christmas in MB...

We had Christmas in Austin with Michael's family a little late, but it was still a lot of fun! Here's the pictures...

this is Cate opening the box with the hat that I knit her in it...I actually added ear flaps after the fact, I'll have to try and get a picture of the revised hat.

Cate of course was the star of the whole weekend...especially watching her chew on her toes...

Here's some more pictures from the festivities:

christmas in BC...

Well, we spent 11 days in BC. I think this was the hardest time we've every had with the weather...it felt so dark and rainy the whole time we were there. Of course it didn't help that there was fresh snow on the ground the day we left Winnipeg.



Anyway, we had a good time visiting with family, going to family gatherings and seeing some friends. My apologies, I really don't have pictures...perhaps I can get some from my family and update this, but here's what I've got:



This at Uncle Bud & Aunt Sherry's, who invited us to join them in one of their family traditions...making gingerbread houses! We had a great time!

merry christmas from us to you!

classes are done!!!!!!

what else can I say except that hooray, classes are done for another semester. In a few days we're heading to BC for the holidays and when we get back I still have a week of freedom before classes start up again!

puffy eyes...

Ok, so this morning was pretty crazy. I was up until 2am preparing a presentation, didn't fall asleep until close to 3am because I was still on a coffee buzz. And woke up this morning to the radio and Michael saying, you have to get up now, it's 7:25. What!?! The alarm is supposed to go off at 6:45, so I can slowly wake up and make my way to the bus stop for 8am. Well, the alarm wasn't turned on last night, so Michael's body clock is what woke us up and just in the nick of time too. I discovered something this morning. Since I was presenting I actually took an extra 3 minutes to apply some blush and eye makeup (not normal for my early morning class). I find it much easier to know where to put the eye shadow when my eyes are all puffy from sleep deprivation! My make up looked great (unless of course I just couldn't see clearly because of my bleary eyes). I don't think I'm ready to live in a sleep deprived state just for the sake of easy make up application though.

a moment of bragging....(revised)

Ok, so I'm not emailing everyone about this post, which means I'll get to find out who checks this of their own volition! I know I haven't posted in ages and today's won't be much either, be sure to check back, because I will eventually post all the half written posts from the last two months, with their original dates on them (I will rig things so that they all show on the main page, you won't have to click on the archives). So, the reason for this post is because I want to jump up and down and do some kind of victory dance! I got marks back today in my Death and the Family class. I wrote an 8 page book report that I got an amazing 98% on (that, by the way was the highest mark in the class!) wahoo! We also got marks back in the same class for a group project we had to do. This group project was a little challenging in terms of group dynamics and the class presentation part was a total bomb (at least to me it's really bad when one group member takes up over half of the time limit, the next member just reads her part of the paper and also takes too long and the prof has cut her off and ask the next person to do their piece in the last minute of the presentation). I guess our written work made up for the disastrous presentation because we got 29/30! I'm really pumped right now because I've been so swamped and feeling pretty discouraged about school in general because I feel as though I haven't really been putting out my best work. These marks mean that I'm really just being way too hard on myself. I did have on assignment that I handed in that was probably my most shabby ever (it was 1/4 of the recommended length) and even that got me a 72%. Given my circumstances right now with struggling to juggle my classes, dealing with personal and relational struggles, I can live with the 72% and rejoice in the other marks! Ok, I'll stop bragging now...it just feels so good to have all the hard work and putting my nose to the grindstone pay off with marks like that! On another note: Michael shared with me earlier this week that he's feeling pretty discouraged and stuck in his job and is thinking about a change. He also was getting the sense that God might be asking him to stay and learn the hard lesson that his identity as a man is more than just his work. Then on Thursday his boss told him he got a raise! It was like God arranged this just to give Michael a little boost to stick with it! Yay! I'm proud of Michael because he has definitely worked hard and deserves the raise!

anniversary...

well, we have reached the 3 year mark. it feels well, shocking. three years has been so long and yet so short, to think we'll be spending another 50 years together if we live to be 77 and hopefully even longer! it's hard to imagine what we'll be like in 50 years! this past year of married life has had it rocky spots, as we adjusted to our new 8-5 lifestyle, but we're getting used to each other in the new routines. I think in some ways, this is what it must be like in the first year of marriage for most other people. We spent ours in a truck, which is a whole different type of getting used to each other! At the end of the day, we both still kiss each other goodnight and say 'I love you.' To celebrate our anniversary this year we went to Celebrations Dinner Theatre. The show was called Frasier: the College Years. It was a pretty cool experience, neither one of us had ever gone before. The place seats about 400 people and has a center stage, with two side stages, so you feel somewhat surrounded by the set. The food was pretty good, although anything good suffers when you're doing it for that large of a crowd. All of the servers were part of the acting crew, we had some good laughs with the crazy characters we met. At the end of the night they hauled up all the people who had a birthday that day and made them do the hokey pokey. Then they called up anyone who was celebrating an anniversary, and because we were at a table with friends ( who chanted and heckled until we no choice but to go up) we got to waltz on stage in front of 400 people! For the record: Michael and I both do not know how to dance, let along waltz. In the words of our pastor on the way out, "nice mennonite waltz!" I'm kind of glad I don't have pictures of this to prove it! Thank you Michael for a special day to celebrate 3 years of being together! The very same night we got a phone call at around 11pm from my Dad, who told us that my sister was in the hospital in diabetic shock. that was a really unexpected phone call! I didn't sleep much that night because my mind was racing about the possible implications of this. Since I am writing in hindsight, I'll tell you that my sister spent a week in the hospital and came home, everything is going well, she's healthy and started a new job shortly after this incident.

organizing projects...

well, in an attempt to have more than one post in September, I'll tell you what I've been up to besides school, since that hasn't kept me too terribly busy. I have a lot of free time during the day, on tuesdays and Thursdays I get home from school by 10am and have the rest of the day at home. It feels very weird to have such a long stretch of uninterrupted time.

I have tackled a few organizing projects, one being to find a good place for our dirty laundry hamper. It used to be in the spare room, but when we had company then it had to go into our office (which really didn't have room). It was just annoying. I know that you are all thinking the logical place would be in our bedroom, but there isn't room. We have a king sized bed...that means there is enough space (like 3 feet) to walk around our bed on the three sides that are not against the wall and that's it. Luckily we have a big closet, because our dresser went inside it. Anyway, I also have learned to be a bit compulsive when it comes to sorting laundry, so I wanted a place where I could sort whites, darks, light colors and reds. I know the reds part seems especially silly, but Michael and I own a lot of red, so it's not hard to get a load of entirely red items. We have three linen size closets in our hallway, one of which had never been given a designated purpose...it became the catch all. I cleaned it out and got some stacking bins to convert it into our laundry closet. Now I have the laundry, stain remover, iron, ironing board and spare sheets & pillows all in one place!



I also tackled some of the paper mess and set up a filing system in our office. Then Michael rearranged some of the furniture, so our office is finally a calm clutter free and functional work space. (Now we just have to deal with the stuff that got pulled out of that room and piled on the spare bed because it doesn't belong in the office).














Finally, and probably the most exciting one is the garage. It's been cleaned up to the point where we can actually fit both cars inside! We have never been able to do that, not even the night we got possession (because we painted the garage floor till 3 am that night). Michael had been promising me to do this for a long long time. We even had a few fights over it, especially because I didn't think he could do it. I was wrong, because it's done and it looks fabulous! We actually struck a deal, his job was to clean it up and get it looking decent and make space for the cars, and now I get to direct the sorting and organizing things part of the project, so that we can easily find things. At the end we'll both be happy. (actually Michael is already happy, he doesn't need to be able to find things easily he just needs to have them, I don't need to have as much stuff, but what I have I need to be able to find)

beautiful breezey evening walking at the forks...

Michael was sensing that I was going a little stir crazy (I had been confined to our home, carless on a Saturday doing homework all day while he went to haul dirt for some extra cash) and decided that it was time to do something special. So, we went for a walk at the Forks. It was lovely! We were out at my favorite time, when the sky is an awesome deep royal/navy blue. We walked across the infamous foot bridge (this structure is some what of an eye sore and also criticized for looking like a phallic image, since it was built while the gay mayor was in power), and found a really great little gelati place, I had gelati that tasted a lot like hedgehog ice cream, which does not exist out here in the flat lands. It was wonderfully scrumptious! Overall I really enjoy living in Winnipeg, I like it here (I know all the west coast people think I'm crazy, but you don't know what it's like to live in sunshine about 90% of the time, you'd never want to go back to dark & rainy either), but I am realizing that there are two things I don't like: the lack of good hard ice cream (although BDI's almost makes up for this with it's amazing soft serve and hot fugde) and the lousy grocery stores.

tribute to the treasure hunting grounds....

ok, so across the back lane from our house (it still feels weird to say that we have a back lane...Abbotsford really doesn't have any of that, and even now, we don't really use ours), there was this house that has been vacant since we moved here. The owner, Mr. Klassen, lived in a seniors home nearby and would still come by on his pedal bike to putter around, we think he was at least over the age of 80 and we were quite impressed that he would ride his bike over. Then Mr. Klassen passed away, less than a year after his wife. The children, particularly Brandt, then began the HUGE process of cleaning up all the STUFF in this house.

Michael being his natural friendly self went over to chat with Brandt and got the chance to look around at the place. It became his treasure hunting ground. He would go over when Brandt was around to see all the amazing stuff in the garage (I have to admit it was at least a little amazing, there was so many collections of things, really old things). Michael dragged me along to see it one day, there was a peg board about 4 feet by 4 feet filled with bottle cap openers, just as an example of a collection. There were old irons (the kind you stick in the fire to get them hot), a couple of phonographs and I can't really remember what all else, but lots of old STUFF. Anyway, Michael would come back home from these treasure hunts with wide bright eyes, and then he'd tell me something like, "this guy had huge stacks of old Eaton's catalogues, amazing!" Brandt would also leave piles of STUFF in the back lane for the garabage people to pick up. I'm not sure who picked up more....the garabage truck or....Michael. He began bringing home stuff from the place on a regular basis, I of course got frustrated and drew the line: no more! if you find something you think you really want, something else has to go back. Much to my dismay I discovered that Michael had been squirrelling things into our detached garage (we call it the loft) without my knowledge and without bringing something else back (I found out when I had to go in there for something recently). Oh well, I have decided that I should really give him space and get over the STUFF collecting because I won't really be able to stop it anyway. I think God knew we would need that detached garage when we bought this house!

this is the best I could do for a before photo

So, the tribute part of this post is to say that the old house has been torn down...we got to watch. Acutally, we were in bed (it was 7am) when Michael bolted up and exlaimed: "I think that beeping is a bulldozer!" He proceeded to the kitchen patio doors with the camera to catch the action...in his gitch! This means I no longer have to wonder if Michael is sneaking stuff into the loft. Here's a clip or two:

trials & triumphs of owning an older car

well, i just have to say that our car has been through a lot. we bought a 1992 Honda Accord just before we moved to Winnipeg (from now on referred to as the "black car"), we decided this would be a good way to own our own car outright, and be able to afford the possibility for repairs. See Michael has a 1991 Honda Accord (referred to as the green car) that has been parked for some time, after it didn't quite survive being used to push a full size pick-up out of the way (aka: rear ender), which we figured would still be good for parts.

it started at some point this winter when the car went into the ditch front end first and filled with water up to the driver & passenger seats. it didn't start after that. Michael did his best to check it out and find the problem himself to no avail. Then he asked his coworkers if they knew a good mechanic in town and they did. So Michael called this guy up and it turns out that he knew exactly what was wrong from what Michael described to him. The computer in our lovely car, is directly under the passenger's feet, which meant it was under water and likely fried to a crisp. It turns out that this mechanic used to work for a Honda dealer, and also has a few older Accords himself. Cool how God could see the big picture when He had us buy this car and arrange for just the right mechanic close to where Michael works. Long story short, we were able to pull the computer out of the green car and it worked, despite the manuals saying it wouldn't because the cars are actually different years. Yay! Michael pulled out the carpet so we could clean it and dry it out, this involves taking pretty much every piece of plastic on the inside of the car off and the seats, to get at the carpet. Michael put the seats back in and we have been driving car without an interior for several months. I'll come back to this in a moment.



The other car story is more recent. Occasionally I've had the key not turn, but if I jiggled the steering wheel so that it would lock, then everything would work fine. Then one day Michael and I headed out and he couldn't turn the key either. He fiddled and jiggled and then it worked, so we let it pass and didn't think anymore of it. Two days later, Michael called me from work at 6pm or so to say he couldn't get the car to start but he was going to call our mechanic and see if he couldn't figure it out. So, I waited...finally Michael called back saying he had given up for the day. Luckily I had our friend Arlene's car that week, so I could go and pick him up. The next day the mechanic came to actually look at the car and they discovered that the ignition had seized, so they pulled the ignition out of the green car only to find out that it didn't quite fit. The did figure out that a screwdriver (or the actual key) could be stuck into this crank thingy on the other end of the shaft that the ignition and key turns, so Michael could at least start the car to come home. The mechanic took both ignitions and set to work to piece together bits of both ignitions and the next day he put it in the black car. Here's a picture of the car without an ignition (the white circle is where we could stick the key in and turn it).



Back to the fact that we had a car without an interior....this past weekend Michael put it back together! Yay! It is so so nice to have a whole & complete car again! I'm so amazed at Michael's ability to take things apart and put them together again. I would be way too scared to take apart the inside of a car for fear that I wouldn't be able to figure out where all the little pieces went when I had to put it back together again!

the hills are alive...

Last night Michael took me to Sound of Music at Rainbow Stage as the final instalment of my birthday gift. It was awesome! Rainbow Stage is an outdoor theatre (well, actually it has a domed roof, but no walls). I don't have pictures because they don't let you take any, but let's just say it was a great experience...one I think might become a family tradition... thanks so much Michael for a great memory!

golden...

Michael and I went flew to Toronto for a weekend in August, just a quick Friday to Monday trip (that was all Michael could manage to take off work). We actually flew early in the morning there and late at night coming home, so that Michael would be available over the phone and have access to a computer during office hours. His family is actually in Aylmer, so we got to do a bit of driving too, but that was fine by me, it meant I could take a nice nap. Anyway, we went to celebrate with Grandma & Grandpa Peters their golden anniversary.

grandma & grandpa then & now

It was really good weekend celebrating and visiting Michael's extended family (there are some from both sides there). Here's a few pictures, hopefully I can add more later...

this is a camp fire night we had with the Peters clan at Uncle Jake & Aunt Cindy's place (thanks for having us over Uncle Jake & Aunt Cindy!), it was really nice to hang out and relax and as well as catch up with everyone.

We also had a "disco" (pronounced deesko), which is basically an outdoor version of the classic Mexican meal of tacos cooked in an old disker (piece of farm equipment, for those of you who don't know, and don't worry I didn't either). Michael is over seeing the cooking of the meat with his cousin Terry. We also had a good time here, and got to witness a huge thunder storm, complete with lightening and lots of wind and even a power outage! It meant we had to move everything into the garage and take cover, but it was still fun. Ok, actually I loved it, because I love storms.

card making...

One of the things on my to do list this summer was work at making cards so that I would have a stash ready for the times when I'm busy during the school year and need a card ASAP. I know to some of you this is totally normal and common sense, but I've always found it hard to make cards without a person in mind for the inspiration. I also acquired some "new to me" slightly used stamp sets with some birthday money (thanks Dad!) I think they will pay for themselves quite quickly! So, here's samples from my first attempt (I have to confess that these are all borrowed ideas).

I was trying really hard to make some "manly" cards, that's why there's so many with leaves on them. I figured a guy could appreciate a leaf better than a flower or butterfly, but Michael informed me that guys don't give two hoots about leaves. According to Michael manly cards would have wheels and chrome and trucks and tools on them. Thus far, I haven't discovered or invested in such a stamp set, does one even exist?

first place!

well, i don't have much for pictures, but Michael played in on our church softball team this summer. They entered their team as a first division team and half way through dropped down to 2nd division. But they finished the year strong and got first place in their division! If I can get my hands on more pictures I will!

that's Michael on the chair in the corner of the picture

our lovely score keeper...

the "coach"

scary answering machine messages...

on Tuesday July 24th I went to Austin for a baby shower for Angela and as I pulled on the driveway I could tell that Michael wasn't home...which is a little irritating, since he should've been home from his softball game already. When I opened the door, I discovered his worn clothes strewn about the entrance and confirmed that he was not home (my irritation level has gone up a few notches by this time). So, I put down my purse and go to the answering machine...which is dutifully blinking red to let me know that there's a message. I push play and hear this message, "This is Jacelyn, Michael's coach's wife. Michael got hit in the face with a ball" (at this point my stomach does something funny and I suck in my breath)...the voice continues, "but don't worry, it's ok, he's conscious. We're taking him to the dentist to get him stitched up, call me on my cell." Needless to say, all feelings of irritation have disappeared and been replaced by great concern. I called and found out that they were in the process of stitching him up and he should be home soon, I didn't need to bother coming down. So I waited and waited, it took almost two hours. When Michael got home he explained that it was because the dentist was such a clown (as in funny) that all the laughing amongst everyone made the stitching take a little longer than normal. The dentist even cleaned up the nasty scrape on his leg from sliding for a base while they waited for the freezing to kick in.

For all my nurse friends, I'll now go into more details of the wound, if you don't want to read this paragraph, skip it. Apparently Michael was going for a low grounder (hit by a very big & beefy man) that must have caught some kind of edge and bounced unexpectedly high, catching Michael in the mouth. His tooth punched right through him bottom lip, Michael told me he had to pull his lip off the tooth. He also had a half inch deep gash in his upper lip. We don't know exactly how many stitches there were, a few in the top lip, a few in the bottom and one on the outside. The craziest part is that Michael didn't have time to eat supper that day, so he was really hungry and now he couldn't eat! He could actually barely drink either, but he managed to get down a smoothie.

The dentist told Michael to talk as little as possible for the next 24 hours. Well, that's not exactly easy considering what he does for a living (he talks on the phone all day as a dispatcher). The trouble was that his boss was out of town, so Michael had to go to work or there would be no one there. So, I went with him! I got to be Michael for a day! It was pretty interesting explaining to people what happened and repeating everything they said to me on the phone, so Michael could tell me what to say out of one side of his face, and then I would say it into the phone. I have to say it was nice to see what he really does though.

The pictures show the progression of his injury from the night it happened, the day I went to work with him when it got really swollen and the day after that when it started to come down again. He looked totally normal by Sunday, and has been kissing me again since two weeks after the injury. :)

bc in july

ok, so our trip to BC was a whirlwind of visiting with people. Thanks to all of you who took the time to see us, it was great! We really appreciated the warm welcome we got from many of you! Unfortunately I don't have that many pictures as proof, but here's a few courtesy of Sylvia, from one of the picnics we had (thanks Syl).



Another highlight for us was Coldstone's! We made the trip down to Bellingham on Wednesday, which was the hottest day we had while we were there, (it was apparently a balmy 38 degrees celsius) in a car that doesn't have air conditioning (affectionately nick-named "the donkey"). Boy did that ice cream taste good when we got there! Mmmmm-mmm.

weekend in courtenay...

Ok, so we had a long day of travelling to get from Winnipeg to Courtenay, BC (that's on the island, for those of you who aren't sure, and it's about half way up the inland coast of the island). My Dad informed us at the airport that he had booked a marine tour for the next day at 8am, gulp! We arrived in Courtenay totally exhausted, having spent nearly 24 hours travelling by plane, car, & ferry, but were greeted by very friendly B&B hosts, and a beautiful place to stay. It's called the Baywood House, and we highly recommend it! In the backyard, which faces the bay, there's a beautiful garden patio with a fire pit, too bad I don't have a picture of that.

The collage of pictures is the suite that Michael and I had to ourselves, gorgeous isn't it? Anxious to get some rest and be ready to enjoy the boat ride, we crashed pretty much right away. The boat tour was a ton of fun, the guide was a great story teller. We got to see lots of wildlife: sea lions, seals, bald eagles, seagulls (does that even count?), and hold an octopus! The guide had prawn traps that we got to pull up and keep the catch from (that's where we found the octopus). So, he showed us how to take off their shells, and then promptly popped the fresh meat in his mouth. So, Michael and I sampled that as well. It has a pretty sweet mild flavor, it's the really really slimy texture that requires some blocking out to avoid the gag reflex kicking in.

The rather ugly looking teal green fish in the middle is a link cod, which was unfortunately just a little bit too short to keep, but it was fun to watch the guys catch it! The lighthouse is one that is actually still manned by real people who live there all the time, which is less & less common these days apparently.

If you're wondering why we went to Courtenay it was for my cousin Luke's wedding. It was a great weekend relaxing, and helping out with last minute details, since nearly everyone was from out of town.

If you look closely at the bottom right of the picture below, you'll notice the corner of a white blanket. This was one of the last minute details that I took care of. Heather wanted a white blanket for the flower girl to sit on so she wouldn't dirty her dress (not that it helped, the flower girl was sitting on the edge of it and digging in the dirt during the ceremony!). Anyway, I went to Walmart in search of a plain white baby blanket, but there was no such thing. So, I checked to see if they had white fleece and they did, so I bought a metre, and borrowed the scissors from the lady who cut it to cut a fringe into the edges, and then we tied the fringes into knots, viola! a blanket!

introducing....Cate!

Hello! Yesterday Michael and I got to meet Cate Elizabeth Enns, our new niece. It was pretty exciting since this is the first time Michael and I are auntie & uncle! Cate was exactly 7 lbs, 19 inches and born on June 26, 2007.

my handy man at work...

Michael and I talked a bit this spring about some kind of a garden, but didn't really have the time or space to do it. But we did get inspired to make some flower boxes after visiting Hubert & Brenda (Michael went over to help them lay some sod, and they have a lot of flowers at their house). So, we stopped at the store on our way home for some dirt and picked up tomato & pepper plants (the tomatoes are for me, the peppers are for Michael) and headed home to start building. We actually found a pattern for flower boxes online that we liked, and we used the old pallets we have sitting in the backyard from moving here for wood. I helped Michael a bit with the cutting, but he ended up doing most of the assembly himself. Aren't they awesome boxes, we thought they turned out pretty good for coming from scrap wood!

introducing tereré to our life group...

one of our last life group meetings for the summer was a "mennonite faspa potluck" complete with introducing the group to tereré. A few of them have little or no Mennonite background and some have, but had never had the cold version of the drink. It was good fun watching people's faces in reaction to the taste!

the count down is on...

Hi. I finished the course I was taking in May, got an A! I'm currently in another course for the month of June, we meet every day for 2 hours for 4 weeks and then it's over, kind of like the class in May. I wasn't planning on this, but after the chance to go to BC, I looked at the course offerings to see if I could rearrange things in such a way that I wouldn't be in classes in July, so we could come for a longer stretch. This class has been much easier, it's an Intro to Marketing class. All we have to do is write a mid-term & final exam, as well as participate in two research studies (that part is worth 5% of my final grade!). It has been a really interesting course...I think I might take another marketing course next year, we'll see. I have one thing to say about summer classes that I really don't like: taking public transit! This past week they cut down to summer schedules (from spring schedule, which I thought were already pretty pathetic). Anyway, this means that the bus I catch which normally comes every 7 minutes is now coming every 22 minutes, so it gets really really full of people (this morning we stopped picking people up about 8 stops before the university, I think we passed at least 40 people who had to wait for the next bus). The crowded part wouldn't really be that bad...if people brushed their teeth and put on deodorant, but they don't, and the smells become quite strong when you are squished in a bus like sardines! On a more positive note, one thing I really like about summer classes, is reading my textbooks outside in the afternoons, enjoying the breeze and nice weather while I work on my tan! I think that's all for now...Michael and I look forward to seeing many of you soon!

father's day face painting...

on father's day there was a show & shine in the church parking lot, it was pretty good fun, except for the downpour we experienced halfway through the afternoon. they had clowns, and also a big bouncy playground thing for the kids. since it wasn't likely that they'd let me jump around, I thought I'd at least get my face painted. The clown's name it Watt, he made me laugh so much I could hardly relax my face enough to let him paint!

may long weekend...

so for May long weekend, Jenn and I managed to tear ourselves away from the books to go to the cottage for the weekend. Henry & Shirley look after a cottage in the Kenora area and asked if we would like to join them in exchange for some labor from the guys. We all agreed it'd be a lot of fun, so we went.

Hooray we're comin to BC!!

Hey look this is my 1st enrty on our blog!! Which we have had for almost a year, so listen up! Esther has a GUN to my head!! This is serious business. We are coming to BC for almost 2 weeks in the begining of July. We are going to Esther's cousin Luke's wedding on the Island and other than that we will be in Abbotsford. We were not (who thinks wern't should be a word) planning on coming to BC before Christmas this year, but Esther's dad made the decision for us and gave us tickets to BC, which we are really excited about. Thanks Dad! We would love to see those of you who live in the area. Send us an email if you remember who we are and have interest in seeing us flat landers. This is Esther typing...I'm hungry, it's time for night lunch, so I'm cutting this short! (I'm craving my ice cream with shreddies, bananas & maple syrup!) over & out! P.S. -Esther's not pregnant she always eats ice cream this way. And she is hyjacking this update to be more acurate! Have a good weekend! Michael

what's going on...

Well, I've updated you with pictures...but I thought I would say a bit about what's going on for us. I finished my winter semester, got my marks last week (I did reasonably well on everything & am glad it's time to move on). Yesterday I started my summer course and Michael had is first softball game! I am taking a course that has 2 hour lectures every day for 4 weeks and then it's over. So, I have a mid term next Friday and a term paper due in 3.5 weeks! Sounds scary, but it's also the only thing I'm doing right now, besides some evening life group commitments and being Michael's cheering squad. Michael joined a Christian men's softball league. Our church put together a team, and it's full of talented players! The team did really well yesterday. The score was something like 28 to 13. Michael is hoping to have some more challenging games, and some time playing elsewhere than the outfield (after the game he told me he only got to even touch the ball twice). I think it will be good for Michael, because it's a chance to exercise and also meet new people (that goes for both of us!). That's about it really, I've gotten into baking my own bread lately, which is quite fun and not nearly as hard as I thought it would be!

before & after...

the pictures will speak for themselves...

weekend in austin...

well, we managed to stick with our goal of heading to Austin once a month, it was very relaxing. Michael and I spent Saturday each working on our own projects. I was painting & staining furniture, Michael was taking apart an old sleeper. Saturday night we hung out with Duane and Wendy. We played catch, Wenday and I had fun tossing the ball at a safer distance and slower speed than the guys and left them to their own devices.

We ended the evening with a bonfire, complete with wieners & smores!

On Sunday we went quadding! It was a blast!

Duane remembered a few more trails from back in the day, so we got to ride some new trail. I always find this exciting, especially when it's a little hilly and windy. Often the MB trails are a little boring after riding in BC.

long...but something to ponder

Our pastor emails devotionals out almost everyday. This one touched me, there's so much going on in my life that feels very overwhelming...here it is: “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! ‘Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?’ ” Romans 11:33-34 What does GOD know? That is almost a funny question… He knows all about all. He has a knowledge of not only all that is real but also all that is possible. He has never needed to learn anything — about anyone or anything, for He cannot add to His knowledge. Never once has GOD been surprised, caught off guard, or even distracted. He knows everything perfectly. That means His is a complete, thorough, and exhaustive knowledge. He understands everything. It is a knowledge that He has always had and always will. He knows all things fully, because He is the original designer and manufacturer. His observations are never tainted in any way. He is not obscured from seeing what is really going on. Nor does He become biased, misled, or deceived. He has never forgotten anything nor will He. To Him, nothing is a secret. Nothing is a mystery. There is no possibility that He has not thought out. There is no problem that He is unable to figure out. He knows all things—both the natural and the spiritual. He is brilliant in His knowledge. Just look at the masterpiece of His creation. It is perfect. Where there is a seeming lack of perfection, it is the creativity of God. He knows all events—past, present, future. There is no event without His full awareness. He knows all people—our actions, thoughts, feelings, intentions, and interactions. GOD is listening, understanding, interacting, and working in the lives of more than six billion people at this very moment. And yet in the midst, He remains unconfused, undistracted, and completely focused. He is fully and perfectly aware of all people, all things, and all events at all times. He leaves no motives left unchecked. No thought unheard or misunderstood. No problem without His best solution. There has been no human thought that He has not perceived already. He knows you. Everything you have done, even if you never remember it. He is acquainted with your tendencies, your mannerisms, your personality, your issues, and quirks. When you have good intentions, He knows them, even when others may question them. When you are trying to do what is right, it brings comfort to know that God is aware and keeping account. When you have selfish intentions, He knows them, although others may not question them. God knows you and me completely, and He loves us all the more. He knows what you can encounter for that coming day, and He has provided all that you need. He knows what happened, when it happened, where it happened, how it happened, what could have happened, and why it happened. He knows all the elements involved, all the motives involved. He knows what the causes are. He knows all possible solutions. He knows the best solution. He even knows how you feel. He also can identify with how you feel. GOD knows and understands. God is able to look at you and attend to you as though you were the only creature in the entire universe. He knows situations. Take your current situation. He knows how you feel, what your hopes are, your disappointments, your heart in the matter, your motives. He knows the other people involved. What their motives are. What their hearts are like. What can come about in the situation. What needs to happen to make all involved better. He knows all the intricacies involved. He knows what can be done. He knows what should be done. He knows what the best end would be—for the long haul. GOD knows everything going on. And in that He has left us with His plan in what to do in the midst of His working—to trust in Him and to obey His Word. He is not unaware. He is at work. from: Gerry Michalski Lead Pastor Soul Sanctuary

spring is here...we're eating on the deck!

need I say more? just so you all know, those of you in BC, we have by far been having warmer weather than you! (not to rub it in or anything)

cheesecake & adventures in odessy, what a great combo

thought this might produce a chuckle or two...who knew that grown ups like Adventures in Odessy this much! Actually it's become a bit of a Saturday morning ritual for Michael and I to listen to Adventures in Odessy before we get out of bed.

everybody say...paska!

what can I say, I had to try my hand at making the special bread, since it was a little too far to drop in at Oma's and enjoy some! It was definitely an interesting experience! After I had followed the instructions carefully I had soup, instead of dough. So, I added more and more and more flour (I had to actually divide the batter in half because it didn't all fit in the mixer). Then I left it to rise, which it didn't. So, I got creative, dissolved some yeast in warm water & sugar, added that plus some more flour. Tried letting it rise again! Victory!!!



We had some huge paska loaves, but it tasted quite good. The other things I learned is that I should really really learn to spread the cheese spread a little thinner (now that I have made it and am aware of all the ingredients that go into making such a delicious spread, there's a reason it tastes so good!)

Friday Easter Dinner...

another part of recreating Easter with my substitute family was having an Easter dinner...which was quite a lot of fun, despite the fact that we waited over an hour for the ham to actually be done (note to self: DO NOT trust the package instructions, and next time, factor in some extra time).

here's the guys peeling carrots & potatoes...(yes, that is a chess board between them, they were doing that at the same time)

since us "newly weds" had never made a ham before, we asked Henry to do the honors and carve the meat...

here's some evidence of the amazing table we set:

(aka: tischbild)

easter eggs!

Well, Easter is one of my favorite times with family, but since we stayed in Manitoba this year, I decided that I could still have fun at Easter and do it with substitute family. So, Jen & I dyed Easter eggs! It was a lot of fun even though we didn't actually coordinate a hunt. Actually it was slightly distasterous, since I dumped over the purple dye and it poured into my lap. Everything came out clean in the wash thankfully!