Western Canada Tour: Week 3

Week three is done! I'll be picking up right where I left off last week...

:: Singing in Fort Vermillion, AB, just outside of La Crete ::

:: Driving to Slave Lake gave us breathtaking scenery ::

:: Some dear friends gifted us with these homemade rolls and a basket with fruit, jams, and chocolate::

:: taking a rest on church pews after a good workout ::

:: we made a full "breakfast" for supper on Saturday... pumpkin pancakes, scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast for the win! ::

:: Mom met some relatives in Prespatou, BC ::

:: this is a very real travel day for us! trust me, sometimes we look more put together than this :D but driving through the mountains for hours on end makes one feel a little nauseous ::

:: this proves (again) that he's a keeper! ::

:: SO many loads of laundry were cleaned last night ::

:: this morning we went into the Correctional Institution in Prince George, BC at 8:30, had two services there, then went out for lunch with the wonderful chaplains. We went back in at 2:15 and sang for the health ward ::

When everything was loaded on the bus and we were ready to go, the chaplain came on and prayed for us and showed so much support for the ministry... it was a huge blessing!

And, just now we are parking at some friends' house in Vanderhoof. They already served a delicious supper, great fellowship, and turns out, they are Mom's friends that she hadn't seen in over 10 years!

A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; but it shall not come near you.

Psalm 91:7

Western Canada Tour: Week 2

Hello everyone! Welcome to week two on our fall tour!

A week ago we were at the Remand Centre in Edmonton, AB. I have never been in an institution before that looked more like a very modern and large office building of sorts! It was ginormous! We went in around 11:30 am, met two wonderful chaplains, then an officer gave us orientation (in a board room complete with spinable office chairs, a large table, my own leather place mat (not sure what i was to use it for), and windows or glass walls all around!) After the orientation the two chaplains took us to the staff cafeteria where we were offered lunch. After a quick bite to eat we went to the chapel for service number one. It was a very good service and all of the nine guys that came out seemed very young. Service number two had more guys and a bigger age range. But again, we were so thankful to see them want to change for the better. In the afternoon we got to go out to the bus for a few hours, (Ty and Loni couldn't go in because they are under-aged). The wind increased dramatically as we were in the bus and the weather man said that there were gusts up to 100 kph. The sweet chaplains had arranged to meet us inside at 5:20 for supper in the cafeteria. So, in we went and had some fellowship time with them and chaplain number 3! 

We had another group of guys come out for service number three, but for the final service we finally got some lovely women :) It's always so special for us to sing in women's institutions because they are few and far in between. That last service was so good... there were ladies on the front row that cried the entire service long and in turn made it hard for me to not just choke up the whole time. Hearing some of their stories and seeing how their hearts have changed made me realize again how absolutely powerful the name of Jesus is! Again and again I've heard how they've tried everything they possibly can and when all that fails, they finally try Jesus... and that's what they were looking for the whole time.

Wednesday during the day we went shopping in Edmonton and walked for a good long while. Dad was feeling absolutely miserable but felt good enough by the evening that we could all go into the Woman's Institution for the service there. Some friends from Two Hills came in with us and shared a testimony with the ladies.

:: Selah keeps us in stitches :) :: 

Thursday we headed out to Peace River where our dear friends allowed us to use the church there for three days straight! Ken & Mary, we appreciate you so much! The food and fellowship was equally delightful! Since we had a few days off, I got to sew in the basement... it honestly looked like we had moved there :) Things like scheduling, planning, sewing, cooking, school work, working out, and lots of games happened in that time.

:: bus life ::

Sunday morning we sang at Peace River Christian Fellowship, then as soon as the service was over we packed up and went straight to the institution in Peace River for the final two services of the day! That place has got an amazing view!

Mom & Dad met some friends in town for supper and then we drove to La Crete. Crossing the ferry at late hours of the day when it's all dark is a little creepier for me since us kids walked out to look at the stars and if there wouldn't be lights on the other side of the river, you would not be able to see a thing!

Monday was our day off. For lunch we met up with dear friends from home who moved to La Crete a little over a year ago... Milton & Katherine, we loved spending time with you again and seeing your home here in La Crete!

  Since we had the day off yesterday we spent the evening listening to possible songs for our next album... if you're still reading and have any suggestions, we would love to hear them! Comment down below if you've got a song you think we should hear and consider for the new album :)

In Him was life; and the life was the light of men.

John 1:4

Autumn Wardrobe Favorites

A couple weeks ago Julia and I went on a little photo shoot. It was the most beautiful early-autumn day and the lighting was perfect so we couldn't find a reason not to!

I decided to share one of my favorite autumnal outfits with you... not only is it super comfortable but it also looks a little more put together then what I often wear. (t-shirt and denim skirt for the win!)

Scarf- thrifted

Top- Marshall

Skirt- Cato

Ankle Boots- Payless Shoe Source

I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.

Ephesians 3:16

Western Canada Tour: Week 1

It has been about one week since we left home, (tomorrow it's official :) and we've already had a lot of wonderful times in prison and out! So, basically, I'm going to take you on a little photo adventure with me and some stories along the way. enjoy!

:: 2 1/2 miles from our house the bus died on us while we were driving. Turns out that while we had the bus at a shop in the past week they had put in a wrong voltage part, so Dad spent some time on the phone with the folks at Prevost to see what he could do. He ended up being able to bypass the problem and we kept going. However, about 10 minutes later the bus started getting too hot so we parked beside the road again! (it took us about 3 hours to drive 40 miles!) After another hour we continued on our journey. The plans were to stop and visit family in Grandview for supper, but because of all the problems we only made it there around 10:30 at night ::

:: this has become my new favorite past time :) ::

:: The first prison service that was scheduled for Wednesday evening was canceled due to the prison being under-staffed. so we drove on to Prince Albert, SK where Dad was teaching the Bondage to Freedom seminar all day. We parked at a mall and accomplished many things including office work, cleaning the bus, school work, a good walk, and seeing our first (tiny bit of) snow of the season! of course we got some hot drinks and listened to Christmas music. yep, I'm that type of person! ::

 :: over the next 2 nights we stayed at our friends house near Prince Albert. Loni played games with Mrs. R and Ty even got to shoot a bow and arrow! ::

:: walks were enjoyed by all ::

:: You know how you read in story books about homely little towns where everyone knows everyone by name? Well, we stopped in one of those for supper on Saturday, and we all felt like the strangers :) As we were sitting, waiting for our pizza, a large group of elderly ladies came in and sat by a table a ways behind me. Julia all of a sudden told me to "look behind you!" so, I did. The entire bunch of ladies were all standing, sitting, or squatting to get into the selfie one of them was taking! it made my night! They kept walking by our table and would always have some comment to share ::

:: good times playing Battleship while traveling ::

:: Sunday morning found us at the Fort Pitt Christian Farms and I tell you we had a wonderful time! catching up with friends is always so lovely and more generous folks then them you will never find. 

When it was time to go we discovered that one of the airbags in the bus wasn't going up, the men helped fix the problem so we could make it to Two Hills, AB in time for the evening service ::

:: getting ready for the concert ::

:: hello there, morning faces! Us kids walked into town to hunt down a library for some much needed catch-up on things ::

Well, that's all the photos have I have for you today, and there would be many more stories of God's amazing grace and love shown especially in the prison services, but I'm afraid that would be for another time! thank you to all our dear friends that have prayed basically non-stop for us on this tour... you really don't know how much we treasure knowing there are people that have our backs! we love you so much! 





The young lions do lack and suffer hunger; but they who seek the Lord shall not want of any good thing.
Psalm 34:10

Apple Rose Tartes

Hello everyone! How have you been enjoying this beautiful autumn weather? It's been absolutely gorgeous in our neck of the woods and I've been savoring all the hot drinks and crisp air! 

A few weeks ago I made Apple Rose Tartes and thought they were perfect for fall since the caramel and apple are practically a match made in heaven :) we ended up making these for one of the Widow's Banquets and everyone seemed to love it, and i thought you might too!

::THE CRUST::

5 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

2 cups lard or shortening

2 tbsp vinegar

2 eggs

Sift all the dry ingredients together and then work in the lard. Beat the eggs in a cup, add the vinegar and fill the rest of the cup with water. mix well. then add it to the dry ingredients.

Once the dough has been made you'll want to roll it out till it's not too thick (i found that if i rolled it too paper thin it just fell apart in the end and if it wasn't thin enough it is very hard to roll into a rose). Then cut the dough into rectangles that are approximately 8" by 3".

:: THE FILLING::

3-4 apples

9 tbsp lemon

12 tbsp water

 sprinkle of cinnamon

2 tbsp sugar (per rose)

8 oz. cream cheese

Take the apples, cut them in half like you normally would to take out the seeds, then lay them cut side down and cut into thin slices from the top of the apple to the bottom. (does that even make sense?) Put the sliced apples into a microwave safe bowl, add the lemon juice and water, then microwave for about three minutes or until the apples are nice and flexible. 

Get the cut dough and spread the cream cheese all along one side (lengthwise). sprinkle the sugar and cinnamon on the cream cheese and then line the apples on top of the sugar. make sure that the side with the peel is sticking out past the dough so that it makes the end result look as planned :) 

Fold over the plain side of the dough on top of the apples and then roll it up. Place into a greased muffin tin and bake @ 375 F for 30 minutes.

As soon as you take the pan out of the oven make sure that you remove the tartes immediately since the sugar makes a delicious caramel-ish sauce, and it will make it much more difficult to get them out of the pan once they are cooled! (lesson learned :) For a little bit of "extra special" dust them with icing sugar before serving.

Enjoy!

:: He said to them, "come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest"::

Mark 6:31