Leaving the Briarcrest dorm was a humbling experience for me, as I slept in and the rest of the team did everything needed for our departure. I felt rather sheepish the entire time, as it looked like even the kids did more work than I did. Oof. On the plus side, I did get this rather funny photo of my dad, Blaine, looking like he was sent to the corner to think about his bad behavior (he was texting someone and didn't realize how odd this looked).
Before we left, my mom, Shelly, notified me that Yusvae was helping clean the dishes entirely of his own volition. Despite being the most mischievous child of late, it made me happy to see that he still had a serving heart. We then picked up Marie from a hotel in Moose Jaw, where we surprised her in the lobby with birthday wishes, as she turned 90! Much to my frustration, the video recording I took of us singing in the hotel lobby is refusing to be transferred from my phone. Hopefully I can post it at a later date.
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The drive to Estevan will forever go down as the sleepy-ride. The air conditioning for the bus was not working, and it had been previously tolerable, the warm weather between Moose Jaw and Estevan meant that we were rather toasty inside. This quickly sapped everyone's energy levels, resulting in the first and likely only bus ride this tour in which everyone dozed off to sleep. Shelly was dutifully doing some financial work, which meant that she was the only one awake. It also meant that she was able to snap photos of everybody sleeping.
When we arrived at Estevan, we had lunch at a park that had a playground. The kids were rather slow getting off the bus, with some of them actually being somewhat grumpy due to being woken up. This led to some instances of the normally cheery kids giving me a stern reprimand when I tried to play with them. Once they got some food in their bellies they went back to normal and started to use the playground. The playground slide was a hub of static electricity, which entertained the kids greatly as they shocked each other.
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The arrival at Estevan Alliance Church saw us bid a brief farewell to Rob, as he was taking the bus back to Regina for its air conditioning to be repaired. This meant that the team had to make sure that everything needed for the night had to be taken off the bus, as there would be no chance to retrieve it once it left. In accordance to Murphy's Law, things were forgotten, but we were able to adapt.
Due to being behind on my blog (a recurring issue as of late), I hunkered down in the upstairs youth room to get working. I came down for supper, which was a western style chicken with rice. The kids liked it, which showed that their taste palette is expanding; I am confident they would not have eaten it had this been an early stop on the tour. They continue to find new ways to impress me.
As I still needed to blog, I did not fulfill my usual role of taking pictures or videos during the performance. I was nervous as to what I would hear from Sarah when I asked her about how the kids behaved, as this was the first performance since their problematic behavior at Swift Current. To my relief, she told me that the kids were very well behaved and ready to perform. It looks like Sany's post-performance lecture at Swift Current worked wonders.
Unfortunately there was a bit of miscommunication as to who would be taking photos and videos during the performance, leaving me with only two photos of our performance at Estevan Alliance Church. I am hoping to find more from some of the other adults on the team, so hopefully you all will see more media from that night in the coming blog posts.
After the performance ended, we had a change of pace from our usual routine. Since it was Marie's birthday, cake was served after the performance along with a birthday song. This was a special experience for everyone, and a wonderful memory for Marie on a tour full of them. It warms my heart to know that I share a grandma with so many great people.
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The next day saw us greeted by a surprising sight. Rob had come back with the bus used by the Regina Pats hockey team! Apparently the bus we were using would need more time for repairs, so Engelheim (the bus company) gifted us the Pats bus to use for the day. This led to some immediate stares from bystanders, who were under the impression that they would see hockey players getting on and off the bus. The bus was much roomier than the bus we had been on, leaving me sad that we would only get it for one day. First-world problems.
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When we arrived at Regina, we settled down at Wascana park where we were joined by Cindy Ens, who is Marie's daughter-in-law and my aunt. The kids ate their lunches very fast as they were eager to go to the park's impressive playground. I got a little carried away with my pestering and made Minea mad at me, which meant that Thavin had to translate my apology. I often struggle to interpret if the kids are playing along with me or are genuinely frustrated. Then again, the same can be said of most children around the world.
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The performance at Living Hope Alliance Church was special for my family, as we used to go to it when we lived in Regina 20 years ago. It was pretty amazing to see how far along it has come. I also got to see my old Sunday-school teacher, Mr. Wiebe! Marie's son Rod came with his wife, Cindy, and their daughters Allesha and Miranda (my cousins) also came, with Allesha bringing along her husband, Josh, and their three little children. A true family get-together!
Living Hope was certainly the largest church we had been to so far (in terms of sanctuary size, as we did not use the sanctuary in Foothills Alliance in Calgary), which gave the kids plenty of room to navigate on the stage. It also meant that they had lots of room behind the stage, which made it easy for me to visit them without feeling claustrophobic. At one point I had to show Shelly how to get back to the front of the church.
Once the performance finished, I was surprised to see that we were having another birthday celebration for Marie. More cake and ice cream! I feel for the billets who had to have sugar-fueled kids crashing at their houses. While we celebrated, I noted that we will likely run out of market goods by the end of the tour, as people have been much more generous than we had anticipated. This is obviously not a bad problem to have.
God bless & Jesus saves.
Happiest Birthday to Marie! Blessings. So glad to hear of family reunions, such treasured memories.