First a badger, then a grizzly! I think I'd rather hop on the latter myself.

Mr. Badger

Check out this badger I came across the other day on my walk around the yard!! Couldn't believe my eyes.

Home to Stettler

Well, made it back to Stettler safe and sound. We're at my Grandparents place for to foreseeable future. Dad is here too of course.

Oh man, cannot wait to just relax for a while. I couldn't believe how tired I was after our fall conventions, and then all the events of this week! Well, I somehow received some stamina for it all. Ready to crash!!

Aaaah, fresh raspberries from the garden!!! That was one of the courses for dinner tonight. Not without ample portions of cream!haha. Yumm.

It was actually cold tonight. Well, probably not that cold, whatever 18 degrees Celsius is. Anyway, needed a fire. Post haste. There it is. Cozy.

In other random news, my Grandma Norma Stewart, has bravely stepped into unknown territory! The world of computers! Yup, yup.

It's a pretty fancy little rig actually, just a shame that it has Vista on it!

It's kind of interesting to try to describe how you even use a mouse! She's actually quite excited about it so that's fun to see.

Grandpa is typing in Word right at the moment. Certainly the first time he's ever done that! Ha,ha, he just typed, "i am very green at this machine."

Listening to Tchaikovsky. Not bad.

Brianne's funeral

Flew into Calgary airport on Wednesday. Dad, my Grandparents and my Auntie Elsie were there to greet me. Tears and hugs.

There are many details that I'll leave out. What I want to share is the incredible outpouring of love and care that the friends & workers have shown all throughout this week.

When we arrived at the Thue's, at least 7 RV's and campers had been brought over so that the family would have somewhere to sleep nearby. I'd say that the family probably totaled around 60. All the meals were arranged and taken care of by the friends, from Weds. until yesterday. A number of the sister workers came and were doing various cooking and cleaning jobs. Always with smiles on their faces.

It was decided that the only suitable place to hold the funeral would have to be on the convention grounds at Didsbury. The plans were to show up at 2pm on Thursday to set up the benches, clean, and arrange the dining area. Most of you would know that that is a huge amount of work to be done in just one afternoon. When we arrived at about quarter to, most of the benches were already set up! We figured that around 200 friends had shown up, and probably a dozen or so workers. Just to help where they could in any way they could.

Skip to the funeral on Saturday morning. The immediate family, grandparents & various relatives, and pallbearers were all taken to Didsbury in limousines. The rest of the family followed. We arrived and the shed was mostly full and there was still a long line outside! So a bunch of men grabbed a couple hundred more folding chairs to set up outside.
One nice thing was that all the young kids were sitting in their own section in the shed. As far as the funeral service itself, I'll just mention that it was described as the most positive and uplifting funeral one person had ever been to. Those that had a part were Jack Reddekopp, Audrey Robbins (who graciously flew out from Saskatchewan) and Merlin Affleck.

Those who counted said that there was over 1700 people at the funeral, including the family.

The graveside was at a cemetery about 5 miles away from the Thue home. That was held at 4:30. Craig Stewart had a wonderfully encouraging part and I had the privilege of having the prayer.

There are so many amazing things that we have experienced this week, at the funeral of course, but also the two fellowship meetings Weds. night and Sun. morning. Both consisted of almost all the family. The presence of God's spirit was very, very real.

Yes it's been sad, but so beautiful. Sad for us to lose Bri, but we know her soul has something infinitely better than this life.

For me, it was definitely a call from God to just enter deeper and deeper into His way and the covenant He has established.

Post Milltown, Canada Ho!

Milltown 1 & 2. Over. Whew. Loved them both immensely. So thankful for all of the visitors we had and all that they gave. I should consider how worn out they're going to be when they finally hit their home shores and forget my own tiredness. Funny how you can feel so tired but yet so full of joy and hope for all God has given you.

We (Kelsay & I) got into Travis & Glenda Elley's last night, their awesome little house boat near Ballard. Her parents and sis were down for an evening of visiting and dessert. After they left Travis and I got on the guitars, Glenda on the accordion, and Mr. Yung on the keys. Had a very fun and relaxing jam session.

We were having such a good time so even though our conversations were becoming more and more delirious (an obvious sign to STOP!!! GO TO SLEEP!!!) we failed to reach the pillow until about 1am. That would have been so bad if Kelsay and I hadn't been up since 4:45am the previous morning. Oh well.

Today I received some very sad news though. A young cousin of mine in Canada, Brianne Thue, was killed in a car accident late last night. This isn't the place to discuss all those feelings, but I am so glad that I happened to have this trip planned to go up there. Kels and I are going out on the Elley's kayaks later so I plan to take advantage of the fresh air.