ELDERTON'S 2012/13 CHRISTMAS & NEW YEARS LETTER

This is our annual letter to all our friends and family and the time has flown by again.

Josh
Josh turned 13 this year and was thrilled to finally be a teenager. Having older sibs, he’s always seemed older than his age. He finally gets to go to senior youth group and loves it and never wants to miss bible study on Wednesday nights. Starting high school this is a challenge for him as the level of responsibility has been raised. It's cool that we can e-mail the teachers to ask about him and his progress. He's playing basketball and lot's of Call of Duty on PS3. It’s a new way of socializing with his friends without leaving the house as he can play with them through wi-fi.

Kayla
Kayla is going to Langara college getting a B.A. in fine arts with the eventual plan to be an art teacher. I always tease her that she might meet her future husband there (since coincidentally, that's where her parents met). Her boyfriend Taylor takes exception to that (since he doesn’t go to Langara). She has moved up to being a waitress at the Keg restaurant and loves the tips. When she has time, she loves to bake and cook and makes various creations (when mom is not around).

Leah and Matthew They have just celebrated their first anniversary in June (just a couple of weeks after the duke and duchess of Cambridge) and are doing well. Leah still works full time at the daycare and they both lead the junior youth at Granville Chapel. Matthew got accepted into the year long teacher's program at S.F.U. It will be challenging for them next year as he won't be able to work as he'll be going to school full time. They are looking forward to leaving December 26th to go to Missouri to the Intervarsity Urbana missions conference with 20 others from their college and career group.

Wayne He is having fun as usual living his passion. He's looking forward to the tennis centre expanding in 2013. After 13 years of working there they've finally been approved to build 3 more indoor courts (an addition to the 6 they have). His health has been up and down. It was a year in Oct since he had his cardiac ablation. It has done wonders for him and has gotten back to normal living. This is better than living in fear the old ticker will go out of rhythm at any moment (which it did on a regular basis before). Having worked on a tennis court for 35 years has had a toll on his body, he's been diagnosed with arthritis in his hips. Growing old really sucks sometimes, and we are just in our early 50's! He had the opportunity to speak at the U.S. open coaches conference in New York this year and also in Chicago.

Janice I had a great opportunity to go to Hong Kong in March with my uncle Edwin and 4 other relatives. I loved going to such a far away place and doing all the touristy things. The highlight was meeting my mom's siblings, of course they treated us like royalty too. Accommodation was convenient since Sally’s mom had an apartment there that was empty (it was only 2 trams stops away from one of my Auntie's home). I started working at McDonald's full time at the beginning of the year. Josh was getting older and didn't need me to be around, so I made the decision to work so I can get the company benefits. It really made a difference since both Kayla and Wayne needed dental work and Josh new glasses. Working there is great when my mood is up because I love to talk to the customers and do my work but really challenging when I am low. I actually hurt my back lifting a heavy bucket at work and had to go on compensation for 2 weeks (yes my body is getting decrepit too!). Thankfully it was not a more serious injury. Now I've learned how to lift properly from my physio. The support group I lead for people with mood disorders grew this year, which is a blessing to see after 6 years of running it. I know the group has made a difference for the ones that come regularly so even though it's not easy, I ask God to give me the wisdom and energy to keep leading. It was a tough year in that we lost some dear people we really cared for, and it just reminds us that life is short and we need to make the most of it and doing what God wants us to do. All the best to you and yours in 2013.

Love,
Janice, Wayne and the kids

THE ELDERTON'S NEW YEARS LETTER 2011/2012

HAPPY 2012 FROM THE ELDERTONS’S

We are so thankful for the work of God in our lives as evidenced by looking back over the year. It was a year of changes, great joy, and medical issues.

Jamaica mon
First, I got to go on a trip to Jamaica! My sister Janet (who is an avid contest enterer) won a trip and she asked me to come with her (after her sister in law, good friend, and husband couldn’t). Better 4th choice than not at all!
It was won through a radio station in Vancouver and there were 15 people (plus their guests) that won and also 10 from the station who were going to broadcast live from there.

It was all inclusive and all we had to pay for was extras and excursions.
It was so much fun! I was on the up side of my bpd so I enjoyed it to the max.
I’ve never been to such a lovely place with clear blue water (except for Hawaii in 1981). I even got to swim with a dolphin. It was very interesting to hang with my older sis whom I have never spent so much time with since childhood.

Full-time work
I’ve been keeping busy as I started working full time at McDonald’s since the beginning of November. It was (and still is) a big adjustment and the work is demanding physically but I do enjoy talking to my co-workers and customers. It suits my schedule and temperament because I can do the job even when I’m feeling low. At some point in the future I do have to get some surgery as the work does irritate my carpal tunnel (it sucks getting old and decrepit!)

Mood Disorder Group Bipolar Disorder (BPD).
I am still running the support group for those who live with mood disorders and I’m looking forward to Missions fest at the end of January to further inform people about the ministry and to encourage churches to start groups.(www.livingroomsupport.org).

Medical Stuff
Wayne dealt with his on-going Atrial Fibrillation (irregular heart beat) which was getting more frequent despite medication. He decided to undergo a medical procedure called, ‘pulmonary vein cardiac ablation’. It was a very high-tech heart procedure which only took a few hours (admitted in the morning and kicked out in the afternoon).

The procedure went well but unfortunately he had some complications that landed him in emergency and a 2 day hospital stay with plenty of tests and poking. He said he really hates hospitals and doesn’t do good in the suffering dept. The end good result was that he hasn’t had any a-fib since the end of October which is a great relief for him.

Having gotten over this hump he is looking forward to the facility expansion (slated to start in the summer of 2012).


Mission Trip to Panama
Since I was in Jamaica I couldn’t see Kayla off on her mission trip to Panama. She was going to a bible school run by YWAM (youth with a mission) for 5 months. It was quite a cultural adjustment for her but she soon made good friends and enjoyed learning how to reach out to the indigenous people with the good news.
With technology it was wonderful to keep up with her adventures via Skype on a weekly basis.
Now she is enrolled in Langara (where Wayne and I went) studying for a bachelor of fine arts degree. She is also working part time at the Keg restaurant.

Josh
Josh had a great year, his French immersion is still very challenging because of his aversion to hard work and his teacher is still trying to get him to use his full potential in school. Hopefully she’ll be able to help him to be prepared for high school.
He is still taking tennis lessons but only once a week and he switched from playing soccer to basketball (whew, no more standing in the rain for me!)
He took up playing the bass clarinet in the school band and spends the majority of his time mastering how to annoy people playing the video game, ‘Modern Warfare 3’.

The Wedding
The big news this year was the wedding of Leah and Matthew. It happened on a beautiful summer day in June and the day couldn’t have been more enjoyable. I was sitting in the church and thinking this is such a nice wedding and then it dawned on me that this is my baby girls wedding day!!

When Karen (Kloeble) and I went up to light the unity candles, it was difficult to manage the lighter so we high fived each other after for a little comic relief.
I thought there would be tears of joy that day but we all managed to hold it in and not smudge our makeup.

Kendra my niece looked incredibly cute walking down the aisle with Josh (who was the junior groomsman/ring bearer, who ended up, (to his chagrin) dropping the ring) Josh looked so manly with his 3 piece suit, white gloves, hat and cane. He has grown to be 5’ 6”.

Kayla and the other bridesmaids were suitably elegant and lovely and Leah and Matthew looked pretty good too (they were both grinning ear to ear).
After Wayne walked her down the aisle he spoke a special prayer of blessing upon them and our associate Pastor Joe (who was Leah’s youth leader) did a lovely sermon about them using their particular gifts to bless others in their lives as a married couple. They had a very yummy and fun reception and then they went to Disneyland and a Mexican cruise.

Leah’s still working full time at the daycare and Matthew works part time and is pursuing his bachelor of arts leading to a bachelor of education. They set up their first home in a basement suite in south Burnaby close to us and are enjoying married life.

We see them at church and also every Friday since they come to pick Josh up for youth group, (they’re the leaders for grade 6/7)

So it was a wonderful year again as we saw how God has truly blessed us.