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).

Birthday Boys

Michael and his brother celebrated their birthdays together by going toboganing. Their birthdays are only one day apart (plus 15 years). Looks like they had a good time! Michael got to test out his new winter gear, that we purchased in preparation for our trip to Europe.

Cate's Baby Dedication

Well, our neice had a baby dedication and as doting Auntie & Uncle, we had to be there. It was really neat to be there. There was quite a few babies/toddlers there, partly because the church was going through transition and so the last one before this was a few short weeks before Cate was born. The random picture of Michael is just to show off what a good dresser he's become...isn't he hot?

Happy New Year!

For those of you who didn't get this in the mail:

Here's what it said on the back:

Hello!

2008 was a year of milestones & adjustments. Esther completed her Bachelor of Human Ecology in May & became a career woman in the fall, at Siloam Mission.

This past summer we took as much time as we could to hang out together, including Folklorama, where this picture was taken. We also completed a house project together, turning our office into a media room. This summer we got bicycles & spent time riding around Winnipeg admiring houses.

Michael spent another dedicated year keeping trucks on the road & wheels turning.

We have been enjoying our church family & Getting involved in teaching preschool. We’re so thankful for the friends we’ve made here.

We hope that your holidays were memorable & we wish you a very Happy New Year!

Michael & Esther

Christmas Party - appetizers & open house

This has become somewhat of a tradition...

Christmas Cookie Bake!

Val & Allison joined me this year for soem Christmas baking! Yum!

playing at auntie & unlce

This is Sofia, she's almost a year old and almost walking. She discovered that Michael's lunch box worked quite well as a walker...too cute!

Hanging out with Uncle Michael (who is playing pacman on PS1).

the OTHER job, that I still haven't told you about...

Well, thanks all for being patient. I'm now in my fifth week at the other job, and you still don't even know what it is! This is also my first week of full time work. The first four weeks were three days a week. This week I also started taking the bus. So far I've been extremely fortunate, because the weather has been really amazing. Although the bus I'm supposed to catch is either usually very late, or seems to skip a round. On Monday it was a balmy 18 degrees C! I've barely been needing a jacket to get to work, never mind mitts, scarf & hat.

Are you getting impatient yet? I'll start with my title, since it's ridiculously long, and everyone at work has fun teasing me about it. Adminstrative Assistant to the Executive Team. Doesn't that sound important? I suppose it is too, it just doesn't seem that important because it involves being organized and for me that is just so natural.

This is my tag, pretty official, eh?

Where is this job with the long title? At Siloam Mission, that's where I work. In a lot of ways, I feel like I found a job that gives me the best of both worlds. A place that relates to my degree, allows for awesome opportunities to network and makes use of my administrative skills. Pretty cool, eh? I report to the COO, but am available for anything the SAO & CEO need me for as well. The COO and I work together well which is really great.

I'm also learning a few other roles within the organization as a back up person for reception, medical reception and donation processing. This keeps me engaged, because my head is so full of new things.

October proved to be a really crazy month as I juggled three jobs, this one, the Stradbrook one and finishing up at TMR (where I've been doing the books since March).

So, there you have it, you finally know what I'm doing! Here's a picture of me at the end of the first day.

pumpkin carving

This year we managed to find some time for pumpkin carving...with Dan & Jenn, Chris & Allison. We had a good time. Any guesses as to who carved what?

Michael did the mountain scenery on the far right, and I think Jenn did the middle one, Chris & Allsion did the left one.