Thanksgiving and More

At dusk a few weeks ago, we had just the right weather conditions for a double rainbow. It never gets old seeing this painting in the sky by our loving Father - a visual reminder of His steadfast promise.




We had a busy Thanksgiving weekend but a beautiful one. The weather was absolutely gorgeous and the colours, unbelievable. It started out with a visit to the Toronto Zoo on the Saturday. We have been to this zoo three times before, but every time we go, it is special. We never tire of seeing God's wonderful creatures in a natural setting and the park itself is so nice. Although you do a lot of walking, it's worth the time it takes to see animals in their own habitats. With the wonderful picnic areas, we packed our lunch and stayed all day. Our trip was made extra special this time by the accompaniment of my parents - it was their first time at this zoo.

No, I do not have a great zoom lens on my camera - this picture was taken through an outdoor glass window.

The King of the Jungle.

Zebra.

Most of the gang.

Cheetahs.

Riding on a hippo.

Elephant.

Very large hippopotamus - the only animal in the jungle that doesn't have any enemies. It can kill an alligator/crocodile with one bite! (In my estimation, he/she is in some serious need of Botox :)

We have a very distraught child over this animal...and it's all Colin's fault. The days leading up to our trip to the zoo, Colin was 'scaring' Silas with stories of feeding him to the tiger. Stories such as, "They only need one little boy a day to feed the tiger...", and "it's okay, we'll only give him your arm then, since you have two of them...". Needless to say, Silas was quite nervous to see the tiger pen that day. Then to give more credibility to Colin's scare tactics, we saw a child's shoe lying outside of the cage when peering down at the tiger. (The tiger's pen was underneath a wooden walkway going down into a valley.) Colin's words: "See, Silas, there's a leftover shoe from the last kid the tiger ate." What a guy! This was all in good fun and I don't think our child has any harmful effects from this teasing.

All of our monkeys.

A monkey in need of a face lift.

A very large rhinoceros. We read that they can reach speeds of 65km/hr when charging.

A type of python.

Cool fish.

On the Aussie walkabout. You are able to walk through the caged area of the kangaroos.

We then topped off our day at the zoo with dinner out at Swiss Chalet. We don't go out for dinner very often, so to the kids this certainly made their day. And, besides, who feels like cooking after such a busy day?

On Sunday we had lots of company. First, we had Pete and Chandra and family and friends of theirs with their family over for lunch. They were taking advantage of the beautiful weather and were camping in the area. All in all it was 23 people for lunch (that includes our family). We didn't have much time to socialize but it was nice seeing each other and sharing the bond of the communion of saints. Then in the evening, my brother Bernard, wife Trish and their six children came over for a sleepover. This was so exciting for the kids as they don't see each other that often, let alone have a slumber party. It was nice for the adults too, as we also got to stay up late and have some great discussions :) They left Monday morning after a yummy breakfast of eggs and toast.

On Monday afternoon my sister Diane came over, along with my parents, for the traditional Thanksgiving dinner. My Mom had so kindly cooked the turkey so there weren't as many things for me to prepare. During the meal, we started a new tradition where we all took turns saying something we were especially thankful for. It is so easy just to say we're thankful for everything God gives us, but it takes a little more effort to mention something specific. This was a great activity for everyone and we were quite surprised at some of the things the kids mentioned. After several rounds of serious introspection at all our blessings, Diane came up with the winning line (said with great body language), "I'm so thankful...that Colin and Laura have a dishwasher!" And, yes, for that we are thankful (just as much as Silas was quite serious about being thankful for his bike).

Dad and Colin had some fun hitting golf balls into the neighbour's field.



Our house surrounded by the colourful bush - our camera does not do justice to the colours seen.

Our loyal dog "Lady".

Lady and friends.

Eden taking it all in.

All in all, our weekend was a testament to all that we have to be thankful for - God's amazing creation, the gift of His Son Jesus Christ, material blessings, good health, loving family, great friends, and tasty food.