Thanksgiving

On Friday, October 7, circumstances dictated Joanne to write the following email to our friends, relatives and prayer supporters

We are writing at this time to ask for continued prayer especially about the up coming M.R.I. It has been 15 months since Gary was diagnosed and up till now has not had any symptoms like he had before his surgery.

Over the past 2 1/2 weeks Gary has been having mild headaches and last week he experienced dizzy spells as well. This was becoming quite a concern but did not effect his work until early Friday morning when he got up in the night because of a headache and had a black out and a fall. The rest of the morning he felt dizzy and nauseated and the headache persisted so we went to University Hospital Friday after lunch to see what was going on. They did a CAT scan that evening but nothing was found different or showed need for alarm which made us sigh with relief. Thankfully Gary could go home. They increased his steroids again and he takes pain medication for his headaches as needed.

The MRI date was pushed up as an emergency to this Friday afternoon which is almost a week earlier than planned. We are grateful for this as there is continued concern especially with the happenings of the last few weeks.

We are thankful for the past MRI results and pray this time will not be any different. The headaches and dizzy spells are definitely a great concern and we pray that it is only due to increased swelling and not regrowth.

We were very calm about it all and I give thanks to God for His constant nearness and the peace He is giving us from day to day.
All praise be to God,
Joanne (also on behalf of Gary)

It was unfortunate to spend the entire Friday afternoon and evening in the hospital, especially as we had three children who had come home for Thanksgiving.

Michael was home for the weekend bringing with him his guinea pig, Henry, as well as his brother Ryan, who his landlords, Richard and Cora Wilms, had been nice enough to drop off in Hamilton.

Ryan and his SKS rifle

We all slept in the next morning and had a late brunch after which we went for a nice walk through the woods. All of us went , as well as many of our animals. Only David and Leanne were missing, as they had a camping weekend with the Adams family.

Christine leading Brownie

Jessica and Ruby

Joanne and Starlight.

Even Danny the cat came along

Ryan showing his woodsman's lore in identifying plants.

It was a beautiful Thanksgiving weekend.

The soya beans are ready to be harvested

An interesting tree that has grown up in the middle of a rock, splitting it in half.

The moist few weeks we have had have resulted in a proliferation of weird mushrooms in the woods.

The rest of Saturday was taken up in getting ready for winter and regular maintenance things, such as storing the trailer away

Ryan contemplating whether his oak tree will survive the winter ravages of rabbits, deer and mice

Taking in supplies for the horses

Unfortunately, Danny the cat did not come home with us after our walk and we spent some time worrying about him since we have coyotes in the woods and Doug started to combine beans that same evening.

Christine and I stayed home and listened to the sermon on the telephone on Sunday morning, after which we went for a walk out to the woods to look for Danny. We did not see a glimpse of him, however when we returned home, we found the cat in the barn sleeping on a straw bale.

The water in the creek is surprisingly clear for the time of year.

All in all it was the type of weekend in which we realize that though we are still living in a world ravaged by the effects of sin, God already in this life  gives us many undeserved blessings which have been promised:
 2 Peter 3:13 "Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells."