White & Black: Crimes of Color

On Friday evening, Église Ste- Rose hosted a documentary film night to increase awareness of the atrocities that are happening to people with albinism in Africa. For many of the members of the church, this was all new information. Amadou, who works for Under the Same Sun, shared his personal story about growing up as a person with albinism in Africa. The film's director, Jean-François, also explained the film and his continued involvement in this cause.

Ali and the girls helped set-up for the night.

Vieux Montreal

We spent last Thursday in vieux Montreal. Since it was raining for part of our visit, we spent some time at the Science Centre (very similar to Science World, but much less expensive).

We enjoyed crêpes for lunch. Our whole family loves crêpes.

I'm not too sure why the biggest child is in the stroller here and the other 2 are being held. We sometimes like to do things in the most awkward way possible.

Chez les Binettes

The last week of our trip was spent with the Binette family 

(Dany, Gabrielle, Marianne (7), and Rosalie (4)).

They had everything that girls could possibly want to play with in their home. Ella LOVED their dress up trunk. And all 3 girls made use of their keyboard and play microphones. They often sung worship songs and were quite the cute little trio. 

We are very thankful to the Binettes for hosting us.

Pacifest BBQ

Last Sunday l'église Ste-Rose hosted the Pacifest BBQ. The volunteers put so much work into making this an amazing event. There were several interesting booths promoting peace-related causes (missions in Haiti, alcoholics anonymous, prison ministries, etc.) We hosted the kid-zone and also had the opportunity to walk around and chat with people attending the BBQ.

On paper, the event wasn't as big as it was last year because not as many people attended. There were some great stories, however, from people who were there this year. A lady who was singing on stage at the event spoke to the worship leader when they were packing things up and said that she was very encouraged by the BBQ. She hasn't gone to church for a very long time, but said that she was going to return to church now because she sees it in a different light. God was certainly at work throughout the BBQ.

Setting up the kid-zone.

Curtis' amazing poster promoting the event.

The princess bouncy castle was a favorite!

The girls got their faces painted. Juliette is a horse and Ella has balloons on her cheek and purple eyeshadow. Both of these choices suit their personalities to a tee.

Praise God for all the work the volunteers put into the event! Please pray for the visitors who came to the BBQ - pray that they will see God's love through l'église Ste-Rose and that they will want to seek Him. 

Please also pray for this Friday's upcoming film night. The documentary "White and Black: Crimes of Color" will be shown at l'église Ste-Rose to raise awareness about the atrocities that are taking place in Tanzania. Pray for Amadou, who works for Under the Same Sun, as he prepares for the evening. Also pray for those at the BBQ who were invited to the film night to attend. Pray for people's hearts to be changed upon learning about what is happening to persons with albinism in Africa. 

Sushi

Before moving to our second host family, we made sushi with Robin, Joanne, Raphael, and their 2 daughters who came to visit. Isa (Robin's daughter) is great at making sushi and taught us how. The meal was delicious and it was fun to prepare together.

We feel so blessed to have stayed with Robin, Joanne, and Raphael. They were so accommodating and really made us feel at home. We had many good conversations with them. We hope they will come visit Vancouver someday. We were especially touched that they sat down to pray with us before leaving there home. Merci Robin, Joanne, et Raphael!

Québec City

Last Friday we spent the day in Québec City. Spencer and I visited Québec City 7 years ago and loved it there. It was really special bringing our girls back there with us. Our lives look much different than they did 7 years ago!

The girls loved walking along the boardwalk and enjoying the view of the St. Lawrence river.

They also enjoyed watching the street performers. Juliette loved seeing them juggle fire and Ella was amazed by seeing them ride a unicycle.

Karis took her nap in the stroller.

We celebrated Ella's 100th reading lesson with a much anticipated ice cream cone. 

Some footage of our girls walking along the boardwalk and meeting a "doggie".

And here we were 7 years ago on the same boardwalk.