Home for the Holidays....

My Christmas holidays this year have been a little unconventional. My parents came to California to visit me the week before my break started. It was so nice to have them there, and thankfully my dad asked me to confirm the date and times for my flight coming home to Calgary. It was then that I realized I was a day behind! I thought I was supposed to leave Sunday and it turns out I was acutally scheduled to leave Monday! Well, after some some quick work by my wonderful friends back home my flight was switched to Sunday and I was able to make it back on time for my exciting dental appointment on Monday which culminated into a wisdom teeth extraction on Tuesday. Thus started my holidays. Not very much fun, and I do not wish that upon anyone, but I was able to heal (and smile) for the most part by the time Christmas Eve rolled around.
As per family tradition we attended the Christmas Eve service at Bonavista Church and then came back home for food, (I stuck to the soft stuff) fun, and opening gifts. It's always such a joy to be together! My dad shared about the gift of joy given to us through Christ and we reflected upon that before we opened our gifts together. This year I was blessed to have my family come together with a friend of mine and give me a digital SLR camera. I have been wanting a camera like this for some time and I was so excited to receive it! I can't wait to use it on outreach as my favorite thing to photograph are different cultures and the people that I meet overseas!





I have also had time to enjoy the company of my friends. The past two days I have been able to go to Banff and enjoy the mountains and the fresh air. The first day was spent walking around downtown and hanging out with my friends Anni and Crystal. It was nice to talk about YWAM memories, future goals, and life in general. The second day I went with my good friends Sarah and Aaron. We again walked around downtown and a few classic Banff sites. It was hilarious freezing together as we've all become aclimatized to the California heat. We later met up with Jill and Darren (Sarah's sister and brother in-law) and my friend Kris who lives there. The past two days have been so much fun because Christmas has come to mean a visit to Banff for me. No visit home would be complete without it!









My short stint home ends in 4 days...it feels like I just got here! I look forward to spending New Year's Eve with a few friends eating and playing games. I wish you all a very Happy New Year, may it be filled with joy, family, friends, and the blessings of the Lord.