The Talens' Tales

This picture sort of sums up our recent trip to Michigan for Christmas. Lots of time in the airport. Lots of time waiting. Lots of time in the car. But looking back, even though out travels out to Michigan didn't go as planned, we can see how God was working though it all to make it as good of an experience as possible for us. We actually made it to my parents house only 9 hours later than we were supposed too and considering the circumstances, that is pretty amazing in and of itself. We were supposed to leave for Michigan on Monday, December 23 from Halifax at 7:00am. We had planned to leave our house at around 1 in the morning and just drive it and get there by 5 to check in for our flight. We could not leave the day before because Wilbert was directing the church choir for the Candlelight service which was to take place that Sunday evening. Well all week leading up this, they had been predicting pretty awful weather for Sunday. Saturday we had rain and there was freezing rai...

 Mom: Hey Mataya! You are 7 months old! M(ataya): Yes Mom! I am getting to be pretty big. Mom: You certainly are. What big things are doing lately? M: I am starting to sit up a bit, but I still prefer to be on my tummy. That way I can scoot around and get  into things. I like to eat and I will eat anything, especially paper. I like the challenge of finding the tiniest bit of paper of on the floor and then trying to eat them before you catch me. I also enjoy chewing on the cloth you use to wipe my face after I eat for a while. Cloths are very tasty. Mom: I am glad that you are such a content girl. It is so nice that you will just sit in your chair for a while after you eat. It helps Mom get some things done around meal times. How is sleep going? M: I think it is good. I like to have nap for about an hour in the morning and then another hour and a half in the afternoon. And I sleep well at night, too. Mom: You do sleep well at night and go down to sleep pretty ...

December is always a bit of crazy month. I have been busy trying to get my Christmas cards out lately because our family pictures finally came in. They all turned out so nice. Unfortunately, they are all such large files that they are not loading well into Blogger. So, you will just have to wait until you actually get a Christmas card from us! Everyone is getting very excited for our trip to the States for Christmas. Joash enjoys taking a link off of the paper chain every day. Joash is becoming quite the funny kid. Here are a few of my favorite recent quotes. Wilbert (heading out the door to work on something at the farm):We will see how far I get. Joash (to me): Why is daddy meeting us at Target? Joash (when I got him up for the day yesterday): Last night I dreamed about eggnog! (Wilbert has introduced him to eggnog and he loves it!) Another fun thing that we just did last night was reconnect with a friend of mine from Dordt who is getting ready to move his whole family to ...

Growing up in the 1960’s was tumultuous time. And that word perfectly describes Jocie Brookes life. Will she be able to navigate these treacherous waters and find the hope in love and forgiveness? Orchard of Hope by Ann H Gabhart is set in the small southern town of Hollyhill. Jocie literally runs into the Noah, son of a new family that has moved into town and quickly befriends the family, despite their colour difference. A racial divide in the town quickly forms and Jocie finds herself being ripped apart by is. Jocie begins to question why God would allow such things to happen and if there is anything she can do to help save her small town. I will admit that I am on the fence about this book. While I did certainly enjoy reading it and really could not put it down at the end, I am left feeling a little underwhelmed by the whole thing. Maybe things would be different if I had read the first book in the series. But, even so, I guess I think things turned out a little too perf...

Whoa! December, where did you come from? Well, yes, here we are again. It has been a while since a post has been made, but I am trying to squeeze one in here before the kids wake up from naps. A quick update. Mataya is doing awesome and growing like a weed. At her last doctor check up she weighed in at 16 lb 2 oz and has jumped back on her growth curve. And she is trying to sit up, but still prefers being on her tummy for most of the time and scooting and spinning around.   And since it is December, we are getting ready for Christmas. Joash is so  excited for Christmas this year, which makes it fun for everyone. We put up the Christmas tree yesterday, which was a big hit. I think today after nap time we are going to make a paper chain to help us count down the days until we get to travel to Michigan. Joash thinks this is happening a lot sooner than it really is, so I hope this visual will help him out a bit.