down on the farm

The farm is the best playground for the amazing number of boys on the VB
side. I love all these boys!!

good ol' Canadian boys.

Back on familiar turf. Gramps and Nana took Bill and Snax Beef to the
cabin for a few days. I'll admit I was a little jealous. The cabin is
one of my favorite places to be. On the way they stopped to check out
the windmills at St. Leon's. Snax Beef also took up fox hunting just
like he said he would. No luck this time.

winks town.

We've been back in Winkler for a week and a half now. I feel like my
thoughts are still very scattered and I'm not sure how to write about
it. Lists are an easy way to get thoughts down....so here's my 'back in
Winks' list:

1) My friends all look so beautiful. I love them all.

2) I have to write down my schedule now.

3) One morning I found Bill in his room getting dressed. He had on a
pair of shorts and he was pulling up his socks as high as they went. I
told him that it wasn't warm enough to wear shorts in Canada yet and he
said, "Don't worry Mom. I was just seeing if my socks went up to my
shorts." He thought that would pass as wearing long pants.

4) The peanut butter jar is as big as my head. When Drew pulled it out
of the cupboard he said, "Whoa. This is blowing my mind right now."

5) People have been so nice to us and very understanding.

6) Anything I could ever want or need is right at my fingertips.

7) I'm behind in the times, but that's okay. What's Twitter?

8) People here are very punctual and I like that. We need to be more
punctual. No more 'island time'.

9) I love watching Bill and Snax play with their cousins. They fit
right in. Why was I worried?

10) People are very busy.

11) I can hug my mom every day.

12) Snax Beef loves yogurt a whole lot and calls them 'milkshakes'.
Snax Beef (the person) hasn't missed Snax Beef (the food) yet.

13) Snax Beef didn't let Uncle Chris pull a worm in half. He had to
remind Uncle Chris that worms are God's creatures too.

14) I love dishwashers as much as I thought I would.

15) Food I missed and didn't disappoint: fresh milk, squeaky cheese,
Burwalde honey, sour cream, Dad's steak dinner with Mom's fixin's,
wiener roasts, DQ Blizzard.......

16) I feel so loved because I was missed.

17) I drove down 15th street on the wrong side of the road in my parents
new car! I cannot be trusted.

18) Meine Steele went wokabaut already. Keep your friends close and
your enemies even closer.

19) I wouldn't trade our 2 years in PNG for anything.

20) I think I could go camping now and enjoy myself. It would blow a
Papua New Guinean's mind if they saw what we did recreation!

21) There are lots of cars and not very many pedestrians. In PNG it was
the other way around.

22) There are so many things that haven't changed in the last two years
that it's almost eerie. But at the same time there are things that have
changed and we're still trying to get caught up! Life does go on
without you.

a day at Rempi

We took a much needed day of R&R today with our good friends Paul and Heidi.
Rempi is a village outside of Madang town that has some incredible
snorkeling. There is a rustic bush house right on the water for missionary
families to use, so we took advantage of it. We had a great time swimming,
snorkeling, eating, and squishing SEA CUCUMBERS!!! Those are those black,
icky looking things that Snax and Bill are playing with. We even had a
little visit from the village pet - a noisy, colorful bird that had a little
too much personality. All in all it was an awesome, memorable day. We'll
definitely miss those Hursts!

How excited are we?

Craaaaazzzzzzyy excited.