It was a good attempt...

Martin has wanted to hike to the top of this peak - Yak - for a long, long time.
(Not to worry, there is a hiking way up, it's not only for rock climbers :)

So on the holiday weekend, we decided to head up there. Before leaving, we already had a small problem, and that was that our printer did not work. Yes, that is related to hiking. You see, we get our directions from the internet, and so we usually print them out so we know where we're going. But, since it didn't work, Martin just jotted some of the "main points" down. And away we went.

We spent quite a bit of time - about 45 minutes - just trying to find the trail head. Finally, I spotted some flagging tape. And what else could flagging tape mean, but a trail? And a trail it was - or maybe not. I don't think either of us have been on such a rough trail for a hike before.

But there was lots of flagging tape and it was going in the right direction - up the mountain. So we hiked. For about an hour and then we came the the base of the rock face.

We stopped for lunch, and then carried on. Unfortunately we ran stuck. That nice trail with so much flagging tape ran us to a dead end. So, after about an hour of trying to find our way up (and a little melt-down from me when we were climbing a part that I thought was too steep - a story in itself), we actually gave up on the hike. For this time. At this point, we were more determined than ever to go home, read the directions well and get to the top of the mountain some time soon.

Anyways, despite not getting to the top, we had a fantastic day. Justin took one short nap in the backpack, and was happy the whole day.

Turns out we should have taken a trail further up the road - sounds like a pretty uncomplicated way up. Now we know.

Oh yes, we did get a beautiful view of Needle Peak from this side. It's fun to think that we've been at the top of that!

Amazed

At the gift of new life! I had the incredible honor and privilege of being there for the birth of our newest niece, Zoey Hendrika. I can not find words adequate to describe how special it was for me to be there.

Thank you Soph and Jeff - I will never forget that day.
And congratulations! We pray God will bless you with joy and wisdom as you raise your precious little girl!

Isn't she beautiful?

I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well. ~Psalm 139:14

Walking!!

For some reason, the video won't upload... so here's a picture of Justin taking some of those first cute, unsteady steps.

A Swim at the River

A beautiful evening for a picnic supper and swim at the river. We love that we live within biking distance of places like this.

Newfoundland

I figured it's about time I showed you a few of our pictures of our trip to Newfoundland. A trip across the country like this is one of those things we've talked about... but never really thought we'd do it anytime soon. And then my brother got married there. Made for a nice excuse to go out there :)
I was a little nervous about travelling for almost 10 hours with Justin over night - but he did really well. He definitely didn't sleep his regular 12 hours, but he did manage to sleep several hours on the plane. And, even with this lack of sleep, he was a very well behaved, happy boy. I really didn't have to worry about anything.
We spent the first part of our trip in the town of Gander, where T & L got married. We had a most wonderful host family while we were there. We slept in their RV, ate a lot of our meals with them, and just really enjoyed being with this family! When I discovered a stain on Martin's shirt for the wedding the day before the wedding, C even took care of cleaning it for me! Justin also very much enjoyed this family - especially their 12-year old son, J. He took to him instantly. One night around midnight (since a 4-hour time difference affects a little boy's ability to sleep), J had Justin laughing harder than we've ever seen before or since. It was a real "belly" laugh - and one of the cutest things ever. Too bad we didn't get that on video. But that will always be a fun memory!! Thanks again L's for everything!!
When we weren't doing wedding-related things, we spent some time with my family just seeing some of the country there.

Note: Martin wanted to find a place with "open ocean" very bad. We missed the spot that was recommended to us to stop, and decided to stop here instead. Martin and Dad got some great shots... but the girls got attacked by hoards of crazy little bugs! Don't think we'll ever forget that ;)

Gander also had a new splash park there that Justin enjoyed very, very much! He had the most fun the first day we went there, but of course, I forgot my camera that time. He had fun this time too, though - so here's a few pictures of the fun he had in the water there.
Of course, meeting Uncle Thys & Auntie Leah was a highlight of the trip too. My picture with Justin & Leah didn't turn out, but as you can see, Thys knew how to win our little boy over: food :) This is them at the rehersal dinner.
And the whole reason for the trip:
Congratulations Thys & Leah!!
After the wedding weekend was over, we headed out with just the 3 of us for the rest of our time away. The first day, we spent some time in St. John's - we did the "touristy" things and saw Signal Hill and Cape Spear.

The most easterly point in North America

We stayed in the little town of Tors Cove in this house. The owner was very friendly, and when he heard we wanted to hike part of the East Coast trail, he offered to have us drop our vehicle at one spot and then he drove us to the next entrance point so that we wouldn't have to go back and forth on the same trail. That was great, because it gave us time to do another part of the trail a little further on that day as well! Here's some pictures of our hiking day. All that ocean air tuckered this little guy out.

He slept through the rest of the hike, getting transferred

into the carseat and then for the next hour or so until

we got to the next part of our hike.

Enjoying a campfire at the place we stayed.

The next day we headed back for home again. Again, Justin did super well - thanks mostly to Martin - I just didn't seem to have the right touch this time :)We chose a little longer layover in Calgary so that we could visit Martin's mom & dad for a couple of hours. Mom found a nice park near the airport and packed a delicious picnic lunch. It was so nice to see them and get to have a break in the long day of travelling.

Back at the airport, waiting for our next flight.

Coming home was so nice! It was especially fun to see Justin go check out his favorite play spots in the house. He has 3, and he raced (yes, he still crawls, but he's pretty quick) from one to the next to the next!

Thought I'd share...

Ever have it that you don't know exactly how or what to pray? I'm thinking I'm not the only one, so when I came across these helpful lists, I figured they'd be a good thing to share. There are at least 3 things I like to pray about and for everyday. One is to praise God; one is to pray for my husband; the other is to pray for my son. These links are 31-item "calendars" that list different things/ways to pray in these areas. Of course, we're not limited to praying only these things - but they are a great place to start. And I'm sure these lists can be used for others in our lives too - not just our spouse and children. Anyways, hope they are helpful for you too!

"Therefore, let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." Hebrews 4:16

Complete

Seven months minus one day since we heard about our precious boy; six months and sixteen days after he came home, we got that special phone call from the lawyer's office to say that the adoption order has been granted!! I nearly cried - got pretty choked up. I can't say I expected that response from myself, but I guess this is, and always will be a sensitive spot for me. Our sweet boy is now legally our son, and we are so excited that the process is complete! To set the record straight, it's not that as of Wednesday we view him any different, he's been our son in our hearts since day one, but there's just something special about it being finished!
Adoption has a bitter-sweet element to it though, and while we are thrilled to have this little boy and call him our son, we also remember his birthmom. {I once came across a blog where the writer beautifully acknowledged her daughter's birthmom, and (with her permission) I too want to do that - though I'm not such a skillful writer.} We think of her as we celebrate, knowing that she very likely feels her loss each and every day. We hope that she will always know that she is a very special and important part of who Justin is, and that she holds a special place in our hearts. We can not describe what an honor it is to be given a child through adoption; to have the opportunity to meet Justin's birthmom, and have her ask us to be the parents of her little boy. This selfless act of love that she made for him (and for us) is something we will always respect her for. Despite other "options" she chose to give Justin life, and we are forever grateful to her for that and for entrusting her son to us.

Again, we realize God's hand in bringing this all about, and we praise Him! And pray that He will help us to raise our son to His honor and glory.

We celebrated this special event in typical Martin-Wieska style: with ice cream. And, while Justin was and is completely unaware of the end of "the process" he thoroughly enjoyed the treat :)