You've always got time for.......Shannon and Jon :)

Hello my lovely family!

It's been a long time since I've posted on here but these past few months have just been crazy and to be honest I am a lazy bum, haha.

So update eh...I guess I should start off with the ending of summer at Qwanoes. I would really like to say that I had an amazing summer but I really didn't at all. Not anything to do with Qwanoes of course. Being at camp in your first trimester was really really challenging for me. With the cooking for 400 or more a week each meal and all the smells of Q-town and my hormones going off the hook, it was a daily task to stay up beat and have a positive attitude. I also didn't get to spend all that much time with people in general. My days were full of hovering over a toilet seat pretty much after each meal. Laura however was such a sweetheart and helped me where she could in offering other meal alternatives!

I found myself becoming very bitter at everything and really not wanting to but too stubborn to fix it. The name that I gave myself at the end of the year, "Nothing without love" didn't have any meaning to me and I was struggling to get back to where I was when I left Kaleo. To say the least I was counting down the days till I would be home again.

Jon on the other hand had an amazing and foundational summer. His passion is with children, lifeguarding and leadership and he had all of those three. He jumped in right away showing his leadership skills and willingness to learn more about God and grow closer to Him. Working at the waterfront is always a task every year, as it is one of the most popular spots for kids to hang out and lots of different talents and leadership. Although he had some pretty rough days he still loved every minute of it. There were times where the work was taking him away from our relationship but he was always be quick to come to God and ask me and Him for forgiveness and wanting to become a better husband and leader. What a man eh?!?! I think so :)

On our 3 days off we headed up to Uclulet with a few others. We stayed at a friend of Jim Bad's and within the first 10 minutes we found out that she had just inherited a home in Aldergrove and was looking for a Christian couple that would be working in ministry to rent the home cheap. Our mouths just dropped! Aldergrove the exact place where we were headed after camp and just around the corner from Jon's parents and the Fama's really good Christian friends of ours!

So that sort of leads us back home living in Jon's parents basement. Although it is a little crowded with all of us it was nice to be close to Sarah and see the kids and his parents each day and help with dishes here and there.

September was filled with tests, tests, and more tests. And still the tests are continuing not just for baby. Baby is healthy and doing well. We've heard the little ones heart beat in the beginning of Sept and we just recently had an ultrasound. Now in the movies they always cry and always seem so calm and it's such a beautiful moment however in the movies they don't let on that you have to drink 32 oz of water an hour before you get there!! Wags I now feel your pain! haha.

I really wanted to enjoy being there and seeing my baby for the first time but all I could really think about is how much I had to pee!! There was one moment when I saw my baby's hand and it was pure joy and amazement however. They couldn't tell just yet what the sex of the baby is and didn't take a picture because it was too early for that and the picture wouldn't have turned out that well. In December Jon and I are going to go to a place called 3D baby where you can see your baby in 3D and have live feed where your friends and family can also view while you do. We are looking forward to that!

Has for the other tests I've had to go through is a little more on the serious side and prayer is needed. About 4 years ago I had to go through many tests for my heart. As long as I can remember I've always had a irregular heart beat where it sort of skips a beat and then beats fast to make up for the beat. I can't always feel it but when I get stressed or do exercise it is noticeable. I miss about 6 months of work to go through the tests only to be put on a waiting list for another six months. In the time I changed my job to Curves where I would work out regularly and changed my eating habits and was a lot less stressed out. I kind of just forgot about my heart issues and was feeling just fine and it wasn't bothering me anymore. I never ending up seeing the specialist and then coming to Kaleo and with all the hiking I did I sort of thought, "Hey if I can hike in India all that way and not have a problem with my heart exploding then I am fine."

When I transferred doctors all my old paperwork got sent to her and she called me in for an appointment. The notes that the one specialist wrote was actually really serious and my old doctor failed to inform me of the severity of my heart issue. It seems to be that my left ventricle isn't working the way it should be, isn't as strong (the muscle) as it should be. So now I am back to going through tests with my heart. I've had an ECG and next week I have an echo gram and then in Dec I will be seeing a heart specialist. I feel perfectly healthy and don't really notice anything wrong but prayer that all will be ok and that I would not have to go through any type of surgery to correct the problem.

I know that I have rambled on and on and on so thank you to those who have read till now I'll just quickly sum up to where Jon and I are now.

I just got a job at Tim Hortons working afternoon shifts and back to a supervising position which I didn't really want all of that but afternoons gives me time for appointments and I just work better in a leadership role and a role that I know well for that matter at good old Tim's! I am actually excited to get started on Monday. Jon is still looking for work and has applied to a few places with no call backs yet so please be in prayer for that. The house is amazing and we are all moved in and are working towards making that house a place of refuge and a place for ministry towards our family and friends that are not believers. We have found a great church and will be getting involved into a small group where we too can grow our faith more and more.

I will post some pictures soon of my ever growing belly! Right now it just sort of looks that I've let myself go, bahahaha.

I love you all and I'll update more often so it doesn't have to be so long..lol.

Much love,
Shannon and Jonathon