Narcisse Snake Dens

I got to mark another thing off my list of things to see and do while I live in Manitoba. There is a place where thousands of garter snakes congregate every spring and fall. In fall they meet to go deep underground to hibernate for winter, in spring they come up to mate and enjoy the summer. They have had to create fences and underpasses for the snakes because otherwise when they migrate they cover the highway. It's really cool to see and weird to be able to hear so many snakes moving around!

baby Caleb

Baby Caleb arrived! We went to meet him at the hospital. He is our friends, Duane & Wendy's little boy. Isn't the picture of Michael holding him too sweet?

St Malo Poker Derby

Michael and I went to our very first poker derby with Kerry (my coworker's husband). We had a great time, it was very muddy. We did manage to keep up with the big quads and didn't get too stuck. When we did get stuck, Michael could just pull our quads out, when the big ones gut stuck, it took winches and several guys to get them unstuck. Michael took care of planning everything and packing. He wasn't quite prepared for the mud, so he drove home in his gitch and I was wrapped in a blanket, so we didn't get the car all full of mud!

April Catch Up Post

Meat! We ordered another 1/2 a beef together with Dan & Jenn.

Cooking our first turkey!

All done!

Volunteer Appreciation at Siloam Mission

Siloam went all out in celebrating National Volunteer Week. There was an awards dinner, where a few of our volunteers were nominated and given awards. As well as Siloam getting recognition for being a great place to volunteer.

We ended the week with a dinner to honour our volunteers. Hosted at the Hitch n Post in Gros Isle. We kicked it up country style, complete with a big pot of beans & wieners, rootbeer and live country music. It was a huge success!

the great blanket switch & eating on the deck

On November 25, 2008 we switched to our winter blanket, which is very heavy and warm. We love it, but unfortunately it is just too warm for us, so we only use it in the dead of winter, and in BC we found it too warm even in the middle of "winter." We switched back before I got around to writing this post, the switch back happened sometime in mid April, around the time that we were able to eat on the deck, April 15 to be exact.

By this point we were already suffereing because the blanket was way too much, but it's also extremely soft, our summer blanket is not as cozy, so neither of us were ready to give it up...

Easter

Jenn & I colored easter eggs together again. I discovered peewee eggs at Price Chopper, they are smaller than small eggs & it's $1 for a dozen.

We also had a gather at Michael's parents...

Moose Game

Michael and I got the chance to enjoy a Moose game with some tix I got through work!

visitors from BC!

Uncle Bud & Aunt Sherry came to MB and we got to hang out. Bethany came over to spend the afternoon baking with me, and since it was St. Patrick's Day, we made this lovely green cake.

We shared some lovely Swiss chocolate with them, and Tyler got a special pair of socks.

The guys went go cart racing in the evening.

a tale of four sweaters

This was my first ever paid knitting project. For all those of you who have suggested that I knit to make money, the answeris NO. It is not feasible to charge a reasonable amount of money for the many hours I put in, never mind the cost of materials. It also takes all the fun out of it to have a deadline looming, particularly when I have to stay up all night on December 23 to get it done, not only that, I have to enlist my husband to stay up with me, and get my friends at SnB to help sew in ends as well. Enough said.

For those of you who want a hand knit item even though I won't do it for pay, I'll gladly let you pay for the yarn and happily knit something to give you. (disclaimer: buying cheap gross plasticy feeling acrylic yarn does not count and I will not be happy if I have to knit with it).