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?

Back from the North... and other interesting news!

We have been gone all week - we tagged along with Darrin on a work-related trip. As Senior Provincial Chaplain, part of his job is to visit the other Chaplains at other correctional centres in the province for supervisory purposes. This past week we traveled to Edmonton, Peace River, and Red Deer - 2355 Km in five days! Thanks to a portable DVD player, we all managed. Actually, we had fun - especially at West Edmonton Mall. The above photo is the kids with "Benny" the Sea Lion. And, yes he is actually touching Sierra's head with his "kiss". We also squeezed in a visit with Darrin's Dad and Aunt Mary in Sundre on the way back. Darrin found out all kinds of interesting things about family history - maybe he'll blog it sometime. We came home today to discover that one of our cats, Sharky, had her kittens. We will blog more later as our computer is not letting us upload photos right now for some reason.

BUT WAIT....... VERY EXCITING UPDATE!!!!!

Literally as I was typing that Sharky had come into the house looking for food, and decided to give birth to one more kitten on our bedroom floor!!! One more healthy kitten was born just moments ago. Darrin managed to scoop up the new kitten and Sierra got Sharky and they returned both to the other kittens in the garage of the trailer near our house. Now there are a total of six new, healthy, adorable, still wet kittens with their eyes still closed. It looks like four are black and white, one calico and one dark and gray and white.

Free kittens anyone? No - seriously - we will be looking for homes when they are weaned.

More later with photos.....
Hopefully the rest of our evening will be less eventful!
See some of you tomorrow.

Solicitor General Hockey Tournament -Olds AB

Well, here's the post you wanted. The church gave me the weekend off for our annual Solicitor General Hockey Tournament in Olds where all the Alberta Correctional Centre teams, sherriffs team, etc meet to settle who rules the Province and take home the cup. Led by our Captain Ryan Trempner off we were to Olds for the big Show.

We have not done that well as a team this last two years in either league play or at the SG. We did, however, bring home the cup in the years 2000, 2001 and 2004. So this year we were not sure how we would do even though we felt we had a fairly strong line-up.

We came out strong in the first game and beat Edmonton Remand Centre 5-2. Friday night we played Calgary Correctional Centre and beat them 5-2. So far so good, and the confidence was building. Our rivalry and nemesis team, Calgary Remand Centre, was the Saturday morning game and we had them 4-1 at the first half (2 -30 minute periods). Here's where optimism and good old Lethbridge pride set in and we came out in the second a little confident and flat. They caught up to us, and we exchanged a goal and they pulled ahead and beat us 8-5. Bruce played well in net but we weren't able to hold CRC down.

So, off to BP's to eat and of course the annual stop at the Olds liquor store (Correctional Officers you know) followed by plenty of Red Bull and energy bars. Saturday night we played the Sherriffs team, and although we felt very much in the driver's seat they proved to be a tough team indeed. the best part is that they had two gals playing for them and most of our boys were lulled into a hypnotic mesmerized state of altered consciousness by the one playing defence. Of course they did not admit this at first and instead talked big about how if on the rush they would take the left side because it would be easier to 'beat the girl'. So after she put one of our guys on his ass, took the puck and was gone before he knew what happened, the young guys decided to change their strategy with her. Then they argued over who had the best chance to check her into the boards and get her phone number. That didn't work since she was far too good in the corners (where girl hockey players aren't supposed to be good you know) and so they were left to only dream about what would never be a reality. Our young coolest gun 'Cook' was the most starstruck but I think she told him something like she wouldn't even look at a guy who wears yellow socks which of course simply gave the rest of us cannon fodder to fire at Cookie all weekend. He took it hard and gave us the salute . Anyway, we beat the sheriffs and moved on to the the last round robin game Sunday morning against Fort Saskatchewan Correctional Centre at an ungodly 8:15 a.m.

O.K. at this point you need to know something about this tournament and it's 32 year tradition. Hmmm... let's get 150 Correctional, sherriff, and police officers together in small town Olds Alberta with no wives and girlfriends and time off work. I wonder what they will do in their free time?

8:15 came real early Sunday. Some of our guys who went out to the famous Olds Blue Yak bar and the Country Hay City Saloon looked real green when they woke up. The funniest part of this is the story we have to tell from the festivities. Most of us stayed back at the hotel including Derek Dixon. Dixon's mistake in being smart like the rest of us is that he was rooming with the guys who went out. And so at 2:30 a.m. the boys returning decided to do a "Cell Extraction" on Dixon for being the princess who stayed home and got his beauty sleep. Cell extractions are just what they sound like ...physical removal of a non-compliant individual from his bed or cell complete with loud commands and adrenaline pumped jail guards. Word has it that Chris, Troy, and I were on the extraction list but Chris had the smarts to close the adjoining hotel room door to Dixon's room and so we were spared. But we heard it happen, as did the rest of the hotel. Here's Troy the Sherriff, also a Fort Macleod guy.

We beat the Fort Sunday morning and it had to go to a shootout. I don't think some of their guys even went to bed and if they did it might have been for an hour or so. When I lined up for the face-off against one of their centremen he complained to the ref for dropping the puck so loud.

For the semifinals we played Calgary Correctional Centre who we beat Friday and beat them in overtime to go to the finals for the cup. Here's where age and shape become the key issues of life. Waiting for the finals was a lot like cement hardening in it's forms. We consumed Red Bull, energy bars and layed around the dressing room getting stiff and sore. There was a brief moment where the fear of playing on dead legs scared Shane Kissinger into repenting and so the team asked that I become the old fashioned soap box preacher and climb aboard the cooler to convert our team sinner. It's become a yearly tradition too that I bribe Shane into paying me big money not to tell lovely Amber his wife back in Lethbridge who works at the jail how much Shane misbehaves on the weekend. This has given me the guarantee that if he ever pulls me over for speeding that's one ticket I'll never get!

For those of you wondering what a pastor is doing with a bunch of guys like this on a weekend like that let me explain. First of all it's for the fun, sports competition, and simple enjoyment of hockey. Secondly, it's the group of guys I enjoy hanging around with and have become friends with through work and work functions. Also, it's the place I believe God has planted me to grow with them as a pastor and as a friend. It's out of that that I get called when they have spiritual needs or for their weddings, or for when they need to simply vent in a confidential way some of the stuff they go through in law enforcement. In reality, most of this weekend is a lot of big talk followed by phone calls home to the family and droopy eyes by 11:00 p.m.

Back to speaking of cops, we are allowed two on our team. Shane is now a cop but was at the jail so he is grandfathered in so we still get two additional cops on the team. Colin Catonio has been with our team for years (he's a mucky-muck with the Lethbridge police) and almost our oldest guy.... sorry Colin. But, for a guy approaching 50 in a few years he has been flying on the ice. What's really cool here is that Colin and his wife Lori are expecting their first child this summer. He's been playing hockey like a 20 year old and so we're thinking he's found the strength and energy he'll need this summer!

The other police guy was my linemate Saska. Of course, what would Canadian hockey be without token representation from Finland? Saska's getting married this summer and the 'Finish fury' seemed to get faster as the tournament went on. This annoyed Shane who got slower as the games went on so Shane resurrected his nickname for Saska, "Eurotrash". The three of us made a great line together even getting our share of the goals for the team. I'm the guy with the red helmet here hoping for a pass in front of the net.

So the final game arrived 3:00 Sunday. Calgary Remand Centre had a new secret weapon this year in a new guy who could skate faster than anything we'd seen. He got 3 or 4 goals that game. We lost 6-2 and so took second place and lined up to congratulate CRC for the 2nd year in a row cup win. The rivalry continues.

My Dad and Aunt Mary came to watch Friday as Sundre is only 20 minutes away. Dad came back Sunday and visited with us in the dressing room. One of our guys, Mike Beste (good Fort Macleod stock) lived with my Dad many years ago in Rainbow Lake when Mike was getting his pipe-fitting journeyman ticket so Dad fit in with the guys having a famous Lorne story or two to tell.

It was a good weekend and we did well as a team overall. It is a weekend well worth the next day ritual for each one of us. That ritual is the Monday morning bucket of Advil followed by the boarding procedures to climb into our wheelchairs and take on the day.

Thanks for the weekend off, and next year CRC better come ready for a refreshed Lethbridge team made up of men of steel.

Darrin

The Cat Came Back!

Here is a photo of two of our cats, Oliver (the orange one) and Jetta (the black one). This photo was taken this morning after Oliver survived a very traumatic experience. We realized we had not seen Oliver for a few days and were surprised when he didn't come at feeding time. We were concerned - but it IS spring, and he is male.... To make a long story shorter, we discovered that poor Oliver was trapped on top of a power pole exactly like this one:
This is the pole directly in front of our house - Oliver was on one just a little farther down the field. We are not sure how long he was up there - but it could have been up to five days. Our whole family spent a good hour last night at the bottom of that pole doing everything we could to coax him down. We even nailed an open tin of tuna to the pole. We called Fortis and they advised us not to try to get him down because he was too close to the power lines and it is extremely dangerous. Apparently people have died trying to get cats off power poles. So, after our long and unsuccessful attempt to get him down last night we gave up with broken hearts. Poor Sierra sobbed and sobbed. All we could do was hope that he would get desperate enough to get himself down.

Then..... this morning when I let the other cats in to be fed - there he was! We don't know how he got down, but we are grateful he did! The kids sure prayed that he would. He is perfectly fine, although he has lost a lot of weight. He ate a lot this morning, and we spoiled him by letting him stay in the house today. Poor thing was exhausted and hungry.

He is our Super Cat - able to leap from tall power poles in a single bound....
Who knows what other super powers lurk underneath the surface of this ordinary-looking animal? Time will tell.....

Here is a photo of the visiting after the service yesterday...

I've been reminded how much I enjoy the music of Rich Mullins recently. Arlene played an "oldie" during communion yesterday - "Peace to You" by Rich Mullins and then Alisha posted one of my favorite Rich Mullins songs on her blog, "If I stand". So, then I was listening to internet radio, and they played "Sometimes by Step". I've posted the lyrics below. If you are not familiar with this artist, I encourage you to google him. He died tragically in a car accident in 1997. I think I've always found his music so authentic and sometimes raw in terms of his own journey and struggles. His music has always moved me.


Sometimes By Step by Rich Mullins

Sometimes the night was beautiful
Sometimes the sky was so far away
Sometimes it seemed to stoop so close
You could touch it but your heart would break
Sometimes the morning came too soon
Sometimes the day could be so hot
There was so much work left to do
But so much You'd already done

CHORUS:
Oh God, You are my God
And I will ever praise You
Oh God, You are my God
And I will ever praise You
I will seek You in the morning
And I will learn to walk in Your ways
And step by step You'll lead me
And I will follow You all of my days

Sometimes I think of Abraham
How one star he saw had been lit for me
He was a stranger in this land
And I am that, no less than he
And on this road to righteousness
Sometimes the climb can be so steep
I may falter in my steps
But never beyond Your reach

CHORUS

And I will follow You all of my days
And I will follow You all of my days
And step by step You'll lead me
And I will follow You all of my days
And I will follow You all of my days
(Sometimes the night was beautiful)
And I will follow You all of my days

I felt this was a good reminder in light of Darrin's message yesterday. I find it so true that praise is the perfect antidote to the heaviness of life.

Peace to you,

Lisa