Home Sweet Home

Aaahhh.
Tonight Bren and I will sleep in our own bed. In our own house. We've had a marvelous time away, but it is really good to be home!
Here is a brief glimpse of the past two weeks: (photos will come... either here or on fb!)

We started out by taking three days to get to the Whiteshell, so we stayed in Yorkton then in Neepawa before arriving in Winnipeg for a lunch at Brendan's mom and dads, then on to the Whiteshell. We discovered that as a family we're ready to move on from hotels with pools/waterslides. The Bed and Breakfast route is awesome. In Neepawa, we stayed at Vivian's house on Vivian Street. She was a great host!

Our week at the lake was awesome. We had tons of fun, relaxed a lot, and ate like royalty. This week of vacationing together is truly a gift. It's challenging to pull off for many reasons, but each year is a poignant reminder of why its so important. Highlights were the Pine Point hike and the three littlest family members. Eryka is outrageous (one night she was caught in her sister's bassinet, sucking on a soother after having sprayed mosquito spray in her mouth. When Lisa checked if she was asleep, she whispered that her mouth was too spicy to be sleeping. She is full of something....!!) TJ is such a sweetie, it was awesome to just watch him interacting with everyone, his big eyes taking it all in. Haily is too cuddly and cute. I loved putting her to sleep and watching the big kids act all ga-ga with her. Pine point is awesome mostly because Paul seems to love taking us all out there.. he grew up sliding down those rapids and its great to see him passing on that same love to his nephews and nieces. There were tons of other highlights too, but I'm trying to be brief...!!!

We were in Winnipeg for two whirlwind days, then Bren and I took two days to get home. We came through the Duck Mountains and stayed at a B & B in Kamsack the first night. We visited many small towns, shopped a bit, went to several museums, and learned a lot about our province. It was good to be together and to go wherever the wind blew us. In Watson, we had a long talk with an older gentleman who owns a very unique little hardware store. People are so interesting!

Before the kids get home, we want to address some un-done things from when we first moved in, get Sydney's room ready for her return, and shuffle the spare room/office space. There is lots to do.. oh, and the yard needs a lot of attention too!

A quick note about holiday reading: I borrowed a book called The Source (James Michener) from the Bethany library before leaving... its a fictional account of the story of Israel, but the history is accurate.. I've been learning lots and have been captivated. It's not an easy, fluffy read, but its so worth it. Bren can't remember me taking so much time with a book, but there is a lot of info in each chapter! I recommend it highly!