, and is wearing it about 8 hours a day.  The neighbors have this little puff ball "Cookie" and the girls are in love.

This little blessing is Lili, who until 3 months ago, was a missionary kid with OMS in Hungary.  These two Lily's have become fast friends between Sunday and last night, even sharing four-year old stories of missionary adventures that just warmed my heart.  In both cultures, they go by "Lee-Lee", and they think that is just FABULOUS.  Hopefully they'll have one last playdate tomorrow.  

This is a little photo to teach everyone one thing:  Do not let John McCluskey have your camera.  

This is not only a terrible picture of the MFM event last night, it is also the ONLY picture we have of the MFM event last night.  All four hours of it.  John, John, John.

BUT, the event was way better than the photographer's skills :)  Big potluck with a huge turnout, GREAT people, great food, and then a little concert, presentation and then our sharing, then a Q&A time afterwards...the place didn't empty out 'till 10:30!  

THANK YOU, MFM Wellington, Albert, Al, John and Dorothy, and so many others, for making it happen, and thank you, everyone, for coming out and for all the interest, love, prayers, questions and support!

Then this morning, while Matt and John went golfing (after 6 years of talking about it!), Dodo, the girls and I headed to Keith and Heather's dairy farm, which of course, the girls LOVED.

This SUPER cool machine does absolutely EVERY part of the milking process (even tempting cows in and kicking them out if they're trying to double dip on the "cow candy")...it was REALLY neat to watch!  

Then Lily got to ride in this thing (I'm not going to use any farm terms or I'm going to mess it all up) to cut and collect this stuff.  Even a puppy riding along in the cab.  

She thought that was pretty great, and I just couldn't help but think of Jean-Sius, our farmer friend in Haiti, out in the fields with his machete, chopping away at the ground and planting each seed by hand...TODAY. Rising early in the morning every day of his life to milk the cow. It's a crazy world.

Sofie's thinking maybe she could be a farm girl.  

We're thinking we could stay at least a few more weeks :)  

Tonight, back to the farm for dinner, and tomorrow down to Hamilton to check out OMS Canada HQ and for an evening at Jerry and Tina Groen's...in the Hamilton area?  Hope to see you there, 7-9!