The last crazy month of 2013

I know we are already 8 days into 2014, but it seems like our family had a wild ride at the end of last year. As of today, we've been without a home for a month. That's not to say we haven't had warm, inviting places to lay our heads every night, but it means we've been living out of suitcases, and shlepping those suitcases all over the western and midwestern United States. We seem to always be on the move in December the last few years. I know partly that is because we live far from family and try to take a good chunk of time to see loved ones around the holidays. But, we've also been moving around this time both in 2013 and 2011. So, we haven't had a Christmas tree the last couple of years, or even tried to put out a Christmas card.

I guess the neat thing is that no matter where or what we are doing around Christmas each year, we can always truly embrace the real meaning of Christmas. As we picked up and drove from Calgary to Denver in early December, my thoughts went to Mary and Joseph as they prepared to pick up and head to Bethlehem, just as their baby boy was about to come into the world. How beautiful is it that God saw fit to bring Jesus into the world at a time that didn't seem perfect or logical to any of our modern minds. They literally had no place to rest their heads, but God allowed His Son to enter the world and to begin His plan of redemption according to His timing. So, as I get overwhelmed or frustrated at our current situation, I think the best thing I can do is think that God's plan doesn't make sense to me right now, but it is perfect timing to Him. That is usually easier said than really put into action in my everyday life, but I know it is true.

So, as we traveled and looked for a house and then saw friends and family back in Missouri, we were blessed with so many fun moments. Here are some pictures of our last month of 2013.

Our house all packed up.

Boone climbing the stairs one last time.

Boone's first room all packed up.

Visiting with our friend, the Murphys, in KCMO! Here is their adorable daughter, Hannah. I know it's blurry, but this girl is always on the move, so a clear picture was hard!

And little Jonathan. Jonathan and Boone were due only a few days apart! And same thing about always moving! It was hard to capture a good picture!

Boone had so much fun playing with the Murphys. Somehow we got them all to sit still for just a few seconds!

Hanging out at Grandma and Grandpa Robertson's house.

We got to visit with a dear friend, Kelly and her adorable son, Cooper! Coop and Boone are a little over a week apart!

Magic house with Nana and Papa.

Down the slide with Papa.

The quintessential Magic House picture. I love how Boone's little hairs are standing up!

Hanging out with my grandma at her nursing home. Boone loved to help push her walker. Not sure he was helping or really hindering, but he sure loved it.

Playing on a rocking horse at Grand Sydney's house. We love how lots of the toys at her house are toys that Jeff played with when he was growing up. Can't wait for Christmas at her house next year!

Christmas eve with cousins on my dad's side and grandma.

Boone with his great Aunt Karen.

Christmas morning brunch at the Younkins. Always a fun tradition.

Lunch at my Aunt Dorothy's on Christmas Day.

Boone with Uncle John and Nana. He is looking tired there.

Christmas night we went to Jeff's parents for dinner. We hung out there for several days after. Here is a picture of when we celebrated Jeff's birthday with them. I added in the (old man!) on the cake.

Playing with Grandpa Bruce downstairs!

A visit with Brett before we headed out to Denver! We also got to see the Beatys while we were in Fulton.

Jeff's mom always gets lots of pictures while we are there, so I tend to slack off! I'll have to get some more from her of our visit in Fulton.

So, although we didn't find a home in Denver yet, we have lots to be thankful for. What a blessing to have time to spend with friends and family and to have safety in all our travels. Thankful for 2013 and looking forward to the adventure that 2014 will for sure be.

The many things we will miss about Canada... (and a few things we won't!) :)

Beautiful Downtown Calgary

At the end of October, Jeff found out that his work would once again be transferring our family. While we were expecting news of a move this fall, it always still surprises us when we officially find out. We also were quite pleasantly surprised that we were being sent to Denver! We have loved our two years in Calgary and feel quite blessed with the beautiful places we have had the opportunity to see! Not to mention, the wonderful, friendly Canadians we have befriended up here. So, I thought, no time like the present to think back on our time here and jot down a few of the things we will miss!

1. Our friends! Awww...

I know, stereotypical, but we will definitely miss the friends we have made here. I believe (and have seen it be true several times now) that God always goes before us and is faithful to bring wonderful people into our lives. The hard part is having to leave them each time we pack up and head out. From Kansas City, to East Tennessee, and now Calgary, we have had the opportunity to meet so many great people. And I feel like it is such a privilege to have friends all over North America! We always say that our home (wherever it is) is always open to our friends and we mean it! And we know that we always will have a friendly place to stay when we come back to our former hometowns to visit!

A few friends in our small group at the top, and my lovely Mom's group in the lower picture.

2. Our Church

We walked into First Alliance Church not knowing what an Alliance church was. We saw the church on the side of the major highway through Calgary and thought it looked similar to other churches we had attended. We went to FAC the first weekend when we reached Calgary and I was desperate for a sense of familiarity. We had been on the road for a week, eating fast food and staying in hotels and I just really wanted to feel normal. So, when Pastor Scott took the stage that day and started preaching I immediately thought something was weird... and I turned to Jeff and said "He doesn't sound Canadian! He sounds SOUTHERN!" Sure enough, the lead pastor at the random church we had decided to visit was in fact, American, and had most recently preached at a church in Texas before moving to Canada. Who would have guessed it? We have loved our time at this church! Boone was dedicated at FAC and has grown to love the nursery there and the workers show him so much love!

 

Our church building at the top, and in the lower picture, Boone with a few little friends 

from the women's small group I was in!

3. The beauty that surrounds us

We have been spoiled with the immense beauty that is all over Alberta. We have enjoyed the mountains in the winter and the summer. We've skiied, sledded, hiked, toured and taken lots and lots of pictures along the way. If you have never been to Alberta, you are missing out. It really has some of the most beautiful, unspoiled landscape you can see! Put it on your bucket list, it's a must-see! (Thankfully, we are moving to another place with lots of beauty to check out! We are going to get spoiled!)

From Elbow Falls, to Banff to Jasper! BEAUTIFUL!

4. Random Canadian food

Poutine, all-dressed chips, Tim Tams... Those all may not be Canadian, but I don't think we can get them down in the states and we've grown to love them all! Not to mention some delicious restaurants: Cora's and Earl's are two of our faves! We didn't eat out a ton, but we sure found our favorites here!

5. The Real Canadian Superstore

This store gets its own bullet point. I love the Superstore because for probably the first year that I lived here, I was always discovering new things! It sure is random, but this store is huge and has so many great things! We love the Joe Fresh clothing brand that they sell, and love that you can pick up a cute shirt for Boone and some quality Asian food ingredients all in one stop. This store will be sorely missed in my book.

6. Our neighborhood

We live in a planned community area. And while it doesn't seem all that great when you hear about them, in reality, it's pretty wonderful. Even during a weekend when my car was out of commission and Jeff was out of town on business, I was able to pack Boone in a stroller and walk all over our town. Grocery store, gas station, coffee shop, nail salon... not to mention doctors and dentists, all within walking distance. Plus, lots of green space and parks to take Boone to. Mckenzie Towne is a great place to live and I'm glad we landed there.

7. (Relatively) Cheap flights to Missouri.

I mean, we could fly internationally for under $400. Hard to beat!

8. We have a dual citizen in our family

We were excited to have Boone be born in Canada. He now holds both Canadian and American citizenships. We also got a first-hand look at the socialized healthcare here. We had good experiences for the most part. And it was eery to walk out of the hospital with our baby and not have to sign a single bill.

          

And a few things we won't be sad to be leaving north of the border...

1. The cost of cheese (and gas... and everything else!)

We knew the price of things must be a little high after Jeff's salary went up so high when we moved to Canada with the cost of living increase, but wow, it is expensive! 9 dollars for a block of cheese? 8 dollars for a carton of ice cream? Yep... and don't even get me started about gas! Everything was just a bit more expensive up in Canada!

2. The hassle of banking

After much research and asking around, we found the only way to convert our funds from Jeff's salary in American dollars to Canadian dollars was going through one certain bank and manually withdrawing money from our American account (1000 dollars at a time) at an ATM and putting it into an envelope and depositing it back into the very same ATM into our Canadian account. Not a huge hassle, but in a world of so much technology, it's a little crazy that we had to physically go and pull money out of a machine and put it back into the same machine.

3. How far it was from our families

When we moved to Calgary, it took us three days of 8 hour driving to get to Calgary from Missouri! That is a LONG way (especially through remote parts of Montana and Wyoming.) Even to fly, we were looking at a two flight trip! We are looking forward to a much easier commute from Denver to Missouri!

4. Crazy hockey fannatics

I mean, we are from Missouri, we want the Blues to do well, but Jeff would say he always felt funny when he was involved in a conversation about hockey. We just didn't have much to offer to all those Canucks who loved their hockey teams! But hey... Go Flames Go!

I think that about sums it up... We enjoyed our time in Calgary! Of course, there were little things that popped up that we didn't quite expect about living north of the border, but we are glad we took the opportunity and are thankful to Jeff's company for sending us there. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, eh? :)

Lots of love from the "homeless" Robertsons! (Although, we love bunking with family around Christmas!)

Jeff, Emily + Boone

Operation Christmas Child

Each year, our church encourages attenders to participate in Operation Christmas Child. OCC is an effort done by Samaritan's Purse where people stuff shoeboxes full of fun gifts for either a girl or boy in various age groups. The shoeboxes are then collected and sent to countries all over the world. For the last two years, we have been in a small group with a guy who actually works for Samaritan's Purse, so we have had the opportunity to learn a lot more about the organization and about OCC in particular. He explained to us that they will send out a notice to families in a certain community regarding an event at the local church. They don't tell anyone that shoeboxes of gifts will be handed out, but it's a little surprise for the families that attend. Each person that puts together a box is encouraged to pray for the recipient of the box and to write a small note for the child.

I've loved learning more about this effort and it's so fun to go purchase items for the box! Our small group divides up items for 20 boxes, then we get together for a party, eat good food, listen to Christmas music and put together the boxes. Our small group decided to do our annual party a bit earlier so that Jeff, Boone and I could still participate before we move! (Have I wrote on here that we are moving?! More on that later...) Our family was in charge of buying toys for the boys boxes! One thing that was different this year is that when I purchased the toys and when we were putting the boxes together, Boone was playing with all the toys. He seemed a bit concerned each time we would take a toy away from him and put it into a box! Last year, Boone spent the whole party in the Baby Bjorn. What a difference a year makes!

So... here are some of the pictures of our party! It was such a fun time, but most importantly, we pray that the children that receive each of the boxes we put together will feel loved and will learn about the love of Jesus!

Jeff and Mikey (Mikey and his wife Bonnie are the fearless leaders of our group)

Newlyweds Jonny and Karissa

Lovely Edith

Miss Bonnie

All the craziness as the boxes were getting packed.

Nicole cleaning up her house after we all came and destroyed it :)

All of the shoeboxes, packed and stacked. As a sidenote, Boone 

took his longest walk to date that night as he headed straight for the box stack.

We have loved being a part of this great small group! We will miss our "Fat Tuesday" friends, but are so thankful that God led us to their group during our time in Calgary! 

Merry Christmas, friends!

Jeff, Em + Boone

Boone visits the science center!

My parents came up to visit Calgary (and us) a few weekends ago. It was a rather cold and snowy weekend, so we were anxious to find things to do with them that were inside and warm. We read about the Telus Spark Science Center and decided to go check it out.

While I wasn't super impressed by the center as a whole (not a ton of things to see, and $20 per person to get in), but their children's museum was perfect for Boone. He loved checking out so many of the areas inside the children's area. So, I guess it was worth the trip to check it out.

He was so excited that he had the whole area to himself.

Playing with the mirror.

Oh, his faces!

It is so fun to see life through Boone's eyes! We are so thankful for him each and every day!

Paul Bunyan's Halloween

Last year for Boone's first Halloween, Boone was just under 2 months old so we didn't really dress him up in anything. This year, he is still too young to really grasp what Halloween is or be able to go trick-or-treating, so I wasn't really sure if I should dress him up. A few days before Halloween, I realized that I could do a costume with a few items we already had at the house. I decided to dress Boone up as a Canadian lumberjack. Easy, cheap and perfect first costume for our little Canadian.

I dressed him up for our morning trip to the gym and he was a huge hit with the workers there. Then, we met a friend at the mall and "trick-or-treated" through the stores there for a bit, and saw lots of other kiddos in their costumes. Our friend from the baby group, Kelly, dressed up her daughter, Parker, as a lion and she was adorable! Here are a few pictures of our day!

In case you were wondering, I used brown eye shadow for the beard! Full disclosure... the eye shadow did not stay on and dark very well at all. It required several applications throughout the day.

Jeff whittled that stick for Boone on one of our camping trips this summer. Not really the most baby-friendly toy, but perfect prop for the Halloween pictures!

Parker and Boone. I think Parker may have been getting a bit warm in her outfit!

What a bunch of cuties!

I'm looking forward to future years with Boone and living in a place where trick or treating does not involve snow and snow boots!