grateful

BC

Just wanted to share a few pictures from our trip west. 

We had a great time. We flew out Friday morning, the band played Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and we flew back early Monday morning. (It went by too fast for me!)

I will say that flying did not agree with me. I get nauseous when I'm on a swing, never mind a plane. I made good use out of my little white baggy..ugh.

Anyway, all was well once we landed. It's quite something to get used to the mountains when you live on the prairies.

Here you can see them..this is us walking to the first gig on Friday. (we made good use of the taxi after that!)

BD was very well received! The people out there were amazing!! They loved the music and they loved BD. We met so many nice people. I believe we were the only Canadian band there. It was a treat listening to the other bands..great music.

  

I asked a lady that we met to take this photo of us. Kind of feels like a part of us is missing when Jonas isn't there, but it was nice to be able to relax and enjoy everything. Jonas had a BLAST camping with my sister Susan's family. Of course, he didn't want to come back home with us on Monday.

This was a major highlight for me.

I was able to meet and spend some time with my friend Andrea, whom I had never met in person. We met in the online photography class I took earlier this summer. She picked me and John up on Sunday afternoon and we spent some time at her house with her and her husband. We had a good visit. I'm so glad it worked out..thanks again Andrea!!! :)

Those are all of the pictures for now. I posted a whole bunch on BD's site. Check out the photo page on their website if you're interested. (scroll right to the bottom of the photo page.)

On a sad note, my aunt passed away out here while we were gone. She was suffering from cancer and she's now been healed. She was so strong..she was steadfast in her faith and I'm sure she's rejoicing in Heaven right now.  Even though I know this, my heart still hurts for my uncle and my cousins. There will be a huge hole in their lives. And for my mom...this was her sister. Keep them in your prayers if you have a minute. Thanks.

 

camping

A couple of weekends ago we did something we hadn't done since we were first married. We went camping. (tenting at that!)

I think there were 9 families (friends, cousins, and some of John's family) that went up to White Lake in the Whiteshell area.

It took us 4 hours to get there! Apparently we took the long way around?? On the way, I realized we'd forgotten all of Jonas' stuff..clothes, pull ups, swimmers. It was sitting in his room at home. So we had along what he was wearing and a pair of swimming trunks that I had put into our bag. We ended up finding pull ups at a store in Falcon Lake, and other than that he borrowed a couple of things from his (older) cousins.

The weather was HOT! Not so great for sleeping in a tent, but perfect for the beach!!

Jonas did a lot of playing in the sand. He preferred that over the water.

These ducks came right to shore!

Here's some of our people..the little guys in the little boat, and the big guys in the big boat behind them.

Just a kilometer or two away was this little place called Rainbow Falls. Everything was stone....there was no sand or dirt on the shore...all stone.

At the campsite...

Our friends John & Susanne.

Jonas learning to play Chess.

And we did a lot of this!!

My favorite part probably..volleyball on the beach.

So I think we're good for another 5 years or so now! Ha!

It was good...being with friends and stuff...but home was SO comfortable afterwards!! I don't think we're really that great at roughing it. ;)

We are off for the weekend again! John and his band are playing at the Chilliwack Bluegrass Festival, and I'm joining them! (on the trip..not on stage!) We fly out tomorrow morning.

Have a great long weekend!!

festival highlights

We spent a good part of our weekend at the Harvest Festival. Despite Jonas feeling a little under the weather, it was still good.

Friday we just checked it out and promised Jonas he could go on rides the next day.

And we bought him one of these light ring thingees.  

The parade on Saturday.

A little funny..Ronald McDonald tried to high five Jonas...Jonas called him the French Fry Man. :)

Putting money in the fireman's boot.

(I didn't come prepared so our contribution was exactly 3 pennies. LOL. )

Collecting candy..for which I'd forgotten to take a bag. So we stored it in the cup holders of his lawn chair.

Then we did some rides early Saturday afternoon and later in the evening.

Jonas loved the rides with the exception of the swings.

He said the ladybugs were his favourite and he said one of them was named "Spots."

( He is enjoying it..really!!)

The ferris wheel..the only ride I tried. (and that was because Jonas wanted to.)

And Sunday BD performed twice. :)

          

We didn't stay for fireworks because Jonas was just ready to go home. He threw up shortly after we got home, but then we watched the fireworks through our patio door.

So that was that.

John is back at work this week so it's back to regular life around here now. :)

Our mini holiday

Well, first of all, our gathering here last weekend was wonderful! The weather cleared up just before everyone arrived, so we were able to spend the whole time outside. We hardly noticed Jonas..he played and played. The adults played volleyball and bocce ball. We barbequed and visited. I took a total of 3 photos with my camera...I know, shocking! Kind of nice to just enjoy the day along with everyone else once in a while.

On to the next couple of days.

We went to Grand Forks for 2 nights. Here's a couple of pics. (funny how most of them involve food! hee hee.)

The Cold Stone. SO good. The absolute creamiest ice cream ever!!! I've been craving it ever since.

 

It was John and Jonas' first time there.

I chose chocolate cake batter and I forget what the other flavor was.

We stayed at the Canad Inns. It was good again...Jonas loved the waterpark of course. (I told myself I would take my camera to the pool ONE time..and when I did, my battery died almost right away! lol)

Watching Bob the Builder in our room.

Smiley faces for breakfast. :)

And, some of my favorite purchases.

Hand soap from Bath and Body.

And a "couple" pairs of shoes. ;)

(Believe it or not, there were more pairs that I loved but didn't buy!)

        

We also ate at Texas Roadhouse for the first time. We'd heard good things about it and it was delicious! Kind of like Montanna's, but I liked the food a little better. Fresh baked bread first thing when you sit down...mmmm.

We're still in holiday mode here for the most part.

Looking forward to Harvest Festival this weekend! (BTW, if you're a BD fan, they'll be performing at the festival on Sunday!) 

Jonas is excited

because his cousins are coming tomorrow!

We are having John's family down and he can't wait.

One more sleep (plus a nap) and they'll be here. :)

After that, we're on holidays!! John is taking the week off..we are sooo looking forward to that. We're planning on going away for a couple of nights, and other than that just hanging out at home.

Have a great long weekend!!

mini golfing

We took Jonas on Friday..his first time.

He loved it, but got a little feisty when John tried showing him how to hold the golf club. So we pretty much just let him go.  For the most part he kind of swung his club like a baseball bat, and carried his ball (and ours) to wherever he wanted them. :)

And looky here..I even manged to get in a picture...

or two.

Doesn't he just look so grown up here? Sigh.

And a little visit with Bob and Larry at the end. (I don't know the names of the other ones.) I think Jonas wears pigtails well, don't you think?

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

father's day weekend: part 2

Sunday was spent with John's family at a park close to Steinbach. Again the weather held out. Another good day..another long post. :)

The guys got things started..throwing around a football.

Jonas could not have asked for anything more than his cousins to play with all day! He loved every minute of it!

He also had his first baseball experience!

He hit the first pitch! ( I just noticed that I cropped the ball out of this one..oops.)

..and he's safe!

Here's John's mom pitching..had to get a picture of that! :)

Then supper...

Aww..grandpa and Jonas. :)        

Caught these two sharing a cup of chips.

Then soccer...

     

These two got a little game of their own going...

..till Isaiah decided this was more fun.

Sister and brother...

..and Barbie taking to time to play with Jonas.

It means a lot when the bigger ones take the time to play with him. :)

So that sums up the weekend...hope that wasn't photo overload for you!! I was working on my class assignments which resulted in lots to share.

Enjoy this warm Wednesday!

father's day weekend: part 1

Well first off, I feel bad that I didn't pay tribute to John here yesterday. But, Jonas and I did express our love and appreciation to him with lots of hugs and kisses and served him breakfast in bed. :) John, know that you are loved and we'd be lost without you!! We thank God always for you.

As for the rest of our weekend...

Saturday was spent at our house with my family. We had planned on having a wiener roast but because of the wind, it changed to a barbecue.

Here's the kids, enjoying the watermelon..(Jonas has developed a love for it this year!)

..and the popsicles.           

These two playing together makes me really, really happy.

Some of the dads...(my BIL's and John)

An obstacle course the kids set up. I didn't try it..it included a handstand after this jump..and I had to take pictures of course! ;)

The wind died down nicely later in the evening so we were able to sit around the fire and roast marshmallows.

My dad..our encourager in all our ventures..and our yard work go-to guy. Just the other day he sprayed all 6 acres of our grass for dandelions starting at 5 in the morning!!

My sister Susan and Jonas.

A soccer game...

and then home time.

Jonas waved from when the first vehicle left till the last one was gone. He keeps on waving even after they're out of sight. :)

So that was Saturday. A really good evening...the weather held out..and the family time was good. Just what I needed. :)

Part 2 with John's family to come later this week. Hopefully tomorrow.

our weekend

My nieces were here for a couple of nights this weekend. It was a good time...especially for Jonas who hangs on their every word and doesn't leave their side. We spent lots of time outside..they had their dirtbikes here which was lots of fun for us all. (I only wiped out once..the day before the girls came so at least they didn't see! ;)

I had a big long post with more pictures ready but it was giving me problems so I'll leave you with these pictures from Sunday.

The girls weren't sure about the umbrella..they thought maybe it was "too hollywood".....?? LOL.

Well, I'll be taking a little internet break this week. It was really good for me when I did it for Lent and I feel the need to do it again. You know, just to clear my head and get my priorities in order...get more in touch with God. I'll still be checking emails though. So, I'll be back sometime on the weekend. Have a great week!! :)

thursday

Hey, here I am...2 days in a row! It's been an at home kind of week..I've barely left the house! I did have to get groceries last night because we were out of milk. ;)

Today we have Hailey and Matthew (my niece and nephew) here. We roamed the yard a bit and did some exploring.

This little pool of water (I don't really know what to call it) is towards the back of the yard. We scared the ducks away as we walked up..I haven't been able to get a picture of them yet.

For those of you who haven't been here, we have the yard where our house is on (about 3 acres...pretty bare), then right beside we have what was the original farmstead which is a few acres as well. There's a few sheds on there and big trees around it. (that's where we'd like to build our house one day!) Then behind that there's a creek/low spot with tall grass where this pool is. Behind both yards there is farmable land which our neighbor rents. And altogether it's 40 acres. And I love it!! Ok, that was kind of off topic but that gives you a bit of an idea where my pictures get taken.

Back to today.... We picked some perty flowers. :)

And they humored me with a foot shot. You can totally tell their little personalities in this one!

Jonas finds it a little stressful having kids over because it means he doesn't have full reign of his toys. Well, depending what age the kids are. But anyway, it's good for him!! ;)