Pumpkin Cookies

This past week we got to decorate pumpkins with the Edwards. We had so much fun. Thanks Marcie for including us. I'm so glad we got the opportunity to spend 4 months on St Maarten with the Edwards. Marcie is amazing! She's a great mom to 4 kids. Lincoln and Lacey love hanging out and playing with Payten, Autumn, Will and Vesper. We had a fun afternoon with our friends then ended it off with the AUC movie night.

Pool Time

We love our pool time! It usually happens daily. Pool time and beach time are two things we will miss. The kids love the water and not feeling hot for a second. I'm amazed at how well Lincoln is getting at swimming. Lacey tries to do everything that Lincoln does in the water, she has no fear crazy girl.

Lacey chilling in the shade.

Lincoln diving in the deep end.

My little fish

Lacey and mom having a swim break.

Visiting Dad At School

We walk/ bike rides to the university quit often, so that we get to see Josh a bit more then we do. Even if it's for a 5-10 minute quick visit. I love our mini walk/ bike rides to the university. It usually takes 5 minutes to walk but with two kids it can take up to 20 mins. Our outings to the university are always an adventure, how couldn't it be when you live on a island. From Lincoln looking for lizard to Lacey who spotted chicken and turkey's. The kids love being out and about learning new things.

They are ready to go!

Lincoln watching a tractor on a boat fixing the docks that got broken from Gonzalo

Lacey having some daddy time... Lincoln and Lacey love there dad so much. They hate saying goodbye to their dad in the morning. But they get so excited when hey get to see him.

Weekly Update: October fun

 It’s been a long busy week. It’s still weird to think it’s October and we are living in our swim suits and shorts still. I kinda like it, just wish it would cool off at night. Here's what we were up to this week.

Beach morning, trying to enjoy and take in every minute. We have less then two months left on the island. 

 Lincoln's Family drawing

 Our turkey hats we made for thanksgiving. We kept Thanksgiving very simple here this year. We just did Thanksgiving crafts. We skipped on the turkey dinner as that was the day that the Gonzalo hit the island. Plus there are no other Canaaian family down here right now.

Corn on the Cobs, made with lego painting.

Lincoln also requested to do some car painting as well.

We also had a lot of fun at our preschool group doing fall crafts.

Lacey and I got a bug this week and weren't feeling the best. When we were on the mend, Josh took Saturday morning off from studying and spent it with us. Since he wasn't able to be here for us when we weren't feeling good. It was very much needed family time. We went to board walk and let the kids ride their bikes. Lacey's first time riding her bike on boardwalk, on the extra wide side walk along the beach and she loved it.

Bike Time

Lacey has bike like Lincoln, thanks to some friends who gave it to us when they left the island. Lacey is in heaven as she always likes doing the same thing that Lincoln is doing. Now she can following him around that much more. Lacey is one with no fear, so she caught on with the strider style bike in no time. She loves riding her biking and trying to keep up to Lincoln. I love hearing her say" I did it!", while she rides her bike.

Happy Birthday Nana Harker!

Happy Happy Birthday Nana!!! Hope you have a fantastic day. Thanks for being an amazing mom, mother in-law and nana to us. Wish we were closer to celebrate with you.

Hurricane Gonzalo

 

Josh has been studying like a mad man as it's block weekend. So he was practically studying/living at the school. Sunday night around 3p.m -ish, the storm that had been coming our way, had been upgraded to tropical storm. I start to get prepared for the storm by bring all our belonging inside so they don't blow away. Fill up the kids red tub with water just in case we need extra toilet water. We already had extra drinking water on hand. We've had a few Tropical storm experience before meaning rain and wind, not to much to worry about. Josh was still at his school Sunday night as he still thinks he has exams the next day. Then around around 8 pm Josh received a email from the school saying his block exams are being postponed till Wednesday due to the tropical storm coming our way.  And that all students still at the school have to go home. The storm was predicted to pick up speed and power after passing St Maarten then turn into a hurricane. The morning of Monday October 13th  the winds started to blow. Business were ordered to close by noon and everyone off the roads by 4p.m. Around 2 p.m. the rain starts coming, the storm is here. The main part of the storm was predicted to hit around 2p.m. It was windy and rain but it really wasn't too bad. Our power went out from 3-4 p.m. So I made dinner quick just in case it went out again as I didn't want to be cooking dinner in the dark. One up side is we have a gas stove. After supper I put out all our flash lights and candles on the counter so I knew where they were incase the power went out again. After dinner 5 p.m- ish we notice winds were picking up. Which we thought were odd as the main part of the storm was suppose to hit around 2p.m. and lessen up around 5p.m. Gonzalo was moving slower then predicted, which wasn't looking good for us. For the next 2 hours power kept going off then back on. By 6p.m. we were getting hit hard. It was just down pouring and the wind was crazy. The part that stood out to me is the howling sound the wind made. It sounded powerful.  Our windows start rattling and water started coming in around the doors. So we grab all the towels had and started putting them against the doors to help soak up the water.

Gonzalo passed near Antigua (an island just southwest of us) as a tropical storm, tearing roofs from people's homes and knocking down trees, then Gonzalo gathered enough force as it neared St Maarten to be officially upgraded to a category 1 hurricane (6:30p.m.). Category 1 hurricanes have wind speed up to 95 mph but there was record of wind speeds up to 110 mph on St Maarten, which is a category 2 hurricane. Okay now I'm scared. Josh always wan't to experience a hurricane, so I get here it is.  The kids weren't to sure what was happening so we just kept reassuring them that it was a wind and rain storm everything would be okay.

Gonzalo was described as a hurricane that came out of no where and intensified fast.

We luckily were watching the Hurricane watch online and saw that the storm had been updated but a lot of people weren't aware of it, as by 7p.m. our power was out for the night, candles it is. It was pitch black as it gets dark around 6. Lincoln had fun helping holding the flashlights.

By now the towels we have by the doors soaking up water are just not doing it. Water was coming in like crazy. So we had to start ringing out the towels and putting them back. We were doing this continually. Then Lincoln said "I think its raining in here." Water was dripping from our living room ceiling. Were weren't sure were the water was coming from, but we grab a big pot..... then another until we had 5 through out around our main level. From wholes in our ceiling and out lights on the ceiling. We began moving furniture out of the way. Josh had to screw out front doors (the door we don't use) shut, as they weren't staying shut on there own. The wind was crazy and howling like I never heard it before. We were constantly going around the house seeing if more water was coming in. At 7:30p.m ish the kids were getting tired so I brought them to our bedroom and put a movie on for them. Then around 8p.m. I was in the living room picking up towels to ring out again when I noticed there was a new leak on the roof. Josh checked it out. Our drywall on the ceiling was about to go, it was just a balging. There was going to be a tone of water coming. We acted fast and grabbed out red tub that we were using for another leak from the ceiling. Within seconds water started gushing out. It was crazy! I was officially scary. We had to empty the red tub our every 3-4 mins or so, which was a two person job. As there was so much water in the tub we couldn't put it down the sink and didn't have enough time to put it in the bath up stair so we had to open the door to outside. I opened the door trying to hold tight on the door while Josh throws the water out as fast as he could. While I opened the door I couldn't even see the house next to us. I'm thinking how long it this going to last. Josh and I got into a good routine keeping it under control, ring out 15 large towels, empty buckets and checking for more water coming in. The kids were doing good upstairs but you could tell they were tired and scared so I went up and let Josh manage the craziness. He had to call me a few times for help, to empty the tub and such, then I would go back up stairs and try to help the Lincoln and Lacey. The kids were tired so I figure they'd got to bed quit easily. By 8:30p.m. they were both out. I put them to bed in our bed as the wind and rain was louder in their room as the storm was hitting that side of the house. So I went back to help Josh. Josh and I worked constantly to keep the water out from 6-10p.m. Then we noticed the winded was slowing down a bit. Main level was very soggie. But we tried to keep the water coming in under control the best we could. The eye of the storm was over us around 11p.m. It was still howling like crazy out side and raining like crazy but we didn't have to keep ringing out the towels. Josh and I are both soaked and exhausted. We felt like it had calmed down enough by 11:30p.m. to try to get some rest. Buckets weren't filling up as fast any more.

I woke up around 3 a.m. and it was just storming out now,  still windy and raining but wasn't crazy at all.  Buckets didn't need emptying, thats a good sign. While I'm laying in bed trying to fall back to sleep the power comes on. Yay!!!! We can turn our fans on and cool off, It was so humid out. I did notice that there was a coolness that came with the hurricane, the wind just felt different. So I then try to text family back home but the internet was down. Around 6 a.m. the rain and wind stopped. It looked like a beautiful sunny day out side... Later we heard the eye of the hurricane went right over the Simpson Bay Lagoon, which we live right by.

We were all up early. We go down stairs and see our soggie musky house. I'm just glad we were all safe. The ceiling where the water was gushing earlier was looking really heavy and we could tell that it was going to fall so we move a few more of our belongings up stairs. 

Then we go out side to see that damage. 

 Our back yard

It was such a good feeling to see our neighbours and to make sure they were all okay. Everyone was so concerned about everyone.  Most of the damage in our gated community was uprooted trees. It was crazy to see the damage a hurricane can do. 

Broken fences

 We then took a walk to Josh's school to see the damage. It was crazy, it felt like we were in a movie and it didn't feel real but it was. We survived a hurricane and I don't want to experience it again.

 The docks by the school that we visit quit often, were no more

Everything was closed. I was amazed at how fast the island started rebuilding trying to get roads drivable and everything put back and assess damage. As the islanders usually do everything slowly. 

We were lucky to have internet come back on by 2:30p.m. Family was glad to hear from us.

Water on the other hand didn't come back on till Wednesday at 1:30p.m. So we were with out water for 48 hours which isn't to bad consider the hurricane in 1995 that hit St Maarten, people with out water for 7 days and power for 30 days.

Seriously, though it made me count my blessings. I have everything I need. I have my family. We were all safe. Yes the house we received some damage but it could be fixed.

The reason we had water gushing from our ceiling is water came in from our deck on the second level in between the ceiling and second floor. On tuesday morning the dry wall looked very heavy so we moved more of our belongings, good thing we did as the part  of the ceiling came down an hour later.

Gonzalo downed utility lines, knocking out electricity, landline telephones and cable TV in several areas; uprooted trees; flooded homes; blew off roofs, doors and windows; toppled boulders; caused mudslides; sank and completely destroyed 37 vessels. It's crazy the damage a hurricane can make. Here's some picture of the destruction around the island. 

i am...

Each of us is beautiful and unique in our individual way. There is only one YOU, there is only one me, and that makes each of us a living miracle. We are not perfect but we are loved perfectly by a Heavenly Father above, and if you think about it that makes each of us pretty special.

Love these words from AL Fox Carraway

The secret to have your best life

"God does not define you by your faults or shortcomings, but by your heart and potential. But would you rather hear it from me, or the lord? Sometimes I have read over my own thoughts on this as I some days still continue to struggle with it, and I think, “Yeah, I know it, but how can I feel it.”

Heavenly Father weeps when we don't see ourselves the way He sees us. Ask Heavenly Father to see yourself the way He sees you. Actually do this. Because that is the secret to having your best life is seeing you the way God sees you and knowing it. When you look in the mirror next, look longer and deeper.

Learn to not be so self critical because you are so beautiful in the eyes of God. His thoughts toward you are more numerous then you could even begin to imagine.

Our bodies don’t define who we are; it’s what inside us that God sees. When life gets me down it's only because I allow it to. Don't allow it any more. Do not feed the adversaries “wolf,” don’t keep it alive any longer. Don’t seek on others’ attention and praise. Be kind to yourself. Be proud of yourself. Because you are good enough. You are pretty enough. You are strong enough. You are worth it. You do deserve the best. You do deserve to be happy always. Do not hold yourself back any longer because great things await you just how you are. Strive everyday to be a little better, to be the bestyou. Believe in yourself and believe in God.

Up for a challenge? Post a picture of yourself with the description of anything positive about you—what you’re good at, what you like about you!"-- Al Fox Carraway"

Lizards

 Lincoln's favourite thing to do lately is catch lizards. Josh explain one day to Lincoln how to catch them, and Lincoln could just do it. Once Lincoln catches them he sticks them into his cages he has. There's times when there's eight lizards are in each cage, Lincoln has two cages. He has so much fun catching them, then watching them wiggle in his hands.

We have a sad story about the lizards this week. Lincoln catch quit a few one day. We were off to visit Josh at school and Lincoln brought the lizard cage with us. With out me even thinking we let the cage in the car while we ran into the University for 5 minutes. When we came back out to the car the lizards we baked to death. Ooops!

Lincoln also found 2 lizards flighting, he was able to catch both of them and pull them apart. But as he was carrying them back to our house the one lizard grabbed a hold of the other lizards head. Let's just say the one lizard didn't make it.

The lizards are fun to watch. Love all the different colours they can be. It's crazy how small they are as babies. Lincoln has learned that the lizards are cold blooded, making them move slower in the morning when its cooler out, so he can caught more. Lincoln also has a good eye at spotting them.

Gonzalo

After a week with extreme high temperatures, no island breeze and a power outage (nation wide blackout). We have tropical storm Gonzalo headed our way. This storm is suppose to strengthening east of the Leeward Islands (St Maarten's is part of the Leeward islands). Gonzalo is expected to move through the Leeward islands by early Monday morning. With this warning we can experience wind speeds up to 73 miles per hour. We are prepared for lots of rain headed our way. Hurricane watch and Tropical Storm warning has been issued for our area.

Weekly Update: extremely hot, power outage, broken fridge and high fever.

It’s been a week full of island adventures. I didn't realize how crazy our week was till I wrote them all down, but we still had a good week. Island craziness really isn't as overwhelming anymore, it's just part of the island life. I've just learned you have to make the best out of the situation and not let it get you down.

Our stand up fan that was in the kids room died. I guess using it almost constantly for 18 months did it. So we went out and grab another one, since we can’t survive for 2 months without one.

First it was one HOT HOT HOT week. We’ve been living in the Caribbean for 18 months so we have acclimatized but this week was hotter then most, plus it was extra humid. We tried to stay cool other wise we were dripping with sweat. I love the things my kids say... Lincoln said “ mom why is my neck and wet?” It has felt like were are living in a sona.

We went to La Gallion Beach with the Edwards. Edwards are a family from Utah but originally from Southern Alberta (Raymond and Magrath). Marcie and Cory have four kids, Payten-6, Autumn-4, Will-2 and Vesper-3 months. Lincoln loves hanging out with Payten and Autumn. Lacey loves following the big kids but also loves playing with will. It’s so fun having a new family to hang out with since we lots 2 families in August. It’s fun having friends here for the kids. Sure helps pass time. We spend 4 hours at the beach. The kids had a blast. Only bad thing is Lincoln and I got sun burns on our backs. We applied a lot of sunscreen but I guess not enough. We've been applying aloe vera gel often. Poor Lincoln, just doesn't understand why his back keeps hurting.

 So during our extra hot week we had a power outage that lasted from 1-8 pm. Then went off and on for the next few hours. This power outage was on the whole dutch side of the island. We were ready to die from this heat. As I said we have been here for 18 months and most power outages we have experienced before are usually 20mins - 2 or 3 hours, so not to long. We had to keep pour fridge closed to keep it as cool as possible so our food didn’t spoil. Luckily our stove is gas so we could have something for dinner other then it just made our house hotter. We took a walk in the evening to try to cool off a bit but there wasn’t a breath of wind. There's always a island breeze. I tried to put the kids to bed but it was just too hot, I knew I wouldn’t be able to full asleep in the heat so how were the kids going to? Lincoln said ” The lights don’t work?” I said "no cause we don’t have power”. Lincoln replied “Okay then can I have the fan on?”, mom- “sorry we need power for the fan to work too”. Lincoln- “Okay the A/C then?” Poor guy just wanted to be cool. I don’t think I have ever been so hot before. I was about to pack up there blankets and pillows and camp out at the University for the night, since they have generators. But the electricity finally came on around 8 ish, for 30 minutes or so then off for a bit then back on... I put he A/C on once the power finally stayed. Which doesn't happen often but we need to cool off.

The following day our fridge wouldn’t stay cool. I called our landlord up as I wasn’t sure if it was just taking time to get cold again or if there was another problem. Our land lord was able to get some appliance guy in within the hour. Luckily it was just a fan that was blocked do to the power outage. So we lost some food as it spoiled, but luckily not all of it.

That night as I’m taking Lincoln to the bathroom before I go to bed. I noticed his whole body was on fire. I thought it might had to do with it was just hot out but then I felt Lacey and she was quit comfortable. Lincoln had a high fever. So I moved him into our room and gave him some Advil and turned the A/C on. His fever went down with in 20 minutes but I wanted to watch him through out the night so I let him sleep in our bed. The next morning Lincoln was himself with no fever. I think he had a fever due to his sun burn and all the heat. Not sure though, but glad it came down and he's doing better.

Lcey eyeing up Dad's breakfast. She always has to be eating everyone else's food. Funny girl!

It's block week for Josh so that means more study time and little family time. Josh also had ICM clinical rations with the OB GYN and the Internal Specialist at the hospital.

Thankful

I’ve learn I can’t take for granted the things in my life, I have been blessed with. I think some days we get so caught up in day to day things and forget how blessed we are. We need to count our blessings and what our heavenly father has blessed us with each day. 

I’m so thankful for an amazing husband. He’s my best friends. My constant support, encourager, listening ear. He's SO busy it makes my head spin, even when the days and months and semesters are looooong and hard, he is always doing little things to help me and the kids and show his love for us.  I love how much he loves me. He's dedicated and determined. He's an a amazing father to our children. I'm grateful we have each other and for the love I have for him.

Lincoln and Lacey are children of God. I have been blessed to be their mom.

I love this quote.. .
"I’m the ONLY ONE 

who can give my children 

a HAPPY MOTHER 

who loves life."
It gives me encouragement to keep trying to be the best mother to Lincoln and Lacey... and to make life happy.

I'm thankful for my family I have been blessed with, they mean everything to me.