Leif's eating with one of his famous clips because I forgot to pack spoons.

I really feel guilty writing. Like I should be doing something much more productive. I have little more then a week until moving day. I am counting down the days until I see my darling Christopher again. However I feel like I still have so much to do and it is getting overwhelming. It's as if we make it through one obstacle only to encounter an other. 

 It turns out we are going to have to down size massively for this trip. Our good friend Jared has purchased an SUV with a trailer hook up to pull our u-haul behind. This is fantastic because it will save us close to $1000. I am so grateful to Jared for helping us out with this move. The only down side is the u-haul can't hold as much stuff so we have to get rid of a lot of stuff. Like almost all of our furniture. We're getting rid of kitchen chairs, bookshelves, t.v, probably computer desk and t.v stand. Unfortunately most Ikea furniture isn't meant to be taken apart once it is put together. We hope to keep our beds and couch. I've already handed off my food storage to my mother. Also trying to sell my washer and dryer. So you see I have to get rid of quite a few things in very little time. Our bigger home in Calgary will be quite bare for a while. I am sad to part with some of these items but we will still have what is most important.

waterslides on Lilli's birthday.

I will also be sad to leave my garden. I can harvest most of it before I go but my tomatoes are just starting to ripen and I have more kale then I know what to do with. I wish I had someone to share it with but most people don't seem to like it much. I love it though.

 I've completed most of my bucket list. - ran around stanley park, though by myself.

- went to waterslides with my girls, their friend Emma, and kelly

- made loads of jam

- read the book series

- went to hayward lake many times, although only the ocean a few times

- did not do the grouse Grind. Attempted 3 times, but something always got in the way

- Saw Harry Potter

- Did not swim in the beautiful water at Golden Ears. It hasn't been very hot and a sitter is hard to come by these days. This may be the first summer in many years that I haven't gone swimming at all.

  

 I just want to try to retell a short story that my mom told me the other day. It came from one of those Chicken Soup for the soul books.

 There is this very poor family, and I'm sure it was quite a long time ago, but I don't remember the exact year. One Sunday when they are at their church their pastor announces that he wants everyone to save up and set money aside to help out a struggling family in need. This poor family makes huge sacrifices to set money aside for a church donation. They eat only potatoes for a whole month. At the end they have saved $100 which is a fair bit at the time. They take their money to church and when the donation plate gets passed around they put their $100 in it. After the money has all been collected from the members of the congregation the pastor announces that they have received $115 in total from the people of the church. Wow, right. Well to top it all off, the pastor calls the little family up that donated the $100 to receive the total donation.  I want to feel disappointed in the other members of the church who donated so little, but then I think what an amazing example that family was. This is a true story, like that of The Widow's Mite. I know people that are like this. My parents are very much like this, but they would not say so. If you know them you would probably agree. They are great people who have raised me well and I am grateful for their example.

enjoying a sandy cupcake at Lilli's party.