Another year

Happy 7th Birthday DJ!

 

<3

Happy Birthday Little Man!

Three today! How the time flies...I will never be able to explain how lucky I feel to be your Auntie and to have a place in your life.

So many moments, but three to remember from this year:

1.  How when someone tells you "I love you"...you reply with a "...too"

2.  You cruising around the prairie on your Strider bike, sippy cup in tow

3. Holding hands while watching "Polar Express"

<3

6

Happy Birthday DJ!

Love always, Auntie Jen

Farm Auction

 8AM - bright and early

 Almost always time to goof around at Peters farms...

The three of us fed the cows...spoiled border collie!!!

9AM - Breakfast

11AM - Sale starts

The Peters gals toast the sale with Sheridan's :)

There was food...lots and lots of food. And a cake.

Then we shot some shit. 

 

The boys decided Dad wasn't going to need this anymore...

Everyone gets a turn!

 

 And I just realized I didn't get a single photograph of the boys smoking...hmpf.  Wierd.  Lol. 

 #117 - 129 of a Thousand, Endless Gifts

~ my boys

~ their girls

~ being 'the daughter'

~ my brothers tears of laughter

~ hugs when I needed them most

~ the Meier family...and the foundation they laid for my path

~ John Deere

~ a movie date

~ the warmth of the sun

~ the past that's mine

~ honesty

~ moving forward

~ a pair of muddy cowgirl boots

Can I interest you in a Ford?

Too many other things on my mind to have thought about the farm equipment sale too much....I finally took a minute to browse the webpage today...it made me kinda sad.

The truth is the farm always makes me just a little sad...but what's important is Dad's happiness, and although I haven't had any time to help out I support him 100%.  That being said...I bet your just dying to own this beautiful piece of Peters family history...mark April 9th on your calendar boys & girls!

This morning plans commenced for an 'after-sale-abration' Peters style...$20 there will be fire.  And possibly a bottle of Sheridans.  And very likely some shenanigans...I might pack my helmet lol.

Ah, I do love my little rednecked family.  The make your heart ache kind.

Five

Happy Birthday DJ!

This year it hit me that you talk. You talk. In sentences!  Truth is you probably have for a couple years now.  Your growing up...and from the photo's your mom gave us you're growing up happy and healthy.  

That makes me happy.

xo

Go Flyers!

Today I finally caught one of my cousin Matthew's hockey games. 

Its hard, there's a huge age gap between my cousins and I...but I think I've managed to build a bit of a relationship with each of them and I enjoy them all, I really do.  But Matthew...I spent hours with him as an infant, and then even more as he grew into a toddler.  When Victoria was born, I stayed home with him and then I stayed and helped as much as I could the following month while she was in the NICU.  We eventually ended up living together...the point is we have a lot of history, and I've loved this child with all my heart.

I haven't been able to spend as much time with him over the last years, and really...I'm not sure how much he remembers anymore...but we still have pet names for each other, he still giggles about the time he poo'd on me as a baby, and he still picks #13 for his hockey number.  It warms my heart.   

Warm Up

Starting line...center position...wooo!

Size gap...sheesh...reminds me of another kid I cheer for.

Focused...its insane how focused a 12 year old can be.

 An assist for #13!

Matthew's been having a good year, as of this morning he was leading the team stats.  They tied, unfortunately they needed to win this game to get into the playoffs, but they played a good game!  Sometimes I think that's a win of its own...good job Flyers!

Christmas 2010

Ya know...I wanted to take more photo's this Christmas...but the truth is my heart just wasn't in it.  Not that I didn't have a good Christmas!  Mom & Glen took us to a cabin in the Crowsnest Pass for a weekend...it turned out I had to write an exam on the Saturday afternoon and I will admit it was both a relief and VERY sweet when my little brother waited to drive me up...I was absolutely exhausted.  Actually I have to say some of my favorite memories from this Christmas are spending some one-on-one time with Warren.  We got into some pretty deep conversations...and then since we were the 'singles' we got delegated to the room with the twin beds and stayed up late giggling like little kids.  Anyways, the mountains are always a nice get-away...full of R&R, hot tubbing and goofing off. 

This photo of Warren and I is a little blurry...but I heart it anyway...

Christmas Eve is Dad's birthday so we went on a 'date' to watch Little Fockers.  My dad, what a guy...I'm 99% sure he wanted to watch it just so he could say Little Fockers like 15,000 times...but hey, it was his party lol!

Christmas Day...I stayed home and hung out with Neena...this semester was pretty tough on both of us and it has been SO nice to have some daylight hours to play outside with her.  We went for a walk with a friend and her dogs...then she came over in the evening for a visit.

Boxing Day was Christmas with Mom's family...its always cheerful chaos.  I really enjoy the kiddo's...its fun to remember who they were a year ago...and how much they've grown and changed.  And I never had a sister so it absolutely kills me to watch Victoria & Sydney bicker...LOL!  I also managed to steal my newest cousin Jaxon for more than my fair share of baby snuggling:).

Finally...today...well I guess yesterday now...started with some crazy border collie action.  Neena went to Amanda's while we were in the mountains and now she is BFF's with Amanda's foster dog Davie, its very cute.  Thanks for the great photo's Amanda!

Later we had Christmas with Dad.  Dustin & Tabitha hosted this year...it's nice to have some other gals to help with the planning/preparation.  Although the boys will ALWAYS be in charge of the turkey...no WAY I want that responsibility, especially after today's near disaster!  Halfway through cooking the turkey the burner died...it was pretty tense for a couple minutes...in the end the guys stole parts off Warren's truck and managed to get it running.  And then we proceeded to giggle through supper about how they saved the Christmas turkey with a little help from GMC.  I actually might not have blogged about Christmas at all except the boys are pretty good sports about having a camera in their faces all the time...and there was a grumbled comment about how "that had better make your blog" lol.

Its been nice to spend some extra time with Colton over the holidays...it was pretty cute, we all had to give him rides on the John Deere trike Dad bought him for Christmas.  Its really not that surprising Dad nearly dumped the poor kid off taking a corner too fast.  I guess its kinda like the saying...you can take the racer outta the car...

And I had to take a few photo's of Dad's birthday cake...I seriously don't think I've made a better cake in my life...

Yummo!

Merry Christmas!

I hope all my family and friends have happy holidays...filled with laughter, silliness, and contentment...surrounded by those they love...both human and/or canine;).

Thanksgiving Mennonite Style

Mennonites are typically pretty good cooks & bakers...but almost nothing they cook or bake is good for you lol.  A traditional Mennonite food, wreniki, is an extra special treat in my family.  They are very time consuming to make, so wreniki suppers are reserved for 'special occasions'...like birthdays and holidays!

Essentially, wreniki are cottage cheese perogies.  The first step is to make the dough, I think the best part about this picture is the bowl, its probably older than me lol. 

Next step is to roll it out, I'm apprenticing at that job and let me tell you its hard to get the dough just right!  Not too thick, not too thin.  Not too hard, not too soft.  Sheesh!!!  At one point I was sure Mom was gonna fire me, this is serious business and it was paining her to watch me struggle at it lol...

 Then add filling!  We make cottage cheese, but fruit wreniki (e.g. blueberry, saskatoon berry, etc) are also pretty common.

 Newbie's (e.g. Marissa) are initiated into the family with 'pinching duty'...the edges of each wreniki are sealed by hand.

 We do this for 2 hours straight...and no, I never got a final count lol. 

 Then we squeeze VERY large pots onto Mom's small (but standard sized) stove.  It takes forever for them suckers to boil...

 Once the water boils you are ready to cook the wreniki.

 Then we start the old gravy song & dance...I go through the same..."oh my gosh its not going to thicken" panicked moment everytime...it always does.

 But I still tried to calm my nerves with a beverage...it didn't really help...I spilled.

 So 4 hours later we are finally ready to eat!  Most people eat their wreniki with gravy, salt & pepper, although I do know a few wierdo's (Dad & Brady) who substitute sugar for the salt & pepper.  I should also mention that traditionally, wreniki is served with...wait for it...Mennonite Sausage lol. 

And although wreniki is a treat, I was still super happy that Grandma brought pumpkin pie...I've been craving it!  So in the end this gal got the best of both worlds for Thanksgiving!