Travel Back in Time

Jared and I had the privilege of travelling around Europe together during my Christmas break from Capernwray in 2004. This is us at the Parthenon in Athens, Greece



















In Athens, we also got locked inside a gated park (someone had left the door open, but then came and locked it once we were inside) and we had to climb over a tall iron fence to get out. I thought the police were going to come hunt us down and arrest us, but thankfully that didn't happen.

We celebrated New Year's in Interlaken, Switzerland



















by going to sleep at 9:00 p.m. since Jared had a raging fever. We set our alarms for midnight, woke up for 2 seconds to say, "Happy New Year," then went back to sleep. We had our first slow dance in St. Mark's Square in Venice at night. There was a restaurant there with the windows open and a pianist was playing soft, romantic music (sigh...aww)



















We saw the most amazing cathedral (the Duomo Cathedral) in Milan, Italy and this picture doesn't even come close to capturing its size and magnificence



















and we got a tour of the Colosseum in Rome which was indescribable as stories were told of the people who died there

Outside


















Inside

















We ended up back at Capernwray where Jared got to see "the castle" which was my school



















and he met my beloved friends from around the world



















I could tell many more stories, but the pictures are worth 1000 words, so I'll leave it at that. Where is the farthest place or one of the biggest adventures you have been on with your significant other?

Happy 6 Months Kiera!

I can't believe our little girl has been with us (on the outside) for half a year now! Time has flown by so quickly. I love watching her discover new things about herself and the world around her and switching her entire wardrobe every couple of months because her clothes don't fit her anymore! I look forward to many more milestones and being a part of the journey as Kiera grows up!


















6 months old

Beauty in the Sky

I captured God's artwork one evening at Capernwray in England.



















"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands." Psalm 19:1

Survivor: Prairies

From left to right: my sister, Jenene, my cousin, Kristie, and my friend, Melissa



















Did you know that some scenes of Survivor were filmed in my parents' backyard? Some of the challenges from that season were:

-Plowing a field the fastest
-Scraping the most ice off a windshield in -45 degrees celcius
-Driving and staying on the highway the longest after it has rained, then froze, rained, snowed, then froze again
-Slurpee mixed with Tim Hortons coffee drinking contest
-Roll kuchen baking contest
-Cow tipping race
-Pronouncing the most "Plot Deutsch" (low German) words correctly and speaking English with a low German accent while ordering food at a restaurant

Did anybody else watch that season? It was quite exhilarating; perhaps the most unique and interesting one that I've ever seen! The winner walked away with a brand new combine! Who would want a million dollars when you could have your very own combine instead?! I almost peed my pants at the excitement of it all! I don't think I could have come up with a better show idea myself! :) What do you think? Stay tuned for the Amish Bachelor next...where he picks the girls up in his courting buggy!

Walking On Water

Last week, our cell leader, Greg, talked about what God had spoken to him about the story of Peter walking on the water with Jesus in Matthew 14:22-33. It was stormy when this took place. When we are walking through life's storms, we need to be careful to keep our eyes on Jesus. When Peter saw the wind, he began to sink. Likewise, when we take our eyes off Jesus, or when we sin, we start to sink. We don't go immediately plunging all the way under the water, but that's when the sinking begins. Then Greg asked a question that has stuck with me, "Where is the water level in your life?" Am I ankle-deep, waist-deep, or up to my neck in sin? A Christian speaker, John Piper, said, "Resolve to find every known sin in your life. When we have darkness (sin) we're not walking in the light." When Peter began to sink, he cried out and Jesus immediately came into his situation. The wind was still blowing until they got back into the boat. Jesus will come to us, but that doesn't necessarily mean that the storm is immediately over...we just may not notice it as much with our eyes on Him. Hebrews 12:2 "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith..." Just some thoughts and encouragement for you all as you start a new week!

New York Freeze

I would LOVE to do something like this!

Wordless Wednesday: America's Next Top Model

Rice Cereal Attempt #1

Yesterday, at 5 1/2 months old, Kiera tried rice cereal for the first time. I was really looking forward to it because then I'm not the one who always has to feed her. Unfortunately, she really didn't like it. I guess it doesn't taste like breast milk. I will keep trying and hopefully she will acquire a taste for it. I can't breast feed her forever, so she's going to have to like other foods eventually. In the meantime, we got a hilarious video and some pictures that wonderfully captured her disgust.



You're going to try to make me eat WHAT?!


















Yuck, this is awful!


















Mommy, what are you doing to me?

Lots of Giggles

This is Kiera with her Grandpa G (my dad)...he's such a great grandpa! He turns into a big pile of mush when she's around! :)

Week-end Update

Hi! I'm back. Last week, nothing extremely exciting happened, so I didn't really have anything to post about. Our week-end was very busy, so I finally have time to post again today. On Saturday night, we had a couple over (Ken + Kathy) from our church for a barbecue. They brought oreo cheesecake which Ken had made and it was delicious! They also brought their Nintendo Wii which was a lot of fun! My arms were still quite sore 2 days later from "boxing" with Jared. He kicked my butt, although I did knock him down a couple of times. He said it was the only time he could ever get away with beating me up (ha ha). On Sunday was Kiera's baby dedication at our church and we were very blessed to have a bunch of family come to that. We had a big pizza party at our house after church which was great. I made a butter pecan cake with cream cheese icing (mmmm) and thankfully it turned out well. I tried to post videos of her dedication, but for some reason it's not working, so I may try again another day. Here's a picture of Kiera with her granny (June, Jared's stepmom)



















She looks sad, but she was actually just sleepy because she had just woken up from a nap. She missed most of the party and the yummy pizza, but I don't think she realized that, so she was none the worse. It was a wonderful week-end!

Basically Wordless Wednesday

This is a picture I took of one of the flowers in a bouquet that Jared gave me when we were dating