Our Big Fat Family Christmas Dinner, 2016

Christmas dinner at Rosie's house in Richmond Hill, Ontario

I look forward to our big fat family Christmas dinner all year!

The food serving station

 With our all our kids grown, and many are working outside of Ontario, it is not easy coordinating the date for the get together as everyone is home for the holiday at different times.

E. has tried not to miss the Christmas  dinner if he could make it .

This year was great and many out of towners were able to make it to the dinner as it was held on December 25, right on Christmas day.

Philip made it all the way from Hawaii!

Philip came as far as from Hawaii for this family gathering!




















      This joyous annual family celebration is well attended every year for the past forty some years and this year's was no exception!

Our family's annual Christmas dinner has a  history of over forty years!

In laws are invited to the dinner too!

Our family has grown!

The 2016 Christmas dinner get together was attended not only by our siblings, spouses, as well as our grown children, their spouses/ boy friends/ girl friends.

Siblings' boy friend 

This year, we had a few in-laws joining us!

The cousins got together

Dave, Susan and their family played host to this big dinner for the past many years at their condo's party room.

My Sis spent days in advance preparing for the dinner

This year, Rosie hosted it at her spacious home.

 Our annual dinner is also a time to catch up with family members

Hosting a dinner for forty people takes a lot of planning and preparations.

The house glimmered in festive lights

Whichever family hosting this big dinner is brave, with a nerve of steel, and self sacrificial.

 Theodore 's first Christmas!!

I know Rosie, my sister, started really early checking each one off her list it was completed: shopping for food, decorating her house, having her house professionally cleaned and setting her tables almost two weeks before the actual date of the dinner.

Kids' Dining area

Her efforts and the hard work she put into getting this party ready were evident!

 She even managed to host a sit down dinner for 40 with enough chairs for everyone!

We could all sit, talk and enjoy the dinner in a comfortable and relaxing atmosphere.

The little cousins played and got to know each other

There were more than delicious and a variety of good food served for appetizers, dinner and desserts.

Kids have their space for eating and playing 

When guests arrived at her house, and after dinner, regardless of their age, they could all find something to do and had fun at the party.

Dance Area

 

There were kids' zone, eating and playing area, and a dance room included!

Bingo - one of the after dinner entertainments

The one thing I am immensely proud of our great annual family gathering is that we could have a fantastic time without anybody getting drunk.
.
We did have after dinner entertainment and games in which guests could take part.

Our Mom and others had fun playing Bingo

For the older folks, Margaret, from Ottawa was in charge of the bingo game after dinner. Our Mom and other guests liked the game.

Bingo! Richie was excited and so were we!

" Are you sure you won? I thought I bingo first>"

There was a lot of excitement when Richie BINGO at the game!

Santa and his little helpers came all the way from the North Pole delighting everyone.

Trevor and Mom

Santa appeared, delivered the gifts and the little ones having a ball tearing open their gifts.

The cousins played the Gift Stealing Game

The older cousins carried on with their tradition, exchanging their gifts playing a gift stealing game.

Wishing J. the best as he heads to Europe!

 I bought gifts for people but I forgot bringing a gift for this specific game therefore I didn't play.

 But it was fun watching others playing. I must remember to bring a gift for this game next year.

Second round of eating and celebrating - dessert time!

There was another round of eating when Susan, Wendy, Mikaella and Rosie brought in their desserts.

The board game we played was a fun one

For the young people, E. brought a party game called Codename and taught his cousins how to play it.

I am usually not a board game person as I don't have the patience to sit for hours and play. 

But this time I was able to play this game after spending less than five minutes learning about the rules.

Lia, Mikaela and I formed a girls' team and we played against the guys team made up of Eric, Mark and Dave. Sean and Jordan were the Spy Masters for the teams.  

A family picture with Mom

It was a really fun party game and we all had a great time guessing the pictures with the clue words given by the spy masters!

Thanks, Rosie and Kelvin for hosting and giving us such great opportunity to meet with other family members. It was a fabulous dinner party creating precious memories for all of us!







R.T.
Christmas Dinner Celebration
Dec 25, 2016
Richmond Hill
Ontario

P.S, I wish Y. was here!

Soaking up the Christmas Spirit on the Last Evening of the Toronto's Christmas Market

Last Night of  the Toronto Christmas Market, 2016

A visit to the Toronto Christmas Market is becoming a part of our Christmas tradition in Toronto.

Various crafts and homemade stuff were on sale at the market

However, with all the busy preparations we have to do and a few dinners we have been invited, we did not have time to visit the market until last night - the very last day of the market.

A Merry- go- round for the kids

We were hoping that E. would come and join us at this event. Unfortunately, he has so much to do that he could not make it. I really don't understand the American way of holiday for their employees.

Visitors enjoyed free performance throughout the day

E. told us that he would be home for the holiday, yet when he is home, the company still expects him to be working from home.

With the cell phone, internet and email technology, companies can reach their employees and executives 24/7 any day of the year. From what I have observed, when can a senior employee/ executive have a real quiet and relaxing time free from their daily task in our modern society when they can be reached any time of the day.


It was too bad that E. couldn't join us but we drove down to the Distillery District  by ourselves.

It was a 40 minute wait for us to get inside

It was not too bad finding a parking spot. Wow! There was a huge lineup with people waiting to get into the market, all the way around the block!

We were here before and we never saw such a line up in the previous years.


We joined the crowd, lined up patiently and waited in the cold for more than 40 minutes before we reached the gate. We found out the reason for this long wait - security!

Security was beefed up at the entrance

Instead of having the entrance wide open like it was before, this year, the front entrance gates were closed to the public with security cruisers parked in front of the gates to deter/ prevent any possible violent attacks against the visitors inside the market.







There was only the one side gate opened with the market staff allowing only two or three visitors going in at a time. Security precaution was the reason for holding up the line.

It was sad to see the recent attack in Berlin's Christmas Market having a direct impact on the security procedures in our Toronto Christmas market. But this is the reality of life in our current situation.

Torontonians came out in droves to the market

We are a global village interconnected to each others in the world whether we like it or not. Whatever happens in one country has a ripple effect on the other.

We were glad to see that our Toronto Christmas spirit has not been dampened by other world tragic events.

Torontonians were out in droves on this last night of the Toronto's Christmas Market, strolling around on the cobbled stone covered streets, visiting the various stalls, enjoying the food and activities, and themselves.






There were many photo ops places set up for pictures and selfies.

One of the many photo ops spots at the 2016 Toronto Christmas Market

Visitors to the market also loved the numerous stalls selling different new creative and delicious food enticing them to try their creations.

People were willing to wait for new creative food served at the market

There were long line ups everywhere for these creative food!

At one particular food stall, customers placed their orders, paid in full and were told to come back an hour later to get their food!














Surprisingly, many were willing to do just that!

We ordered our herbal tea, relaxed, and soaked  up the festive atmosphere.

We sang along with the carolers

We, along with many others, sang along with the carolers.

Who could resist freshly home made style bake goods?

We could not resist the aroma coming out from the bakery, and lined up for the delicious home bake goods and pastries.

A great evening out at the market during this festive season.

 It was a fantastic night out to enjoy the Christmas season!
















We will be back again for the 2017 Toronto Christmas Market,
 if God's willing!

R.T.
Toronto Christmas Market
Distillery District

Christmas Time - Our Most Favourite Time of the Year!

December 20, 2016

Our son is home for the holidays!  Christmas is our most favourite time of the year!

Beautiful Christmas lights on our street

There is a feeling of hope and joy everywhere. The city looks beautiful, festive while many houses on the streets are lit up with bright colourful Christmas lights scenery.

Eaton Centre, Toronto

 People are happy, busy preparing and shopping for their loved ones

A gigantic Christmas tree, Eaton Centre, downtown Toronto

The shops in the malls are clothed in red, gold and silver decorations while cheerful holiday music and Christmas carols playing in the background; companies, schools and churches organize and hold parties and special events to celebrate with staff, students and the community at large.

It is a joyful time filled with optimism and hope for many!


The best part for many Canadians, including us, is to be reunited with our loved ones. With our grown children working and living far away from us, Christmas holiday is the longest time we can spend with them, at least one of them.

Santa's Log Cabin, Eaton Centre, Toronto

We also got busy preparing for our son's annual return home holiday.

The house has been cleaned and tidied, sheets and linens changed; Christmas tree and decorations are up; most of the shopping and gift wrapping are done.

Even our contractor came last week to put in the finishing touch to our long delayed home renovation.

Christmas decorations, Fairview Mall

The exterior timer has been set to turn on daily with the Christmas lights lighting up the front yard welcoming our son and other guests warmly to our home. There is no happier time in the year than the Christmas season!

In the midst of all these busy preparations and numerous fun filled festivities, we do not forget being grateful and try to remember those less fortunate.

Yesterday, we visited a young widow with two little kids, paid them a visit and spent sometime with the little boy. The mother was happy that we were there playing with her young son. We'll try to make it a regular visit with this family.

I loved decorating and getting ready for Christmas.

I enjoyed a farewell dinner with William who was the chair for the Fundraising Committee for more than six years. He did a super job and we will miss him.

Though E.landed in the Toronto airport in the morning, we didn't
picked him up from the airport until 10:00 pm after my meeting at the Community Centre. as he was busy working.

One of the new fireplaces in our house

We got home and showed E. where he could sleep. He loved his new room with the fireplace and settled in right away.

Our house is all ready for Christmas!

A little after midnight, he emerged from his room and looked happy.


















We had a good chat about his new position in SF.and he explained what his new job was about to me.

He even got me online to say hi to one of the gamers.! Cool indeed! Very proud of our son and what he has accomplished!






Thank you Jesus, for your love, your willingness to come as a  man to redeem and save us! We are grateful for your blessings and unconditional love!

R.T.
Toronto

 

God Has a Plan for Each One of Us, Including Our Grown Children!

Dec. 19, 2016

I am grateful for being a Canadian and residing in this peaceful country!  We may not be able to escape the constant bombardment of chaos and violence going on in the world and their reporting in the media daily. However, I am learning to seek refuge and take a break from all these horrible news by retreating to my silence/ solitude corner and trying to seek peace and God's presence.

My silence & solitude  corner

I am thankful for my quiet time each day when I can be sitting comfortably and peacefully in my family room, reading the bible and spending time to pray.  The more I read the bible, the more I find strength and comfort in God's word.

As parents, we are always concerned with our children's welfare and their lives.  My spouse and I are very independent people living an active live in Canada. I never thought that I would miss our children too much when they are grown, move away living their own lives. How wrong was I ! I miss them a lot, daily, much more than I have expected. I pray for them everyday, for their physical health and safety, emotional health as well as for their spiritual life. A mother's concern and worry for her children never ends regardless of their age.

This morning, as I sat in my favourite spot and read the scripture of the day, God's wonderful promises lifted me up and comforted me greatly:

" For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, " plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." Jeremiah 29:11-13

God's word gives me the assurance that He has a plan for each one of us and that He will look after our children no matter where they are.

I thank God for His promises and for revealing this particular promise to me this morning!

R.T.
Toronto


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Learning How to Pray from My Study at the Seminary

I have learned a lot from my first course in seminary study which has a tremendous impact on my prayer life !

Tyndale University & Seminary, Toronto 

 My attitude towards prayers and the way I pray have changed drastically. I thoroughly enjoyed the lectures and readings which I read from cover to cover learning the different forms and types of prayers. Among the various prayers, “Praying the Ordinary Prayer” has had a great impact on me.

I used to think that praying needs to be concerned with big world events, developments and catastrophes. I would feel guilty if I had not included these events in my prayers. However, my mind was opened when I read that “the discovery of God lies in the daily and the ordinary, not in the spectacular and the heroic. If we cannot find God in the routines of home and shop, then we will not find him at all”  ( Prayer by Richard Foster, 1992 ).

Right after reading “Praying the Ordinary,” I practiced what I learned. As I was walking towards our local community fitness centre, I started praying for every building and everybody I was passing by on my way. I prayed for the salvation of those people living in the houses and apartments in the neighbourhood, for the souls of those employees working in the grocery store and customers shopping there, as well as for the safety of the road construction crews pouring asphalt on the street corners.

 While I prayed for people in my immediate community, my love for them grew inside me and tears welled up in my eyes. I felt the power of prayer enabling me to love and care for total strangers, with whom I did not have a shred of connection. God’s presence could not have been closer to me at that point!

Another thing I learned was the famous Jesus Prayer, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner”. I used to think that my prayers have to be a certain length and that it could not be too short. Learning this Jesus prayer has let me say this prayer anytime of the day when I need to pray to God but not sure of what to say. From time to time, I may experience insomnia. After tossing in bed for hours and filling my mind with all sorts of unpleasant images from the day, I would become restless and anxious. I would pray this simple Jesus prayer over and over in my head.  Slowly and calmly, I let this prayer take over my mind and drift into a peaceful slumber.

Taking my first course at the seminary turned out to be the most practical thing I have done in my life. I have learned so much from it that it would take many blogs to write about them all. I may not be able to implement everything at once but I have already started to follow some of what I have learned. I know, overtime, I would learn to grow spiritually and have a richer prayer life. However, there is one thing that delights me the most and I would like to share with my blog readers what has touched me to my core:

 “I urge you: carry on an ongoing conversation with God about the daily stuff of life.. prayer is nothing more than an ongoing and growing loving relationship with God the father, Son, and Holy Spirit” (  Prayer, Richard Foster, 1992).


R.T.
Toronto
Ontario

"Has God Abandoned Me?" A Frequently Asked Question

Tyndale Seminary, Toronto - Where I currently am enrolled n a course

 One of my goals of studying at the seminary is learning to be close to God and developing my spiritual growth.  I was delighted to have been assigned a spiritual director last term. I never talked to a counselor or a spiritual director before in my life prior to meeting my spiritual director.

One of the rooms where our meetings tool place

The very first time I met and talked to my spiritual director was on the Tyndale Seminary campus, and I cried my eyes out throughout our entire first two meetings.  I found the meetings with my spiritual director helpful and looked forward to them with much anticipation each time. My spiritual director and I discussed many things and dealt with a number of issues over the past few months.

The items on the book shelf create a calming effect in the meeting room 

The first big burden I shared with my spiritual director was regarding my loved ones’ salvation. I have been praying for some special needs for my family and my non-believing family members and those who have strayed away from believing in Jesus for years. However, God does not seem to answer me, nor seems to help bring my prodigal sons and other family members back into His kingdom. Not only did my spiritual director and I pray for my family members’ eternal salvation, but she also shared her own personal experience with me.

Some questions I have asked myself are, “Has God abandoned me? Should I continue to pray and bother Him with my requests?”  From time to time, I would consider the thought of not praying for the same thing. However, I was comforted and encouraged by my spiritual director’s personal sharing, as well as what Richard Foster said in his book:

When we are buffeted by the silence of God is to beat upon the cloud of unknowing…. We pray, we listen, we worship, we carry out the duty of the present moment. What we learned to do in the light of God’s love, we also do in the dark of God’s absence. We ask and continue to ask even though there is no answer. We seek and continue to seek even though we do not find. We knock and continue to knock even though the door remains shut (Foster, 1992, 23).

What a great confirmation that was! That is exactly what I have been doing for the past twenty years!  I will not give up and I will continue to pray, seek and knock because “it is this constant, longing love that produces a firmness of life orientation in us. We love God more than the gifts God brings” (Foster, 1992, 24).

 Alleluia! I will serve God in good or bad times!

R.T.
Toronto