John Deeres and Hot Rock Massages

It has been a good week! Dave's mom, his sister and her son are out from Manitoba to help us with respite this week.  They are leaving tomorrow morning.  I don't know what we would have done without them!! And the kids are having a blast getting to know each other.  This is how the first conversation went between the boys. (in Val's own words)

"Hey, do you know a lot about John Deeres?"
"Yes I DO know a lot about John Deeres!"
They have been playing ever since!

These are some things we have been able to do this week because of our company (besides sleep at night!):
- Hot Stone Massages and Pedicures for both!!! (man, I can not believe I forgot my camera or there would definetly be a picture pasted up here of Dave and his pedicure...he he)  Thanks Val for this fabulous gift!
- Supper at a Restaurant - JUST DAVE AND I!! It's been so long since it has been just the two of us.  I felt more comfortable leaving Rachel with both Mom and Val because there is two people to deal with an emergency and Val is a nurse to boot. 
- I had a relaxing evening with Rachel while everyone went to Stir-Crazy (an indoor play area). 
 
Thankfully, Ethan's case of chicken pox was not too bad.  He was back at school on Tuesday already.  We are working now on our plans for Manitoba and there are alot of wildcards, chicken pox being one of them.  But I have a flight booked for Thursday (which might get changed to Friday) The plan is for me to fly with Rachel, and Dave will drive with the kids, and hopefully the pox will hit Abigail before or after they drive across the prairies! 

I know that some of you are getting very excited about us coming to Manitoba and I am so sorry to put a damper on that, but our time will be quite limited while we are there.  The kids haven't been to the farms in almost a year and a half.  Plus we will all be quite sleep deprived, taking care of Rachel at night.  And doing much travelling with Rachel is not an option right now.  Not knowing what to expect with chicken pox, heart spells, lack of sleep ect.... it is likely that we will only be able to see a few people, outside of family.  Dave's grandparents have not seen Rachel yet so that will be a very special meeting.  We would really love to see all of you! But we will need to be careful with our time. Thank-you so much for understanding!! We would really appreciate your prayers for us.  I am nervous about a number of things - there are so many things that could go wrong - flying by myself with Rachel is a scary thought for me, and I want to know God's peace.

We are also hurting with our friends, the Blocks.  John Block passed away from cancer and the funeral is on Thursday.  Please pray for them.