Week 8 - Canada and School on the Road!

This week finished up not only Canada, but North America as well. We will be moving on to South America when we get back to schooling. Next week, we've got a week long vacation in Alabama to get ready for a special baby shower! That has been planned for awhile, but little did we know just how much we would need that vacation at this point in our school year (God surely knows how to plan our schedules better than we do!) We got a call last Saturday night that Jeff's grandmother wasn't doing very well. Sunday, Jeff preached his sermon and we spent the rest of the day trying to figure out what we should do. Jeff had a few things he needed to do on Monday and some folks to visit, so we went ahead with school at home that day before we headed to Tampa that afternoon. We made Canadian maple cookies that were very delicious! The girls love anything in the kitchen!

We drove down to Tampa that afternoon and got to visit with Jeff's family and his grandmother. The girls got to see her and she smiled when she heard them say they loved her. Jeff got to talk to her and she told him she loved him. I am so grateful the God gave him (and us) that evening with her. The next day and evening, we saw her again, but she was much worse. On Wednesday morning, she passed away peacefully and surrounded by her family. The girls had been upset when we left her Tuesday night, but they took the news of her death fairly calmly Wednesday morning. We had brought our school work with us and I think that helped to distract them. They had lots of questions and we took plenty of time to answer them. They had some very thoughtful questions and I was so proud of the way they handled everything. I love those girls so much! They are such a blessing to us. In between questions and family gatherings, we still found time to get in our school for the week. It was a little different doing it away from home, but we made it work. Instead of everyone having their own desk, we were all at the same table. It was kinda fun! Here are a few pictures from our week at Mema and Papa's house. (Forgive the pictures with no narration, I'm tired tonight and ready for bed after our week)

We also tried making igloos out of sugar cubes. This project didn't go as well as hoped, but the girls had fun anyway.

We finished our Canadian lapbooks, which turned out great. Check out Maryella's orca she drew on hers! I love it!

And just one final picture... in memory of Mom. We will miss her and are so thankful for all the wonderful memories God has blessed us with.