Christmas is coming

This past weekend, the family got in the Christmas spirit with two of our favourite annual events. On Saturday, we headed south to Victoria to watch the skating club perform in an old-fashioned outdoor rink. We appreciated it even more this year, since last year the whole thing was cancelled because of a snow storm. This year, the weather cooperated, and we were able to enjoy the ice show and a walk around Buchart Gardens. The gardens have changed a lot since my sister and I first visited them 20 years ago. In those days, the world famous Buchart Gardens hung a few strands of tinsel and a couple lights on a plant or two, and announced it as their new Winter display. Now, it is beautiful. Everything is decorated in a "Twelve Days of Christmas" theme - all 22ha (55 acres) of the park. The whole place was a wonder. The prettiest sight however was Buchart Cove, partially covered in ice.

Buchart Cove

Kanon and Lucas

Lisa, Victoria, Evelynne, Norm

On Sunday evening, we drove north, to Parksville. There, in a Baptist Church, we enjoyed a replica of a Bethlehem marketplace, 2000 years ago. We tried "camel-spit" buns, beverages from the "He-Brews coffee shop, honey, and olives. The children learned hot to write their names in Hebrew, and watched a lady weave a mat. Norm and I were invited to join a improvisation of the reading of the Psalms of David. I played the tambourine, Norm played the sticks, and we had harp and a drum too. The best part, though, was when the kids were arrested by the Roman soldiers and put in the stockade.

We had a great weekend. Now the snow has started to fall. Christmas is on its way.