Happy New Year!

Well, the previous post was Happy Christmas, so it seems to make sense to go with Happy New Year for the next one. Even though we are half way through January already - scary huh?

So, Christmas in Vancouver was snowy. Very snowy. Luckily we didn't have any major plans to travel, but thousands of people did have their holiday plans disrupted because of the whether. Snow in the city may seem like a fun idea, but after its forced you to cancel all your plans for a week, you're fed up with it. For Boxing Day, we had got ourselves a Co-op car and the plan was to pick up a couple of friends and then drive to West Vancouver to meet up with another friend to do the Christmas dinner, play games, watch movies thing. Well, we managed it and had a great time, but it was touch and go. The car got stuck in the alley and I had to be dug out by a friendly neighbour. And once we'd got where we were going, the car rapidly got snowed in again as the snow continued to fall. Luckily we were planning on staying over.

It was Steph's birthday on Friday so we took the day off and headed over to Vancouver Island for the weekend. We stayed at the Kingfisher Resort and Spa and did a hydropath walk there at the spa, which we'd recommend. We also went snow shoeing up Mount Washington, just under an hours drive away.

So, now is the start of the 'busy season' as we're calling it. Laura and Iain arrive tonight, but stay only one night before heading up to Whistler for three months. We'll be visiting often! Bec and Dave arrive at the end of the month and will be staying with us for a while until they find their own place to rent. Then my mum comes out in mid March, followed by Steph's parents at he beginning of April. That's why its called the 'busy season'!

We have been reading about the goings on at our old church back home - Southampton Vineyard, and compared to what they're up to, our own efforts seem rather timid. However, we have recently taken over organising the catering rota for one of the three services we have every week at Tenth Avenue Church. It appears the church is not using fairtrade coffee and tea - shocking! This is now our mission - to get them to change. I naively think this will be simple, once I have explained the error of their ways and how it makes total sense once you are even vaguely aware of the issues. We'll keep you updated on our progress.

Have a great 2009