Merry Christmas

Well here it is The middle of December and I just realized that I almost kept last year's New Year's goal all year. My goal was to update out blog once a month and I only failed to do that in October November, so I think I did pretty good!
I thought I would give a quick hi and Merry Christmas to everyone before we leave. We head out on Saturday and will be gone until the 8th of January. I hope to update our blog while we are gone and post a few pictures too.
This month has been busy for us with Ian writing finals and me getting all my baking done. Ian is officially done his finals and I am soon off to do the last of my baking orders. I hope you are all taking time for yourself this Christmas. We miss everyone and wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
God Bless!
Love Ian and Jenn

Isaak Ramblings

Hello to all our readers (who have probably given up hope of this blog ever being updated!)
Yes I do apologize for taking so long to update the post. When I last thought of it our internet was not working due to bad weather and then I just kept putting it off and here we are at the end of October. The month has flown by with trips to Regina and Swift Current
and homework and papers. Well I celebrated my 24th birthday earlier this month and we had some friends from Caronport over for Grasshopper Pie (which for those of you who know about Ian's 2000 flushes incident-don't worry-I MADE THE PIE this time and it turned out beautifully!) and we had lots of fun just hanging out! The we went to Swift Current and celebrated again with my parents as it is also my dad and brother's birthday shortly after mine. We had thanksgiving Turkey and all the trimmings and had a great time visiting! The next week we headed to Regina to apply for passports as we will be needing them in December (more to follow on this topic) and we received them yesterday. Very official looking (FYI: did you know that you are not allowed to smile for your pictures? I always thought people just didn't but you are not allowed if you have any teeth showing they will make you retake them!), and very exciting! Hmm what else?...Oh yes I've been scrapbooking a couple of times with my mother-in-law; We are working on an album of Ian's childhood (What a cutie!) and so we have spent 2 weekends working on pages. Last time we got 25 pages done in a weekend and we were very proud of our accomplishments. We have lots of fun and I get to hear about all the cute stories of Ian as a child! awhh! :) well it looks as though it is time for a new paragraph so get ready...
AH, much better...Work has been going really well for me. I am going crazy with brailling and such as my little guys keeps reading his little fingers off. It is so encouraging to see the amazing progress. We have already mastered 4 medium sized books in resource class and now we are on our first large book. He is at about a grade 2 reading level and he only started reading in June last year! I work with great people and recently another Christian co-worker was added to the numbers so that is really nice. There is the teacher and myself and another assistant in the classroom. It makes for a full room but I get along with both of them really well so that is a huge blessing! Ian and I have recently started attending a new church and I have been seeing a few kids from school there so that is another door that has creaked open. This is nice as I have been struggling lately with how to share my faith in such a professional job setting. It will be interesting to see how this continues to pan out.
Ian has been really busy with school and his two jobs but I think he is figuring out how to balance everything. He has come home from classes challenged and intrigued by the different things profs have said or things the Bible has revealed to him. I think it is a huge blessing that he is always being challenged and is learning new things everyday. Ian just finished reading week and so he had a nice chance to play computer games, recharge and relax! A time much needed and deserved! Ian is doing sound for a worship group again this year and that takes him to Celebration Church in Regina once a month on a Sunday morning. It is a time for me to see him in action as I am allowed to go along. It is nice to get away and experience a different church every now and again and get to know some of his friends from school.
Well I do believe I promised some Christmas information earlier so I should touch on that now. Ian and Brent and I are going to Tbilisi, Georgia for Christmas break this year. We are spending 2 weeks with Ian and Brent's dad and that's where he lives. I personally am very excited as I have never really traveled much and have only left the country 3 times (all to the US) that I remember. We are leaving at Noon on December 23rd and arrive in Munich, Germany at 9am on the 24th. We are very excited about this as apparently Munich is huge into Christmas and we will be there on Christmas Eve. We are not sure what we will do there as we have a 12 hour layover but I am sure we will manage to stay entertained. We leave Munich at 9pm and arrive in Tbilisi at 4 am on Christmas morning. We will spend the two weeks skiing, sight seeing, hanging out and expolring the country side. I am sure we will not have a dull moment. We leave for home at 5am on the 8th of January and arrive in Regina at 7pm the same day and we all return to work and school the next day bright and early (okay early but I'm sure we won't be bright). There is approximately a ten hour time difference so coming home is going to be harder with less layover time. This will be a first for us as we have never spent Christmas with Dad and I have never been overseas. Of course this means we will be missing all of the family gatherings, and for that I am sorry and we will miss you (Amanda we might cross paths in the Regina airport on the 23rd), however, it is hard to pass up a trip like this. We are looking forward to it and can't believe that it is already November 1st tomorrow. That means a little over a month and a half and we will be in the air! Wow.
We have found a care group again this year. It is organized by two of the professors and their wives and had four other couples including us in it. We are going through the book of Ruth and there is some pretty interesting stuff in there. As I mentioned earlier we have decided to try a different church in Moose Jaw. We have started attending the First Free Methodist Church and we really enjoy it. The people there are friendly and the church meets our needs so we have been really blessed so far this year.
Well nothing else is new. We are still here and still enjoying it but missing everyone in Saskatoon and elsewhere. If you would like to drop us a line we have changed our email addresses they are now...simwiz@gmail.com and jenniwren5@gmail.com We would love to have anyone over if you would like to come spend the weekend or a portion of it please let us know and come on down!

Return to the Real World

Well here it is almost the middle of September and we have returned to the real world! Ian's first week of classes is this week and I have been back at work for almost 2 1/2 weeks now.

We returned home from camp on Saturday August 26th, unpacked, went grocery shopping, and enjoyed the quiet solitude of home. Cotton rejoined us from my parents house the next day and Tigger on Wednesday and our family was once again complete! I enjoyed a couple days of lazy relaxation and some enjoyable boredom before returning to work on Tuesday the 29th while Ian slept in for another whole week yet.

Ian's class registration was on Labor Day Monday and condensed classes followed on Wednesday and Thursday and by Friday the 8th he was in the full swing of things once again. Ian's course load consists of one Monday-Wednesday class, three Tuesday- Thursday classes and one Friday class; for a grand total full semester load of 5 classes. On top of that he is a faculty assistant to one of his professors, and he has a part time job at the ice rink here in Caronport. So in other words between 2 jobs, 5 classes and labs and homework he will be very busy!

I am working with the same student and am still amazed each day at what new things he has learned since the day before. He is eager to learn and soaks up my every word. It is so nice and so incredibly enjoyable. I go home tired each day but always looking forward to the next day when I will teach him something new (and maybe even learn something new myself). I have printed off pictures of our holiday (around 90 out of 280 that I took) and eagerly await time to scrapbook them. It seems like forever since I have scrapbooked anything but I guess that what happens when you take a 2 month break for camp.

Well I have been sitting here string at the screen not writing anything for over five minutes so I guess that means that I have run out of updates to give so I will sign off; I still have lots of baking to do to fill my freezer full of goodies (for when you all come to visit of course!-remember you are always welcome!)

Love Ian and Jenn, Cotton and Tigger

Rest and Relaxation

Well Ian and I have returned from our wonderful vacation. We drove over 3500Km in 10 days and saw so many beautiful mountains and rivers what a sight! The first night we stayed in Jasper and shared our campsite with some wild elk that were grazing on our trees. We were lucky enough to not have seen any bears though and we were very thankful when morning came and all our food was where we left it. We spent time with some friends in Sherwood Park just outside of Edmonton. It was so good to catch up and to hang out. We slept in and started our vacation off right! Next we headed to Kamloops to visit more friends and after a bit of a wrong turn in the rain we discovered that Vancouver was not very far away. We spent a day in Kamloops and decided to revise our travel plans to visit family and friends in Langley and Abbottsford. It was so refreshing to relax and to hang out with friends and to catch up with family. We then started back to Saskatoon through Golden and Calgary and saw all the beautiful jagged Rocky Mountains in between Langley and Calgary. Then back to the flat prairies for us as we stopped in Swift Current for a quick visit with our parents. We ended our vacation with a night at the stock car races and then started back to camp on Sunday morning. Our vacation was much needed and enjoyed as we spent time together enjoying God’s amazing creation.

We are back at camp now and into our last 3 weeks of camp so the end is very close. We are currently in the junior camp week and things are going well. Ian spent all day yesterday making a Star Wars spoof skit for the kids. It looked pretty amazing with the light sabers and everything so that was fun. The kids seem to be responding well to all the movies this year so that has been encouraging too. Next week is our 2nd intermediate camp and then our 2nd junior high camp and then we are done so we are in the home stretch now. I am looking forward to going back to work and I think Ian is eager to go back to school as well. Thank you to all who have been praying for us over the summer. We have really appreciated all your prayers and support. We would love to hear from you so send us an email or leave a comment here on our blog. Take Care and God Bless.

Love and Prayers,
Ian and Jenn

Ptarmigan Waddles

Hello again to all of our family and friends, it has been awhile since my last update and although not much is new I figured it was time to let everyone know we are still alive! July has been a busy month and it is now drawing to a close. We have had lots of fun with the kids here at camp and Ian ha made some really great dvds. I have been busy helping with taping and duplicating and I've also managed to read almost three books. It has been nice to relax a bit too! It has been rather interesting working in the same office as my crazy husband but we continue learning new things about each other and Ian is always making me laugh or smile. Ian and I are leaving for a small vacation tomorrow afternoon and we are really looking forward to it! We are taking our motor bike through Edmonton, Jasper, Kamloops, Moyie Springs Id, Calgary and back to camp through Swift Current and Caronport. We are eager to get away and truly relax and enjoy each other's company on less of a co-workers terms. Camp has been a bit of a struggle this year as new leadership has meant different leadership styles and visions and so this vacation will hopefully be refreshing!

I have just realized that I do believe I have failed to mention some very exciting news for me regarding my job in the fall. I know that I emailed some of you but I don't believe that I added it to our blog opps! I found out shortly before school ended that I would be returning to the same school, position, and child in the fall. I am very excited about this as I have the full support of the principal and teachers involved. It was a huge answer to prayer for me as I was really concerned about the security of my job. I know that this bit of information is a bit random but I figured better late than never!

We had a rather interesting week this past week as we discovered 4 small baby ducklings. The directors decided to release them hoping their mother would come back but later that evening we found a 5th duckling. A couple of us decided that he probably would survive on his own so we decided to try and keep him alive. We named him Ptarmigan Waddles and he is really cute! Ian has discovered that he likes to eat cat food crushed up in water and he is really cuddly. I have attached a picture for all to see. Out friend Leanne has decided that see wants to try and raise him so she will take him home this weekend and hopefully he gets bigger and continues to thrive! Yeah so that was our interesting week (Small things amuse us).

I hope everyone is enjoying a great summer!
Love Ian and Jennifer

Summer is Here!

Hello again everyone! Well summer is here and boy is it warm! What a blessing for all the campers here at Redberry. Yes Ian and I are back at camp for the summer and we are into the full swing of things. Before I get caught up in the camp news though I should update you on the weeks previous. June was a busy month for us as I spent almost a week in Saskatoon for Grandpa Isaak's funeral. I was a really nice time as we got to see the cousins and hang out. Work ended for me on June 28 and for Ian on the 27th. We quickly packed up all our stuff and headed off to camp. We are now into the second week of camp and the dvds are coming along nicely! Ian has been video editing like crazy and the kids love the movies. He is doing crazy skits and we have nice dvd cases so they are lots of fun this year! Hope everyone is having a great summer! Lots to do and the office is busy so I best be going! I will try and update more later.
God Bless!
Love Jennifer and Ian

More News

Hello to everyone again, This is just another update. Ian's Grandpa Isaak passed away on the weekend. It was sort of sudden yet expected. He had 90% blockage of his arteries and was just waiting until he could get in to Calgary for surgery. A few things to be thankful for is that everyone will be able to make the funeral. Ian's dad had a flight from Tiblisi to Munich but because of the Soccer tournament couldn't get a flight to Canada. He managed to get to Toronto and then to Saskatoon (a huge God thing). The viewing is on Wednesday evening, the burial is on Thursday and the service is on Friday. It will be a long week so please uplift the family in your prayers.
Jennifer and Ian

Faith

Hello to all our family and friends who eagerly await the lastest news of our lives! haa as if I really think we are that important that all you guys do is sit around waiting for me to update our blog! Well the month of May passed rather quickly but I guess they all do so what else is new? I only have 12 days of work left before summer and Ian has 9 left. We are both looking forward to being together again. Summer is just around the bend and it brings another year of camp life with it. We will be working at Redberry Bible Camp again this summer. Ian will be doing the same job as last year and I will either be in the kitchen or in Ian's office helping out. We should find out soon! I have been struggling with what to write this month. Not much has happened and I would love to write that we are doing great and everything is back to normal. However we are still processing the events of the past month and trying to figure out a new normal for our lives. To update those who we haven't talked to...We decided to name our baby Faith Isaak. We held a small memorial service on Friday May 12. We were surrounded by family and a couple friends, there were many tears shed as we said goodbye to Faith but it was something that we felt we needed to do. I would like to thank everyone who has been praying for us during this difficult time. Your prayers have been felt and very much appreciated!!! We still have many questions and probably always will but we are finding peace in God. We would appreciate your continued prayers for healing and that summer would be a refreshing time of growing and serving for both of us! I leave you with one final thought found in Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. May we always hope, trust and have faith in the one thing that can not fail us...GOD

Love Ian and Jennifer

Counting Blessings

Hello to all our family and friends once again. Usually our blog is filled with all the exciting happening of the previous month and this one will be no different with one exception. April was a wonderful month, great weather and many fun times. During the Easter break I headed down to Swift Current to Scrapbook with my mom for a week. It was a wonderful vacation. In wrote his final exams and did very well in all of them. He is so glad to be done one full year! Ian was also honored in a very neat way; one of his professors asked him to be his Faculty assistant next year. This means that his prof trusts him and that he feels Ian is competent in the subject matter! Ian is really excited about finalizing the details! On to a hard subject to talk about; I have just returned home from a day and a half stay in the hospital. We went for our ultrasound on Thursday morning and it was then that we discovered some very hard details. It turns out that Ian and I have had a miscarriage. This was and is very hard news to deal with. When I spoke with the doctor this morning he said that baby was about 8 weeks when it died. However through all of this we have many blessings; we still have each other, I was not in any physical danger and very minimal pain during the procedure. We are not expecting that this will be easy to deal with and the tears are many but we have hope is Jesus and we are claiming his promises daily! A passage that has been very helpful for me is Psalm 23- The Lord is my Shepherd I shall not be in want, he makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul! Ian has found the last chapter in Hebrews comforting as well because it talks about God never leaving us or forsaking us.
Well unfortunately that is all the time I have for today. Please keep us in your prayers that God would heal my body but most importantly that he would heal our souls!
Love in Christ
Jennifer and Ian Isaak

Our prayer requests

Well I know this entry will be a shock to you guys. I normally only update our blog once a month but I need something to occupy me. Ian is officially working in Saskatoon now. He starts tomorrow morning at 6am bright and early. I would really appreciate your prayers over the next two months for a couple of things. First of all for Ian's safety; he will be traveling back and forth between Caronport and Saskatoon every 10 days or so, also for safety at work. Secondly for me and my emotions; please pray that I will be able to rely on God when things get rough emotionally, also that work would continue to go well. Please pray that the time will go quickly for both of us. Lastly for Ian's witness at work during this time; please pray taht when an opportunity arises for him to share his faith that what he has learned will be useful.
Thank you for all your comments that you post and for all your prayers as well.
God bless
Ian and Jenn Isaak

April showers bring...

Hey wow it's April and we fell asleep to the sound of rain last night! Yeah I'm so glad it wasn't snow! I had another doctor's appointment today-you all can pray for us because we are going to have one very stubborn baby! The doctor still can't find the heart beat (it's going to be good at hide and seek I think!) but he says that everything is going along nicely. All is well so we thank God for that!
Ian has 3 more days of classes and then finals start so that is one year done wow! He will be heading up to Saskatoon for 2 months to work at Siemens Laserworks (tuition money for next semester!). I will see him during his days off so that will be really nice. And then we will be off to camp for the summer and we are both really looking forward to that!
I had my final review at work this week and everything went great! I still have 25 days until my probation is up but my reviews are done and good so that is a huge relief and blessing!!! Things are still going well and I learn something new daily!
My brother was baptized in March so we were home for that. It was really good to see him take this step of faith. We were also in S.C. the weekend before for a concert that Ian's group did at the church. They had a big youth event and brought in Stereotrap and the worship band for Caronport so that was a fun weekend!
We took our first Motorbike trip to Swift Current already and it was so nice to enjoy the sunshine and smells of spring! I can't wait for our next one!
I hope this update finds you all well and as soon as there are baby belly pictures to take I will post a couple of them for you all to see! Until May take care. God bless!
Philippians 4:6-7 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication, present your requests to God. And the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds, in Christ Jesus.

Another month, more blessings...

Hello family and friends, another update on its way...February was a busy month as Ian and everyone at Briercrest prepared for the big youth event called Youth Quake. Ian worked on the tech crew so that kept him busy for most of the week previous and weekend. I had that week off work and so I enjoyed sleeping in and cleaning the house (well I didn't enjoy cleaning but I did it!). My friend Alana came from Saskatoon on that Thursday so we stayed at the spa Friday night together, we had a ton of fun and it was so nice to just relax! We also spent a weekend with my parents at Cypress Hills Resort earlier in the month, it was nice to get away and spend time outside.
We are now into March and we celebrated Ian's birthday last Sunday, he is now 23! We had a wonderful weekend with his mom, we ate out and watched movies and laughed a lot, it was nice! Ian just finished a week long class called a mod, he really enjoyed the class, was challenged in some of his thinking, and has taken lots from it that will be useful for the future.
Ian and I were at the doctor's this week and everything is going great! We were not able to hear the heart beat yet as the doctor says that my uterus is slightly turned and the baby is hiding behind my bladder! (yeah!) However he said that all my blood work came back great and that the baby is doing nicely so it was good to hear that everything is still moving along normally! Still no morning sickness for me and for that I am very grateful. I am still napping at lunch hour but that is mostly for my sanity now and not so I don't fall asleep.
Work is still going really well I am tackling more and more Braille all the time and it is getting exciting to really know stuff. I am also enjoying our Bible Study group and between that and what Ian challenges me with from his classes I have been learning a lot about what I believe and why and I've been challenged to seek God more. I am a slow learner sometimes so I am grateful for God's patient endurance; it feels good to be moving forward even if I fall down every now and again!
March is looking to be a busy month as well but aren't they all? I am heading to Saskatoon for a day in March for a conference then I'm going straight to Swift Current as Ian's worship band is putting on a concert together with Stereotrap next weekend. The weekend after that we are in Swift Current again but this time for my brother's baptism and then March is over wow! Like Shaye said, September will be here before you know it! (only 6 months left!)
Well it's not the reader's digest version but I figure since I only do this once a month I had better add a little detail to keep everyone up to speed!
I hope everyone is doing well, we'd love to hear from you all !
God Bless!
Love Jennifer and Ian

New beginnings

Wow it's February 6th already what a month! It started out with me finding out from the pool that I was being laid off because I was not available enough (due to my school job) which I was not at all upset about. Then a week later we found out about grandpa's death and funeral so that week was all a blur! The funeral was well done and it really gave an accurate representation of grandpa and his life! He was truly a man of God. And on top of that we also received some amazingly wonderful news on Tuesday the 24th. We found out that although we were celebrating the end of a life well lived, we were also celebrating the beginning of a new life! I am pregnant and am due on September 27th, 2006! We are very excited, the shock is wearing off now and the joy is truly setting in! My mom sent us our first baby gift - receiving blankets and a bib of course, what else do you need lots of?- so that helped solidify things a bit for me. I think we have managed to tell most of you about his news but I know that there are always a few people that don't hear so we wanted to let everyone know! I have had my first doctor's appointment and I am healthy and everything looks good so far-thanks and praise go to God! I think we get to hear the baby's heart beat next appointment so we are looking forward to that and it is going to come fast I know! I have been feeling fine and other than being tired and moody life is good! (at least for me!)
My job is still going really well and I have officially started my Braille course and I think it will be hard but I should catch on quickly. My student was sick today so I had a chance to organize my thoughts and plan a bit for the near future. Ian is busy at school (he is typing a paper as I write this) he is going to be taking 2 modular classes, one in March and one in April so that will keep him busy too but then he can take it easy next year if he needs to so that will be nice for him.
We have decided to return to Redberry Bible Camp for the summer. Ian will be doing his tech job again and I'm sure the videos will be even better this year as he will have an official side-kick/apprentice to train and help him out. I, however, will not be head-lifeguard (or as Ian calls it head-floatation device!) as the large belly by that time will prevent me from safely guarding. But I will be volunteering for the summer so who knows where I'll end up!
Well it is almost time for bed and morning will come way too quickly so I will sign off for now.
In Christ,
Jennifer and Ian

In Loving Memory

Hello Everyone this is just an update to let everyone know that my grandpa passed away this afternoon. Praise God I WILL see him again in Heaven but the loss is still hard. Please pray for my family that God will give us the strength we need during this rocky time and that Grandpa's life and even his death will serve as a testimony to those who don't yet believe.

Psalm 27:1 The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
Jennifer

January 2006

Alright, so here we go, a new year and I am going to attempt to give you all at least one new blog posting every month to read.
I have started my new job, a bit earlier than I originally thought but it was good. I worked at the school for the last day and a half before the holidays. I had fun with my student and learned a lot already! We had fun listening to Robert Munch books on CD and He can recite almost every one of the 13 stories word perfect! I am not sure when I'll be learning Braille and such but for now I am taking it one day at a time and will learn tons yet in the remainder of the school year!
Ian is getting ready for semester 2 and is bored out of his tree right now with now school work to keep him entertained! Ha! His finals went really well and he even got 100% on his "Intro to musicianship" final I am so impressed!
We spent Christmas with all of our families and had lots of fun. We spent two weekends in Swift Current visiting Ian's mom and my parents and then we spent 5 days in Saskatoon visiting Ian's dad and both of our sets of Grandparents. It was a great time with family that we will cherish. For those of you who don't know my grandpa got really sick a week before Christmas and has since been diagnosed with cancer of the liver and esophogus. It was an emotional Christmas but we had fun and enjoyed our last times together! We are now enjoying a quiet couple of days before work and school start up again.
I hope everyone had a great New Years!
Ian and Jenn
Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your paths!