A Day of Rest?

JULY 26

Aaaaah. Sunday morning, a non-work day. In theory. Bronwyn, Mackenzie, and I, packing Estelle, made pancakes and homemade buttermilk syrup for everyone for brunch while Lynn cooked the sausages and prepped everything else. Josiah stayed with the sleeping little guys in the trailer and we communicated with our hand radios. The night before, Keegan stayed with the teenage boys at the Hanthorns and when he woke up, he relieved Jo of his duties so Josiah could flip some pancakes. After the batter was made, Bronwyn had to skip out to practice her violin for church. The syrup was a big hit, and one lady, Esther, was impressed with Josiah and Mackenzie’s pancake flipping.

The worship service was at 1 pm, which is standard here. With people staying up late in the long summer sun, a morning service would not be too practical, or at least not well attended. Last week, the church was framed, this week the sanctuary had drywall, and people commented on the progress. Bronwyn accompanied the praise songs with her violin and a penny whistle, along with Annah, Ruthie, and Paul on guitar, and a man (Don, I believe) with his harmonica. The church was pretty full with people from the project, and we outnumbered the regular church members with all our extra bodies.

Estelle had another horrible coughing fit. It is no fun seeing your baby choking on her own phlegm. She has often had an episode after lying back in her ‘rocking’ chair, so there will be no more of that. I’m kicking up my own probiotic intake and of course, she’s getting chiropractic care, but she is still fighting it. I know it will run its course, just like it did with the other guys, but for those of you so inclined, please keep her in your prayers.

After a wonderful turkey dinner, Keegan and Bronwyn went with the teens to watch some more bike jumping into the lake at the ‘Second Pit,’ as it’s called. Ike and Michele went along to take some pictures, and Paul was there too. Ike and Paul even built a new bike jump for the kids to try. As Ike said, “Well someone has to make sure they don’t break their necks!” The kids never used the jump, though. And to my surprise, both Keegan AND Bronwyn gave it a try, and Michele has some good snapshots. Unfortunately, as I have been doing my blog entry on the school library computer, I won’t be able to include any pictures-yet. Those kids sure know how to make their own fun. Lynn was impressed that at least they had decided to wear life jackets. The teens said the PFD s were multi-functional. Besides being flotation devices, they provide some extra padding, too.

Bronwyn and Keegan barely got themselves dried off before they went back to the Hanthorns with Mackenzie for a teen party. Two of the older boys from Whitehorse are leaving, so Lynn wanted to give them one last hurrah. They ate pizza, looked at Michele’s pictures on the TV, and watched a movie together. I was unsuccessfully trying to get children to sleep, but I did manage to slip over and see some of the photos. Michele came to my trailer afterwards and we prayed over Estelle and chatted until the kids returned, but maybe sleep would have been a better idea, because it was almost 3 am before we saw their faces or our beds.