An Evening to Remember...

A few weeks ago we had the privilege of taking some amazing people out for a night on the town.  A year ago hubby had a terrible injury on the farm and nearly lost a few fingers.  Through surgery, extensive physiotherapy, and much, much prayer, he not only kept all his fingers, but has regained a lot of use in them!  When this injury happened we were at a very crucial time frame at the farm.  We had barns that needed to be prepped and birds that needed to be moved.  That time in our lives was traumatic and devastating, but we were so blessed by those people in our lives who truly love us and supported us in our time of need.  We had more help than we knew what to do with both on and off the farm!  You can read a little more about that HERE.  
Well, it's hard to believe that over a year has passed, but we wanted to make sure these special people realized just how blessed we were/are by their love and sacrifice.  It took us a long time to find a date that worked for everyone, but we did it!  So, we booked a restaurant overlooking the Pacific Ocean and spent a wonderful evening with these folks.  The sky was the limit for this dinner.  The food was amazing, and the fellowship made for a memorable evening.  Once we were done dinner we strolled along the boardwalk and pier.  We are so blessed to call these people our friends.  So, friends, if you're reading this, know that we will never forget your kindness.  We will never forget who was really there for us when it came down to it.  We will cherish our friendships with you.  I thoroughly enjoyed my meal on this wonderful evening...after all, I worked my butt off both on and off the farm during that crazy time too!
Here's a few snapshots of the evening...oh, and my must mention note:  NO, I am NOT 7 months preggers in these pictures..this was obviously just a wardrobe malfunction!  Sheesh..I really loved that blouse when I bought it, but I'm having second thoughts....

Easter 2012

We had a busy, but great, Easter Weekend.   I worked like a mad dog on the Thursday before Good Friday to get my 2 days worth of work into one.  Easter seems to be just as busy a season as Christmas is at the church!  Thursday evening a bunch of the hubsters headed out to the auto show in Vancouver to drool over look at their dream vehicles.  The girls came over and we baked Paska together.  Friday morning both of our brothers came out to join us for our traditional Good Friday breakfast and service at church.  The guys always put on an amazing breakfast spread for our church and this year didn't disappoint!  We enjoyed the service, and Rob and I had our first experience serving communion.  It was a special time and we were humbled to serve and pray with our dear church family.  Friday evening we headed to my parents place for a wonderful dinner made by Mom.  The kids had a great time searching for eggs in the yard and their Grandparents and Uncle 'Pid' spoiled them rotten.  We had such a special time as a family.

Saturday I made another batch of Paska and we spent the day getting a few things done around the house.   We enjoyed dinner at the home of our friends 'The Rachs' and had a great time catching up on life while watching our home boys, the Canucks, win the President's cup! (GO NUCKS GO!)

Sunday I packed up the paska and headed to church for a lovely continental breakfast.  We enjoyed a great church service.  Monday was a gorgeous sunny day here and a few of my peeps planned a last minute get together.  Just a few hours, a little window shopping and a lovely glass of wine on the sunny patio was enough to complete a busy but wonderful weekend!  

What's with the Tim Horton's cups?  Well, every time Timmy's has their 'roll up the rim' contest, my Dad (who just happens to love Timmy's) saves his cups for the kids until he's got a huge stack.  Once he's ready, or the kids have bugged him enough, he lines them all up and lets the kids take turns rolling up rims!  None of us can understand how he can save them.  We all have to roll ours up right away!  Dad's always been a patient and kind man...this is no exception.  The kids had a hoot...

Annual Skate

No Christmas Season is complete without our annual Church Christmas skate!  Isaac, in particular, had anticipated this event for months already.  He was determined that HE was going to skate this year.  I, on the other hand, had decided I might take a 'year off' from skating.  You know, sit on the sidelines, drink Starbucks, visit with my fellow ladies in waiting....So, off we went with our plate of goodies and our winter wear.  We got there, fought the crowds for skate rentals.   Side rant -->  No, we don't have our own skates.  Yes, we live in Canada.  Truth is, it hardly ever gets cold enough in our parts for our pond to freeze over long enough for skating so skates would be a wasted investment...especially for the kiddos who's feet grow every time I'm not looking! <--end of rant.  Ok, where were we?  Oh yes, in line to get our skate rentals and Isaac is adamant that he will NOT be skating.  This was, of course, after we'd already paid.  Sheesh, 3 year olds.  Anyway, long story longer, I got skates simply based on my frugal nature.  If they're paid for then SOMEBODY'S gonna wear them!  What do you think happened?  I was out there, doing my jumps and twirls best to stay upright and Rob skates up to me and says, 'Isaac wants to skate'.  Of course he does.  So....back for another skate rental purchase and alas the Hildebrandts were all skating.  Fun night with peeps.  I am thoroughly enjoying our church community.  Seeing the kids grow up together, seeing the new generation of 'young marrieds' make connections as they start their little families, and feeling at peace with the gift of friendship of so many.  We ended the evening with caroling and goodies, then off to home to put some very tired kiddos to bed.  Ahhh...another memory made!

Going Greek...

Well, it all started with the Pastor asking me if I would be willing to head up the meal for our Passover Celebration.  I asked how many people...he said, "oh, well, I don't know.  We've never done something like this before. I don't think it would be more than 50, maybe 100 people interested".  Hmmm, I thought.  Well, I've cooked for Alpha before and that was for 60ish people.  I could probably do this.  We talked about menu.  He was open to anything, but after discussing the theme of the celebration and the meaning of it we thought it may be fun to do a Mediterranean flavoured meal.  I love, love, love Greek food and I've been cooking it more confidently in the past few months.  I figured, if I could cook it for our family then I could expand it for 50ish people.  Guess what?  I didn't cook for 50ish people.  I cooked for 250ish people.  Yeah...I reacted the same way.  Here's the part where I need to define 'I cooked'.  I didn't really cook for that many people.  I organized the cooking for that many people. 

Here's how 'I' did it:
First, I phoned all the 'pros' in our church that I could find and asked them how the heck you cook for that many people.  I took notes.  Lots of notes.
Second, I planned the menu.  Lots of research, lots of math.  Two things I least enjoy.
Thirdly, I took the advice of those pro's and delegated each aspect of the meal to different people.  Those people were responsible for finding all the people they needed.  I provided them with their recipes, and offered to do their shopping for them if they didn't want to do that part.
Fourthly, I panicked.  A lot.  What if this?  What if that?  What if I failed hugely?
Fifth, I gave it to God.  If you're taking notes, I would suggest placing this first, third, fifth and so on....I prayed that God would provide me with the knowledge, the peace, the ability, the help and the opportunity to honour Him.
Rob had his hand injury in the middle of all of this and the Pastor graciously offered me an out on all of this.  He was so great about it.  He said it would be fine to order KFC.  Um, no, it's not fine.  I'll still do it!  Then I went back to step number 5, again and again.

God provided above and beyond.  He gave us peace in a crazy, overwhelming time, He gave us helpers with great attitudes and abilities, and He used it for His glory. 
I am a person who thrives on challenges and tends to take them on to deal with stress.  Backwards, I know, but it makes me who I am.

We served:
BBQ'd souvlaki chicken - we bbq'd 270 pieces and had 6 leftover!
Greek Potatoes - everyone got one portion, and about 10 lucky people got seconds!
Lemon/Dill Rice - lots of rice, and one pan leftover
Greek Salad - oh was it good! Just enough left over for a few lunches for the help!
Unleavened bread (in keeping with Passover tradition) with tzaziki dip
Dessert - this was not my dept but it was good!  I think there was a chocolate or orange type cake of some sort...I didn't have much time to enjoy;)
The teams had to be scheduled around the space and equipment available in the kitchen. 
Everything had to be labelled with instructions for the prep team and table setting crew.
I was on my feet for 13 hours solid and my notes looked like shredded paper by the time I was done, but we did it!

Some of the many challenges presented:
Addition of people right up to the event!  Seriously people, buy your tickets on time!
Shopping for that many ingredients and fitting them all in my car!
Not having access to the kitchen until 11pm the night before the event (there was a wedding in the day before the event)
Preparing all the food in a foodsafe manner and having the right people on hand to help with that!
Clean up for that many dishes! (surprisingly it only took 3 hours to clean over 1000 dishes!)
Coming in on budget when the meal was only $5 per person ( I think I came in UNDER budget!!!)
Naysayers in the ranks...
I have to share how disappointed I was to hear of a couple of people who talked negatively about this event before it even happened!  There was one particular 'party' who verbalized to a few people their displeasure at the choice of menu.  Really?  REALLY?  I get it if you don't like Greek, not everyone does.  The ironic reality is that it's chicken, potatoes, rice and veggies people...but instead of soaking them in sweet and sour, we're using savoury spices. I chose not to be discouraged for long.  Some people will ALWAYS find something to complain about!
Our Pastors wife was so encouraging.  We talked about how this celebration was about SO MUCH MORE than Greek food.  This celebration was about the importance and meaning of Jesus' last supper with His disciples.  This celebration was about the significance of His death on the cross.  This supper was about our heritage.  This supper was about gathering with friends and families and teaching our children more about their heavenly Father.  This celebration was meant to honour God.  It was a wonderful evening.  I didn't get to partake in the readings and such, but I did grab a quick plate of food and visit with friends.  I am forever in debt to our dear friends Rich and Shell for their joy and willingness in helping us with so much prep work.  We are definitely treating you to dinner one of these days...and it won't be Greek food!
I'll post a few of the recipes I chose for this meal in the next week and you can give them a try if you like. 

Everything was made from scratch with the exception of the tzaziki dip (mine never tastes as good as the store stuff) and the greek salad dressing (which is so perfectly made by our local Greek restaurant)  Kudos to the bbq team, the rice team, the potato peeling & prep crew, the chicken prep crew, the dessert prep team, the Greek salad gurus and the set up and clean up crews.  Your help and experience was a huge asset!  I have heard wonderfully positive things about the whole experience and that's all the thanks I need.  Would I do it again....NO!  Well, maybe.  Ask me later.  Most likely.

Oh...and did I mention that I'm a details person?  I am. To add some colour to the tables I went to one of our local daffodil farmers and bought bulk.  I love our Bradner farmers, they're so helpful and generous.  We got a steal of a deal on a large amount of flowers and he mixed several varieties up in the order just for kicks!  I love community.

The Kids & Christmas...

I hand-made a lot of my Christmas gifts this year.  I managed to get everything done ahead of schedule, no all nighters were involved.  I'll post a little more on those projects soon, but my point is, I didn't have a whole lot of time before Christmas to post about all the going ons that we attended. Here's a quick catch up of things the kids were involved in over Christmas.  I already posted about the school Christmas sing a long, but here's a few more.

The children's Christmas program at church was as cute as ever. The uncles came out to see the event. (Rob had to haul Isaac off the stage part way through...for obvious 'parent of a 2 year old' reasons):

Olivia had her Piano Christmas Concert. She played jingle bells and it sounded great!

And the kids helped us out with a few songs on Christmas Eve.  They rang the bells for us while we sang 'Come on Ring those Bells' and they helped us out on kazoos  for the

oh so memorable rendition of 'Mary's Boy Child'. 

All in all a wonderful Christmas Season with a some wonderful memories made!

A Favourite Tradition...

Our Annual Church Skate is one of our favourite family traditions.  This year was no exception!  My brother, Dave, came along and we gave it our all.  My only regret is somehow not getting any pictures of Olivia!  She's already forgiven me.  Here's a few shots of the event...

The Post of Christmas Eve Past...

Every Christmas Eve we have a day to look forward too...as mentioned a couple of posts back we always do brunch with the Friesens in the morning. In the evening we always to to Christmas Eve Candlelight Service at our church, with the exception of last year when it was cancelled due to the heavy snow. This year was back on track and we went to the service and then over to Rob's Aunt Tina's for our traditional Christmas Eve Dinner. Our family had the honour of being asked to light the advent wreath on Christmas Eve. For four weeks leading up to Christmas a candle is lit on each Sunday. Each candle represents something meaningful as we reflect on the reason we have this season to celebrate. The first candle represents Bethlehem. It reminds us to prepare our hearts for the Saviour. The second candle represents Prophecy. It reminds us of the hope promised by God that a Saviour would be born. The third candle represents the Shepherds. It reminds us of the good news that the shepherds heard from the angels. The fourth candle represents the Angels. It reminds us of the joy of the heavenly choir of angels as they proclaimed that Jesus had indeed been born. The fifth candle was the candle our family lit. The fifth candle is located in the centre of the wreath and it is the candle of Christ. It reminds us that the centre of everything is Jesus Himself and that He is the light of the world. We went up on the stage as a family and Rob, Olivia and I took turns reading as we explained the meaning of the candle and read passages from the book of John. Some of those candles were a little stubborn, but made it through. After the service we headed over to Tina's for a wonderful meal. We didn't do our usual midnight stroll this year, we were too tired! After this we went to my parent's house for our annual Christmas Eve sleepover. Christmas Eve has always been 'magical' to me and I'm glad that our kids seem to feel it too. What could be more magical than a baby coming to save the world?

Starring the Hildebrandt girls...

Well, ok, not just the Hildebrandt girls, but hey, they're OUR stars! This year our church put on a wonderful Children's Christmas program! My good friend Elise was the the creative force behind this and she is to be commended for the job! I don't know how she did it but those kids sang louder than I've EVER heard them sing before..and they looked like they were having a blast to boot! There was some drama, a choir, the cutest little lambs and cows ever, an interpretive dance, and a live orchestra. We got lots on video and a few pics too! Olivia was the arc angel and abby was in the choir. Livi had a little stage fright when push came to shove, but she managed. It was neat to see her in a dance that had been choreographed by two girls in our church who are professional dancers. It made my heart soar to see her look so graceful and beautiful! Grandma and Grandpa were there and my brothers Dave, and (bro in law) Ken came out for the performance. They are both so proud of their little nieces. Afterwards, all the kids received a stocked goodie bag provided from the seniors in our church. Next we headed back to our place and celebrated my brother Dave's birthday. It was a wonderful day..the only one who missed out on the girls' performance was Isaac, who played happily, and obliviously, in the nursery...mabye next year he'll be up there!

Hosting the Heritage Ladies...

No, the title is not what you think..no one came in costumes from the pioneer days and we didn't have any butter churning contests. The Heritage Ladies are a group of women from our church, Heritage Alliance. A couple of weeks ago I hosted these fine ladies for their fall kick-off wiener roast. Usually it's done over a fire in a field somewhere but with the burning ban still on we had to BBQ instead. I've hosted these ladies a few times in the past, a couple of times here and a couple of times at our 'old' place. I LOVE these ladies. The are a unique group of women who are dedicated to relationship with each other and Christ. I have similar relationships with girls who are at the same stages of life as I am, but these ladies are past the stage of young families and have much experience and wisdom to share. I love watching these ladies interact with each other and support each other through life's curve balls. To be able to spend and evening peeking in the window of this group was such a neat and encouraging experience. I have great relationships with a few of these women and I treasure them. They are incredibly supportive, especially to women who are experiencing difficult situations in life. I got to sit in with them on this evening and hear about their summer adventures, pray with them and feel uplifted by them. They are known as a fun and crazy bunch but it goes so much deeper than that. We sure missed you Marnie... So, thanks ladies for visiting our home..you know you are always welcome here!

B-Ball Time!

Well, we're not officially in any ball sports this year but a group of families got together and played ball the last couple of Wednesdays just for fun! It's a great social night where we get to spend this quality time together as young families. There are tons of laughs, lots of Starbucks, and a few great plays! I even had a turn up at bat...although that's not one of the 'great' plays I was referring to! I've mentioned before how much we value our Heritage Alliance Church family and this is just one more of those moments.