Coming Soon: Daily (Radio) Devotionals

I (Steve) will be commandeering the blog for the next month.

January is my turn to do the daily radio devotionals on Hudson Bay's local radio station (CFMQ 98.1 FM). My daily 5-minute thoughts use real-life sports events as a way of opening up a spiritual topic or Christian devotional thought.

Since this is a sports-mad town (and world?), but the devotional moments air at a time when many people will be at work or in school, I will post the text here each day.

And I will also include links to YouTube, where a video of the devotional will be uploaded.

Many of the stories, and some of the spiritual applications, will be inspired by 'Devotions from the Worldof Sports' by John and Kathy Hillman

Another resource for people looking to connect Sports and their Christian faith is my brother's blog, Living Up to my Name with frequent profiles of Christian athletes living out their faith.

I hope they will be enjoyable and helpful.

See you in January!

Gifts from All Over!

Anastasia continues to receive gifts from her friends all over the world. Here are her latest acquisitions...

From Ebru in Turkey:

From Janet in South Africa:

From Daddy's cousin, Jill, and family, in New Brunswick:

From Karen & Archie in Carrot River (note the back zipper opening):

From Daddy's cousin, Kelly, and family, in New Brunswick:

From Martina in Belgium:

From Daddy's Uncle Jim & Aunt Lois in New Brunswick (homemade dress!):

From Petra in Austria:

From Audrey in Macau:

From Dawn in Wyoming:

From Pinuccia in Italy:

And from Susan in Nevada:

 

Thank you, friends and family!

Gifts from Sweden, New Zealand, England, Maine, Ontario, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia & Saskatchewan

Anastasia has continued to receive fan mail and parcels from all over the world! Check out her latest gifts...

From her Auntie Cecilia in Sweden, yet another beautiful present, including this Brio car (wonderful toy company!) and lovely embroidered dress:

And from Deborah in New Zealand, this cool frame on our Noah's Ark theme:

From Amanda in England came this warm sleeper, plus some treats for Mummy, Daddy & Gryffin:

From Linda and Carl in Maine, these cute items:

And from Ontario cousins Deb, Bruce, Emily, Marilyn, Mike and the rest of the clan, a whole boxful of goodies, including these colourful pieces:

Now for the New Brunswick parcels. First, from Dale & Donna, this pretty dress:

Then from Shirley & Ralph, this handmade blanket:

And from Great-Aunt Goldie & Great-Uncle Alvin, a handmade Noah's Ark quilt plus a bank:

From Great-Aunt Winnie and Great-Uncle Bill, another, completely different Noah's Ark quilt:

From Auntie Caroline & Uncle Greg this package of handmade bed & bath items:

And from First-Cousin Sean, this painting for Anastasia's wall:

From Gram Nellie's Cousin, Jimi-Jane, in Nova Scotia, these warm mittens:

And now for a few gifts from right here in Hudson Bay. Bob, Diana and Kay dropped off this nice, big package of clothes:

And Elaine & George gave Anastasia this talking prayer doll, along with a lovely frame:

Baby Shower in Arborfield

Church of the Ascension (Arborfield) and St. John's Church (Nipawin) came together to honour Anastasia with a baby shower in Arborfield. She's so popular!  The shower included a wonderful cake and lunch, a gift-opening time, some fun games to test our brain power, and the reading of some poems chosen by Mary. Thanks to everyone for a fun afternoon!

Here are the gifts Anastasia received...

From Joyce:

From Ken & Betty:

From Carol & Richard:

From Dawn & Terry:

From Glen & Bernice:

From Judie & Amanda:

From Myrtie:

From Marge & Don:

From Norbert & Alice:

From Elaine:

And gifts of money for Anastasia's education fund, from Betty, Mary, Linda, Shirley, Shaun, Nellie, Marge, Don, Cecilia, Wendy, Clara, Beth, Leonard, Mildred, Ruth, Kath, Linda, Gladys, Gwen, Laval, Elaine, Gladys, Vi, Marion and Minnie.

Baby Shower in Hudson Bay

The ladies from St. Patrick's Church here in Hudson Bay put on a co-ed shower for us earlier this week. A few of the guys told us it was their first-ever baby shower. (Isn't little Anastasia hospitable already?)

Here are the gifts that Anastasia received...

Stacey and Mya brought this cute elephant toy & blanket combo, along with the tie-dye-style hat. They know that the Golding Page household is a colourful one! :-)

Iola brought this gift of practical items that Baby will need.

Michelle gave us this frame (perfect for amateur photographers like us) and a pretty outfit. Don't you wish Carters made clothing for Big People, too?

Leah and family brought Anastasia a rubber ducky (everyone needs one, right?) and these books. They must know we are a bookish bunch...

Ray, Karen and Tyler gave Anastasia these nice little ensembles. Again, don't you wish the baby clothes manufacturers also made clothes for adults?

Lynne and Neil brought this book to keep school memories in - Julie had one of these as a child and loved looking at it as she grew up. And Lynne cross-stitched some personalized bibs for Baby, too.

Shirley gave Anastasia this beautiful bear blanket. We think it was homemade, making it even more special! Maybe Shirley will confirm that for us...

Kathy brought this sleeper and doggie book-toy. Everyone at the shower had to try out the toy, so it is already a hit!

Gifts were wrapped in all sorts of fancy papers and bags. Here is a selection of a few of them...

But back to the gifts...Anastasia also received some presents in the form of money, from Henry, Sandra, Paul, Caron, Dora, Joyce, Rob, Rae, Cheryl and Madison. Now she can start her own bank account. :-)

Laurel brought this corduroy suit (just right for the coming autumn), plus a pretty hooded towel.

Lexy, Harold and Chandra gave Anastasia this handsome outfit. It's so nice to see blue, as it's very unusual to find anything blue for a girl.

Ida and David brought this lovely patterned sweater, made in Peru. Don't you love the fun pattern?

And last but not least, Gail & Jeanette gave us a whole bin of items, both decorative and practical. How many different things can you find and name in the photo?