A Full House- The Pardys and McNallys!

Hey everyone! We've had a busy, and fun filled week with two visiting families! First, on Friday night we had the Pardys: Sharon, Larry, and their boys, Madison and Hayden, stay the night with us. They arrived at 12 something- so Scott was long gone to bed and I was on the nightwatch (which is my preferred watch anyways!- Scott got up both mornings and made french toast for everyone:)

Scott, before we met when he was in his first and second year at Acadia Div. College, stayed most nights at the Pardys, since they lived right up from the school in Wolfville. Before they moved there they were serving and attending Scott's home church (where Papa pastors) in Lake Echo, NS. It was great to catch up with them and see the boys- they've grown so much, and Madison has this amazing card trick that I can't figure out:).

The Pardy Family! (+scott and dee)

Two nights later we were blessed with a visit from John and Catherine McNally, and their kids R, N and S. John was our pastor back in the valley where Scott did his Supervised Field Ed. (SFE), and John was his supervisor.

We were so glad to see them and we had a great chat- pretty much picking their brains about ministry and life stuff over tea- thank you guys- it was so encouraging to us. We went for a McAdam 'tour' to the station and then to the playground where they had this cool Zip Line thing- it was very Alias-ish!! (I woke up with a pulled muscle today...)

The McNally's! (+a Scottasaurus):

"Camping" at the Kohlers, in the sun porch-so cute!

In the morning the kids couldn't leave until we had played some soccer with them in our backyard- it felt a lot like camp, and was a lot of fun (plus a good way to start the day- with a workout...I volunteered to be goalie for the first while...:)

New Friends!!

God is so good to us- a few weeks ago, Scott went over to introduce himself to the Anglican minister here, who he heard was also a young guy. Well it turns out he and his wife have moved here from Vancouver, BC, where he went to Regent College. They have 3 kids (6 weeks, 2 yrs and 4 years) and they are all so adorable! We clicked with P&M right away and have already spent some late nights over there chatting and playing some serious "Dutchie"...they are so much fun and it is such a huge blessing to have friends in town who are in ministry...we're very thankful for them!!

Us, P&M and Baby E:)


Their other 2 kidlets watching cartoons at our house (with my pigs:)


Yesterday, I was out putting some things out on the line and this is what I saw- a beautiful double rainbow (only one seen here). Just another reminder that God takes care of his people, and he's certainly taking care of us!!:)

More Visitors for us!

This past weekend, mom and Dave came up to visit us from our hometown of Halifax- they loved it here! We had a great time taking them around the town, and we stopped in at the Campbells- and then Liz gave us all a formal tour of the Train station...it was great! Mom and Dave sure loved the station- and scott and I did too- it's such a neat piece of history right in our backyard, you know? After seeing the station, we then went to visit our new friends up the street, with whom we've been spending a few late nights chatting with tea while playing Dutchie...P&M! Baby E was there too of course and mom thought she was the cutest little thing! (She is)...we had a great visit with them over tea served on M's super cool dishware.

On Sunday mom and Dave came to church and really enjoyed it I think! Scott preached on Ephesians and we shared a song called "Go Light Your World". That afternoon we hopped in mom's van and drove down to Bangor to do some shopping- it was great fun..and I love Bath and Body Works!! Mom and Dave took us out to eat at this great steak and ribs kinda place called Bugaboos-yum yum:) They left the next morn, and we had a great visit with them-glad they were able to visit our home and life here in McAdam! (No pics- sorry!)

Just after mom and dave left- Scott's cousin Paul and wife heather with their 8 month old baby Hannah came to see us for a couple hours before continuing on to Sackville to visit Paul's Parents. It was great to spend some time with them and finally meet their very cute baby! We had lunch here at our house and then they left about 12pm. We love visitors- so come and see us!

Paul, Heather and Baby Hannah playing in the LR

Devin and Lenore's Visit!

We are so blessed to have friends like Devin and Lenore- with whom we can have both serious chats, and just non stop laughter or craziness (Coke+Dutch Blitz=good times in the maritimes). So what did we do together while they were here? Update each other- letting pookies reunite- on life, etc, play Dutchie, visit with mutual local friends, like John Campbell and Sara Archibald- who just got engaged in Europe and were with us on the Poland trip, help with music at church on Sunday, of course!, and also with our DVBS which started while they were there. We also sat around playing guitar together- Lenore can play a full song- and I'm sure will soon have a whole slew more under her belt- but we still get her to play her trademark song for us:) We also ate our Texas Meal with chili, cheese, tortillas, and tostitos- so fun!

Oh yeah! And since last year on our mutual one month anniversary we ate the top of their wedding cake, on our one year anniversary (or thereabout) we busted our wedding cake top out of the freezer (thanks Mama Kohler who made our wedding cake!!) and cut it and we all ate it- and it was still so yummy!!!


It was so awesome that they could come and stay with us- and we're sure it won't be too long before we'll be meeting up again....we love you guys!



Cutting Our Wedding Cake Top

















Jam/Learning Session in the Living Room

Life in McAdam on this day

Usually it's Dee that posts blog updates for us (except for on the trip, when the blog served as my personal and public journal), but here I am on a Monday night at the computer writing away.

We've made several new friends here in McAdam, including our newest friends, the minister of the Anglican church and his wife. We had a rousing start to a game of Dutchie (Dutch Blitz) last night, but I was too tired to be able to finish it, so we'll do it again later.

Things are going really well here, and VBS was a particular success. With over 40 kids around during the week, it seems like a great place to begin to rebuild our youth and children's outreach. Very exciting, and God seems to keep giving us help with everything he asks us to do. The funerals are difficult, but he helps with those too.

I thought I'd post a few pictures of our recent visit with Devin and Lenore (who came for a few days and very willingly and capably helped out tremendously with the first too days of VBS). Devin sent them to me today, so here they are.

Welcome to Our New Home!

Hi everybody! This is the grand tour....

Here's our bright and sunny dining room- the table and chairs are new to us thanks to the Wilsons(Jonathan and Martie- our friends and proff and wife from Acadia who are moving to BC)!















Here is my FAVORITE part (dee:)- the renovated kitchen with the requested island!! I've always wanted an island! They put a new dishwasher in 2 weeks ago which was awesome, and most of the house has been repainted white- fresh and new!
PS-these bar stools were too large so they're gone now and will soon be replaced by regular wooden bar stools.

















This is the stairway to the upstairs where the bedrooms, offices and bathroom are. To the left of this picture is a sunporch with lots of windows- it's been where most of our unpacked stuff has been residing, but we're definitely making progress! (I'm standing in the living room)
















One of the best things about having a house is the people you can fill it with!!! Last night we were able to have our friends from the valley, Devin and Lenore, come and stay with us! They stayed that one night and are coming to stay a bit longer next weekend. We played some dutch blitz (of which I also insisted that we film one round for the blog, but can't figure out how to put on here yet), we gave them the house and church tour, and just caught up with them! It was awesome! (We really hope to have lots more friends, (and their kids:), come and see us or stay with us soon!:):):):):)

Here we are playing Dutchie in the living room (that table's not usually there:)

















Part of our bond with Dev and Lenore is that we were all married the same day, which spawned our "Rings In!" ritual. Here are some exclusive photos.

Life in the Village of McAdam

Us outside of the church, and the sign says "Pastor Scott":)



This is our new house! We love it! As the sign says, it is the Baptist Parsonage.


McAdam has about 1500 people, a general store, an old and partially restored train station, a variety/video store, a little tanning/hairdressing place, a diner, a lounge/restaurant/ 4 room motel, a pizza place, a subway place, a little library/ tourism place, police station and firestation, and a post office. Oh and 2 schools, elementary and high school.

Well when I write it out like that it seems this town has a lot, doesn't it? It also has a lot of character, quietness, charm and nice people and weather, aside from the daily thunder and lightning showers. We've been really enjoying life here so far...everyday I feel more and more at home. Yesterday we visited Green Hill Lake Camp where our buddy from Acadia- Al-had been directing the camp, but was finished or on vacation ir something while we were there. They have a great facility- and they have these huge floating things out on the lake that campers (wearing PDFs, mind you) can play on- a huge iceburg shaped thing that you climb up and slide down, a huge teetertotter and a trampoline. We went these with Andrew Kelly and we all had so much fun! I was sore today from all the excercise!

This weekend we have our first non-family visitors- Maryanne Bailey and her mom are staying with us tonight, and tomorrow night we have the Devin and Lenore Team coming up to participate in the ongoing "Battle of the Sexes" Dutch Blitz Tornament with us. My guess? Girls are gonna kick some boy butt. hehehe....:) Anyways, mom and dad (Scott's) are now here for a week with us (staying with our friends for the weekend due to space shortage), so we're looking forward to that.

I've been picking lots of Raspberries in our backyard everyday and we're gonna make jam while mom and dad are here to help us;)! We had our friends Elizabeth and Tony over tonight to play dutch blitz and eat pizza, and then when everyone arrived we all chilled and talked it was great! Also, Liz took me swimming on the St Croix River today and we swam from the US to Canada and then back again. It was so funny, and fun....swimming is awesome! There are so many lakes around here! Time for bed, it's almost Sunday!

Pics of Poland

Wow, Poland! What a wild and wonderful time to try and describe in any kind of short form. But...pictures tell a story- so here are a few. Thank you for checking our blog and being patient while we moved to NB and got settled here. We're really enjoying little McAdam, and have made some friends already- a huge blessing! Scott preached today and he did great! It's nice to finally be able to reflect on our trip, now that the first hectic week (including Scott's first funeral) in McAdam as pastor and wifey, is over.

Our time in Poland was unforgettable. We saw and experienced so much:
many Polish eyes empty of hope; dismal about Poland's political and economical histroy and future, the horrific and important site of Auswich, teaching english to eager young people and encouraging them that they are the ones who can make a change for the better in their country, and sharing with them our reason for coming to teach english for a week: our love for God and desire to share His love with them.




This is the shower in the church (the church housed great facilities for people to stay there for either short or long term)- unlike North America there is no shower curtain and the shower is handheld- very commmon in Europe.















Here's me smilin' for the cam (and Scott). We all wore nametags with Polish and Canadian flags on them.
















This van was great, it fit about 8 people and only had seatbelts in the front. To have these 2 symbols together in Poland is a rare sight.






















Ania, a youth leader at the church in Katowice, is an awesome girl, totally committed to serving Christ with her life, and has loads of personality (and craziness!- maybe that's why we became friends so quickly- or maybe it was the hair...). Her 2 sisters Ola and Helena were also great girls who helped us out a lot while we were at the church- whether it was with meals, translating, hugs of encouragement, mini Polish lessons, whatever!





















Here is me with my class (Christina and I taught this class together-Advanced Level). They are all very intellegent women who are either in Uni., or looking for work (not an easy task in Poland).














L-R: Monica, Dominika, Magda, Yola, Me, Korolina, Anna's sister and Anna.

Ireland, and home...

This is the third of three blog entries I've written this morning, so check below first, about Switzerland and Paris.

Yesterday morning we went through the wild escapade of getting up at four, packing our things and walking to the metro for the first train sometime after five-thirty am, and getting ourselves to the Porte Maillot stop to catch a bus run by Ryanair, our cheap airline to Ireland, to get out to the Beauvais airport 80 kms away to catch our plane to Dublin. When in Dublin, we ate and began to figure out how to see Dee's family. By the time we got off the bus in Enniscorthy (Dee's father's hometown) we had been up for thirteen and a half hours.

But here we are, having spent last night with Dee's Aunt Ann, uncle John, and cousin Joe, and then a couple hours at the greyhound races, at her uncle Victor's house, catching up on sleep (I slept 10 hours, very uncharacteristic for me), and waiting to visit family and see Enniscorthy before heading back to Dublin tonight so we can come home tomorrow night.

Visiting family is the perfect way to end the trip, in an English speaking place, just across the ocean from home. We're ready to relax a bit at home, but are excited about our move to McAdam this weekend and starting at the church on the weekend. We've missed all of you, and really enjoyed your comments on our blog and emails through the month.

Some quick stats, as of today: 28 days, nine countries, countless new friends, eight significant visits in major world cities (and lots more short or long visits in other small or large places), nine foreign languages encountered, seven overnight trains, about 900 pictures (no joke), and one big ache for sustained normal homecooked food again.

Thanks for reading the blogs about the trip!

Paris

I don't know where to begin with Paris.

Looking back on the whole trip now (as I write this we're in Ireland at Dee's uncle Victor's house in a small town called Enniscorthy), there is no question that Prague was the most beautiful city we were able to see on the trip (and that either of us have ever seen), but we both have the same opinion about our favorite city overall, and that is Paris.

There's something in the air in Paris, and you can't even explain what it is. It feels unlike any place I've ever been, and everything there seems coated in this romantic glow. Rain in Paris on Sunday even felt different from rain in other places, as we walked through the neighborhood Montmartre, with its windmills on several street corners (including the red one - Moulin Rouge), steep hills on mostly pedestrian streets, the cemetery where I was able to see the grave of one of my favorite movie directors, Francois Truffaut (as an actor, most people know him only as the French scientist in Close Encounters of the Third Kind), and just the general atmosphere of this cool and popular neighborhood on a hill.

But the romance of Paris was also there as we watched rollerbladers performing on the bridge from the left bank of the Seine to l'Ile de la Cite by Notre Dame cathedral... and as we took a boat cruise along the Seine, with the Louvre on our left, the Musee d'Orsay on our right (we visited both of those museums and loved them- and yes, we saw the Mona Lisa too!), and the Eiffel Tower behind us... and as we sat on the lawn in front of the Eiffel tower at sunset with a crowd waiting patiently for the sparkling lights to come on... and as we walked along the river passing vendors selling old books, postcards, and new paintings.

It was amazing, and it was the fullest three day stretch of our trip, and that's why we didn't get to blog for the last five days.

Paris

I don't know where to begin with Paris.

Looking back on the whole trip now (as I write this we're in Ireland at Dee's uncle Victor's house in a small town called Enniscorthy), there is no question that Prague was the most beautiful city we were able to see on the trip (and that either of us have ever seen), but we both have the same opinion about our favorite city overall, and that is Paris.

There's something in the air in Paris, and you can't even explain what it is. It feels unlike any place I've ever been, and everything there seems coated in this romantic glow. Rain in Paris on Sunday even felt different from rain in other places, as we walked through the neighborhood Montmartre, with its windmills on several street corners (including the red one - Moulin Rouge), steep hills on mostly pedestrian streets, the cemetery where I was able to see the grave of one of my favorite movie directors, Francois Truffaut (as an actor, most people know him only as the French scientist in Close Encounters of the Third Kind), and just the general atmosphere of this cool and popular neighborhood on a hill.

But the romance of Paris was also there as we watched rollerbladers performing on the bridge from the left bank of the Seine to l'Ile de la Cite by Notre Dame cathedral... and as we took a boat cruise along the Seine, with the Louvre on our left, the Musee d'Orsay on our right (we visited both of those museums and loved them- and yes, we saw the Mona Lisa too!), and the Eiffel Tower behind us... and as we sat on the lawn in front of the Eiffel tower at sunset with a crowd waiting patiently for the sparkling lights to come on... and as we walked along the river passing vendors selling old books, postcards, and new paintings.

It was amazing, and it was the fullest three day stretch of our trip, and that's why we didn't get to blog for the last five days.

Switzerland

It's been several days now since we've been able to post (sorry everybody!), but that's because Paris happened. So let me backtrack.

We left Vienna on Wednesday night and headed for Zurich. That night we passed through the most incredible lightning storm we had ever seen. Literally, for half an hour, there were constant lightning flashes no more than two to three seconds apart. I saw fork lightning out the window of the train, and our whole cabin would be lit up for several seconds at a time. We were on a very hot, un-air-conditioned train, and the storm broke the heat outside and made for a comfortable sleep after a fascinating storm.

When we awoke we were passing through mountains on both sides of us as we approached Zurich. The city itself is not in a very mountainous region, but on our way we saw some nice medium sized mountains.

We got out at Zurich, locked up our bags, and began our whirlwind tour of Switzerland in one day. First stop was Lucerne, a beautiful little town with several small medieval town squares, some gorgeous mountains in the distance, and a lovely lake called, appropriately, Lake Lucerne. We had breakfast at a little buffet place, walked around the town, and got back on the train.

On the next leg of our day we were headed for Interlaken, and the train ride was unbelievable. We were high in the mountains, surrounded by mountains, lakes, waterfalls, and spent the whole time gawking out the windows (I actually stood up most of the trip) at the sights around us.

From Interlaken we took another train to a little place called Lauterbrunne, famous for its waterfalls. There we did an hour and a half walk enjoying the scenery next to the giant mountain Jungfrau, which was entirely invisible to us because of clouds. Slightly disappointing, but still a beautiful walk.

Our last stop in Switzerland was the capital, Bern, which we explored for a couple hours, eating lunch on a noisy street corner where, once again, crazed World Cup fans did their thing. So funny watching the police try to direct traffic in that commotion.

We got back to Zurich in time for our last night train of the trip, and the most exciting destination of all: Paris.

Vienna

We made it to Vienna yesterday morning, and immediately loved it. The city center is great, with the Stephansdom (cathedral) right in the middle of everything. We visited the Hofburg (imperial palace) for a few hours yesterday, seeing the royal apartments there, the silver collection, and learning abuot Sisi, the Habsburg empress Elizabeth. It was well worth the money.

Last night we saw a concert at a building at the Schonbrunn palace. The price was a bit steep, but it was fun (and appropriate to hear Mozart and Strauss pieces in Vienna).

The weather is so hot here (in the mid30s to 40). We're taking it easy today, just to be able to recover, since the heat wears you right out. We'll be spending the bulk of the afternoon back at Schonbrunn, in the massive park there.

Tonight we leave for Zurich, and we'll be spending the day tomorrow on and off trains throughout Switzerland, before we take another train tomorrow night to PARIS!

By the way, Matt, we are consistently still doing the Alias visualization technique you taught us for each city. It's pretty fun!

From Munich to Vienna

Hey there everyone! the y and z are reversed on this computer so if I misspell-forgive me k? So yeah, this is dee and reporting for team Kohler the team is doing fine- better than fine, great!

After taking the night train from Simon Pau's to Munich, we met up with Chris who was actually on the same train! That was funny. She told us about her time in Swiss, and we told her about the Pau's. We fell in love with Munich. It's a big city with a great feel about it. The first thinbg we did was go to the city centre, where a large cathedral, and 4 big clocks are around you on different buildings. At 12 we went back to the square and it was loaded with tourists and we watched with them as 1205 came and the cathedral clock chimmed, and all these figurines danced around in a window of the cathedral. I thought it was over and then differnt figurines performed a jousting match on horses and one guy got clobbered by the other guy- it was really cool!

For the morning we went walking thru the cities 2 major parks- the hofgarten and then one of the biggest parks in Europe- the englisher garten- this one has a river running thru it, all green alpine water, freezing cold, great for cooling the feet down! And also, this river has a number of more rapid areas of flow, and at one of these places where very wavey water was churned up, there were surfers surfing on this constant wave, being filmed!! After this, we walked thru and then sat for an hour on our own and read or prayed, etc. It was sooo relaxing and nice!

By the way, the lonely planet told us this but we saw it in the flesh(no pun intended)- there were a ton of people just out sunbathing in the park- NAKED! It was shocking and funny at the same time. Like that would NEVER happen in Canada. But it seems to happen a lot in Europe...one more cultural difference.

In the afternoon we went to see a fairytailish castle, reputedly the one that Disney's castle is modelled after. It was never completely finished so we could only see bits of it as we got a tour through the building. It is so high up and we had to walk 5k just to get to the town before ascending up a winding road to the castle. The walk for me was grueling, but we made it and it really was so beautiful. As soon as we got close to the town (Füssen)we could see the Bavarian Mountain range- snow caps and everything- breathtaking!! From the castle you can see the mountains, the small little towns of germany on green rolling hills and a waterfall coming down from a mountain that the catle is right beside. Scott's dad visted this same castle in '71, so we were thinking of you, Frankie!:)

Vienna!

That night we took the nigttrain to Vienna, Austria. We bunked with 2 other guys and they were from Peru and Columbia! So I was able to practice my Spanish with them! We also met an Asian guy on the train who went to Dal! He grad,.ed the same yr as me, but from his Masters in Math. I only have a bit left on this compu so I'll let scott blog the rest of yesterday and today- thanks for reading this and for all your prayers, we have been healthy anbd safe thus far!

One of the best days of the trip

We are at the Pau house in Hoerstgen, Germany now. It was great to see Simon and his Dad out the window of the train as we pulled into the Duisburg station Thursday night. Yesterday we went for a bike ride and then after dinner went for a little car trip with Simon... to the Netherlands!

In Venlo, NL, just like everywhere else we've been, World Cup fever was in full swing. Only one thing filled the streets as much as football fans: bicycles. After Venlo, we went to a little town called Arcen, where there is a little castle with a moat. That was pretty cool. When we got back into Germany we went to a town called Kevelaer (VERY Catholic) that served to demonstrate how much prettier the average nice town in Germany is than anywhere in Canada.

Today we saw the ultimate, though. We drove to Bonn this morning (Beethoven's birthplace, former capital of West Germany) and caught a cruise ship on the Rhine, and rode it to a little place called Konigswinter. There we took a tram up to the highest point to a lookoff in the hills, where there was a ruin of an old castle tower and an old castle being repaired. It was a beautiful view and a really cool town.

Then we headed for Cologne. I think it's the third biggest city in Germany (after Berlin and Munich) and it was AWESOME. We went to the Dom (cathedral), which was easily the biggest church we had ever seen, and then walked the 509 steps to the top of one of its towers, 97 metres, and could look out over quite a long distance. After we got down, we wandered through the city, which was jumping with football fans. We have great pictures of it that we'll post later. THe atmosphere here is so festive and fun, nothing like what we thought it would be during World Cup time. You feel like you're walking in a theme park most of the time, this dreamworld where football makes everyone happy and friends with everyone else. By the edge of the Rhine we saw a one-man-band that was unbelievably good and ridiculous-looking, and these two Iranian boys (about six or seven) who wouldn't stop dancing, in a very suggestive way, the whole time he played. We got loads of pictures of them. It was hilarious, and one of the high points of the whole trip so far.

The Pau family are great. They are so hospitable and get along so well. Watching Simon and his Dad inspect with great intensity any mechanical curiosity (especially the one man band with his weird set-up and generator running in the back) is so refreshing and enjoyable. Along with SImon and his Dad, we were accompanied today by the Paus' friend Mary, who is from Texas but has been working here for the last year or so.

It was an unforgettable day.

Prague to Poland to Berlin

Today is our last day in Poand. We got a good sleep on the train last night, and a better one this morning back at the church here. Tonight we leave at 9:43 (4:43 Atlantic time) for Berlin, and arrive there tomorrow morning. Travelling is so fun.

Tonight we'll be going to local Catholic festival where we'll get to share 10 minutes (singing together and sharing about our visit), which Jurek feels is yet another good connection for the Baptists here to make. We were invited by the vice-president (more like vice-mayor of the city here), so it is a good opportunity.

We hope to see a few of our Katowice friends tonight before we leave, Ania, Radek, and Kasia. It would be nice to get to say goodbye after a fun evening together.

Tomorrow we'll have the day in World Cup-crazy Berlin (in Pague the Old Town Square was set up with a large screen and a massive crowd Monday night for Czech Republic v. USA, so it should be even worse being actually in Germany). Pray that the trains won't be booked already, so we can make it to Simon Pau's house on schedule Friday for our weekend visit there. We're really looking forward to seeing him at home and going for a boat ride on the Rhine on Saturday.

Gotta go for now! We're thinking of you all!

Prague

Hey everyone!

We're in Prague right now, staying at the International Baptist Theological Seminary (IBTS) in their hotel, which is very nice. We spent the day today in the city and will do the same tomorrow; this is a relaxing time at the end of our mission trip, meant to unwind us after all our busy-ness last week. I would say it's working, but this city is too amazing to realy relax. The castle, cathedrals, Charles Bridge, and Old Town Square, all of which we saw today, are all unbelievably beautiful.

(And Mission Impossible was filmed here.)

I have to head to bed, but will write more next time I'm online. This evening when we got back to IBTS Dee enjoyed sitting in the window looking out onto a wooded Czech hill where mist hung in the trees and she could see people hiking. It's beautiful here and beautiful in the city itself. We can do nothing but thank God for giving us this trip!

Poland Day Six

Back in the internet cafe... Scott this time. We've done a couple of days of English classes now, visited a high school (where we spoke to nine classes about life in Canada - three classes per three people), and met with a professor at the Catholic seminary in Katowice. Tomorrow we'll be visiting Auschwitz, where I expect we'll all have our eyes opened even wider to something we all know about but haven't seen quite so closely.

Tonight at our English classes we're having Canada Night, where we'll do all kinds of Canadian things, songs, food, etc. Should be fun.

We're having a fantastic time, and recently were able to do our first load of laundry in over a week. Believe me, that is a happy occasion (for us and probably others too...)

This is a short post, but I have a limited number of minutes here to do a LOT of things!

Please post and leave your comments - we'll check again in a couple days!

Dzien Dobre! ~~Good Afternoon!

Hello to everyone from us in Poland! We are sitting in an internet cafe in the dwntwn train station in Katowice, Poland. We have had a safe and exciting trip so far! Our two mishaps both happened in London, where we got to see some great sites, Big Ben, London eye, Westminister Abby and inside, a thaeter play- the Producers, and Picadilly circus (London's time square). The first mishap was when my bank card was eaten by a bank machine when Scott wqas trying to get some money out for us. He called the number on the front of the machine and the kind british man on the other end tried to help but ended up saying: 'it seems that when the machine has captured your card, it cuts it up into little pieces inside the machine. I'm terribly sorry for the inconvienience but thank you for letting us know." Mishap number 2: we underestimated the time and way to get to Stansted Airport for our flight to Krakow and missed our plane. We had to buy new tickets and sleep in the airport on chairs- it was really funny. We (esp me, dee) were thankful for our sleeping bags (fleece liners) after that incident.

Poland!
Finally we made it to Krakow the next day with Karen and Earl and Jersey at the airport to meet us and take us home to our residence in the church in Katowice. Jerzy, the pastor is awesome- very friendly and always making really great puns...his english is very good that way. Anyways, I slept for 8 hrs while scott and the rest walked around the town a bit.

Scott has his Master of Divinity!

Scott snd Matt graduated at 3:00 Sunday, May 14th. Scott's Mom and Dad and I went to the grad, and it was especially memorable for Scott's mom who was also, of course!, celebrating mother's day! So here they are---> the new grads! Scott graduated with his Master of Divinity and Matt graduated with a Master of Arts in Theology! It was so nice to share this day with Matt and Christine, especially knowing how much went into earning these degrees. It was also super nice that our new church in McAdam sent us a graduation card and everyone signed it!!






Proffs in their robes- they look very proffesional don't they?!

Graduation Weekend!

Tonight (Friday), Scott and the rest of his graduating class of 25 MDiv Students were commissioned- that means that they were formally dedicated to God's Work. It was a very exciting event! First we had a dinner to which Scott and I, Mom and Dad Kohler, and Scott's bro Graeme and wife Jen (who's expecting their 3rd!) came. We had a nice meal, a yummy dessert, a short program, and then each graduand received an Acadia alumni pin.



Proud Family and Scottie















The Gaduating Group- see Scott in the centre and Jarvis on his right












Scott Receiving his Alumni Pin















After that we went to Wolfville Baptist Chruch down the hill and there was a formal comissioning service at which our fave proff Jonathan Wilson spoke (and it was awesome!!!) about delighting in God, and going out to preach God's good news of hope in Jesus Christ, and making disciples of Jesus- knowing God is with you all the time. Then one of the other proffs- Loinel Moriah prayed for the grads while staff/supervisors/mentors of them gathered around and laid hands on them while they were commisioned to the work of the Kingdom of God. Our pastor John was there, and it was awesome that some Kentville Baptist people came, too!

Scottie, we are VERY proud of you, and I know how hard you've worked to get to this point (and so do your parents!). We love you very much- congratulations!!

Commissioning

Today is the day. Tonight I'll be commissioned (for the second time, but don't tell - it's a secret) by the Div College at their annual Commissioning Service. There's also a commissioning dinner tonight, which is always nice. Mom and Dad and Graeme and Jenn will all be coming for that. Then Sunday, it's graduation day! I can't believe it's finally here, after five years off and on at Acadia (I missed a year to meet Dee - worth it).

Our Poland trip is coming upon us quickly - we leave in two and a half weeks. Time certainly seems to fly as years go by. It's scary sometimes.

Scott and Shawn Say Goodbye to Adventure Club

Adventure Club is the midweek ministry our church puts on for kids in grades 4-6. There is a LOT of kids there (maybe 60-70), and each grade has leaders, 2 of whom are Scott and Shawn. Since they're both done their studies at Acadia and are moving on (Shawn to do a PhD in Scotland with Bev and their 4 kids, and Scott and I to McAdam) Adventure Club had a farewell night for the boys! They each had a farewell song written for and sung to them, as well as a group photo given to them. Tonight was my first time at Adventure Club and here are some photos from tonight:

Scott surrounded by the kidlets!

Scott and Shawn were the main players (targets??) in this game where they had to get up from their chairs and run around all the kids on their side and back to their chair again about 10 times...what a workout- but they were both great sports!

Shawn's Farewell Song by Janet, Juanita and Devin

Scott getting a second workout leading action songs-
mostly Duggie Dug Dug music!

Scott's Farewell Song- it had great words!

Houseguests- (Is that all one word???)

Lately we've had many visitors at our little house in Wolfville! It's been very fun- and our guests don't seem to mind the couch too much! Here's Jarvis, who stayed for a few nights while his girlfriend Janet was visiting from Ontario. Late one night I was trying to work in the kitchen on an essay, while hearing muffled laughter coming from the couch. For some reason, it's east for Malagashians (Those who worked at/went to Malagash Bible Camp) to get each other laughing. It could be that they share so many funny stories...or it could be, like with Jarv, that one has learned what makes their fellow campmate bust a gut:)



Here is Christina (AKA-Chris), our friend from the Div College. We shared a Theology class, and she and Scott had a class together too. Chris came to school in January and we've made a new friend in this New Brunswickan! Chris and Scott and I are going to Poland on the mission trip together and the 3 of us will be travelling together afterwards, too! She is staying at our house last night and tonight for a Poland meeting here in the Valley, since she's back in NB until we leave.
Chris is also a fellow scrapbooker, and we got her hooked on the best show in the history of time (no arguments)--ALIAS!!!! :)
BTW we are all constantly receiving support for the Poland Mission Trip, and are very encouraged and amazed at God's provision!

I like to call this picture: "Chris-in-a-Blanket"

Scott meets Duggie Dug Dug!

Doug Horley (Duggie Dug Dug), children's musician extraordinaire, came to Rock Church this weekend to do a couple of praise parties and a leaders workshop. I went Friday night and Saturday morning, and got to enjoy the music and learn some new action songs. After Friday night Laurie Ewer from HCA introduced me to him and I got my picture taken. Here we are!

Devin and Lenore

Devin and Lenore are two of our best friends here in the Valley. Scott knows Devin from back in their first year of Div College, but then when they connected again last summer, they realized they both got married on the same day- June 18! After asking each other why they didn't invite the other, they laughed and picked up where they left off a few years ago.

Automatically we had a significant connection with these two- the same anniversary! Not to mention that we're all involved in Ministry and Devin was in my theology class all year...By the way, he was always late, except on the last day:) It has been so nice to have Lenore to talk and hang out with this year, (and to start me scrapping!) even tho we're both busy, especially Lenore since she's substituting pretty much every day!

Devin is the associate pastor at Kentville Baptist (our church), and Lenore and Devin both do youth group and music- LOTS of music:) They are a very gifted couple, but most of all they are great friends. Scott and I will miss them terribly:( Lenore and I will especially miss winning against the boys playing very heated games of Dutch Blitz:) Where Lenore can occasionally be heard asking us,
"So like, how long do you guys think you'll do the points for?" and "Oh no!":)

The Boyz-- Scottie K and Devin J

The Girls, often heard shouting, "Blitz!" (haha...:)

Lenore recalling her University Spanish

Devin getting a short (yet high quality) guitar lesson from Dee

Snapshots of Wolfville

As we only have a month left here before our trip to Poland on May 30 and them move to McAdam, NB for July 1st, I thought it'd be nice to post some pics dePICting our life in Wolfville!:

This is Scrapbook Night which happens almost every Monday night, usually at Christine's house. This is a small night, but we sometimes have 5 or 6! I always look forward to going...I think we all sort of feel like it's a girls night/support group! Most of us have some connection
to Acadia Divinity College and that's how it all got started. Also, you can often hear Christine saying, "So where did you get that idea?" :)



















Here is Scott with friends Matt and Shawn in an in-TENTS situation (I'm so punny:)! These 3 guys spent a lot of time together studying at ADC, finishing their MA's (and Scott's MDiv). As you can see, these study bugs have their crazy sides, too. . .:)





Congrat's to Matt who just finished his Thesis! Yay! We know how hard you (and fam!) worked to achieve this goal and we're proud of you!







These are some of the girls I work with at Swiss Chalet- and their babies! We got together to say good-bye to Jen (turquoise shirt) as she moved to TO. In front is me and Phyllis (we're both seater/greeters) and Tracy, Jen and Tracy are all (or were) servers. I'm holding Tracy's baby boy elliot- same name as Danielle's new baby girl!
















Congratulations to Danielle and Rick on their new baby girl, Elliot Jane! (I had previously put Ellioy and didn't notice the typo! Sorry guys!) Does this make me Auntie Dee? Yay! We're so happy for you guys!!

School's Out... for ever?

I just got back from Jonathan Wilson's house, where I dropped off Dee's Statement of Faith, her final paper for Systematic Theology. For me, the magic moment was 10:57 am, Friday, April 21, 2006. That was the moment I finished my last assignment for my M.Div. Life is awesome. Life is free. We're so thankful to God for getting us through this school year, and for where He's taking us next. First, though, we get to ressssssssssssssssssssssst. Oops, sorry, I almost fell asleep, life is so stress-free!

Valentine's Day

Back on Valentine's Day we headed into Halifax to go to Boston Pizza, our favorite restaurant. Here's a picture of us there!

Here we go

While we were in Nicaragua we saw lots of great places, people, and things. Here are some of them.


From left to right are Chico (the driver), Carlos (the gardener/boat driver/our friend), Dee, Scott, and Nanny.


Here Dee touches the back of a turtle that we watched while it was laying eggs! Dee likes to call the turtle Marissa!


This is the cathedral in the center of the city of Managua, the capital of Nicaragua. The cathedral has been closed since it was damaged in Managua's great earthquake of 1972, an event that destroyed much of the city.

Spring Break in Nicaragua

We went to Nicaragua on vacation in February with Dee's Nanny, and had a fantastic time. We stayed with Nanny's stepson Tom and his wife Lois, at their house on the beach... Very rough life, indeed. Here's a picture from a market in Masaya.

This is the view from a restaurant in the nearby town of San Juan. It's a funky little town where Scott and I went to church one Sunday am. I tried to translate for a while but then my brain was like overloaded and it all started sounding like gibpermsh. But at the end of the service everyone wanted to hug and kiss us and were really super nice. Actions definitely speak louder (and clearer) than words:).

Exams, exams

I actually only have two exams this term, one of which I wrote yesterday and shouldn't have been concerned about. This morning I have Evangelism. That shouldn't be very bad either, except I've barely studied. I''ve got an hour and a half now to try to prepare myself.

It's hard to believe that after this exam I'll just have to finish up my last two classes' work on my own time (I hope to be done Friday) and then my years at seminary are over. I can still work on my thesis (and plan to do so), but my formal classes will be all behind me. It's a strange feeling sometimes, but it's a good one too. Maybe I'll feel like an adult soon.

Dee uploaded some pictures to blogger last night I think, so I expect she'll be posting them to our blog soon. My posts are non-graphic it seems. It's just easier to not procrastinate that way. :)

Guilty of procrastination

I have a tendency to procrastinate. I know this, I admit it, and sadly most times I accept it. Well, we've been guilty of procrastinating with our blog these days too. But now the semester is coming to an end and it's time to start updating.

I just finished writing an article on the Dead Sea Scroll 1QSa (The Rule of the Congregation) for a book called The Encyclopedia of the Historical Jesus (published by Routledge and forthcoming in 2008). It's great to be done it, since it was two weeks overdue on Saturday. Now it's 10:30 and I'm just getting started studying for my Greek exam tomorrow morning. Life is good.

Dee and I are trying to get out all of our support letters for Poland, and it's going fairly well. We're excited about everything that's going on in our lives these days; it's hard to even imagine that this is real life sometimes. Once I've graduated I'm hoping it will feel a little bit slower and more manageable for the two of us. McAdam is waiting.

Well, I suppose I should get to that Greek. We'll try to keep updating.