Merry Christmas from the Parkin Family!

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Have coffee with us Dec. 23!

We will be meeting at the church at 10:00 a.m. Sunday, Dec. 23. We are hoping any old "Sacred Hearters" who may be in Lethbridge for the holidays will join us so we can catch up. Hope to see you then - but if not, we wish you many blessings for the Christmas season and throughout the new year!

No church this Sunday

... we'll be back to business as usual the following Sunday...

Another Engagement!

For those of you who know Alisha Glover, you can celebrate with us at the news of her engagement to Tyler. She is such a special person and we have so enjoyed her involvement in our community. We are missing her while she is doing her internship with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship in Vancouver. We are wishing Alisha and Tyler all of God's blessings on their life together as they take this next step!

No Church this Sunday

Due to people being away for the long weekend, we will not have a service this Sunday. Services will resume as usual at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday, Oct. 14.
We had a great visit with the Bishop! Darrin and I felt very ministered to, which was great for us. Thanks to all who came out Monday evening for a visit and dessert.
Have a happy Thanksgiving!

Bishop Sean to visit!

Our bishop, Sean Larkin, from England is the fellow to the left. He will be coming for a visit to Sacred Heart from Oct. 1-3. We'll be having a get together at our home on Monday, Oct. 1 at 7:00 p.m. for desserts/snacks and conversation. Bring some food, some questions, and we'll see you then!

Russian Coal Mine

Good News!!

We are thrilled to let you know that Jodi Vander Woude and Kevan Berg are now engaged! Apparently, Kevan popped the question in Taiwan and the response from Jodi was "of course!" They are considering a wedding for next summer. Jodi is so special to our community, and has been a pillar for us for several years. We are missing her terribly while she continues her education in Ontario. We want Jodi and Kevan to know that they have our love and support as a community as they move into this new and exciting time in their lives. Please feel free to pass on your congratulations!

Services Resumed!

A reminder that we are resuming Sunday services starting this Sunday, September 9 at 10:00 a.m. We meet at 323 4th St. South in Lethbridge for Holy Communion and Worship. See you then!

Megan and Aaron's wedding!

We had the honour and priviledge of attending Megan and Aaron's wedding on Saturday, August 11. It was a beautiful ceremony and such a reflection of their personalities. We have so much enjoyed watching their relationship grow and mature over the last few years. It was such a joy to be able to be part of the celebration of their wedding.

These two are an amazing couple and we are sure they have an amazing future ahead of them!

On behalf of the community of Sacred Heart, we want to pass on lots of love and blessings to these two as they begin their married life together. We also want them to know that they have the ongoing support and love from our community.

Sacred Heart BBQ

We enjoyed a (finally!) cooler evening enjoying Darrin's marinated rotisserie roast beef and the many other delicious salads and desserts brought by everyone. It was great to catch up on how everyone's summer has been going. Chad and Sharon are in the process of building a house (and Darrin is enjoying every moment of teasing them about becoming suburban capitalists). We had fun helping them choose siding and trim colours. They, as well as Tavis and Chryslyn are off to the Calgary Folk Fest this weekend. We are all very excited about Aaron and Megan's wedding coming up on August 11. For some reason, those two love birds felt the need for some alone time and went off to feed the horses for us (hmmmm...... can't image two almost newlyweds wanting time alone....) It was great to see Dana again - who has been too much of a stranger as of late - and we have not had nearly enough of a chance to tease him about, well, whatever we can think of at the moment. There was even a little time to play the Wii - and I will never make comments about Megan's golf game again! (no comments from you either Tavis!) All in all, a very good evening. I think I'm still full.

We plan to have another one the end of August, so let us know if you'd like to come and we'll make sure to keep you in the loop.

Change of Date for BBQ

We are still having a Sacred Heart gathering and BBQ, but we've changed the date. It will now be on July 25 at 7:00 p.m. at our house. Please bring a salad or dessert and some beverages to contribute. You will be treated to Darrin's (rapidly becoming famous) rotisserie marinated roast beef. See you then!

Happy Birthday Carlin!

Today is Carlin's 16th birthday!

It is hard to believe time has gone by that quickly, but it is true that we have a 16 year old son.


We are so proud of Carlin - all of his accomplishments, and the person he is. He gets amazing marks in school, has been on Student's Council since elementary school, and is a natural leader. He has a strong sense of who he is, has definite opinions about his beliefs and values, and is able to articulate those opinions very well. He has a good sense of what he wants to accomplish in life, and how he's going to get there.

We are always very proud of choices Carlin makes and how he lives out his faith in his day to day life.

Have a wonderful day Carlin! We love you very much!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRETTIN!

Today is Brett's 13th birthday! We are very proud of the young man he is becoming. He loves sports, especially lacrosse, friends, animals and his family. He is full of energy, fun and new ideas. He's always willing to try new things and he's always willing to stick up for the "underdog".

Brett - we love you, we are proud of you , and we wish you all of God's blessings! Now that you are officially a teenager - go easy on us! :-) Love, Mom and Dad

Darrin officiated another wedding this past weekend. It was a beautiful ceremony held at the Fritz residence. The groom, Shane Trowbridge, is the step son of Darrin's sister Christine (photo to the left). She was so obviously proud of both of them and there were more than a few tissues being passed around.

Darrin really enjoys doing weddings and does such a great job (in my unbiased opinion!) of making the wedding personal and meaningful for the couple. The bride, Abbey, and her sister (the maid of honour, Grace) had been in a car accident a week before the wedding. They both recovered, thankfully, and everything went very well.

They are a wonderful couple and we wish them all the best in their life together!

God bless you Shane and Abbey!

Church Summer Schedule

We will not be holding church services throughout the summer. Most current "Sacred Hearters" will be away most of the summer, so we get the summer off! There will be services resuming in the fall, which we will post closer to that time.

In the meantime, we will be getting together a couple times over the summer to stay connected. We'll be having a potluck and BBQ at our house on July 19. If you'd like to come, drop us an email at dparkin@xplornet.com for details.

Our blog has been neglected the past while for two reasons - our digital camera seems to have died, and we've succumbed to the social pressure to join facebook :-) We will still post important updates.

Still looking for homes for kittens.......

Kittens to Give Away!

We are still hoping to find good homes for our three litters of kittens. They are already doing well with being litter trained. The first litter, which was born just after Easter is now weaned.

The one to the left has the funniest mustache, which is cute since it's female. We are tempted to call her Adolph, but just can't let ourselves do that. Darrin has taken to calling her Gustave. They are very playful and the kids have made sure that they are used to people. (OK so maybe Darrin and I had something to do with that as well.) One of the little black and white ones fell asleep on Darrin's shoulder the other night. Anyway - please ask people you know if they would like a new pet and let us know if there are any takers. Thank you!

Also - Brett and Sierra had their spring concert at their school on Friday. Sierra was in the choir and her class did an excellent job singing part of the "Treasure Island" story. It is hard to find her, but she is in the front row, just to the right of her teacher (in the black suit) and she is wearing a blue and white striped shirt.

This is Brett as Long John Silver. His class acted out the story of Treasure Island and Sierra's class (as well as several other classes) sang. It was a great production and I was so proud of them both! You'll have to ask Brett to do his pirate accent for you sometime.

No Church this Sunday

Due to the long weekend - and the very Canadian habit of going away for May long weekend - there will be no one around for church this Sunday. Enjoy your long weekend and we will see you back for service on Sunday, May 27 at 10:00 a.m.

New Life... and other signs of Spring!

This is the view that greets us every morning from our bathroom window. It's such a great start to the day. I wish the blooms lasted longer. I LOVE where we live! I feel very blessed.

On Thursday evening - May 11 - my youngest brother and his wife, Ken and Lana, had a new baby boy! They have two daughters, Santana and Sadie, and now a new son named Javin Seth. He is healthy and doing well, as is Lana. Lana was very brave and attended Santana's ballet recital two days after giving birth. We attended as well and Tana was adorable!

On the subject of new life - we are still hoping to find new homes for some of our kittens. Here is the first litter who are now getting old enough to be playful and fun:

There are six of them and they are just too cute for words!

Here is a new litter. The mom (Jetta) must have snuck in the house when we were on our way to a lacrosse game last weekend. We came home to find new kittens in Sierra's room. Sierra was thrilled (me...not so much!) There are four of these kittens and they are now just starting to open their eyes after a week. We've moved them into the garage near the older kittens. The older kittens come and snuggle with the newer ones when the moms are out. It's so cute!

And, one more sure sign of spring - trampolines and sprinklers! This is at my sister's house - her three boys and Sierra. Too much fun!

BTW - Brett's team came in fourth place over all in the bantam division in the Floorbuster's tournament - two wins, one tie and one loss. Brett scored a couple of awesome goals. Special thanks to Megan and Arlene who attended the morning game on Saturday morning. They probably saw a different side of me being a lacrosse mom. :-) It was a pretty intense game - our team was down three goals and came back to tie it in the last four minutes. Brett's goal was the first of those three goals that tied the game.

Also - thanks to my sister and brother-in-law Shelley and Wayne, and their three boys Jared, Logan and Adam as well as my Dad (Opa) for attending the afternoon game on Sunday. They squeaked by in a one goal win and it was a pretty intense game as well. Brett appreicated all of the support!

Floorbusters!

Brett will be in a lacrosse tournament this weekend, called "Floorbusters". Anyone who would like to come and watch a game is more than welcome. The schedule is as follows:

Friday, May 11 5:00-6:30 at the Labor Club
Saturday, May 12 10:15-11:45 at the Lethbridge Soccer Centre (East Field)
Saturday, May 12 4:30-6:00 p.m. at the Adams Arena

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DARRIN!

This picture was taken last night when it was still Sierra's birthday. Darrin just put in this hitching post in front of our house. It was a perfect evening for enjoying the horses, the dogs, the cats..... Darrin is 39 today by the way! You'll have to give him a hard time about that. :-)
In honour of this special day, here is a little "Darrin photo gallery":


This photo was taken this past Christmas when we had our pajama party in front of the fireplace downstairs for Christmas eve. Even the dogs were allowed to be part of the celebrations. Of course everyone who knows Darrin well knows what a soft spot he has for those dogs. They are never hurting for attention when Darrin is around.
To the right is Christmas morning with his new "Tony Soprano" robe and opening his new p.j.'s.

This photo was taken this past summer at a family reunion. Darrin is enjoying some "beverages" in front of the campfire with my cousin Vince.

To the right is also from the same family reunion. Darrin is such a great uncle. Our neices and nephews always know when "Uncle D" is around there will be some chasing, tickles, teasing - and other good Uncle -type activities.

Well Darrin - even though you are only one year from 40 - life goes on! :-) (I'm still 38 so I'm milking this for all it's worth!)

Have an amazing day! We love you and wish you all the best of God's blessings today and throughout this year.

Love, Lisa, Carlin, Brettin, and Sierra (and the animals of course.....)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SIERRA!

Sierra turned 11 years old today! This is from this morning as she is looking at her new book from Mom and waiting for the bus. In honour of this very special day, here is a little "Sierra Photo Gallery":

Here is Sierra and her favorite teddy - Christmas 05.

To the right is at the campfire at a family reunion this past summer.

Christmas 06 - our fun Christmas Eve at the river.

To the right is probably my all time favorite photo of Sierra with Taco. Sierra loves animals and is always the first to help with them and give them lots of love and attention.

We are so proud of our daughter! She just had a note sent home from her teacher letting us know what a pleasure she is to teach, how helpful she is and how kind she is to other students. She has a wonderful sense of humour, an adventurous nature, and a sensitive heart.

Sierra - WE LOVE YOU!!! God bless you today and always.

Love, Mom and Dad, Carlin and Brettin (and all the animals which are too numerous to mention by name....)

LAX ROX!

Interpretation of this title for those who are not fluent in "lacrossese" - Lacrosse Rocks!

We are in full swing with lacrosse season again. This is the third year that Brett has played. It is his first year in Bantam and there is some pretty big kids in that age group! He plays for the Lethbridge team, "Paul's Flooring Gaits" and is number 16. They are the team in the red jersys in this picture. Brett is in the centre of the picture, although you can't see his number. So far, they have a record of two wins and two losses. This past weekend we were in Medicine Hat for two games. The first game they won 12-1. Brett got his first goal of the season as well as an assist. They lost the second game but did really well considering they only had a short one-hour break between games.

Our lives tend to revolve around lacrosse for most of May and June, but we enjoy it. Brett loves the game and it is really fun to watch! This coming weekend there will be a tournament in Lethbridge, called Floorbusters. We'll post times/locations of games and anyone is welcome to come watch if you'd like!

Sacred Heart Reunion

We had a great time on Sunday! Kevan and Leah surprised us by attending the service, along with Kevan's sister, Jenna, and her friend Dave. Since Kevan and Leah moved to Airdrie, we don't get to see much of them anymore. I guess you don't realize how much you miss someone until you unexpectedly see a smiling face walk through the door.... Thanks for the surprise guys - it made our day! You both have been so important to us and to Sacred Heart. We miss you!
We had a great lunch after the service at the Mongolie Grill. They give a discount for church groups there on Sundays. You are supposed to bring your church bulletin, but since we didn't have one we asked if it works that we brought our pastor. We got the discount. We were joined for lunch by Kim and her boys (as well as a friend), Chad and Sharon, Aaron and Megan, Arlene, Kevan and Leah, Jenna and Dave as well as Kevan and Jenna's brother Matt, Matt's girlfriend, and Matt's girlfriend's neice and nephew. Tavis and Chryslyn were off to Waterton after church.
It was a great day....

So much to tell.....

Happy Belated Easter from the Parkin Family! This was taken the day before Easter at my (Lisa's) parents home where we gathered for Easter dinner.

My parents have 16 grandchildren (and one on the way - my sister-in-law Lana is expecting on Sierra's birthday - May 8th!). So, it was a busy household that day. Here is a photo of "Uncle D" (as my neices and nephews call Darrin) catching our neice Sadie. Uncle D was the main attraction for the youngest ones....

... As I mentioned in my last post, we were gone the week after Easter on a trip for Darrin's work as Senior Provincial Chaplain. I didn't get a chance to post a blog entry before we left, but I did want to say something about Easter Sunday at Sacred Heart. We were able to join our service with the congregation we share our building with, Streets Alive. Although our two congegrations have different styles and personalities, we had a great time together! Streets Alive suggested we do our regular liturgy, as they were joining us at our regular time of 10:00 a.m. Darrin preached the sermon and we had our usual Communion service. The music was a collaboration of Arlene from our congregation and a group of musicians from Streets Alive. That went very well - they sounded great!

The day after Easter we left for a trip to Edmonton, Peace River, and Red Deer for Darrin's job (see the previous post for more details). We had a great week away! We came home to a brand new litter of kittens from our cat Sharky. If you read my previous post, you will know that we had a dramatic delivery of the last kitten in our house after we thought she was done giving birth. If you are squeamish, don't look at the next picture. But, for the brave - here is the last kitten born on our bedroom carpet minutes after it came into the world:

Here is the rest of the litter, shortly after their birth.

Any takers for some free, adorable kittens?

One more item to note:

We had the most beautiful rainbow over the farm where we live yesterday:

Can you see why we LOVE living there?