HCH

I never posted these pictures from HCH early in December,
but this seemed like a good day to do it! Our co-op group had a small Christmas program there, organized by Elsa & Ange (thanks again!) It's always a blessing to sing with these dear folks!The race that long in darkness pined,
Have seen a glorious Light;
The people dwell in day, who dwelt
In death's surrounding night.
To hail Thy rise, Thou better Sun,
The gathering nations come,
Joyous as when the reapers bear
The harvest treasures home.
To us a Child of Hope is born,
To us a Son is given;
Him shall the tribes of earth obey,
Him all the hosts of heaven.
His Name shall be the Prince of Peace,
Forevermore adored;
The Wonderful, the Counselor,
The great and mighty Lord.
John Morison (1749-1798)

Have a blessed Christmas, everyone!!

Eliana's Shower

Last Monday was a very enjoyable evening
as the ladies of our church celebrated Eliana's birth.
Congratulations again, Damian & Margarita!
and thanks so much, Rachel & Liz, for all you did
to make it such a special evening! :)





Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD,
The fruit of the womb is a reward.
Psalm 127:3

Decorating :)

Rachel & Maria are very thankful for Girls' Club, where they have enjoyed many wonderful evenings -- including an opportunity to decorate these cute houses!

and a couple pictures of our playful Pearl!
The kitchen is done now! (except for the new microwave/range hood which Ralph hopes to install soon)

Church Christmas Program

Christians, awake, salute the happy morn
Whereon the Savior of the world was born.
Rise to adore the mystery of love
Which hosts of angels chanted from above,
With them the joyful tidings first begun
Of God incarnate and the virgin’s Son.

Mom teaches the Sunday School class --
they sang quite well this year! :)
...and Elsa does a great job teaching choir to the catechism classes.
Oh, may we keep and ponder in our mind
God’s wondrous love in saving lost mankind!
Trace we the Babe, who hath retrieved our loss,
From His poor manger to His bitter cross,
Tread in His steps, assisted by His grace,
Till our imperfect state God doth replace.

Then may we hope, th’angelic hosts among,
To sing, redeemed, a glad triumphal song.
He that was born upon this joyful day
Around us all His glory shall display.
Saved by His love, incessant we shall sing
Eternal praise to heaven’s almighty King.
John Byrom
Besides organizing the program itself, Vera & Elsa also
took care of cooking up a full-course dinner for everyone!
Thanks!!

Daddy's Home!

We are so thankful that the Lord brought Ralph safely home at 5:30 tonight after being in Italy for 9 days for work... not fun! But the Lord provided faithfully for him across the ocean & for us at home, surrounded by caring family & friends. :) Thanks!
When Bethany saw me taking pictures of the roses Ralph sent me yesterday, she wanted her picture taken too, so I happily complied. :)

Co-op Babies :)

and Joshua is goofy already! :)

Co-op

We have had lots of fun Thursday afternoons this fall!
It has been a delight to have Ange & her kids with us for this semester, and we will greatly miss them when they head back down to Mexico in January. Speaking of missing people -- we have really missed Sharon & her sweet kids! May the Lord continue to bless their family in Guatemala! Also, we have now lost Jo & her kids -- their three oldest are now attending Credo since Steve & Jo have moved to Brampton. We're thankful they live close by now, but sad that they can't come to co-op anymore. :( Lots of changes!

Since I have not been blogging much lately, (sorry!) these are pictures from the whole fall, from the oldest class to the youngest. The first picture below is of our opening devotions.
I don't have any pictures of choir, which was everyone's first class (except the preschoolers).
Trish has been teaching the oldest class charcoal drawing again, with Rachel helping her. Great work!!



Pastor Anjema spent many Thursday afternoons teaching hockey to the kids! THANKS! :) They enjoyed it! (Timmy's class joined up this fall with the oldest class for gym, which worked out well.)




And it was neat that Richard (our church's missionary to Mexico) was able to spend some afternoons teaching them volleyball! Thank you! Their "home assignment" has been a great blessing to all! :)


Last week Cher did a fun game of "Four on a 'Couch'" with them. :)

Grade 3 Art (I taught them drawing.)

Ange taught them Spanish each week -- a neat opportunity!
Here's what they learned:
1. to recognize and respond to common conversational questions that are essential when meeting someone for the first time.
2. to recognize some Spanish cognates
3. to recite John 3:16 in Spanish
4. to sing the first verse of “Trust and Obey” in Spanish
Porque tanto amo Dios al mundo,
que dio a su Hijo unigenito,
para que todo el que cree en él no se pierda,
sino que tenga vida eterna. Juan 3:16

Grade 1/2 gym

These kids learned just as much in Spanish class, I think!
Thanks again, Ange!

Rachel did lots of painting this fall with the Grade 1/2 class!
I only got pictures of their latest creations... cute Christmas decorations!


And the preschool gym...
...a very cute, excitable class, as you can see & imagine, I'm sure!
Here they are enjoying cupcakes for Ashleigh's birthday.
Carole did lots of crafts with them.
Their latest craft was given to their parents. :)
Sometimes I did science with them, for their last class;
other times they were allowed to play. :)