The Canadian Rockies

I thought I would post some pictures of our visit to Canada in April.

This shows you a little of the beauty of where we are living, so you will want to come and visit us!! Remember we do have room and we would love to have you.

Pastor Jim Tillotson and Joan took us to the Canadian Rockies
The mountains are about 3 1/2 hours from us.
We saw so much wildlife right off the road, it was incredible!
Yes, I did take all of these pictures; there was so much wildlife posing for us we joked that they must be mechanical replicas put out by the park. No they really are real!

The view from the Lodge we stayed in. The Elk were in abundance.

Let it Snow!

Today we woke up and there was another light dusting of snow on the ground. It lightly snowed off and on through out the morning. Hudson was pretty excited about the snow so we went out for a little bit. Good thing Hudson likes snow for it would be a shame to move up north and have a child that didn't like it!

This picture shows how massive the fort is! Is is as tall as the house.

Like a true Canadian collecting firewood for the next fire!

Hudson "getting" mommy with his snow ball

Hudson came inside and wanted to eat. He wanted to eat potatoes! Well, he wanted to eat the potato out of the bag. I told him I had some cooked leftover potatoes from the other night that we were going to eat. He cried so I thought I would let him "try" a raw potato. He took two bites out of the top and realized that mashed COOKED potatoes are much better! He later looked at the raw potato and said "That was yucky". Humm... Mommy does know best huh?


Hudson's Hilarities
People tell us all the time how well Hudson talks for his age. He talks in full sentences and many times what comes out is too funny! I thought I would write some of the things he has said recently.

The other day I was cooking eggs for breakfast and Hudson was sitting in his high chair eating and watching me. He asked "Mommy are you cooking?" "Yes, I am cooking" "Mommy are you cooking for Hudson's sake?" I don't know where he learned "for Hudson's sake" since Kevin and I don't use that. I just laughed. Funny kid!

Hudson asked me the other day if I was a Pastor Lady?

Hudson is also learning who is older and bigger etc... He tells Kevin often "Daddy you big!" It inflates Kevin's ego a little bit. ;) Hudson tells me "Mommy you small big" I guess that means I am not as big as daddy. Of course it was not the best when he went up to someone at church who was a little bigger and said "You big!" ooops. Before we left the states Hudson was in the backseat while I was driving and he started to sing the tune "My God is so Big!" Instead he shouted "My Mommy's so BIG!" Well Hudson have I really grown THAT big?

The other day we were eating lunch and my stomach growled. Hudson asked "Mommy are you stinky?" Laughing "No, that was my stomach" He sat there and thought a little then said "Is the baby stinky?"

Hudson has a stuffed moose that he regularly plays with. I was explaining to him that people eat moose up here and we would probably be eating moose one day. He looked at his stuffed moose he was holding, threw it down and ran into the kitchen and said "comon' let's go eat some moose!" I guess his stuffed moose looked like something he would want to eat! :)

Kevin was asking Hudson "Doesn't mommy look beautiful today?" Hudson looked at me and said "Yes!" Then he looked at Kevin and said "Daddy you not beautiful, you a boy!" Kevin had to agree.

And one not so funny thing...I was hanging up Hudson's clothes one day and Hudson was in another part of the house calling out "I can't get in" "I can't get in Mommy!" I just continued hanging up clothes thinking "Good, I probably don't want you to get in whatever you are trying to get in." When I was done I went to go find Hudson and what he couldn't get in. We have a laundry shoot in the house we are staying in. It is a small hole in the bathroom cabinet floor. He had opened the door to the hole and had his feet dangling in the shoot trying to fit himself in! I had visions of calling the fire department and being on the evening news as Hudson hangs out somewhere between the top floor and the basement. I got him out and said "I am glad you couldn't get in!" I told him he could get stuck in there and he wasn't to put anything down there except clothes that mommy tells him to throw down there. Thankfully no recurrences.

Anyways, he is a lot of fun and always keeps us laughing! I will do this again as I continue to collect more funny things from the mouths of babes.

A Day with Charity

Today Hudson went with his new best friend Charity to the West Edmonton Mall. Charity is almost exactly 2 months younger than Hudson. They act and think a lot alike so they have become close friends fast. Charity reminds me a little of Cousin Carly so maybe she reminds Hudson of her as well. Paula (Charity's mom) and I think we need to take advantage of these free rides at the amusement park while these kids are 2 years old. I think it is a ploy on the malls part to get these kids "hooked" now so that when they are 3 and up they are begging their parents to ride the same rides but then we have to pay the high prices for tickets. We also took them to a different part of the mall where they had set up a petting zoo. The kids enjoyed all the animals although Paula and I were making sure they didn't provoke the baby buffalo!! The Little Lama was a little scary too. Hudson finally got to see and touch real guinea pigs. He has a picture of one in his books and that is the only way he even knew about guinea pigs. Anyways several times after he saw that picture he has called me into his room saying there is a guinea pig in his bed and he touched it! Okkkkk, what an imagination. I assured him that there were no guinea pigs in his bed. I am hoping that it is not a mouse visiting him. Anyways enjoy the pictures!

OK, this first picture is obviously not of the mall but of a giant Jack Rabbit that lives in our neighborhood. We enjoy looking for him out our front window each day. He is huge! The size of a large cat/small dog
My friend Charity

Charity, Hudson and the Whale- They can actually climb into the whale's mouth so we sang about Jonah
By the Sea Loin Show

Hudson with his Co-Pilot


The small pigs were pretty cute


Hudson looking at that big baby Lama behind him. The other brown thing eating is the baby Buffalo. It was quite the indoor petting zoo!

You ask how is Hudson adjusting to Canada? Well at church he is definitely the new kid on the block. He practically gets mauled after each service with elementary up to high school kids wanting to talk to him and asking him if he knows their name. I really believe he knows more people than we do. Since he talks so well he delights all of them with his lingual skills and by remembering their names while giving them high fives and fists. He has even corrected me when I called a teenager by his brother's name. Next time I will just ask my 2 year old what someones name is.

Papa and Grana in Edmonton

Kevin's parents were able to be here last week for several days. They arrived late Wednesday the 7th and left early on Monday the 12th. Their main reason for coming was to do a School Of Servants conference at our church. The people at Meadowlands really enjoyed the conference and the services on Sunday. Hudson sure enjoyed having his Papa and Grana here! We were so thankful to have visitors so soon after our arrival! Here are some pictures of our time together.

Early Christmas! Papa and Grana brought Lincoln Logs
3 Generations of Lincoln Loggers
A Visit to The West Edmonton Mall-The Largest Mall in the WORLD!

Kids that are 2 get to ride several of their amusement park rides free, we like that.

A Little about the West Edmonton Mall for those of you who are wondering.

Yes, it is in Edmonton where we are living. Yes, it is the largest mall in the world. The people who built the Mall of America built this one first. Some of the special features are a full amusement park with giant rollercoasters and all (inside). The mall covers over 8 blocks with two levels. 800 stores and 100 restaurants. It has a waterpark, Ice skating rink, 2 different putt-putt golf places, an I-MAX, The world's largest indoor lake with submarines and an exact replica of Christopher Columbus' Santa Maria floating on it, a bowling alley, dinner theatre and a Fantasyland Hotel with all sorts of really cool rooms to rent. Now you know more than you probably ever wanted to know about WEM!

How Great is God's Goodness

As many of you know we have temporary housing right now. Some people from our church are graciously letting us stay free of charge in a house they own. The week of December 15th we will be moving to our new house for our time here. We have told most of you the story but if you haven't heard then please contact us and we will be happy to e-mail you the amazing story. (Williamsincanada@hotmail.com) Here are some pictures of the house.

All the furniture stays in all these pictures except the leather couches. Downstairs-This has a nice gas fireplace. The guest room is off of this as well as a big storage area and nice guest bathroom and 5th room that will be Kevin's office and hopefully my craft room. The room is too nice to have as a play room because all one wall is all mirrors since it was used as a exercise/workout room.
The Living Room as you enter the front door

The family room. It is off the kitchen, it has a wood burning fireplace

Sorry that I can not turn this picture, we do not have the software on our computer and I can't find how to do it on here? Any help anyone?

Off the Kitchen and Living Room is a dining room.

Master Bedroom- We are going to love this King Size Bed!

There are two more bedrooms upstairs that will be the boy's rooms.

There is also a nice bathroom in a hallway that will be the boys bathroom. It is a nice one! It has a soaker tub.

Colin and Lila Eicher, Hudson new favorite people! He has won their hearts over!!

They are moving out of their house so WE can live there.

They are the sweetest people!

Isn't God Good!

You can see the dining room behind them, notice the etched glass divider wall. There is even more in another part of the house. We will have to do some immediate training to NOT touch it. They assured us that it is indestructible. Our thought was yes, but is it two toddler boys indestructible? I hope so :) They did tell us that they didn't want us to walk on pins and needles living there. We were glad to hear that because soon after Hudson showed them a "new way" to arrange the living room. In an instant he had taken all the pillows off the couch and unzipped them so the stuffing was coming out. Mr. Eicher thought it was so funny. He said "our living room hasn't looked like that in years!" Hudson was sitting on the couch with Kevin and proceeded to fall off hitting the glass coffee table. I really thought broke it because of the sound. Thankful only a bump on the head that soon healed. Hudson also showed them what fun the glass wall is when he stuck his head through a small gap between the glass and the wood railing. We were thankful the head didn't get stuck! Boys! They sure don't leave life boring do they! In spite of all of that The Eichers still are thrilled for us to have the house and Hudson can do no wrong in their eyes. They are Hudson's new Canadian "grandparents".

Our Move up North

Our home for the next 2,000 miles

The Might Meadowland Movers!

Hudson's first night in a big boy bed

Someone gave him a new black dog stuffed animal which he named Mocha

Can I help unpack too??

(Sorry that this is on the side) but this is one of our stocked pantries

They stocked our fridge full!

Hudson on the great fort that is in our backyard

Moving to Canada

On Sunday September 23rd, 2007 we said our tearful goodbyes to our dear friends at Tri-City. We had a wonderful last youth meeting that night and felt so blessed to be able to hear what God has done over the years in the lives of the teens. We commit them to the Lord and look forward to seeing how God is going to use them in the future. "Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us." Ephesians 3:20
The next day family and friends helped us load all our worldly goods into a U-Haul moving truck. We started out on our 2,000 mile journey up North to Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. We really enjoyed the trip up and saw so much beauty from Colorado, Wyoming, Montana then through Canada. We arrived on Saturday Sept. 29th.
As we pulled up to the house we would be staying in for the next two months we were amazed to see about 40 people standing on our lawn! They were from Meadowlands Baptist Church and they were ready to move us in. I (Holly) had not even seen the house yet so I took a quick look around and then started telling people where to place the boxes. The truck was unloaded in about 45 minutes! What a huge blessing. We then had some ladies stay to set up the kitchen. As that was being accomplished we had several visitors come by. The first was a sweet couple that was bringing a brand new nice twin bed for Hudson. People also came by with grocery gift cards and food for our fridge. We were quite overwhelmed with all the love we were being shown already. When all was said and done that evening we were left with a wonderful house (to stay in free of charge), $500 in grocery gift cards, two pantries spilling over, and a fridge/freezer stocked full! The people at Meadowlands sure know how to show the Love of Christ!