more pictures from the week.

some pictures of the various projects we did over the week, payton with one of the campers and the kitchen crew. There is also a group photo of the individuals staying in the matthew house currently and another group photo taken right before we said out good-byes today!

Sports Camp

The first day of the sports camp was a bit of a rude awakening for us. Managing thirty kids turned out to be harder than expected. But, as the days went on, things got easier. The first day was soccer, and the kids seemed to know more about it than we did! And most everybody participated. The second day was football, and we actually had to teach most of the kids the rules of the game. The younger campers ended up playing their own version of football: everybody running after whoever had the ball! We played basketball on the third day, but we didn't realize that the hoops were wayyyyy too tall for the younger ones. All the kids that were too little to shoot the ball ended up going to the playground. By now, the heat and crazy kids had started to really affect us counselors. But, we stuck it out for the last day and had a ton of fun. The fourth and final day consisted of letting the kids choose what they wanted to play, and you could probably guess what they wanted to play: soccer! As the last day came to a close, it finally sank in that we would not see these kids again. We all had a fantastic time at the sports camp ministering to kids from all over the world. We will never forget them! :)

Ps: Saturday is Remy's birthday... he has received the best birthday present ever. He got news yesterday that they have found his parents! Remy's father was taken in the airport when they were on their way here, they had no idea where he was headed but got on the airplane anyways. It has been about 3 years since he has seen them.

Picnic time!

Today we had the picnic for all the campers and their families. Betsy and I spent all day in the kitchen with some wonderful helpers, Ruth, dominique and sergio. The youth got the church bright and early for the sports camp and today the sport was basketball. Everyone seemed to enjoy it. The temperature was much warmer today. Betsy and I headed off to the grocery store as soon as they opened this morning and did all of our shopping in less than an hour and a half! We we to Sobey's for the majority of the groceries and then back to the wonderful No Frills. We even made 25 cents by returning the Cart in the parking lot.. (someone had left their quarter in the basket we grabbed in the parkin lot so I locked it up and out popped a quarter! easy money i'd say!)

After camp today, Joe finally got the youth's t shirt's washed... you can imagine how badly this was needed! All the work at the matthew house was accomplished today. the siding looks great along with the new counter top, light, and range hood over the stove.

The menu for the picnic consisted of hamburgers, Hot dogs, pasta salad, veggie tray, baked beans, rice and beans ( made by dominique) and watermelon. For dessert, we had mini powdered doughnuts, brownies and cookies baked by sergio. The pasta salad was not such a hit, but tomorrow is left over friday and we will be using up all our left overs with the campers for lunch!

After eating the youth did the skit from today for the families and Ali-Kat explained briefly about the purpose of the week and the skits. After that Rosemary, Jim and Shirley thanked all of us for our hard work and our continued dedication to the Matthew house. Each of us received a Thank you card which hard a picture on the front with some of the campers or matthew house members. We each got a canadian water bottle full of candies with a "team canada" official olympic bracelet attached. Carlos' mom also thanked us for everything we did and gave us each a goody back stating that "it was not much but a token of their appreciation."

Rosemary had also prepared several games for the kids to play. They enjoyed 3 legged races, Sponge races and Fishing for Ducks in a swimming pool. Betsy, really enjoyed playing with the kids. They got a little carried away with the fishing for ducks game and she came in the kitchen soakin wet!

Everyone was so exhausted today! The heat has really taken it out of the youth each day, and today was especially long! Tomorrow will be a bitter sweet day I am sure. We are exciting for sports camp, but sad it is the last day!

I am doing my best to add as many photos as possible tonight!

10 Things Joe can use his Bandaged Finger for....

1. Use it to clean the windows
2. Big Q-tip-in case he needs to clean a Gorillas ears
3. No need for a napkin at dinner
4. Bingo Marker
5. Use it for a toilet bowl cleaner, get into all those nooks and crannies
6. He will always have a Kleenex On Hand
7. Comes in handy in pointing the team in the right direction
8. Check the oil in the Vans
9. Now he doesn’t need a paintbrush
10. Cell Phone Antenna; he get's the best signal around!

=) We love givin' Joe a hard time, he takes it very well!

Today is 3rd day of sports came and also the picnic which is open to all campers and their families. We will report back with the final count from the picnic and how the day went. There is lots to be done as far as shopping goes and preparing in the kitchen. The sports camp in trying their hand in basketball today which should be lots of fun for the kids! And as far as the work on the Matthew house, we should be finished today! Praise God! The men got the counter top installed yesterday and the siding is up to the bottom of the windows.

Thanks for all your Prayers.! Matthew 25:35!

Man these Kids can EAT!

After day 2 of the sports came, 2 trips to the grocery store and preparing for the cookout tomorrow night. Betsy and I will be back in the grocery store as soon as they open tomorrow morning. Thank God for all of the generous help we have had from so many wonderful ladies who have either been in the matthew house or who are currently staying in the matthew house. We could not have prepared lunch and served all the children and cleaned up as fast and effectively as we have the last 2 days without their help. Today's menu consisted of Egg salad sandwiches, turkey, roast beef sandwiches, pasta salad, and fruit. Boy do those kids love fruit! of course we have chips and some sort of cookie. This year we are having to be very careful what we prepare and check every label; one of the campers has a severe peanut allergy and is not supposed to be around anything that has been prepared with peanut oil or contains peanuts. Our youth were very disappointed we could not have peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Today we went through almost 6 loaves of bread, 5 lbs of deli meat, 4 bags of chips, all the waffer cookies we had and all the grapes, apples and strawberries we had were gone! I believe we all the extra we estimated 55 people were fed today for lunch! wow, God is Good!

Tomorrow is the big cookout. We are not sure how many people to expect. Not all of the kids have parents here, but they have many siblings and not everyone RSVP's to the flyer. We had more kids at camp today than yesterday and are estimating for 3 people per camper. All in all we are estimating for about 140 people. The menu consists of burgers, hot dogs, rice and beans (made by our new friend Dominique), pasta salad, baked beans, a veggie tray and some sort of baked goods or a cake. We will be very busy tomorrow but we have recruited lots of helpful hands in the kitchen!

Today Joe sliced his finger as the men were working on the counter top in the kitchen, he went to a clinic here in canada and ended up getting 3 stitches for $75 dollars!

When we woke up today it was very gloomy and over cast, we were afraid it was going to rain but it did as they called for and everything burned off and moved on. The sun came out and it was a hot one! The kids said camp was a little more of a challenge today than yesterday because american football is not something all the kids are familiar with. It is very technical and harder to teach. But i think all in all they had a lot of fun!

Betsy and I spent a lot of time in the kitchen today with a woman named Dominique who is from Haiti. She has been in Canada for almost 2 years and has 2 teenage boys who are still in Haiti. She is such an incredible lady and so friendly. (as is everyone here) We learned so much from her. We asked lots of questions about their food, culture, her experience in haiti, etc.

This woman seems to have been very successful in haiti. Working as a teacher and starting a school a year or so before she left. Dominique still has family in haiti her mother and several siblings along with her children. It is so sad, I can not imagine having to leave, not knowing when you will see your kids or family again.

Ruth another lady who is always so eager to help in the kitchen is always so bubbily and excited to see us! She is part of the Columbian family who is currently living in the matthew house... but only for another week! As of yesterday, Ruth and her family signed for an apartment in Niagara Falls and will be moving in next week! What a happy and exciting time for them. The 4 of them have been living in one bedroom and will not be moving into a 3 bedroom one and a half bath apartment. Ruth has a daughter who is excited to start art school soon. She has been helping with the VBS sets the church is working on for next week. Their son is going to help us bake tomorrow; he wants to be a chef of some kind!

Last night we went to dinner with Jim Shirley and Rosemary at Rina's, Very good italian food!

We then went to walmart and back to the hotel, everyone was exhausted! Before we left camp yesterday Shirley informed us that they had received a call they would be picking up 4 Haitian children who had just arrived. These children ranged in age from 11 to 20. They lost their mom a few years ago and the 20 year old has been taking care of them since. I can't begin to imagine how they felt today, as they came into eat lunch; must have been a little overwhelming, but I was glad to see the 11 year old boy joined in the sports camp and should becoming back tomorrow. Because their is no room in the matthew house right now, they will be staying in the Howard Johnson where we are staying!

The youth have been given the afternoon off. Betsy and I are taken them to the beach after we get ice cream and then getting mcd's and off to see fireworks to at the falls tonight!

Stay tuned for an updated from a youth's point of view on the sports camp!

continue from Yesterday

Well needless to say yesterday's shopping trip was eventful and we learned a lot including bulk in canada does NOT mean large quantity... it means scoop from a bucket and put in a bag.... the Bulk Barn was a very interesting store indeed.

A Taco bar was prepared for lunch with the help of our new Columbian Friends Ruth and Sergio. With 12 hard tacos and 30 soft taco's we had 2 hard tacos left, and 4 soft tacos left... man this bunch can put away some food!

Back to work we went; finishing up the painting, drywall, etc. and for dinner we ate in at the church with a homemade baked spaghetti meal Betsy prepared. It was wonderful. After dinner we headed back to the hotel to shower up and relax. Everyone was so tired we couldn't really decided what to do. We ended up driving down to the beach to check it out. After taking a few pictures, playing on the playground and including the chaperone's in a game of ninja we headed back to the hotel to rest up for tuesday's sports camp!

we're very excited to meet all the kids and get more work done around the Matthew house today! Thank you all for your continued prayers and for reading our blog!