Ten Thousand Villages

Today, I piled into a van with 6 other ladies and headed to the Ten Thousand Villages, an international fair trade market that supports people all around the world who hand craft many items.  Everything from coffee to Christmas ornaments.

So as I roamed around the room admiring the wide variety of option available for sale, I stayed true to my purchasing mantra these days: small and travel size!  So for me it was a pair of earrings and a necklace.  Easy to pack and take anywhere. ;)

The hosts of the event even set up a small cafe where you could stay and have soup, coffee, and desserts.  The group of us did stay and did just that and were able to visit more before packing up our bags of purchased goodies and heading home.  It was a lovely morning and lunch and fun to be a part of the group.

Tonight, I am also excited to visit with friends from my hometown who are in Canada visiting family.  I know them from growing up next door to them and being best friends with their daughter.  I'm blessed to have a friendship with her that goes back to when we were 4 or 5 years old and continues today and I enjoy the times I can reconnect with any part of the family, as they are all dear to my heart.  So tonight we are both taking a time out visiting our individual families, to get together and visit one another!

Thanksgiving, Family, and Football

Canadian Thanksgiving was this past Monday (Oct 8), it was a good time both leading up to and after the holiday.

In the days before Thanksgiving weekend my mom and her husband Tom came up to see were we are staying while we are in Canada.  They drove up Wednesday, stayed Thursday and Friday, and then drove back on Saturday.  

We were able to do some sight seeing together.  The first day they were here we had the most beautiful weather and it coincided perfectly with our trip to Niagara-On-The-Lake, a small town with a very beautiful stretch of manicured lawns, small shops, cafe's, and winery's all around.  It was sunny and warm (between 75-80 degrees) so we ate lunch outside on the patio before taking time to stroll down the streets before driving on to get to Niagara Falls.  On the way, we also stopped at the whirlpools that are created by all the water flowing through the area and then made it to the grand finale of our day: The Falls.  

As we drove near and could see the cascading water we got the famous mist that settled over the car and everything around it.  You could see the pedestrians on foot with their frizzy and damp hair walking along the sidewalks enjoying the view.  

We found a free place to park on the edge of the area we wanted to walk to and strolled back to the falls along the water before it found its way to fall over the cliff crashing at the rocks below and then moving on.  There was an old abandoned, rusty barge that got stuck on the rocks above that we could see.    

Once we got to the front of the falls we were almost constantly able to enjoy not just the falls themselves, but the numerous rainbows that formed due to the constant mist and bright sunshine!  

It was a fantastic day!

The following day was a Friday and Mom and I went shopping and then we all had an early Thanksgiving meal at Nate's parents house that night.

After a morning breakfast on Saturday, Mom and Tom headed home.

Sunday, we had another Thanksgiving meal after church and enjoyed a relaxing afternoon.

Monday, Thanksgiving Day, was a day of no commitments or cooking!  We had an easy morning and then went on a hike to Borer's Falls, afterwards we warmed up over Pumpkin Spice Lattes.   Nate and I then headed to go watch a movie which wasn't my favorite, but because there were so many issues at the theater getting the movie just to start (I think we saw one preview repeated about 4-5 times as they were trying to fix it and the movie started 40 minutes after it was supposed to), everyone got a free movie pass after the movie was over.  Afterwards, we even got a little bit of football watching in at Boston Pizza!

While we mostly watch American football, this Friday I will see my first Canadian football game!  The Hamilton Tiger-Cats or apparently just the "Ti-cats" for short.  (I have to confess I just googled it to see what city they come from...I was guessing Toronto, but it is actually Hamilton.)  Should be an interesting experience!  I think the biggest adjustment will be only having 3 downs in the Canadian league while I'm accustomed to the 4 downs.  

It's fun to be here and experience some more of the Canadian culture!