Christmas Holidays Are Great :)

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! Thank you so much for all your letters, e-mails, cards and photos! It is always great to hear from family and friends.
Our Christmas was simple & quiet, but very nice. I even cooked a turkey :)

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At our church we had a candlelight Christmas Eve service which was very special. Melissa sang with her two friends whom she also sang with at Marshville's Christmas in the Village. They sang the same song ~ "What's a Savior Like You Doin' In a Place Like This?" Harv was on sound and Jordan ran the power point. Later at home we watched the movie, The Nativity Story ~ this is a MUST-SEE movie if you've never seen it before ~ it is so well done.

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Here's a little glimpse of our Christmas ...

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Christmas holidays have been great! No School, sleeping in, wearing PJ's 'til noon, eating lots of chocolate ... REALITY will soon hit :( ... next Monday it's back to school! Harv also took two weeks off work but this week he's back in the office. The weather has been weird I must say. We had a ton of snow a week-and-a-half ago, then the rain washed it all away and just last night we got dumped on again by about a foot of snow ~ CRAZY!

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...we do have an extra guest staying with us over the holidays. His name is Jimmy and he's a hamster. He's Melissa's school class pet and she volunteered to take care of him during the school break.

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Well, in just a few more hours 2008 will be over ~ another year gone by ... so, what's in store for 2009?? I guess we'll just have to wait and see. Whatever we do I hope we will seek to store up treasures in heaven and not on earth. Whatever happens, God is always good :) ... "Give thanks to the Lord for He is good, His love endures forever!"

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!

GOD BLESS & PLEASE KEEP IN TOUCH! :)

Love,

Harv & Brenda

Rachelle, Sonja, Jordan & Melissa

Saying Farewell...

For the past nearly 2 years we have really enjoyed being part of a Life Group (small group) with our Associate Pastor Matthew Laker and his wife, Gariane AND their three adorable kids, Carissa, Kayley and Nathaniel who are now 2 years and 8 months old. Our Life Group will continue meeting in the New Year but Pastor Matt and Gariane are moving on to pastor another church nearby ... so this month has been a time of saying farewell to them. They have been a part of our church for the past five years ~ WE WILL MISS THEM!!! But at least they'll be living not too far away so we can always visit them :)

As a Life Group we were meeting every Friday evening at Matt & Gariane's house (the parsonage). We will continue to meet on Fridays for a potluck supper, Bible study, etc, but now we will be meeting at our house. It is an interesting and fun Life Group with LOTS of kids ('potentially' about 16 kids altogether and 16 adults) ~ our kids are the oldest and 9 of the other kids (now 3 less) are age 4 and under.

We had our last meeting together at our house a week ago Sunday ~ a Christmas dinner and party. Here are a few pics (also a few from the farewell at church this past Sunday) ...

We wish Matt & Gariane and their family every blessing as they move and transition to their new home, new church, new role and new community.

Looks like snow...again

How The Grinch Stole Christmas!

At school Melissa is part of the drama club. Yesterday and today they performed "How The Grinch Stole Christmas." They did such a great job! Melissa was a "Who" along with many other students, all wearing a very imaginative array of wild, wacky & colorful costumes. Here's a short video with a couple clips of them singing and performing ...

Merry Christmas from OM Canada!

Last night we had a Christmas dinner with the OM Canada staff ~ the Port Colborne office and a number of people from out-of-town. We enjoyed a great meal and time of fellowship together. From all of our staff we want to wish you all a wonderful Christmas and God's richest blessings for 2009!

"For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son [Jesus], that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16

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Mmm ... Christmas Pudding!

All this week Christmas pudding is being served at Arabella's Tea Room, which is part of the Port Colborne Museum. Our OM Ladies group went there on Monday ~ it was very lovely! :)

Remembering...

Six years ago today Harv's Mom passed away of cancer ... it's hard to believe it's six years already. We all miss her so much but we have such wonderful memories of times spent with her and today we just want to honor her memory. This year in July she would have turned 70.

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We didn't get to spend as much time with Mom and Dad because we were living overseas on the M.V. Doulos for several years and then Ontario which doesn't seem much closer. But when we returned home for visits we would stay with them and Mom took such great care of us, cooking great meals and improvising recipes for Rachelle because of her dairy allergy. We really appreciated all that she and Dad did for us in so many ways.

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When Mom Thiessen was diagnosed with liver cancer she started to give away some of her things and she gave me her favorite cooking pot that has also become my favorite cooking pot ... everytime I use it I think of her.

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We know that Mom is rejoicing in heaven with Jesus with no cancer, no pain, no tears and singing praises to Him ... one day we'll see you again in heaven, Mom! We love you & miss you!

Above is a photo of the Thiessen family in 2000, with Dad and Mom in the center.

Tina Thiessen (nee Wiebe), age 16 ~ 1954

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Posted by Brenda, for all of us

Christmas in the Village

Yesterday we spent the afternoon at Marshville Heritage Village in Wainfleet for their annual "Christmas in the Village." Melissa and two of her friends dressed up in pioneer costumes and sang at the school Christmas 'concert' in the old school house.

We walked around the village enjoying samples of soup, hot apple cider, Christmas pudding, cookies and other tasty treats.

Below is a video of Melissa and her friends singing in the old school house. The song they sang is called "What's a Savior Like You Doin' in a Place Like This?" by Dennis & Nan Allen.

Santa Claus Parade

Tonight we participated in the Port Colborne Santa Claus parade. Our church entered a float organized by John and Margaret (in the red coat). Melissa sat on the float with our Associate Pastor Matthew and Gariane and their triplets. Our Senior Pastor, Brian Lofthouse is just in behind Melissa, wearing a blue jacket. A bunch of us walked alongside and handed out candy canes. On the back of the trailer was a banner that said "Merry Christmas from the Port Colborne Brethren In Christ Church."

It was VERY cold tonight ... but walking for two hours helped keep us warm :) We actually just got some snow last night so it made it feel more like Christmas which was nice for the parade. Here's a short video clip just as the parade was getting started...

Sharing Music

Sonja plays piano with the High School Jazz Band. Yesterday they had performances all day along with the choral group and senior band. They first played at Portal Village Retirement Home, then at the Legion Hall for a group of people with special needs and finally they performed at the hospital. Below is a video of them playing at Portal Village.

Christmas is...

...sharing with those in need. Here is a picture of Port High students holding Operation Christmas Child boxes. This year the High School participated in this very worthwhile mission through Samaritan's Purse to bless children around the world who are MUCH less fortunate than we are. Students filled about 100 shoe boxes! (Sonja is on the far left standing next to the ambulance driver).

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Quoting from our local newspaper, "Sonja Thiessen has also seen the shoebox program from the other side. Until she was six she lived on the Operation Mobilization mission ship, and witnessed the poverty of developing countries. Through her church, Thiessen has participated in the Operation Christmas Child program for years. So when there was talk of bringing the program to the school, she got behind it. 'It's always lots of fun. It's giving to a good cause - these kids have nothing. It brings joy to them,' she says."

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"Ready" for Christmas?

Wow ~ December already!!

I'm not sure what that means to be "ready" for Christmas but it's the question people always ask and I never know how to answer ... anyway, we do like to be festive and decorate a bit. This year we put up our Christmas tree very early, in the middle of November. Hey, why not?? If people can go crazy with ridiculous Halloween decorations (like they do around here) then we can put up our Christmas tree in the middle of November. At least it's not July :)


Posted by Brenda