The girls I babysit made me cards for each day I was on the trip. They were a wonderful source of encouragement each day! I am so thankful that they took the time to make each card and write a note in each one. Thanks Alex, Lauren, Sandra and John!
Monday, March 22, 2010
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Nashville
We finally made it back to Nashville! We got up early Saturday morning and the bus was rolling at 7:58 AM. We stopped several times for bathroom breaks, fuel, and lunch. We finally arrived back at school around 3:00 PM.
It was a great trip, but I am so glad to be back in the USA and sleeping in my own bed!!!
It was a great trip, but I am so glad to be back in the USA and sleeping in my own bed!!!
Friday, March 19, 2010
Back In the USA!
This morning we got up, packed all of our stuff and hit the road. We traveled to Niagara Falls and saw the American and Canadian side. It was cold and wet, but it was gorgeous. Then we loaded the bus and headed to the boarder. All of us but on only had to go through one time. Anastasia went through customs and headed back to the bus, which was on the Canadian side. The boarder patrol stopped her and made her go through again. Thankfully she did not get in trouble, but everyone just laughed at her.
Now we are in the hotel and just finished a wonderful dinner at Cracker Barrel. We are going to bed soon, and we will hit the road early in the morning to return to Nashville. 
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Canada - Day 6
Today is our last full day in Canada. We started the day by having the last day of Bible day camp. We had 34 kids, which was the most we have had all week. The kids were much happier today!
After Bible day camp we took our daily trip down to Dairy Queen and then went to Zellers (Canadian Target) and a Walmart. The walmart was inside a mall, but the almost reminded me of the setup of Christmas village.
We went back to the church building and ate dinner then prepared for the finale. The kids got up on stage and sang all of the songs that we had learned over the week. A few kids told the adults what we learned each day.
My first host family was there, and she was not happy with us. We gave her a gift card and a thank you note. Our trip leader assured us that she was not mad at us, but at him.
Tonight we returned to our house and packed everything up for tomorrow. We will be stopping in Niagara Falls and then headed to Ohio to spend the night. Then we will return to Nashville on Saturday.
After Bible day camp we took our daily trip down to Dairy Queen and then went to Zellers (Canadian Target) and a Walmart. The walmart was inside a mall, but the almost reminded me of the setup of Christmas village.
We went back to the church building and ate dinner then prepared for the finale. The kids got up on stage and sang all of the songs that we had learned over the week. A few kids told the adults what we learned each day.
My first host family was there, and she was not happy with us. We gave her a gift card and a thank you note. Our trip leader assured us that she was not mad at us, but at him.
Tonight we returned to our house and packed everything up for tomorrow. We will be stopping in Niagara Falls and then headed to Ohio to spend the night. Then we will return to Nashville on Saturday.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Canada - Day 5
Today's theme was whining!! The day started out with one kid, Goerdi, wanting to go home. Then it continued through the day. Every moment there was a kid complaining, or crying about something. Overall the day was good. We had our normal stations and time to play outside. We had mac and cheese for lunch, and the kids loved it!
We did not stay at the church for our afternoon break today because we were having dinner with our host families. My host family took us to Tim Horton's on the way back to Beansville. The Canadians think Tim Horton's is amazing. Its almost like a Starbucks, but not as good. I got a maple doughnut thing, and it tasted like french toast. We came back to the house and took a nap. We had ravioli and salad for dinner! It was great.
Then we headed back to the church to have a singing service. The singing was wonderful and very encouraging to the members there.
After the service we drove to a place where you could overlook the city. It was so neat to see all of the lights in the city while it was dark. We took a few group pictures, but I don't know if I will get those.
We are now back at the house and resting up before the last day of bible camp. Tomorrow night we have the kids put on a little show for their parents of all of the songs and things that they have learned over the week. It should be a fun night!
We did not stay at the church for our afternoon break today because we were having dinner with our host families. My host family took us to Tim Horton's on the way back to Beansville. The Canadians think Tim Horton's is amazing. Its almost like a Starbucks, but not as good. I got a maple doughnut thing, and it tasted like french toast. We came back to the house and took a nap. We had ravioli and salad for dinner! It was great.
Then we headed back to the church to have a singing service. The singing was wonderful and very encouraging to the members there.
After the service we drove to a place where you could overlook the city. It was so neat to see all of the lights in the city while it was dark. We took a few group pictures, but I don't know if I will get those.
We are now back at the house and resting up before the last day of bible camp. Tomorrow night we have the kids put on a little show for their parents of all of the songs and things that they have learned over the week. It should be a fun night!
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Canada - Day 4 Con't
After the afternoon break we went out to eat at a Chinese buffet. I was a little worried that we were eating Chinese in Canada, but it was not too bad. They had a green tea flavored ice cream, and that was NOT good. My first host family could not come to dinner because the mother had to work. We stopped and got them a gift card and we will take it to them tomorrow.
Then we had movie night and we watched the Jonah movie. We were all exhausted! It was so difficult to stay awake.
Then we had movie night and we watched the Jonah movie. We were all exhausted! It was so difficult to stay awake.
Canada - Day 4
So far so good today! We got up early this morning, got ready, ate breakfast and drove to the building by 8. We got here and got everything ready for the day. We had about the same number of kids.
Today we added a time for all of the kids to go outside and play. The kids enjoyed having shorter classes, and so did we! Everything seemed to flow much better because the kids had less energy.
Tonight we are taking our host families out to dinner at a Chinese buffet. My old host family is invited... I hope it won't be too awkward if they show up. After dinner we will return to the church building and have a family night. We are watching Veggie Tales.
Monday, March 15, 2010
Canada - Day 3 Con't
After the afternoon break we had a wonderful dinner and started teen night. At first we only had a few girls, but we ended up with 7-10 kids. We played games, ate pizza and laughed!
Then we headed to our second host family. We are now staying with Art and Ruby Ford. We have gotten all of our stuff in and settled. So far it has been a great evening of laughing and having fun.
Tomorrow should be another fun day!
Then we headed to our second host family. We are now staying with Art and Ruby Ford. We have gotten all of our stuff in and settled. So far it has been a great evening of laughing and having fun.
Tomorrow should be another fun day!
Canada - Day 3
Today has been another interesting day in Canada! We had to be at the church by 8 AM to get stuff started for day camp. Kids started arriving around 8:45 and the fun began. We had fun sing and a lesson about Noah. Then we had a snack. The kids loved eating the fresh fruit and all of them would choose vegetables over chips. That was weird to me! After snack we started rotating to each station. We had games, crafts, and puppets. Each station was 45 minutes, and we were struggling to find things to do. After the stations all of the kids came back to the auditorium and we learned songs to perform for Thursday night.
During the singing Brittney and I were called to nursery. When we got in there they were asking us how we felt about our host family. I talked about my host family in the last post. It is a single mom with three kids. They also have a dog that is 10 months old that is half great dane and half Rottweiler. He is constantly jumping and biting. The oldest son is a little scary to say the least. We never saw him because he worked at night and slept in the day. He also had a friend spend the night with him. My host family never locked their door to their house. All of that combined made our group leaders feel uneasy about where we were staying. We were given the option of staying with Art and Ruby (The preacher and his wife and four other students) or go to the hotel with the adults. We chose to go to Art and Ruby's house. There will be a total of six students there.
I do not know that my old host family know we are gone. Katie and Brent walked me and Brittney back to the house and we packed up our stuff and left. The mom was not there and the older daughter saw us carrying our stuff out, but didn't say anything. Walt and Art said that we did not need to say anything because they would take care of it for us.
Brittney and I did not complain about our house. Walt has been putting together pieces of information and did not feel comfortable with us staying.
We are in the afternoon break now. We will eat dinner at 6 and teen night starts at 7. We are playing games and breaking up into small groups. Then we will order pizza and call it a night. We will get to our new host family's house tonight. They live 30 minutes away from the church building, so it will be a longer commute.
More to come tonight...
During the singing Brittney and I were called to nursery. When we got in there they were asking us how we felt about our host family. I talked about my host family in the last post. It is a single mom with three kids. They also have a dog that is 10 months old that is half great dane and half Rottweiler. He is constantly jumping and biting. The oldest son is a little scary to say the least. We never saw him because he worked at night and slept in the day. He also had a friend spend the night with him. My host family never locked their door to their house. All of that combined made our group leaders feel uneasy about where we were staying. We were given the option of staying with Art and Ruby (The preacher and his wife and four other students) or go to the hotel with the adults. We chose to go to Art and Ruby's house. There will be a total of six students there.
I do not know that my old host family know we are gone. Katie and Brent walked me and Brittney back to the house and we packed up our stuff and left. The mom was not there and the older daughter saw us carrying our stuff out, but didn't say anything. Walt and Art said that we did not need to say anything because they would take care of it for us.
Brittney and I did not complain about our house. Walt has been putting together pieces of information and did not feel comfortable with us staying.
We are in the afternoon break now. We will eat dinner at 6 and teen night starts at 7. We are playing games and breaking up into small groups. Then we will order pizza and call it a night. We will get to our new host family's house tonight. They live 30 minutes away from the church building, so it will be a longer commute.
More to come tonight...
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Canada - Day 2
This morning we went to church and got to meet several new people. The original plan was to eat a pot luck lunch and work at the building all day, but we all decided to take a nap! Brittney and I slept from the time we got to bed until 10 min before church started. It was a wonderful nap!!!
I had a first today... I walked to church. My host family lives up the street from the church. This morning we left the house and walked in the snow to church. My host family does not have a car, so they walk or take a cab. They say nothing is more than a 10 minuet walk from their house. We have talked about going to the mall tomorrow. We will be walking there too.
Tonight I had to opportunity to spend time with my host family. We ate dinner together, but the lasagna took over an hour to cook. We sat around the table and talked while we were waiting. The youngest daughter, Karissa, is 11 years old and full of energy. She is so excited we are here. She walks with us to the church and makes sure we get there on time. The oldest daughter, Aliccia, is in high school. She has been in and out the whole weekend, and she will be working tomorrow. Tonight she had a few friends over and it was neat to see how they all interacted. The only son, Scott, is never here. He sleeps during the day and works at night at a pizza place.
Tomorrow is the first day of Bible Day Camp! I will try to post sometime tomorrow night!
I had a first today... I walked to church. My host family lives up the street from the church. This morning we left the house and walked in the snow to church. My host family does not have a car, so they walk or take a cab. They say nothing is more than a 10 minuet walk from their house. We have talked about going to the mall tomorrow. We will be walking there too.
Tonight I had to opportunity to spend time with my host family. We ate dinner together, but the lasagna took over an hour to cook. We sat around the table and talked while we were waiting. The youngest daughter, Karissa, is 11 years old and full of energy. She is so excited we are here. She walks with us to the church and makes sure we get there on time. The oldest daughter, Aliccia, is in high school. She has been in and out the whole weekend, and she will be working tomorrow. Tonight she had a few friends over and it was neat to see how they all interacted. The only son, Scott, is never here. He sleeps during the day and works at night at a pizza place.
Tomorrow is the first day of Bible Day Camp! I will try to post sometime tomorrow night!
Canada Mission Trip - Day 1
Today was travel day! We loaded the buses at 6:40 AM and attempted to leave by 7:00 AM. After a prayer for safety and a mini devotional we proceeded to leave Allen arena circle thirty minutes late. We had not moved five feet before hitting a concrete planter. Our bus driver stops to access the damage then we continued on to Canada!
Our first stop was exit 2 in Kentucky. We stopped at the McDonald's to get breakfast. Everyone on the bus was exhausted and we all slept until our next stop which was in the middle of nowhere. Nika, one of the adults on the trip, bought a bag of clementines. The bus smelled like oranges for several hours.
Our next stop was in Cincinnati for lunch. We ate lunch and had a quick bathroom break at Wendy's. We met Chris's grandparents there to pick up some puppets for our Bible Camp. Then we were back on the road. We had a slight "run-in" with a bird.. but i think everyone was okay.
We stopped in Beaver Dam, Ohio at a Pilot to get gas and change out drivers. We all got off the bus went inside while the bus was fueling. While we were inside the pilot we heard this announcement "Customer number 8 your shower is now available. Please proceed to the showers." We all found that announcement to be extremely funny.
Our last stop in the US was to get some gas before we crossed the boarder in Detroit.
Customs...
This was my first time leaving the country. I didn't exactly know what to expect, but no one could have expected what happened! We made it across the boarder and thru customs with no major problems. We loaded the bus and were ready for our final three hours of driving. As head towards the bridge we realize that we are going back to the United States. Our bus driver stops in the middle of the ramp. A boarder patrol officer comes up to the bus window and proceeds to tell us that we are going to get everyone killed. He said that we had to go to the American side, and they would send us back..
Take 2...
We get to the American side, and they are completely confused. They did not understand that we had only been in Canada for 5 minutes, and we wanted to return. The American boarder patrol gets on the bus with us and checks every one's passports. We cross back over into Canada and send Walt, our trip leader, back into the Canada customs office. They just asked if we knew where we were going this time...
Once we arrived in Canada it was pouring rain, 25mph wind gusts and the rain was turning into snow. After 17.5 hours in the bus we finally arrived in Hamilton, Ontario!!! It was about 2 AM when we arrived at our host family's home. Due to day light savings time we lost another hour.
It was an early morning, and we are exhausted, but it has been a fun trip so far! We are all excited about getting the day camp started tomorrow!
More to come about the dinner after crossing the boarder...
Our first stop was exit 2 in Kentucky. We stopped at the McDonald's to get breakfast. Everyone on the bus was exhausted and we all slept until our next stop which was in the middle of nowhere. Nika, one of the adults on the trip, bought a bag of clementines. The bus smelled like oranges for several hours.
Our next stop was in Cincinnati for lunch. We ate lunch and had a quick bathroom break at Wendy's. We met Chris's grandparents there to pick up some puppets for our Bible Camp. Then we were back on the road. We had a slight "run-in" with a bird.. but i think everyone was okay.
We stopped in Beaver Dam, Ohio at a Pilot to get gas and change out drivers. We all got off the bus went inside while the bus was fueling. While we were inside the pilot we heard this announcement "Customer number 8 your shower is now available. Please proceed to the showers." We all found that announcement to be extremely funny.
Our last stop in the US was to get some gas before we crossed the boarder in Detroit.
Customs...
This was my first time leaving the country. I didn't exactly know what to expect, but no one could have expected what happened! We made it across the boarder and thru customs with no major problems. We loaded the bus and were ready for our final three hours of driving. As head towards the bridge we realize that we are going back to the United States. Our bus driver stops in the middle of the ramp. A boarder patrol officer comes up to the bus window and proceeds to tell us that we are going to get everyone killed. He said that we had to go to the American side, and they would send us back..
Take 2...
We get to the American side, and they are completely confused. They did not understand that we had only been in Canada for 5 minutes, and we wanted to return. The American boarder patrol gets on the bus with us and checks every one's passports. We cross back over into Canada and send Walt, our trip leader, back into the Canada customs office. They just asked if we knew where we were going this time...
Once we arrived in Canada it was pouring rain, 25mph wind gusts and the rain was turning into snow. After 17.5 hours in the bus we finally arrived in Hamilton, Ontario!!! It was about 2 AM when we arrived at our host family's home. Due to day light savings time we lost another hour.
It was an early morning, and we are exhausted, but it has been a fun trip so far! We are all excited about getting the day camp started tomorrow!
More to come about the dinner after crossing the boarder...
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