It’s getting close to our departure date and the packing has begun.. Chris, the police sergeant, was kind enough to let us stay in the RCMP house as long as we gave it a good clean before we left. For the past two days we have been busy in ‘our’ house, organizing our stuff and trying to clean around it in the process. No easy task. (Isn’t that right, Tanya and Cam?) I feel for Kurt. He just got back from his job on the Arctic Coast and jumped right into the chaos of our big move without so much as a breather. But he did sneak in a little nap.
Lynn invited us for supper on Friday night, which I really appreciated, so we could focus on our cleaning. Youth night followed right after our meal. I took the three ‘E’s home and Kurt stayed to watch a movie with the others. When it was over, he came back with Josiah, Diana, and Naomi, but Bronwyn, Keegan, and Mackenzie almost pulled an all-nighter. The Hanthorns told them it’s almost tradition to do so before their guests leave. But since we’re not leaving for a few days, Lynn thought they should pace themselves. “Why don’t you do half of your all-nighter tonight, and the other half tomorrow?” At least that’s what the kids said. At any rate, when Estelle finally fell asleep at 3 am, and the big guys still weren’t home, I decided to walk over to check on them. Lynn had gone to bed, forewarning my three that they had better be back on their doorstep at 3 am and not a minute later. (She drives a hard bargain, hey?) My guys were just heading out the door and we walked home together.
On Saturday, we woke up to snow on the ground and everything else. Winter has begun in Fort McPherson. Other than the snow, it was a mild, calm day. We continued cleaning, but after an exercise in futility working around our stuff, we made a quick decision to move everything in to the trailer, just before we headed to the Hanthorns for Esther’s 5th birthday party. Lynn had a houseful of people and was just waiting for the main course- from us. Kurt cooked salmon and salmon burgers for everyone and no one was the worse for waiting. We did the birthday thing- presents, cake, and games. And Josiah got some extra attention for being the birthday boy.
I had a nice visit with Mary C.and it was good to see Dan and Heather again, who are living at the Hanthorns again. The other missionaries, the Drosts, Daniel and his visiting sister, our neighbours, and some others from McPherson came too. It was amazing how we all fit inside Lynn and Paul’s house. After her house cleared, Lynn and I talked, Kurt tried to set up wireless internet for the church with Paul, and my 3 eldest continued the second half of their ‘all-nighter.’ When we do hit the road, I think there will be a lot of sleeping going on.
Kurt, that hoodie is pretty cunning, don't you think?
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