Rachel's story is not unlike what thousands of women around the world have experienced. A diagnosis that changes a woman's life and inevitably takes from her what we consider to be most precious.

After four and a half years of vigilantly fighting breast cancer, the 37 year old wife and mother of two was diagnosed with terminal cancer.

But for Rachel the essence of life is found in her relationship with God through Jesus. And that's why Rachel is convinced that death is not dying.
Go watch her talk about it.

www.deathisnotdying.com

Yesterday I learned a few things. Here they are, in no particular order ( that's the order you get half-way through the first cup of coffee)
~ my husband really likes The Cars. Putting it on my ipod has worked well for me.
~ you can never have enough marshmellows in the house.
~ a chopstick is the best way to dispatch a lobster. ( this is my opinion, not the lobsters)
~ fresh mint is as scarce as a clean teen during easter season.
~ a bacon wrapped 2 inch scallop is a thing of beauty.
~ people will never ask for fish, but they'll eat it if it's there.
~ 5 courses is a tricky dinner... and should start at 4 if over by 9. But 3 dessert courses is so worth the effort!
~ true happiness is near the bowl of yam fries.
~ good friends are precious, and should be cherished.

Hi!
We left the house dark and early. Crossed the border at 5:30. We stopped for lunch at 2. Changed drivers near Grant's Pass, and back again 2 hours later. We stopped at the checkpoint to verify that we didnt have any produce with us, and then pulled into Sacramento at 8. The "Tale of Despereaux" was ok, we've started Inkheart and it is more captivating. Not much else to tell you. Gravol is my friend. :D

A prayer from The Valley of Vision -- a collection of Puritan prayers.

O God,

Thou hast taught me
that Christ has all fullness and
so all plenitude of the Spirit,
that all fullness I lack in myself is in Him,
for his people, not for himself alone,
he having perfect knowledge, grace, righteousness,
to make me see,
to make me righteous,
to give me fullness;
that it is my duty, out of a sense of emptiness,
to go to Christ, possess, enjoy His fullness
as mine,
as if I had it in myself, because it is
for me in Him;
that when I do this I am full of the Spirit,
as a fish that has got from the shore to the sea
and has all fullness of waters to move in,
for when faith fills me, then I am full;
that this is the way to be filled with the Spirit,
like Stephen, first faith, then fullness,
for this way makes me most empty,
and so most fit for the Spirit to fill.
Thou hast taught me that the finding of
this treasure of all grace in the field of Christ
begets strength, joy, glory,
and renders all graces alive.
Help me to delight more in what I receive
from Christ,
more in that fullness which is in Him,
the fountain of all His glory.
Let me not think to receive the Spirit from Him
as a 'thing'
apart from finding, drinking, being filled
with Him.
To this end, O God,
do Thou establish me in Christ,
settle me, give me a being there,
assure me with certainty that all this is mine,
for this only will fill my heart with joy
and peace.

In honor of Valentine's Day....

Tyler & Lara

1.What are your middle names? Thomas & Anne

2. How long have you been together? 18 years, 6 months.

3. How long did you know each other before you started dating? Good question. We first laid eyes on each other aug 8th. We got engaged Nov 11th, Married Feb 9th.

4. Who asked who out? He asked me out, via flying 3 doz long stemmed roses and a teddy bear to the fishing lodge where we met the week before.

5. How old were each of you when you met? I was 18. He was 23.

6. How old are each of you now? I'm 37, he's 41.

7. Whose siblings do you see the most? Tara's.

8. Did you go to the same school? Nope.

9. Are you from the same hometown? We were both born in Vancouver...

10. Who is the most sensitive? I am.

11. Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple? Malawi, Africa in 2008. Finland, Sweden, Norway in 2003.

12. Who hogs the bed? Why don't we say "who pigs the bed?" really, I want to know...

13. Who wakes up earlier? I think I've woken up before him exactly 4 times. ( not counting kid related things)

14. Who has the bigger family? His family is tiny compared to mine.

15. How do you spend the holidays? Kissing.

16. Do you have little pet names for each other? nothing that belongs here... hahaha.

17. How long did it take to get serious? We are very rarely serious. Come eat dinner here.

18. Who sings better? I do.

19. Who’s older? Really... of all the things to review.... sigh.

20. Who snores? we both do. But I sound better.

21. Who’s better with the computer? The kids.

22. Who drives when you are together? Him almost exclusively. He get motion sick when others drive.

23. Who is the first to admit when they're wrong? I think I'm wrong more often.

24. Who kissed who first? I am the honored recipient of his first kiss ever. How precious is that?

25. Who eats more sweets? If we count kisses, He does. but he says this year I taste older. hahaaha.

Today Bella called me in a desperate fit because she had forgotten her PE strip. Today would be the 2nd class in the row. So in addition to her bag I also needed to bring her a note. I resented being hauled away from making coffee and so, behold, the note:

"Good morning, Please excuse Bella for forgetting her PE strip last class, she was overwhelmed by her own awesomeness and had a "moment" .
Sincerely, Lara DiGuistini."

The email that was waiting for me when I got home.. copied here for your reading pleasure.

WHAT IN THE WORLD.
my friends quite liked that. lauren laughed really really loudly and embarrassed everyone. liam says you're awesome. and so does that hobbs boy. bahaha. (thats for reading my email hobbs)
you're amusing.
lets see what ms.hansen thinks.
if she asks to call you IM LETTING HER.

<3bella

My reply:
thats fine. I have every intention of answering all calls today with.
"Isabella's house of awesomeness, don't be shy, ask me why"
Hi to Lauren ... we miss her here...
and Hi to Hobbs... we dont miss you here, but if you were here and then  ditched us like lauren has, Im sure we would miss you too...
PS.
Liam... I don't miss you because I see you every tuesday.. except last tuesday..ok, I miss you too.


lol. you are scary.
lauren says she misses being around. i may bring her home soon. hey why dont you make a ham and we'll have her over? she loves ham but they dont make it often. only we'd need to have it at 5 cause shes going to the dance.....but yeah?
hobbs laughs.
he will not be coming for dinner.
and liam has left class........heh heh.

My reply:
I would love to bake your dear friend a ham. Unfortunately I am out of ham at this time. If it pleases you she is welcome to join us for beef. It is not ham, I am aware, but if some small inconveniences are tolerated I feel confident she would enjoy her dinner equally well.
Mr Hobbs I am sorry we won't be having your company as well. Please re-consider your decision and reply at your earliest convenience.
Liam just sucks.
Lara

LOL.
lauren will still be coming. possibly. shes gunna call her mom and ask.
liam says "thank you in very sarcasm"
dont ask. i dont know either. :)
did you just invite Hobbs over for dinner?

-Tell Liam Im sorry. I thought you said he left class... walking out of class does suck. Liam however, does not suck.
Yes I did infact invite Sir Hobbs for dinner. Is that ok with you? I didn't know I needed your permission to ask people for dinner. I will be less liberal with my dinner invitations in the future, as you see fit. Lauren is always welcome for dinner, though I am afraid I will be unable to accomadate her time constraints as your Father doesn't get home from work till 6. If she can stay later, she's welcome to.
your humble servant.
Lara

liam smiled and laughed and said that is good. =]
hobbs says "nah im good. thankyou anyways though"
lauren cant come if its a 6. so much for a dinner party eh?
hahaha...nice. servant! no, you're my mother. not much difference, i know.
ehehe...
and everyone is reading these by the way.
my class cheers for you.
....
Oh. Sad that Lauren can't join us for dinner. > insert sad face here<  Maybe you can find some other classmate to bring home for dinner, perhaps someone who isn't so busy that they can't TAKE THE TIME TO EAT A SIMPLE MEAL WITH PEOPLE WHO LOVE THEM... oh! pardon me ! my inner editor was taking another call...
I am glad Liam has accepted my apology. It would make the drive  to youthgroup really awkward if the only sounds were Dylan laughing and Nick screaming like a girl everytime Maddie punched him..
Man I love tuesdays...
fondly,
Lara

im sad too.
haha. i will ask my friends if anyone wants to come over for dinner...haha..
laura says "no thanks"
you need to keep that editor right here.
ahahahahahahahahaha.
OH THERES THE BELL.
i love tuesdays too.
my comp teacher says stop emailing me. haha

The joke is on me however, as I forgot to put the water in my coffee maker before I left and fried it. Its true... I killed my coffee maker.
>sad face<

1. Barfing children are gross.
2. Visa keeps calling us to confirm our purchases... but that's a good kind of stalking right?
3. My teens spent 20 minutes discussing the merrits of putting random gnomes on Les' lawn.
4.I made meatballs for dinner.
5.Dylan offered Novalynn 2 dollars for her last meatball.
6.We are planning our Spring Break trip
7. There wont be snow in Mexico
8. Ernie has red toe nails again.
9. I can make Sophia laugh just by looking at her.
10. The veggie santa keeps giving me grapefruit.
11. The mentalist was a repeat and I feel cheated.
12. I tried to run the kids over in the IGA parking lot, but they kept running out of the way.
13. I get to babysit Warren tomorrow. Na-na-na-naaah.
14. I played scrabble in my bathtub last night on facebook.
15. my arm fell asleep from hanging it over the edge to type.
16. the hampsters like blueberries
17. Dylan scared the everloving daylights out of me today.
18. Sun chips cut the roof of your mouth.
19. Flannel sheets are a beautiful thing.
20. Kim has big news.
21. I bought some soap that smells like gardenia's. It's devine.
22. Tyler poured concrete today. he hurts now.
23. Tomorrow is Leah's birthday. I gave her egg whites.
24. There is only a little bit of cake left, and its frozen.
25. There is no young life tomorrow, the last quiet wednesday till summer.

~Did you know I am Warren's Fairy God Mother? It's true!
~Our house is officially a Zoo. We now have 1 dog, 2 birds, and 2 hampsters, and fish. If it wasn't for Notme and Nobody the animals would out number the kids...
~We are making plans for this years' spring break trip to Mexico to do a house with younglife again... Anyone joining us?
~My Dad has his website up ... check it out and add your mission pictures. www.papacalledme.com
~We had a really lovely time at our cabin and are looking forward to spending more time up there this summer.
~I am loving the freedom that a little car offers me. I can park ANYWHERE. I can fit in PARKADES... it's a whole new world!
~Dylan and Bella turn 16 in a week. That is INSANE. Time flies when you're having fun. They are planning a huge party. It's Phantom of the Opera themed and should be a great memory for them.
That's it for now.

 

 

What's changed?
Good Question.
Tyler has a job. He is gutting and reno-ing a 1970's Spanish Classic. It's an exciting house, currently boasts a fire pit in the living room and a smurf blue master bedroom and ensuite complete with a sunken smurf blue tub. The toilet and sink are also smurf blue, but for some reason, escaped the mad quick sand obsessed architect. Happily though. Fathom trying to pee in a sunken toilet in the middle of the night? I hear pee softens skin... you would have nice feet at least... maybe I should change this to the sunken smurf blue pee blog? Tempting...
It's a month before Christmas!!!! Wheee! I love Christmas. It's time to get out the decor, and do up the house. I have so many cool new places to decorate this year. 2 mantels, a staircase, a real hall... the windows in the dining room... the front door... and of course the tree. The first year we lived in this house, the tree was in the living room. Then, we had a tarpshack er, reno, and I bought a real tree and some dollar store dressing for it, and put it in the family room with paper snow flakes that the kids had made. It was a wee bit charlie brown, but better than no tree at all. Last year, the tree was still in the family room because the living room wasnt done yet. This year it is. All I can say is Lookout! It's calling to me! Speaking of tree's, did you see the commercial from canadian tire where the kids decorate the bottom of the tree? That's been my reality for the past 10 years. The kids ( when alone in the rooom? or maybe they get up really early?) move their favorite decorations to their eye level. This means, that in the course of a few days, the tree's ornaments all migrate to about 4 feet off the ground, front and center. Its really quite the phenomenon. Subtle, quiet, and completely innocent. They all swear that it wasnt them. So we KNOW who it is... my other 2 darlings, not me and nobody. The very same kids that take the tv remote downstairs because the wii game eats batteries, so they take them from the tv remote, which means that soon, they cant change the channels. Heaven forbid they go get a new battery, nope its scads quicker to just pop up the stairs to grab the other remote. I bet they don't even wait for a commercial... It drives Tyler nuts! I don't watch tv during the day, so I never notice. I'm too busy making SNACKS! gah.
Food! It's beginnning to govern my life.
Turns out, the kids can empty the fridge in 3 days. Stunning, I know. You don't believe me, but this is roughly what they ate last week:
Five loaves of bread, one each school day between toast and sandwiches.
dozen bagels,
dozen buns,
5 loaves french bread. ( two with Tanyandre and 3 with Barkey's)
2 acorn squash
8 yams
10 cups rice ( two meals)
3 boxes of cereal
6 jugs milk
1/2 a block of cheese ( the big boy)
bananas I bought 3 bunches, so lets say 18?
4 tomatoes
a cabbage
2 boxes of pasta.
and we won't even get into the meat... it's just sad.
2 heads of lettuce
3 packs of lunch meat
3 tins of tuna
half a box of diced peaches ( 16 per box)
and there's no granola bars, which means 32 in the past 2 weeks.
and apples Dylan eats 2 every day.
Now, we did have company 3 nights this week, but Tanya and Andre got pasta and Barkey's got Turkey soup, and Kayleigh got cabbage and sausage night. So we are still doing most of the comsuming.
I don't really know the point of sharing all that, other than maybe people with one kid can read it like a car wreck... and Jen, well, you've been warned. You have about 3 years before this hits. RUN! hahaaha.
Well, Im off to Costco. Again. Love you all.

Hello little bloggy friends.
I figured it's time for a little diguistini update. So...
Tyler:
Not involved in a project at the moment, but getting lots of work done on the house. He was a little burnt out for a while, but now he's picking up steam. The mirrors over our sinks are done, and the trim in the closet is almost done. I think he's moving on the the kitchen from there, which will be good to put behind us. I am tired of Ernie losing things under the cabinets, so I will be inappropriately pleased when he installs the kicks.
Moi:
I've been busy as ever doing MOM things. The dentist is back on my list, and after pulling an EPIC "oops" of not writing down Dylan, Bella, and Maddie's back to back appointments, if he hurts me tomorrow, I probably deserve it.  I have been slowly pecking away at my larger list of things to do, which, for your sleeping pleasure I will share with you. In no particular order.... ( that's my out btw, now when Tanya asks if I've done such and such, I can look blithely away and say.."oh that was NEXT month..")
~book the piano tuner. It's only been oh...4 years?
~find Bella a math tutor
~cancel call forwarding with Telus
~renew my Van insurance
~after I take it through air care. pffft.
~find Ballet classes for Maddie
~look into football for Sam
~book gift certificate weekend before it expires (wheee!)
~put away summer clothes
~get my parents a 40th anny gift!
and it goes on and on like that without increasing in excitement.
Bella:
B is for BUSY! She's babysitting, YoungLife"ing", Youth-grouping, Facebooking.... oh yeah, and homework, Her social life is quite dynamic these days. She is enjoying having her crowd over for a movie night, and then back the next day for Breakfast... original to be sure.
Dylan:
Has a job at Kerrisdale Lumber, is Babysitting and Younglife, youthgroup busy too. He is a 4 legged creature at the moment as he had his ACL repaired on Thursday. An hour long surgery that went very well according to the surgeon. He's not complaining.. of course.
Maddie:
 is liking grade 9, She is ROCKING OUT her art program ( we're very proud) and is also busy with all the aformentioned teen-tivitys. ( why spell check is cool with my made up words is beyond me)
Sam:
Doing well in grade 7. He could be doing his homework a little neater, but in the grand scope of life, I won't complain. ( except here, I KNOW)He has been really interested in drumming lately, which is neat. He can't wait till we go back to our cabin, and is always thinking of things we can do there.
Sophia:
Is starting a social trend that will make Bella look like a recluse in 5 years. She's a going concern, hard to nail down, and doing brilliant at everything her 11 year old self tackles. Her teacher adores her, her friends laugh at her jokes, she's mastered the laundry and is learning to cook. Life in her world is as pink as Novalynn's room.
Novalynn:
Turned 10 this month. She asked for playmobil, spy glasses and history books about pioneer girls. She likes biking to school with her sister. She is equipment moniter on Thursdays and in the Choir on Wednesdays. She is gettimg more adventuresome, she even held Warren this week. When Dylan came back from his surgery, she brought him her paper friend Gary to keep him company. Gotta love her.
Ernie:
His lifelong ambition is to hold the floor down. He excels at his job.

That's about it for us, we have a busy house, Smallgroup Mondays, Youthgroup Tuesdays, YoungLife Wednesdays, Men's group Thursday's and regular basement activities on the weekends. There's an average of 13 people here monday's and 25 on Wednesdays. That's alot of traffic for one house!
So, that's a peek into our daily grind...

We had a fantastic sunday! Our church held their service at the Kitsilano Showboat to kick off their 4th year. Here is a few of my favorite pic's.

Here's some news.
17 years ago, I bought a yellow cockatiel. Named him Spanky. We had him for a  year and a bit, then moved to Kimberley. Not wanting to make him travel for 2 days we thought it best to give him to Tyler's grandparents. Now, as Tyler's grandpa's health is failing, they have asked us to take Spanky back. So there you have it. They say "the cat came back" but here, it's the bird. Welcome home little friend.
Tonight, as I was driving Sam to a sleep-over with a new friend, I was giving him a long lecture about friendship, boundries, respect, etc. I paused, and he interupts, " hey mom, what's the name of that lizard who has the tounge that comes out really fast?" "Is it an iguana or a ghecko?"
Maybe, just maybe he was tuning me out?
Later as we were driving up the street of his friend, He exclaimed "what a pretty dough-nut!"

Yay!
Summers over! Only 3 days till Christmas, I mean, school... We survived :)

NOTICE:

ALL CHILDREN APPLYING FOR SCHOOL CLOTHING MUST SUBMIT BY NOON WEDNESDAY:

1. A complete list of current clothes that fit you.
2. A bag containing clothes that don't fit you.
3. A clean, organized closet containing clothes that fit now.
4. A clean vacuumed bedroom.

persons found in non compliance of above specifications will immediatly forfeif their oppertunity to receive more clothing as you clearly cannot manage what you currently own.

Mom

I buy Stocks, and Bonds.... that is, Band-aids...Oh yes, I play the market almost everyday... Ive made huge investments... I will spare you and not describe the returns... I even play different markets.. Yesterday, it was Costco.. this morning, IGA...

http://picasaweb.google.com/diguistini/Malawi2008
here are some of the pictures. I will add more later... Its good to be home!

Leaving Vancouver, I didn’t know what to expect from Africa. Tyler had told me some things but Africa isn’t a place you can describe in words, I can only tell you of my own thoughts while I am here.
Our greeting at the airport was very warm. We were instantly surrounded and the smiles were endless. But we didn’t want to hire a porter to move our bags outside, so the warmth soon wandered away.  Our pilots name had been Dudley Snow. So I new our trip would be full of wonderful things. How could it not be?
Dennis and Nyanadzia  were there to greet us after a few minutes, since our plane was no longer on a predictable schedule. Upon our arrival we were officially a day late.  We had spent the night in Llongwe since the airport in Blantyre had no lights and couldn’t take our evening flight. No lights you say? That’s right, Why you say? No one ever produced that answer so I am un able to enlighten  ( haha) you.  
We were to stay at the home of  Kenneth and Enisia. They and their 6 kids pastor the Hope of Glory chapel. The main church is in  Blantyre, but there are smaller churches spread throughout the area that they also oversee.  Our room is large, the bed is Africa fancy , with red velvet on the head board. We have our own ensuite, complete with shower, only lacking hot water. So bathing has become a speed sport, and I am jealous of Tylers short hair.  The food is plentiful. Every morning is some variety of potatoes, fried potatoes, or boiled potatoes, or boiled potatoes with tomatoe, or boiled potatoes with a touch of curry spice. And there is white bread, and peanut butter, tea and instant coffee. The powdered milk was a surprise. It is actually a thousand times better than our powdered milk for taste and texture. I attribute that to its “full fat” variety.   Lunch is white rice and sema, or maize which is made from corn flour, and has the texture of “cream of wheat” cereal, with out that nice nutty taste of wheat.  We don’t eat a lot of it, as it has a rather amazing clogging  ability as far as digestion is concerned.  With the rice is  vegetables. Once we had green beans. But every other time it has been cabbage, finely sliced, with some tomatoe mixed in.  Lunch also means beans. Those big dark kidney beans are the only one Ive had, but I see other varieties in the store.  Dinner  is all of the above, without the bread and potatoes, and a small bowl of  either tofu meat , or chicken, or smoked fish to put over your rice.  The first week has been fine. The novelty of every other part of life has kept me interested and distracted, But I can see how I wont be eating  cabbage rice and beans  at home before Christmas.  Tomatoes come with every meal in some way, but I like them so I don’t mind them.  
My Chewa is coming along nicely, I can now greet them with out  making them laugh very hard, and apparently I am learning faster than Tyler did.  This dialect is complex though,  full of little sylables that seem to hide under their  tongues. Its lovely to listen to, it sounds like water falling.  
The first week has been fairly laid back. As the trip, from Monday night to Thursday morning sucked the life out of both of us.  As I write this , we  are at Lake Malawi with 3 other couples,  to rest and build relationship and seek direction for the remaining time.  I have not been able to be online except for 2 brief times, to check email. As Kenneth cannot find his pass-word for the dial up, and we have to go into Blantyre and buy pre- paid minutes for his phone. Everything in Malawi is done by pre paid units. The phone, the water, The electricity, cell phones, all of it. I guess with a poor nation the biggest industry would be bill collection. Everything you want for your life, is sold in tiny amounts, just enough for one use, or one day.  Because nobody can afford to buy any more. Everyone has something they are selling.  Because with that money they will buy the days food. And then tomorrow begin again. It is a very different way of thinking. And takes some getting used to.
Lake Malawi has been a lovely rest. All the sounds are different here, but the smoke lingeres in the air just like in the city. Every home cooks with charcoal, and this gives the whole country the effect of being a like a Canadian camp ground.  I find myself wishing I could just take a full breath of clean air.  I have taken quite a few pictures and will try and post them on Picasa. I have to buy internet time here. There were only 3 cards left , of an hour each, so I only bought 2.  I will try and write more later, but now I think its time for lunch.  I miss you all. 
From another day!

Today we are at a shopping mall. and Tyler is with a few men, Having a good hard MAN talk about business and integrity, its nice to be at a seperate table, writing on my blog.
I have missed being connected, but in a way, it helps me appreciate the internet more. for like all things in Malawi, it is not easy to come by.
we were just up the hill looking at a residence to buy. it is worth approx 30,000 dollars, but isnt finished, but it was hard to walk around in. without going into detail. I wouldnt want to spend the night there. Life is SO different here. to say that is such  a momentous gargantuan understatement. I have been here for around 10 days, and I think I am still in shock... not shock really, but things feel nebulous, EVERYTHING is different. the plants , the birds the bugs the smells, the ketchup... oh speaking of bugs, while we were at the lake, Tyler and I were both taken by huge surprise by a bug ( bee?) beetle? as big as my thumb, Buzzing around like a small bird... we both jumped, not wanting to be more intimate with such a loud bug...

We went swimming in the lake. which is not advised, due to a parasite potential, but everyone was in the lake, and the parasite is easily gone with some medicine when we get home. If you see me developing another head, or more arms, let me know and I will go take the pills... hahaha.

The weather is lovely, not to hot, not chilly..
I have a few mosquito bites, but they arent itchy, nor bumpy like home. Malawi has gentler mosquitos  i guess... 
I am going to spend some time uploading pictures, since you are all asleep.
hopefully tanya will wake up before my time runs out.
Love you all

Today is Wednesday, July 23rd, Stardate 0239749872
Captains Log...
oh, sorry!

as I was saying...("shhh picard")

Friday July 25 we leave before the sun wakes up, do drive across the province do to the big ditch...er,...leave the kids with my parents for some special together time...
oh Sunday, we fly back to Vancouver.
Monday, we get on a plane and begin our journey to Malawi.
This does not seem real.  Have you looked at the globe lately? Africa is freekin far away! Sigh.  I am slowly getting ready, I am half packed, The kitchen is on wind down, ( to avoid leaving mystery food for Jill and Colin... )
I hope to do my writing while Im gone, and post what I can when we go to Internet cafe. while our host does have dial up, and I bought a modem for lappy. Its electricity that is spotty at night in Malawi. 
In other news Welcome to Blogworld Ronnie.