Winter Vacation

Well, it is not winter yet, I haven't even seen a snowflake and we have already booked our vacation! This winter we are going with Henry & Margaret and Lorne & Annie (my brothers and their wives) Our destination will be Puerta Vallarta and the resort is The Royal Decameron Complex. I have heard of at least 3 people that have been there and all have good things to say about it. It is authentic Mexican and not a fancy joint. So... now we wait! Check it out on this website. Maybe you want to join us for some fun in the sun!!
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g154267-d264910-r10041105-Royal_Decameron_Puerto_Vallarta-Nuevo_Vallarta_Pacific_Coast.html

In Loving Memory of my Mother, Katherine Penner

I have put together some pictures that will tell you a bit about my Mom.

This first picture is my Mom and her sibblings, Dad is still in the picture so it has to be over eight years ago.Mom is the one in the pink dress, Dad is the last and smallest guy!

Mom's sister Mary got married for the first time when she was in her seventies ( 71 I think) She asked Mom to be her bridesmaid, and Mom took that job very seriously.What a beauty she was that day!

Mom and her sisters; Elma, Martha and Betty sang for Mary and Jake.

Mom continued to travel after Dad passed away and here she is in Mexico visiting her sister Elma, brother Heinrich and Dad's brother Hein and their families. Elaine took Mom on a horse ride and photo shoot!!

A trip to Red Lobster with the girls was what she wanted for her birthday.


She made the trip to Winkler a lot and here she is helping Jo with her grad dress.

Cards and Games!!! That is what Mom loved,Canasta could get very serious, not a card out of place and 'are you sure you are following the rules?'!!!

Christmas at the Canad Inns in Winnipeg, these are her children.

Dennis, Lorne, Bernice, Verna and Henry.

Mom had a hobby/job, she knitted baby sweaters and sewed flannel pj's and sold them at craft sales. She did very well, it was a hard thing to give up for her, when we cleaned up her sewing room she sat with us and made sure every unfinished pair of pj's would have the right amount and color of ribbing. Here is just a "few" of the finished pj's.

On Mom's 60th birthday we took her to Montana's and she had the pleasure of wearing their Birthday Hat!!

Mom was very proud of the fact that she could be in a picture with her two granddaughters, Jo and Vik and all three of them were dating at the same time!

Here are Mom and Bernice at our house, Mom had been given new medication and she called it the "Miracle pill." She had more energy than I did. We had shopped most of the day for wedding supplies, I was tired!

Margaret, Mom's personal massage therapist,what an awesome help she was to Mom.

Dancing was also very high

on her list and she enjoyed every minute of it!

" Roses Love Sunshine"

Lorne taking his one and only chance to dance with his Mother, we all had our chance at the wedding and we took it.

Mom and her girls

Eating her favorite desserts, chocolate cake and date squares on her wedding day.What a beautiful bride!

It was hard for Mom to leave us, but she knew that we would be ok.

She was ready to go Home.

Mom took comfort in the words of this song:

Lord Jesus I love you ,You know I love you

Lord Jesus you saved me ,From sin so great

You give me power ,For every hour

Lord Jesus I love you ,You know that I do

"I Will Meet You In The Morning"

We miss you Mom

What I like about Blogs...

is that it is a perfect opportunity to pray for people that are in need. I don't always leave a comment, but I always say a prayer.
I find such encouragement from the strength that I have read about, little Noah and his family, the Toews family, the Dad that has cancer, the Mom's that are being stretched in parenting issues and so many more.
For me my struggle is the teenage "dating" years. We had a 'boyfriend' for almost 2 years and he was around everywhere and we loved him almost as if he were our kid! Well, he is not the 'boyfriend' anymore and I have had a hard time letting go and therefore causing my daughter a lot of grief as well. She has met a new young man and seems interested and I need to be there for her. That is my struggle! Now you know how you can pray for me.

Life...

has been busy! We have moved into our new home on 1490 Roblin Blvd West. We are mostly settled in.
IGA closed it's doors and on the day they told us about it, I started training at Meridian Manufacturing!! How good is God?!!! WOW
While I miss my friends and co-workers, I have a wonderful job with awesome people. I am so thankful!
My brother Lorne and his wife Annie(who is Dave's neice) moved to Winkler June 28th. I have never had family closer than 1 1/2 hours away till now. The rest of my family are in the Steinbach area.
Well, that will be the extent of my update, till next time!

I G A is closing it's doors...

as of June 16th 2007.
I am constantly amazed at how the Lord knows just how to take care of me and my family! I NEVER have to worry. I heard this news the same day that I started my job at Meridian!
Please pray for me that I will absorb all that I have to learn and that I will do my job to the best of my ability. thankyou

Got A Second Job!

I have been praying about a second job for a while and last week God answered that prayer. I got a part time afternoon job at Meridian Manufacturing working with accounts payables!
Please pray that the training will go smoothly and that I will be what they need and they are what I need. I start training May 14th.
The coolest thing is that Patti Friesen (Bartsch) is training me! I used to babysit her when she was Hannah's age!

And now it is SOLD!!!

We put the house up for sale Monday, March 19th and Monday ,March 26th it was sold! Talk about moving fast! We are happy that it did not drag out to long, We have already put an offer in to purchase another place. I will get back to that another day...

House for sale...

on 195-3rd Street South, Winkler MB.
Yes we have put our house on the market! It is a bit scary for me, but so far so good. I did not think that I would be able to keep a clean enough house that I would feel comfortable letting people walk through! I have decluttered and cleaned more these last few months that ever before!!! I kind of like it now!
Pray for us as we go through this process, if we sell we have to be able to buy as well! The good houses do not stay on the market more than a few days!
If you want to check out our house go to www.choicerealtyltd.com

Love is...

patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, and it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres. Love never fails.
1 Corinthians 13:4-8

Volleyball and Para-sailing

Dave, Hank and Justin playing beach volleyball whenever possible! Annie, Lorne and Vik joined in at the beach a few times as well.

This is Dave and I getting ready to lift off!

Pool volleyball, Tomatoes vs Potatoes

Dave and I about 150 meters up!
Below you can see our Resort.

We all went para-sailing on Tuesday, it was a beautiful sunny day. I thought it would be scary but I loved it as did the others!

More pics of our day at Xel-Ha

We rested at the Hamock Villiage (Vik in pic)
Ate lunch outdoors with sand as our floor! (Vik, Hank,Justin, Katlyn and Jo)
There were guys walking around all day wanting to take pictures of you with Tucans or Parrots, they make very sure that you will not get a good picture! (Jo)
And some of the fish, I never did get a good shot of the blue one:(
After the jungle walk we all needed something to cool ourselves off, especially Dave!! Here we are at an ice cream/ bar stand.

Snorkeling at Xel-Ha

The kids loved the snorkeling after they learned how to breath with their gear! There were some beautiful bright blue fish. We also saw sword fish. I was the only one that did not go in the water :)

Our Trip to the Mayan Riviera

This is my favorite picture of Dave and I, it is taken at Xel-Ha. We took an all inclusive day trip there on Sunday. We have just finished taking a one hour walk through a "jungle trail"