Christmas with babies

Celebrating Christmas has always been a wonderful day for me, but having babies makes it even better. I didn't even care if I opened presents. I just loved watching the babies rip the paper and look inside. They were having so much fun ripping the paper. They played with a few toys, but then wanted to rip some more paper. :) They just got right into it. They loved all the excitement. Seeing the joy in their eyes just made it all the better for us.
When we went to Christmas diner at Jim's uncle's house the babies were the star of the show. They were passed around to each person and googled over. They did wonderful. They are very social babies and loved meeting new people. They had fun playing with all their new cousins. They were not shy or cranky at all. We have been so blessed with beautiful, happy, healthy, wonderful baby girls.
We are so thankful to our Heavenly Father for these blessings and all the blessings He has given us. We are especially thankful for our Savior being born, the example His life was, and His Death and Resurrection that makes it possible for us to return to live with Him. We are so grateful to be an eternal family and to know that we will be together forever.

Babies' First Christmas

Christmas Cuties

Christmas Portraits

We had pictures taken the other day. I think they turned out great. The babies were in a good mood and smiled well. Hope you enjoy them.

The Girls

We are in Jacksonville.

Just in case you are wondering where in the world we are, we are now in Jacksonville,FL. Things didn't work out in Canada as we hoped. We were concerned for the safety of the babies. Also Jim's mom is ill. We decided it would be best for us to return home. We will see what is in store for us next. :) I'll add more pictures soon.

Our long journey to Canada.

So, I know I haven't added much lately but we have been busy. As you may have read below, we left Jacksonville in September and drove for 6 days to visit our new job in Calgary. We thought that was a huge journey, but now we know that was just the beginning. We were asked by the Canadian immigration office in Washington DC to come for an interview. They would not let us do the interview here. We had to do it in DC since we had sent our application to that office. We had to leave Canada by the 7th of Oct. anyway, so we headed out to DC for another long journey across the states. The company would have sent us on a plane, but we still had to pick up our trailer in MT and we didn't want to be stranded there in case they said no they wouldn't give us a work permit. We thought it would just take a few days and we could head back, but it was a month later when we finally arrived back. We got our trailer in MT and headed to VA to stay with my cousin. That drive took 5 days. Once we got there, the trailer was stuck in her driveway because we came in at night and missed the driveway a little. We had to get the insurance to send a tow truck and do a claim. Then we actually went to DC for the interview and it only took her about 15 minutes to talk to us. She was not very nice and we thought she may say no. So we had to wait a couple more days for her to call us back. While we waited we did some tourist stuff like Williamsburg, Yorktown and Busch Gardens. When we got her call, luckily it was good news. We were finally approved to go back to Canada. Then we headed back for another 6 day journey to our new home in Calgary. It was a long month, but we did lots of fun things as a family and got to see lots of the country. The babies did fairly well traveling and sleeping in hotels. We are all so happy to finally be here. Our new kids were happy to see us again too. Now we are working on getting settled in and beginning a new routine as a family of 9. :)

We finally made it!

We are finally in Calgary and working in our new position as teaching parents. It took much longer than we had anticipated and much more traveling, but we perservered and made it to our new home. We are enjoying the new company and the people we work for. The kids are great and have welcomed us in warmly. We are getting settled in and getting used to having 7 kids. These kids need a little more direction than our last place. We are finding it to be a rewarding challenge. The babies are doing great. Growing quickly and learning something new everyday. Hannah is now standing straight up from the floor without pulling up on anything. Alyssa loves to mimic any sounds we make. They are both talking and motoring all over the place. They are 9 months old now, but no teeth yet. They have outgrown all their clothes and are now in 12 month clothes. They needed more warm clothes any way. :) It is snowing here and I can't wait to get them snowsuits and see how they like playing in the snow. I have to go make dinner for my family now, but I will add more pictures soon.

Banff National Park

We were going stir crazy sitting around the house, not able to officially work yet, and just waiting and thinking about getting our permit. So, our company sent us on a day trip to Banff National Park in the Canadian Rockies. It was beautiful. The mountains are beautiful and majestic. We had such a great time. We rode up to the top of a mountain in a gondola and saw breathtaking views of the mountains. The girls loved being out in the fresh air. They were so good. I love making family memories like this.

Next time we go Jim wants to do some hiking and ride in this giant 4 wheel drive bus out on the Glacier!

They do have WalMart and IKEA in Canada!!

One of the first stores we went to when we got here was IKEA. We love this store. There was one in Orlando that we fell in love with and we were so happy when we found one in Calgary. We go there for dates. There is a restaurant in there and lots of cool stuff to look at. We want to fill our whole bedroom with IKEA stuff. The view of the downtown is nice. You can see for miles from where we live. The house we are in is really nice in a great neighborhood. The kids all have to have their own room so we have 7 bedrooms and 3 &1/2 baths. It is very comfortable. It is really close to all the stores we need. They also have this great grocery/home goods store (like WalMart but 10x better) called Canadian Superstore. They have so much stuff, the produce section is enormous. The aisles are longer than ours and have so much to choose from. They also have health foods and gourmet foods like specialty grocery stores and reasonable prices. We love it.

Updated photos of the girls

Having fun, hanging out in Calgary.

Trip from MT to Calgary

We were only 16 miles from the border in MT, so we made it to the border quickly. We went through the US customs very quickly, said goodbye to the good ole USA (temporarily) and Hello to Canada. We were at the Canadian customs for 2 hours. We told them we were just coming for a 2 week visit, which is true. We had a bit too much stuff though I guess cause they were susspicious. They pulled us up on their system and found we had applied for a work permit. They let us come in once we told them that we were just going to visit with the kids in the home and not work with them yet. They gave us a 3 week pass and we finally entered into Saskatchawan. Then we drove another full dayto get into Alberta and over to Calgary. The landscape is very similar to the US, lots of farms. The city of Clagary is very nice, clean, nice houses, lots of businesses. It is surrounded by beautiful mountains in the distance. We are happy to finally be here. The girls are so happy to finally get out of the carseats. :)

We are finally in Canada.

Well we turned in everything they asked for, but we still don't have our work permits. The immigration office emailed us and said too many inquiries will just slow down the process, so we gave up on getting them before going to Canada. We decided to go ahead and cross the border as visitors. We just packed the truck with some stuff and left the trailer in MT. We got to the border and they checked us out really well. They pulled our names on their computer and found out that we were waiting for our permits. We weren't trying to lie to them, we really were just going to visit. We aren't officially hired until we get the permits. But after 2 hours of waiting, they finally let us go across the border on the condition that we leave in 3 weeks. So if our permits don't come by Oct 8th, we will have to leave Canada. We can get an extention too. But hopefully we will get the permits soon. We are just shadowing the staff and learning right now. We will have some training meetings all next week. We really can't wait to become the parents in the house and not have to say, go talk to someone else about that, we can't do anything right now. We need to establish ourselves as the athority figures in the house. The kids are excited that we are here and they love the babies and Gidget. These kids are very different from the kids in NC. This place has a great system in place for working with them though and helping them to learn how to work on their issues instead of just talking about it and never doing anything about it like the last place. We are really enjoying it.

I will add some pictures soon. I just wanted you all to know we made it to Canada.

We are resting in Montana

Hello everyone!  We have made it all the way up here to MT.  The truck drove great and the trailer pulled fine.  No more blown tires thankfully.  We have a friend from Jacksonville that is a Border Patrol agent  stationed here in Plentywood , MT so he let us crash at his place.  (Thank you Ben!)  We got here Friday afternoon and have just been relaxing a little.  We were so tired after driving(Jim) and riding(the girls) that it feels good to be still for a while.  We will get back on the road hopefully tomorrow to finish the last 570 miles of our journey.  We got an email from the Visa dept. that said they needed some more paper work like our degrees and a letter of reference from our previous employer.  I think we have it all together now and will send it off.  They seem to be right on top of things so hopefully it won't be long until we get our work permits.  I can't wait to get up there and see what it is like there.  I am also anxious to meet the kids and get back to a normal routine.  Anyway, just wanted to let you know we are fine.  I'll add more pictures soon.  I'm on Ben's computer and I'll have to add pics from our laptop once we are back in the truck.  Technology is amazing.  I love the internet card that lets us get internet as we are driving down the road.  bbvvggbnubrxx5cctbunkni nuvycyh   bb  (That is from Hannah, she is sitting on my lap trying to reach the keys as I type with one hand and hold her with the other.  She wanted to say hello too.)  :)

The road turned to dirt!

We're up in North Dakota driving along and all of a sudden the road turned into dirt. As we drove down a little way, a worker with a stop sign tells us they are working on the road and to be careful. Then a few more miles down we have to stop again. This time the worker leans in the window and starts chatting with us and petting Gidget and feeding her a pig ear he happens to have in his pocket. He is really nice, like all the people we have talked to so far. He told us he was a triplet. Then it was time for us to follow the guide car. As we passed by we saw these big machines that are tearing up the road. Really cool.

South and North Dakota

Day 4 - Scherck trip log

The babies woke us up about 6:30am this morning wanting to eat. Jim felt rested so he went ahead and started driving. I stayed in the camper with the babies to feed them and hopefully get some more sleep. It was kind of fun riding in the back. It was a little bumpy, but the babies slept some more. We are enjoying looking at the beautiful farms up here. Jim likes the farm equipment. True Americana. We are only 400 miles from our friends house in MT now. We will go there tonight and then drive the rest of the way to Calgary tomorrow.

Jim was able to stop for me to take the picture of the ND sign. There's not much traffic up here. :) The GPS shows our little blue truck and the destination flag. This is just our friends house. We still have about 570 miles to go tomorrow.

Iowa, a little Nebraska and South Dakota

Day 3 - Continued

After seeing the sights in St. Louis we decided to be tourists. We stopped in Independance at our church's visitors center to see some of the history of the church in that part of Missouri. It was really neat. Then we went on a walking tour around the town. It was such a nice day. We all enjoyed being out of the truck for a while to take in some fresh air.

Once we got back on the road, we headed out of Missouri and into Iowa. 

This is what Iowa looks like. Miles and miles and miles of nothing. We didn't get anything to eat after we left Independance and there is no where to stop along I-29 in Iowa so we were starving. Finally we got into a town in Nebraska close to Omaha and got some Long John Silvers about 9:00pm.

We weren't sure we could get into Nebraska when we saw this sign.

But everything was fine. Jim drove a little more into the morning hours and then we pulled over to sleep some in the camper.

Sights of St. Louis

Jim took this pic

Jimbo says - "Everybody Poops!"

Jim caught Gidget doing her morning constitution and wanted to post it.

Missouri today

Day 3 - Scherck trip log

We ended the yesterday's driving in St.Louis, Missouri. That makes 4 states in one day. Today we are driving west through Missouri. We got a good sleep in a motel and feel refreshed this morning. (Doesn't Jim look ready to drive all day!)We started out at 8:40am. The girls are in a good mood this morning and playing and "talking" to us. Aren't they so cute in their little hoodies? It is getting colder as we get more north. I thought they needed a little jacket. Even Gidget is ready to go. She travels well and is easy to sneak into hotels. :) She gets the front seat because I sit in the back between the babies to take care of them and keep them entertained.

We saw the arch in St. Louis. It is really fascinating how it changes as you drive by. We also crossed the Missouri River. Not a good river as recorded in our church history. Jim is really into being a tourist. He wants to take a picture of everything.

Illinois now - 3 states in one day!

Yes we are moving along quite well. Jim wanted to get a nice full day of driving today. We started out around 8am this morning and he will probably go until 8pm. We won't drive so long everyday he says and we are stopping at a motel tonight so we can get a real good night's sleep. We are down to only about 1300 miles to go till we reach our friends place in Montana. Then we have about another 400 miles or so to Calgary.

We missed the state sign this time. Maybe we will catch the next one. :)

I took a picture of the interstate sign so you know where we are.

Now we are in KY

Day 2 - Continued

I told you we wouldn't be in TN for long. We were able to catch a picture of the sign this time. Jim was able to pull over so I could snap it. The girls are taking long naps with the movement of the truck. They probably won't sleep tonight when we want to sleep.