On your mark, get set, GOOOOO!!!!

Every once in a while, as Chris and I sat in the airport waiting to board the plane and chasing Abriel around as she crawled along the floor, we would just look at each other and smile like there was a secret we knew that no one else did. Most people boarding the airplane were just doing so for one week of relaxation in the sun and all day buffet and bar service. We were boarding for an adventure that we are hoping will change and shape our lives. It felt good to know we had made it this far. The airplane ride was good. We were in a three person row but the third person didn’t show up, so Abriel got her own seat (although you wouldn’t know it by the way she spent most of the time climbing the seats and smiling at people). The really funny part was she was completely captivated and thoroughly entertained by the pre-flight safety demonstration. Every time the stewardess brought out another prop or waived her hands in the direction of the bathrooms Abriel would erupt in laughter. It was quite funny.

As the plane was getting ready to land and we could see the ocean meet the Dominican shore a sense of excitement really hit me. In the past we’ve only come down for a week at a time and everything seems so rushed but knowing we were going to be here for longer really gave me a sense of peace. We were greeted by the Williams’ and two friends of ours, Franklin and Jessica, who work for them as we came out of baggage claim. I’m so thankful there were familiar faces to welcome us back. Off to the house where we unloaded our belongings and then we ate some delicious Dominican food from a local take out place in the area. Soooo yummy!!!

We got caught up about pretty much everything going on here, tried (unsuccessfully) to have a nap, unpacked, met the people in who’s house we will be taking care of for the next two weeks, had a late dinner and by 9pm we were done both physically and mentally. We put Abriel down and climbed into bed and although there were dogs barking on the street, a car alarm going off for over an hour and the ceiling fan chugging away we heard none of it because we fell asleep a few short minutes after our heads hit the pillows.

Chris got up around 7am and went out with Phil to Congrejo to see the finished shed and to help with getting a gate put up. Abriel and I got up about 30 mins later. We got our first Dominican daily life experience: a women coming to the house today and selling fresh avocados and bananas. We got 1 avocado and 2 bananas for 35 pesos, which is just under a dollar CAD. They were huge, fresh and yummy! Abriel enjoyed some banana for breakfast. I enjoyed Dominican coffee and a fresh cheese croissant from a nearby German bakery (Chris opted for the slightly less healthy chocolate croissant earlier on in the day). I am feeling a little spoiled right now. We also did our first grocery shopping at the bigger grocery market in town. Donna showed me what brands to buy and what to stay away from. We didn’t have to buy too much stuff because starting tonight we are house sitting for another couple for a few weeks since they have to go home for a bit. They live about 5 minutes away from the Williams in a gated in apartment on the first floor. It’s really nice and has air conditioning in the bedroom which I am enjoying as I write this. It’s so stinkin’ hot outside!!! A part of me just wants to get all settled into our new place but another part of me is enjoying some of the luxury’s we get in this home.

Abriel has been doing great here and I am thankful for Donna since she takes her when we need to get something done and she is so great with her. It’s nice to have a third grandma when the other two can’t be here. Abriel gets so much attention everywhere we go people just love her and call her a “muñecas” which means doll in Spanish.

Not too much excitement.... but that is the beginning of our adventure!!!
Stay tuned :)

ps it won't let me upload pictures.... will try again later. Sorry :(

PACKING!!

HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I hate packing........ I hate packing for week long trips, so you can imagine my hatred for 5 months worth of packing. I am more of a "throw stuff in a suitcase and hope you have the right stuff and enough stuff and then get mad when you forget stuff" kind of person. Chris is a make a list of the things you need, then make a list of how many of those things you need, then make a list of the things you have packed, then make a list of the things you need, and then finally make a master list of all of the above. It's very time consuming but at least we shouldn't forget things. As long as we get through Chris saying "you are only allowed 4 shorts" and then me saying "how about *cough cough* 7 shorts?" we should make it out with both of us alive.

Yes, I am procrastinating right now, at midnight, from packing, while Chris continues to pack around me. He loves to pack and is enjoying the challenge. Hopefully by tomorrow night we will have 5 checked suitcases and 4 carry's on's packed and we won't have to pull an all niter. We know that 4:30am on Friday morning will come quickly!!  Oh boy..... less then 48 hours and we will officially be living in the DR! So send your packing wishes our way and think positive packing thoughts, because we need it.

Side note: Abriel crawled today, officially, not just a face drag (she is 6 months and 3 days old). She is sooo happy and lovin' the freedom. I am afraid of her need for independence so soon in life but I am so proud of her tenacity and determination.

Extra side note: My friends rock! We do a monthly girls night and tonight was my last one for the next 5 months. They were so thoughtful and each wrote me a letter to read while I am away for encouragement and support. I am looking forward to reading them and showing restraint by waiting to read them. Thank you Kelly, Mellisa, Vicky, Nadia, Sarah, Steph and Mel (the queen of Stir fry). I love you girls :)

well, peace out.... must get back to packing.... boooooo!!!

Labour Day (a.k.a "Family Day")

Yesterday was filled with hanging out with both my family and Keeleah’s family. 

We went to see Grandma and Grandpa Edwards in the morning. They have been such a blessing in our lives ever since I was a little kid and through our marriage and even as we take this step and go to do missions. They have supported us in various ways not the least of which is their encouraging words. The crazy thing about my grandparents on the Edwards side is they are both 92 years old(!) and live by themselves(!) with no one checking in on them (!) in a house with stairs(!) and they still get out and do pretty much what they want, when they want(!). We told them we are on our way to Dominican this Friday and they responded with “Oh, We’re so glad we got to see you before we left. We are leaving for Bermuda on Wednesday.” Ninety-two! We love them very much.

Next stop on the family tour was the Matta House. The Matta’s are such great people.   They love being outside and doing “naturey” things. We ended up going to Christie Conservation Area for an afternoon of fun. We played Euchre, tried to start a fire (unsuccessfully) using our car cigarette lighter, went for a hike to the dam (“don’t use that language around my kid”) and played a hole of disc golf. Unfortunately for Randy I was his partner in Euchre and we lost both games. It wasn’t a blowout (10-9 and then 10-8) but it was enough for the women to rise up in triumphant rejoicing. Who turns down a bower, leads with a bower and then trumps his own teammate? I do. On our hike we found the place where we did our “trash the dress” photo shoot so we decided to take a few pictures there to try and re-enact the photo. The Matta’s are very adventuresome as well. Both parents got out there in the river bed with us to take pictures. I was impressed! I was also impressed with Cathy’s disc golf skills. She was just putting but made most of her shots in one throw. I think we have a competitor for next season! All around, although freezing cold, a great time with the fam.

Then we were on to the Paris fair for the annual Edwards family tradition of watching the smash up derby championships. It was loud, smelly and extremely cold which made for a memorable night. One of the first things that happened upon arriving at the fair is we saw a large, very nice, pickup truck accidentally ram through a chain link fence. From what we can guess, the driver put the car in drive instead of reverse and tried to peel out but instead lodge herself under the chain link fence in front of her and in the process ripped off the licence plate. It was hilarious for us. Probably not so much for her. Later, during the actual derby, we saw an illegal hit by one of the drivers which resulted in the driver who was hit climbing out his driver side window onto the hood of the car that hit him and then drop kicking the driver through the windshield. It was AMAZING! No one got hurt and the refs came in and broke it up before anything else happened. The illegally hit driver was allowed to get back in his car and finish the derby and he ended up winning. The night ended with a game of Settlers, of course, which my mom won even though she has no clue how she won and then came our final farewells before the trip. It’s always hard to say so long for a longer amount of time. I’m sure my parents have mixed feelings. On one hand they are “losing” a great daughter-in-law, a cute grand-daughter and a wonderful son (nice). On the other hand they have told us before and told us again last night how proud they are of us for going to do what we believe God is telling us to do.

Both our families are tremendous and we love each of them dearly. If you don’t know them you should get to know them ‘cause they are fantastic people.

Thanks Matta family and Edwards Family for such a great day! We love you SO MUCH!

Chris Edwards (and Keeleah and Abriel too, I’m sure)    

Almost there...

The trouble with blogging is: when things are boring we are always thinking “there is nothing interesting to blog about” and when things are crazy we think “which thing should we choose to blog about?” Either way it tends to lead to not blogging. Haha! But we are making a promise to really stick to it while we are away.  We are soooo happy to have so many people rooting for us and wanting to hear about what we are doing. Please, stay with us!

A few Saturday’s ago was our Coffee House and Purse Sale and it was a huge success! Thanks to everyone who came out and supported us and for those who couldn’t make it but supported us by donating purses, gift cards and money towards the event. We were able to raise a bunch of money that will go to bless the people of the Dominican. We will keep you all updated on how the money is used and what cool things we are able to see God do through your generosity. Also thanks to The Freeway Cafe for having such a great spot in Hamilton and renting it out for so cheap! We feel so blessed to have such a great support system behind what we are going to do. So, THANK YOU!

Pictures by: Jenelle Fitch Photography

We are leaving in 7 days!!! It is hard to believe that it’s been almost a year since we made the decision to go and do work long term in the D.R and it’s been 6 months since we actually starting putting things in motion (which means our baby girl is 6 months old on Sunday..... WHAT THE HECK?!?!?!). With being 7 days out we are trying to get all of our “affairs” in order to try and maintain things here on the Canada front so that we don’t have to worry about it while we are away. People have been asking what sorts of things we need to do to get ready. You wouldn’t think it would be a lot of things but it sure does add up. We need to get travel insurance, put our car insurance on hold, get wills done up, switch all our bills to paperless billing, a lot of packing and buying things we wouldn’t be able to buy down there (and trying to figure out what those things actually are), preparing our cats to be watched by someone else.... oh the list could go on and on. Although it’s a lot of work it is kind of exciting work since we know it’s going to lead to a new and exciting adventure. The Dominican is such a relaxed and slower moving pace society and we are really looking forward to that new culture and life style. It has been easier since Chris is not working anymore (3^rd week off!) having him around to help with Abriel and to get things sorted.  What a great way to start our 5 months off together.

In other exciting news: Chris’ sister, Carrie, got engaged about 5 weeks ago and is getting MARRIED! We are so excited for her and Dan. Carrie is such a great person and Dan is wonderful with her. We are happy to have him join our family (even though we think he’s nuts for wanting toJ). The wedding is December 3^rd which means we are coming home for a weeklong visit. We fly home November 29^th and fly back to the Dominican on December 6^th.  It will be nice to see our friends and family for a week but a part of us is unsure how we will experience the quick culture shock (and the cold shock!).... It will be interesting to say the least.

---

If you are interested in giving money towards what we are doing in the Dominican and want to receive a charitable donation tax receipt you can do so through our church.

Please make cheques out to:

Community Church
PO Box 290
Waterdown, Ontario
 L0R 2H0.

Please put “Dominican Outreach” in the memo line.

Thanks! You are tremendous!

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Everything But the Kitchen Sink

I think I am in denial about what is about to happen..... We talk about leaving a lot, people are always asking us about it. I say "we leave Sept 9th" all the time but I honestly don't think I actually believe it. I am trying to fully wrap my head around it but my mind won't let me. I think that's probably a good thing or I could possibly talk myself out of it. We will see as the days get closer on how I feel.

So we have three piles of “stuff “ in our home right now.

First pile: purses. We are so thankful for all the great purses people have given us for our fundraiser. You all know who you are (we are still looking for purses if you have some you want to donate). We hope you can all make it out on August 13th to our coffee house / purse sale fundraiser. It’s at the Freeway Cafe in Hamilton. (333 King St. East) from 7pm – 10pm. We have some great musicians and it’s for a great cause. Here is the Facebook Event Page. At least come and say goodbye to us even if you hate coffee or don’t need a new purse.

Second pile: charitable donations. These are things people have given us or things we have collected to give out to people in the Dominican. The pile includes lots of baby clothes and blankets, pencils, math flash cards, flip flops and clothes. We are excited to see how it will all be used and the stories we’ll be able to pass along to those who have donated stuff. We are hoping it all fits in the suitcases.

Third pile: baby clothes size 6-12 months. It is strange to pack clothes that seem so big on our little girl. It’s weird to think she will fit into those “huge” clothes before we get back to Canada. These last five months with her have seemed to go by in an instant and I can only imagine our time there will do the same. Man, I love her! We also have some dry fit clothes for those hot winter days when we sweat, sweat and sweat (side-note: we are coming back for Carrie and Dan’s wedding in early December so we will get a few days of good ol’ Canadian winter cold). I am so a last minute packer person so the fact that we already have 2 suitcases ready to go is very good for me. They are mostly packed due to Chris though..... hehe.

As we pack more and more of our house and it feels a little emptier and we prepare to set up our home in a new country we get excited about all the “unknowns” coming up. Home is where the heart is, they say, and my heart is with my little family. As long as they are with me I can be wherever God calls us.

Although, I’m also thankful for Skype so I can see and talk with the rest of the family I love too:).

STAY TUNED :)

Leaving on a jet plane

Attempt number two.... I had written this blog a couple days ago but while editing it deleted the whole thing and – very helpful - auto save clicked in right at that moment. It was an upsetting couple of hours but I have accepted it and have rewritten it!! Not that you know what was in my first attempt but I am going to try and remember what I wrote.

I think it started off like this....  "once upon a time in a far away land.....".  Just kidding :) I started off by apologizing for the lack of consistency with our blog writing. Life gets so busy, so fast. We plan on writing much more frequently while in the Dominican. Recently our life has been a lot of diaper changing and drooling; nothing too blog worthy.

BIG NEWS THOUGH!!  
WE HAVE BOOKED OUR FLIGHTS TO THE DOMINICAN!!!!
We leave September 9th 2011 around 9am and return February 7th 2012 around 9pm. My sister was with me when I sent the confirmation email to book the flights. There were a few little screams let out and a lot of "I am freaking out" being said. It felt like such a big moment but seemed too easy at the same time. It was an adrenalin rush from making a life decision and actually taking this step and risk to start the journey. When I told Chris a little later in the day I was actually disappointed with his reaction. I was thinking in my head "HELLO!?! WE ARE MOVING TO ANOTHER COUNTRY". All he said was "That's awesome". As we talked about it more he said he was so excited and looking forward to it and that it just felt right. I agreed with that but I am still freaking out a bit (which soo isn't in my character at all ;). Haha! We are really looking forward to this next chapter in our lives and we are so thankful for all the support we have been receiving from family, friends and even strangers. So, it's really happening.  We have made the first financial commitment. It seems a little surreal and crazy to think we will be leaving in less than two months.

If you would like to support what we are doing in the D.R there are a few ways you can do that, one of them is by attending our coffee house/purse sale fundraiser on AUG 13th 2011 in the evening. It will be at the Freeway Cafe in Hamilton and feature Jordan Packham, Robyn Asplen, CJ Keddy and Lydia Fry who are all amazing! It’s going to be a great night. Please keep this date free and if you have any purses you can donate please contact me :) Thanks so much!!!

Chris trying to bottle feed.

I also wanted to share a couple things on the mom side of life. Abriel is great. It's cliché but I do love her more every day. At 4 months she has such a personality and is a very funny girl. She has been teething and now has 2 teeth. I didn't think I would have to be dealing with this so soon but she is not oaky with status quo and wanted teeth sooner. She has been a little grumpy and has her moments of crying when it gets painful (but I don't blame her). The worst part has been when she bit me a couple times while feeding. OUCH! Fortunately, she hasn't done it in few days and I am thankful. I am worried about what will happen if she does it with a few more teeth..... Because of this new development we have been trying to get her to take pumped milk from a bottle. I am not trying to wean her off breastfeeding completely, just trying to get a day off (or more than 3 hours at a time). I love, love, love hanging out with her but I am feel like I need a day off. Being attached to someone for 4 months is challenging. We have been trying the bottle for two weeks and we have tried all different strategies: 4 different bottle types, 2 sippy cups and a straw/spoon. No luck yet though. We have decided to take a few weeks off from trying and see how it goes later. I have come to accept that she isn't ready yet and trying to enjoy the fact that she needs me and wants to be with me because I know there will be a time in her life that she might not feel that way.

Fathers Day (very late)

Fathers Day is tricky for a lot of people because their fathers are/were crapheads. For others it's a hard time because their father is no longer around either by choice or because of death. Some people never knew their birth father but were fortunate enough to have someone take them in a love them as a dad. Some people didn't know their birth father and ended up in a home where their "father" kicked the crap out of them all the time. Some people have a dad and a step dad. Some people have someone who raised them like a dad even though they didn't officially have the title. Whatever your case is I hope you can see someone as a positive male role model in your life.

My dad is and has always been a top-notch, cream of the crop, awesome father. It's not to brag but it's to give credit where credit is due. If I end up being remotely close to even on the same chart as my dad I'll have done well. He raised my siblings and I (as well as others) in a completely outward loving way and I appreciate him to pieces. He had a lot of patience with me and was always there to give me amazing advice. I really have a great example of how to be a super dad. Thanks dad!  




So this was my first time being on the receiving end of Fathers Day. My wife made me breakfast, more specifically french toast, in bed and then gave me an extremely thoughtful gift. She gave me a "Starter Daddy Kit". Here is what the kit contained:

 Key chain = all dads needs to carry a picture of their child around with them.

2.      Photo frame = it’s not good enough to have a picture of your child with you.... you need to have them proudly on your desk.

3.      Shock guards= keeping your daughter PROTECTED is always #1.

4.      Night light = there will be many times you will have to scare away the monsters and provide SECURITY for you precious girl.

5.      Books = you daughter is always learning and you need to be TEACHING her.

6.      Craft = kids get bored easily and you will sometimes need to OCCUPY her time.

7.      Bib = this is just to prepare you for many presents that have this saying on it.... mugs, shirts and pictures.

8.      Cloth = yeah.... there will be many messes, faces and puke for you to clean.

9.      Junk food = use this when you energy is low and being a Father gets hard.

10.  Wife = I couldn’t fit in the box, but you don’t want to do this job without me!!!

Seriously, that is a thoughtful gift! Being a dad is the most amazing thing I've ever experienced. How great is it to have someone you were a part of creating look to you as if you are the best person in the world (even if we aren't). I heard a preacher once say that our kids relationship with us is a lot like our relationship with God. He created us and although there is nothing we can offer him back that's of any use to Him, he loves us unconditionally. I didn't understand this fully until I became a father. Abriel can't really do anything for me yet but I love her to death! She brings me so much joy and happiness just by being her. Just by hanging out. Just by being. That's how God sees us. We can't give Him anything He doesn't already have but He loves us tremendously. What a great feeling. I want you to know that no matter who you are or what you've done God loves you like a father. Not a craphead father; a true, loving father. A father like fathers are supposed to be. And He listens to you and he cares about you.

If you'\re a new dad or you've been a dad for what seems like forever take these things above and try and live them out. I guarantee you will bring you and your kid(s) closer. 

Thanks, Abriel for making me a proud father! I love you so much.

Chris