Montreal, Quebec

After hearing about the trip Andrew and I took Montreal, Quebec, I am sure some of you were wondering, "What for?" or "Just for fun?!?" Well... not quite. With Andrew planning on moving to Michigan, it was required for him to go. They set up an appointment for an interview at the US Consulate there and so we took a road trip just for that! ...and well, decided that since we were there, we might as well take a little bit of time to do some touring.

Our first stop at 7am was the US Consulate! Sorry I don't have any pictures of that, but they wouldn't let us take anything with us. Everything went well at the appointment, for which we both are very grateful!

Next, we went back to Complex Desjardins (where we parked our car) to get the belongings we left behind and to grab a bite to eat, before meeting up with our friend, Rolina, for a nice personally guided tour! Displayed in the center of the complex, were these 20 foot statues of individuals who were influential in Montreal's history. Unfortunately, I am unable to explain more about them, as everything was written in French and I do not know a single word in French.



Now the tour begins with us going through China Town! Every big city has to have one!

Going through Old Montreal! All the architecture you see in these pictures are of the original buildings that were built many, many years ago. You will find that much of the architecture has European or mostly French European influence.
This is the one and only Notre-Dame Basilica! An absolutely beautiful cathedral! We were not able to go into it, for the sake of time and saving money, so I only have a couple pictures of the exterior. I highly recommend that you click here and take a look at all the beautiful pictures of what the interior looks like.
This is Andrew and I in front of the large and heavy doors.
Since we did not go into the Notre-Dame Basilica, our friend, Rolina, instead took us to another cathedral, which was free. :) This cathedral is a replica of the famous St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. As you will see from the pictures, it was also a very beautiful place.
From the entrance to the front. It is shaped like a cross, with the main isle being the longest and having a wing on either side, closer to the front.
At the front, looking up into the dome
This ornate seating place for the pope or arch bishop, reminds me of the fancy chairs the Chinese use for their king or president.
Looking from the front to the back.
This is a cemetery along one of the sides of the sanctuary where they buried the priests or whoever was important at that time.
The labeled sections
More labeled tombs for the not as high up leaders of the church.
A closer view of the giant pipe organ
Back to viewing more of the beautiful architecture! It was common then, to have a 3 step form in the design of their architecture. This building helps display it the best. This building has 3 levels of construction. Within those 3 levels, are 3 different layers of design on each level. The bottom level got cut off so you will have to use the other two levels as a reference. At the bottom of each level is one style of architecture, in the middle is a second style, at the top is a third style. Here this building is unique, as all 3 styles are displayed and it carries it out in 3 separate tiers.
Just walking the streets of Old Montreal, which we did a lot of that day!
The still remaining old cobble stone streets!
This is a true visual of Europe, with the old stone architecture buildings side by side and being a shopping alley with stores and restaurants on either side!
This is supposedly the well known bridge in Montreal.
This place is called the Clock Tower! It was designed after Big Ben in Europe and was built as a tribute to many who died in WWI and WWII.

After dropping off our friend, Rolina, at the University she is attending there, we continued our hike up Mount Royal for our spectacular scenic view of the city. But first check out the number of stairs we had to climb and this picture doesn't even show them all! This was after our feet were already tired out from walking all around the unlevel city for 3 hours!
We made it!! It was worth it!
A view of the far left side, or at least of what I could see...
...a view of the middle...
...and a view of the far right side!
Despite how exhausted we were all day, we greatly enjoyed our trip and highly recommend it to anyone! If you ever end up somewhat close by on a trip sometime, make sure to stop by and at least take some time to visit a little bit. You will be glad you did!

By God's Grace... Still Beautiful!

Tonight I went to hear the Heritage Voices Choir sing their spring performance. It was absolutely wonderful to hear and very spiritually uplifting! One of the songs was especially touching, so I wanted to share it with you. It was sung as more of a reminder for us as Christian Americans to continually pray for our beautiful United States of America. We need to remember to true christian beliefs that this country was founded upon and pray that others do the same. Here are the words of the song they sang, to the tune of "O Beautiful For Spacious Skies".

Still Beautiful For Spacious Skies
Still beautiful for spacious skies, still amber waves of grain;
Still purple mountain majesties above the fruitful plain;
But, Lord, our hearts no longer see Thy scepter o'er our land.
We followed men who promised ease and built on sinking sand.

Yet Thou, in mercy, still dost wait to hear our contrite call,
For only Thou canst bless our land as we give Thee our all;
Then help us to confess our sin and leave our wicked ways,
To humbly seek Thy face in prayer and serve Thee all our days.

O cleanse and sanctify this land; Thy name keep ever here,
As we acknowledge Thee, our Lord, in reverential fear.
America, America, seek God on bended knee,
'Til Jesus Christ is lifted up from sea to shining sea.

Our leaders, Father, need Thy light, In mercy stretch Thy hand,
To guide us through the trackless night and save our periled land.
America, America, may God your faith restore,
'Til Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are praised from shore to shore.

(the author is currently unknown)

Officially Our Own!

Remember the pictures of the house I posted a little while ago?? Well... closing is officially scheduled for this coming Wednesday morning!!! Can you believe it? We will finally have the key to our own house and then we can start moving all the furniture, which is currently stored in my parent's garage. My dad will be happy to FINALLY get some room back for his own personal use. ;) I can't wait to be able to choose paint colors and decorate the home the way I want it. I will be excited to share updates on the home as we begin to work through each room.

Engagement Party nov '09

I thought I would just bring up a few events from the past that I had pictures of and share them with you all.

This is of our engagement party, which was also the first time that both families officially met each other. We started out the day with bowling at a local bowling alley in London, ON and then gathered at the church for lunch and fellowship.

We also decided to take a few pictures together.
Bergsma parents on the left and Moerdyk parents on the right.

This was one of my family who made the trip to London for the event (minus my sister & brother-in-law who were not able to make it).

Showing off our beautiful Cake!

Practicing cutting the cake together! :)

Hanging out and chatting with friends...

The next few pictures are of everyone mingling together prior to lunch being served.

We even had a couple game tables to keep the kids and teens occupied... well, it looks like there were a few older ones who took advantage of that as well! :)

Starting lunch...

After lunch, Andrew and I became the center of attention as we were sat down for gift opening.

The excitement definitely had even the little neices and nephews eagerly looking on...

...and even helping with opening! :)

A square metal wall decor

A round metal wall decor with 4 little tea light candle holders

Neither person knew the other one was getting it, and everyone was surprised and excited as how closely the two flowed together in color. Regardless, I was excited for both of them I as could see them both hanging on my walls! Thank You again!!! :)

We gave our 'Thank You' speach and then handed out our 'Save the Date' cards to everyone there.

Thanks again Bergsma family for hosting and planning the event and to Everyone for all the wonderful gifts we were given. I can't wait to do things with them all in our new house!!!

Wedding update

I am very excited! I picked up my wedding invitations from the printer the other day and they look absolutely fantastic! You can scan your mailboxes with anticipation for them, well... not quite yet, maybe in a couple months. :) But I just wanted to you let you all know ahead of time, of course, I will give you a little reminder as it gets closer.
I picked up my bridesmaids dresses as well, so things are starting to come together!
I will try to keep you posted as things fall into place!