I've moved over to Homesteadblogger.com.  You can find my blog here:

http://www.homesteadblogger.com/birdlady/

Well, it's a beautiful day here in British Columbia.  I have a lot on my heart and mind.  As you know, my friend, Connie and I went to Africa in February to bring home their second child from Liberia.  My heart was touched deeply by two young boys while I was there. 

We have two children already - L, who is our biological son, and M, our daughter who is adopted from Thailand.  My heart's cry is to adopt at least one of these boys from Liberia.  I thought our family was complete, but I think God has other plans.  I just cannot get these two young African boys off my mind.  They both have beautiful smiles, and I miss them so much.  At this point, I have to believe that God will perform a miracle as there are lots of hurdles in our way.  I guess I have to be patient.    I never WAS good at that.  Perhaps I'm crazy and imagining all of this, but I just cannot stop thinking of these two lovely boys and their bright faces - despite their difficult circumstances.  And now I hear that the children at the orphanage are not getting enough food - what a helpless feeling it is not to be able to help.

And so I pray ... and wait on the Lord to work a BIG miracle, as only He can.

It's been over a month now since I've posted.  Our trip to Africa (Liberia) has changed my life, no doubt.  I cannot stop thinking about the children there and especially the two boys that captured my heart - Peace & Wesley.  Oh, how I wish we could adopt them.  Suffice it to say, however, that we cannot - unless God has other plans - and for that I will pray.  My heart aches for what is going on in Liberia and, more specifically, the orphanage, right now.  I will not go into specifics, as that has no useful purpose, but the children there need prayer.  They are not getting the food they need through no fault of their own.  Please pray that the children there overcome the many obstacles they face - not the least of which is access to basic food and keeping the devil at bay.

My dear friend, Connie, (whom I accompanied to Africa) and her husband, are settling in with their new daughter from Liberia.  They are having growing pains in the transition, but nothing that can't be ironed out.  I pray that their life becomes a bit easier and more settled in the days and weeks to come.  The blessings that these two Liberian children have brought into all of our lives, are enormous.  I feel so blessed and honoured to have been a part of the journey.   

Life here in Canada is good.  The spring "frog serenade" began earlier this week.  The music that these little green creatures create at night is amazing.  It's such a soothing sound for me.  I love springtime and the beautiful month-long froggy-music that it brings with it. 

Spring Break for the kids begins on Monday.  Ah, yes - two weeks of "Mom, I'm bored" - I can hardly wait.    This school year has gone by so fast - there is still 3 months left, but it seems to have flown by.  Next year we will be putting L into a "Late French Immersion" program at a different school in Abbotsford (grade 6).  We will be driving him to and from school each day (20 minutes each way) - no buses - so that will be a bit of a strain.  The long-term gain of bilingualism for a child far outweighs any inconvenience on us as parents, though, so we will persevere.  He will graduate high school with a bilingual certificate.  It is hard work for the kids in the first year, but well worth the effort.  Hopefully M will be able to meet the challenge in two years when it's her turn, also.

The Canucks continue in their great performances and are  currently 3rd place in the Western Conference and lead the Northwest Division!  Yippee!  They are doing really well this year as opposed to last.  I'm sure that the strong goal-keeping of Luongo has much to do with that.  Back-up goalie, Dany Sabourin, has a couple of wins under his belt, which is nice, too!  The team made two great acquisitions in Brett Sopel (whom we traded last year) and Bryan Smolinski at the Trade Deadline.  Jeff Cowan has rocked in the last few games with six goals in the last four games! 

I hope to get outside in the next few days as there are layers upon layers of dead leaves covering the gardens.  The Snowdrops have poked their lovely white heads through the soil and are almost finished their mid-winter display.  The daffodils are poking through now.  I love to see their yellow flowers unfurl in the spring sunshine.  That will be awhile in coming, but the anticipation is wonderful!  The weather has been great a couple of days this week with Tuesday being 20 degrees.  There is so much to be done outside, it is overwhelming.  I guess I need to start somewhere or none of it will happen, right?

And so, life goes on.  Until next time...

We got home from Liberia late last Thursday evening.  What a trip!  To those who have never been there - believe me when I tell you that we certainly live in the "land of plenty" to be sure.  We are so blessed here in the Western world.  Never again will I take for granted the good and plentiful food we have here and the clean water. 

The African people have done without so much.  It's also heartbreaking to see the devastation caused by years of strife in Liberia.  It will take decades to rebuild that country.  Where once there was faucets and light switches, they are now only hollow reminders of days gone by.  Devastated buildings stand - now bullet-ridden and decrepit-looking.  It's absolutely heart-breaking and also a little scary for me - knowing that the war has only been still for a brief 5 years.  Gasoline is sold in one gallon jars along the side of the road. 

Vendors struggle to be the first to try to sell something to you as you drive by in cars - especially if you are white skinned as they know that the whites have money.  I was almost ashamed of my skin colour.  Absolutely heart-wrenching is how I would describe Africa.  Some statistics:

Average life expectancy for women:  43  For men:  39  Unemployment rate:  90%.  68% of the population is under 25 - a very high percentage have lost their parents to the war. 

On a brighter note, and the reason why we went to Africa, was Anika.  She is a beautiful 12-year-old girl adopted by my dear friend Connie and her husband.  They adopted her brother a year ago, and this was our trip to bring her home.  She is a bright-eyed, intelligent, happy and beautiful child.  She has no inhibitions such as the ones we carry in this Western world.  It was an absolute joy to spend every moment with her for 8 days during our stay in Liberia and Ghana and then on our journey home.  A true blessing from God.

Do you have any idea how helpless it feels to be sick or caring for someone who's sick in a 3rd world country???  My friend, Connie, became VERY ill while we were in Ghana.  (We had to travel to Ghana because there is no Canadian Embassy in Liberia to complete Anika's Canadian Visa).  I thought Connie was going to die - and I'm not joking in the very least.  Luckily, the lady who ran the guesthouse where we were staying, knew of a clinic that has good practices and is safe.  It turns out that Connie was dehydrated.  The symptoms just were confusing so it didn't appear that's what the problem was.  Even though we were drinking water every few minutes the entire time we were there, it still happened.  A bout with diarrhea was all it took.  She went from very healthy to barely able to lift her head off the pillow in 12 hours.  We called home to get the prayer chain going and God answered our prayers.  She is healthy again - in fact, once she was seen by the doctor and given some treatment, she bounced right back within another 12 hours.  She was in a very weakened state due to her ordeal, but mostly healthy nonetheless.  We ended up leaving 24 hours earlier than scheduled just to get home. 

The heat is Africa is indescribable.  It's absolutely opressive.  Another reason why we westerners can get dehydrated so fast. 

We had lots of once-in-a-lifetime experiences on our trip.  I wouldn't trade the time spent in Africa for the world, but I sure wouldn't want to live there.  You should try it sometime - but drink lots of water - and pray! 

OK, so I think I've had enough snow to last me  the rest of my life!  I moved out to the West Coast to get AWAY from it 20 years ago, and now we have MORE snow and the folks back East are enjoying WARM weather and guess what - NO SNOW!!!  Dang it anyways! 

So, Christmas has come and gone with the whirlwind of preparations and all that's involved.  Ours was a great Christmas.  I just got all the Christmas decorations finally put away yesterday.  I'm embarassed to say that I have 21 Rubbermaid bins of JUST CHRISTMAS decorations!!!  Yep, I counted them myself!  No wonder it takes me an entire day to put them out and then to put them away again.  I do love Christmas time, though.  It's so nice to think about the birth of Jesus and the real meaning of what Christmas is all about without all the commercialism that Christmas has become in the world.

I'm off to Africa on the 29th with a dear friend of mine.  Connie and her hubby have already adopted a little boy (8 years old) from Africa (Liberia) last year.  (Did I say that they already have four children???)  While there to pick up this little boy, Connie's hubby and my hubby (who accompanied him) found out that the boy had a biological sister that had not been noted on any paperwork.  So, now we are going to pick up the little girl - his sister, who's 12.  It should be an interesting trip.  Please pray for our safety, health, and courage while we're there.  You can also pray for these children at the orphanage.  Liberia is a war-torn, and very poor country.  Many of the children who are in the orphanage there, witnessed their parents being killed by rebels several years ago.  I cannot even imagine being witness to such a thing.

Here is the URL for my girlfriend's website for Canadian adoptions from Liberia:  www.forthechildren.ca . 

I have to take my son to his hockey practise now, but will write more tomorrow.  Have a wonderful evening!

A lot has happened in the last week since I wrote.  We have had well over 2 feet of snow dumped on us!  We live in British Columbia where we seldom get snow, let alone TWO FEET of the nasty white stuff!!!    I thought I moved out here from Ontario to get AWAY from it!  Anyways, I have been out every single day to take my father for his "Tim Horton's" run as he doesn't drive in this stuff.  Now, aren't I a good daughter??  Yea, right!  I've seen it worse, but the roads were pretty bad.  People just don't know how to drive in this stuff here.  I'm so grateful that I had 7 years of experience driving back in Ontario winters.  It is invaluable to have had that.  Today is probably the best I've seen the roads since Sunday.  Thankfully, we only lost our power for about 2 hours on the Sunday afternoon.  We also have gas radiant stoves for heat, so even when the power goes out, at least we have heat.

The kids have sure enjoyed the snow.  That is one thing that is nice about snow - the kids enjoy it because it's such a novelty here.  There are years we have had NO snow, so they take advantage when we do get some to go sledding and building snowmen.  It's always a big treat for them to come in and have Mom make some hot chocolate after a couple of hours out in the snow!!  I just love to see those rosey red cheeks!!!

The snow is on its way out as the temperatures are rising and are now above freezing.  Now the melting begins.  There is an awful lot of snow to melt, and some people are already experiencing water issues.  Sheesh, first we had a HUGE wind storm one week, then the very next week get dumped on with snow!  Mother nature in all her fury. 

I, for one, will be very glad when the white returns to green.  After all, we don't get called the "wet coast" for nothing!   

The Canucks sure have NOT been playing very well.  If they don't start to perform soon, they won't even make the playoffs.  Of course, if they'd kept Alex Auld, I'm sure they wouldn't be in the pickle they are now.  They really should have asked me about it before they traded some of our key players!      Of course, I believe that their trouble started back a couple of years ago when they let Brian Burke go.  And then they let Crawford go in the spring.  Tsk, tsk, tsk.

This was forwarded to me from one of my many internet bird groups yesterday.  It's beautiful and so true.  I thought I would share it with you....

Well, we survived the big storm we got here on Wednesday.  It actually didn't last too long where we are, but West Vancouver got belted pretty badly.  We lost one tree on our driveway, so that will have to be removed and bucked up.  We also lost about 70 feet of fencing at the top of our front pasture.  I guess the posts were rotted and the wind was so strong, it just blew over!  These storms always create lots of work - as if there wasn't enough before all this!  We were also without power for 25 hours.  Luckily we have radiant stoves that heat the house and are powered by GAS and not electricity, so heat is never a concern when we lose our power.  Also, the temperatures are well above freezing luckily, so it's a lot more tolerable.  The kids' school was closed yesterday 'cause the power was out.  They enjoyed being at home, but they just had last Friday and this past Monday off for the Remembrance Day weekend. 

No matter how bad it is and how much work these things create, I always keep in mind that there is always somebody who is worse off than us - that usually keeps things in perspective when the pity party starts!    Lots of people had huge trees fall through their roofs, so we were lucky that way.  It's also nice to lose the power once in awhile as it makes us realize how very much we rely on it.  Thank goodness the local Tim Horton's still had power yesterday morning, so I could have my coffee - NOT that I'm addicted or anything - yea, right!! 

So, this weekend will be spent propping up fencing until we can get it replaced.  Our goats are locked in their little paddock until we can get the fence upright again.  At least that gives us incentive to get it done quickly.  They will miss their pasture.  We will also be cutting up the ornamental plum tree that fell over.  The driveway is lined with these trees (it's 500' long) and for about a week in April, they are in full bloom and absolutely gorgeous. 

As I sit here typing, my little Senegal parrot, Cubby, is sitting on my shoulder trying to feed me her regurgitated food - a huge compliment to be sure - but I think I'll pass.  She just won't let up, though - and she's saying "Thank You"!  These guys are just SO cute when they get something into their heads.  Life is just no fun without parrots in the house!!

Well, I must go as I'm heading into Richmond with a dear friend of mine today to do some birdy stuff.  Have a wonderful day and we'll talk soon!

Well, it's another WET day here on the Canadian West Coast.  Rain, rain, rain.  It's a bit depressing, but with the very dry summer we had, we really do need it.  It's just that when it comes down so hard, it doesn't soak in - it just runs off.

It's going to be a busy day here.  I have to work on my bird club newsletter and website (I'm the publisher/editor).  Come and visit us on the web at www.bcexoticbirdsociety.org .  I also have a few errands to run, bird cages to clean, laundry to do, then our oldest has hockey this evening.  He's a goalie in our local Triple "A" Rep team and just LOVES it.  He's very good at it, too - although I could be just a bit biased!

The Canucks LOST again last night against Detroit.  They have really not been playing too well lately (of course I could do SO much better - NOT), but being a die-hard fan, I must endure the bad with the good, right? 

Hope you all have a wonderful day and know that God is with you in everything you do!

Talk soon! 

A.

Although I have my own website, this blogging stuff is new to me!    My dear sister, (Author Donna on this site) suggested I start my own blog because I enjoy reading hers so much every day.  I certainly do not have the talent for writing that she does, though.  She is a published author.  I have no such credentials, so I will struggle with posting a bit here and there in my basic, boring style.

I am married with two children.  We live on the West Coast of Canada in the beautiful province of B.C.  I am also mom to 3 goats, 2 roosters, 1 hen, 2 Guinea hens, 1 duck, 1 Jack Russell Terrier (or is that TERROR!!??), 1 cat, and 6 birds.  Our animal family has dwindled in the past year due to attrition.  One of our cats was taken by a coyote, and our loving German Shepherd, Aspen, went to heaven on September 12th at an unknown age - unknown because I adopted her from the SPCA 7 years ago and nothing was known about her then.  We also lost 31 hens in 30 minutes when an escaped mink found his way into our chicken coop one morning.

Aside from my human children and my husband, the joy of my life are my parrots.  I have 2 African Greys (one Congo and one Timneh), one Senegal parrot, 1 Quaker parrot, and 2 cockatiels. 

I do not homeschool my own children, as I just do not have the gift of patience for it.  My sister, Author Donna, however, homeschooled her tribe of 3 and I am so very proud of all of them.  They have turned out to be not only beautiful, but highly intelligent, socially well-versed and extremely talented individuals - ALL 3 of them!!  Two of them are on this forum (tinydancer and highlandtoes).  I am so proud to call them my nieces.  I can only hope that my own children turn out HALF as wonderful as these three beauties!  For anyone who questions whether or not homeschooling works, these three young ladies are a glowing example of how all those years of effort by their mother and father (oh, and the most important one - GOD!) has paid off!

And so, I have made my first blog entry.  I'll keep posting little snippits of my life here and there as I get time.

Be blessed in all you do, my friends.  We'll talk soon!