Vancouver!

It's official - we made it to Vancouver! We left Dallas yesterday morning with 8 checked suitcases, 4 carry on suitcases, 3 backpacks, 2 kids, 2 car seats, one diaper bag, and a stroller. Fortunately we had the help of my family to get everything into the Dallas airport, but getting it out of the Vancouver airport was another story! I was also a bit nervous about getting through security at the airport with the kids, computers, sippy cups, stroller, etc. but it went relatively smoothly...still took a long time, but it definitely could have been much worse!


(All our suitcases, ready to go!)

We flew to Phoenix, changed planes, then flew on to Vancouver. The kids did really well on both flights (Praise God!). Each leg was about 2 1/2 hours, the first flight we were able to keep them relatively entertained and on the second flight they both slept for an hour and a half.

We arrived in Vancouver around 1:30pm and made it through customs without any problems. Then came the exciting task of getting our suitcases from baggage claim. We began taking them off the carousel as they came around and by the time we had about half of them, we started getting some strange looks and saw people nudging their spouses and pointing. There were a couple "stragglers", but we ended up with all our suitcases and car seats accounted for - yay! We loaded up 3 carts with 4 suitcases each and then tried to figure out how to get the 3 carts and stroller out of the airport. I have to say, we couldn't have done it without Carter's help! He ended up pushing the stroller with minimal whining, I pushed one of the luggage carts, and Ryan pushed one cart and pulled the other. It was quite a sight!

We received our instructions from the team that met us at the airport, they took our suitcases to our apartment, then we were on our own to get ourselves home. Our first "assignment" was to engage as many people as we could in conversations along the way and try to gather some specific pieces of information about the city. We enjoyed talking with people and so far have found Vancouver-ites to be very helpful and friendly. We took the Sky Train (which Carter LOVES) and found our apartment with no trouble at all!



(Our apartment building, we are on the third floor on the back side of the building)

Yesterday evening we went out for dinner and then headed to the grocery store. We tried to get the basic necessities and not buy too much, knowing that we were going to have to walk 6 blocks with whatever we got. The sit 'n stand stroller has already proven quite useful...not so much for Carter, but for groceries:).

Today we were able to spend the day unpacking and settling in to our new home. All the suitcases are unpacked, and everything is in the appropriate location, now we need to spend some time organizing and tidying up. I will wait to post pics of the inside of our apartment until things are a little better organized:). Overall, we are really happy with the apartment and already feel at home. Again, coming off of 7 months of homelessness, it doesn't take much to make us happy!

Tonight we ventured out again to explore the area around our apartment. We are just a couple blocks away from a huge park. We enjoyed the walking trails and then discovered a great playground for the kids - they were both so excited!


(Carter, leading the way...)


(One part of the playground)


(Kamryn loved this slide and preferred to go down backwards:) )

I was trying not to make this post too long, so I really should be wrapping up, but I just have to share one more thing! When we arrived at our apartment building, we were trying to find the right key to open the main door when the manager of the building came to let us in. She welcomed us warmly and we chatted with her for a several minutes. She was telling us a little about herself and casually mentioned that she was Romanian! She and her husband both were born and grew up in Romania, so when we told her that we were moving there, we formed an instant friendship. She began telling us everything that we needed to know about Romania, teaching us Romanian phrases, and already has plans to take us to the Romanian restaurant and market. Ryan spoke with her again this morning and was able to share our story and talk with her about her religious beliefs. What an amazing God-designed relationship!

Thanks again for your continued prayers. We will keep you updated with our training and time here in Vancouver. Tomorrow we start our classes and will find out more details. We are looking forward to the experience and seeing what God will teach us during our time here.