Team Schuurman: Canada

     Sunday morning, we got up and went to church with Mark's dad. Even though Marcus has never sat through a church service in entirety, Mark's dad insisted, so we relinquished control. Much to my surprise, Marcus did exceptionally well. He kept saying, "I wanna praise the Lord" referring to singing songs, and when he got antsy he'd say, "I wanna read the Bible." It wasn't like he was loud, but when you're supposed to be silent and listen, it seemed like he was yelling. He ate a few snacks, had a drink, and did, in fact, flip the pages of the Bible while sitting on either my, Mark's or Grandpa's lap. It was a good time.
   After church, we came home, changed clothes, ate lunch, then Marcus napped. As soon as he got up, we were on our way to have a BBQ (Canadian word for cookout - for all you American readers out there) with the Zylstra's (Mark's Mom's side of the family). We arrived in Mississauga at Uncle Frank and Auntie Corrie's home and went straight to their back yard. Greg was already there with Sam and Emma as Lisa stayed home with Alyssa who was still a little croupy. Not long after getting there, everyone else arrived. Mark's cousin Kristi, her husband Matt, and their little boy Bennett showed up and boy is he ever a cutie. He has the biggest, sweetest set of eyes and some precious curly hair. Mark's other cousins Ryan and Sean came in, along with his other aunt & uncle, Isaac & Flora. The back yard was BEAUTIFUL and very serene. We had a plethora of great food to go with our burgers and sausages and it was great to talk with everyone and catch up.
      Upon returning home, it was late and raining (which they desperately needed) but Mark, Marcus, and Grandpa played a few rounds of baseball out in the wetness. I don't know which of the three had more fun. When we came inside, Grandma added to the fun by giving Marcus a new piece of construction equipment toy that we just called a digger. Either way, we've NEVER seen Marcus so excited about something new. It was a super fun day.

Sam and Emma dropped by after church, prior to Marcus' nap - just to say hi!

I was shielding the sun from the camera shot, but I still thought this was a cool picture displaying the back yard at Uncle Frank and Auntie Corrie's house.