Team Ribbons Rocks

Team Ribbons rocked the house on Friday. We came from behind for a very convincing win. Team members consist of Lisa Vanden Berg and Chris Loewen. WE KICKED.

Here's a recap of the night:

These are my partner's very capable hands. You guessed it...he has ROCKIN' hand....and he knows how to play it.

Here is my partner looking very confident. No fear here. Nice shirt BTW.

Here's Chris holding the official score card. Notice what the other team named themselves. It just makes Team Ribbon's win even sweeter.

Their faces say it all. They lost and we won. Here's a shout out to Team Ribbons: "YOU ROCK THE HOUSE EVERY TIME!!!"

For Tiffany......

I stuck my apple sticker on the sink yesterday..... just because I was thinking of you when I removed the sticker from the apple. It sure goes on easier than it comes off.

Technical Difficulties

Our computer is in the shop for the next little while so stay tuned........

Jam Packed Weekend

We chilled......

We went for a 4-wheeler ride.......

We hung out in the hay.....

We watched some farm machines in action......

We visited Burwalde Woods......

We had a nutritious snack with Grandma V and Auntie "Arween".......

We loved on Ruby........

We flew a kite.......(it was fun....really, it was.)

We chased the kite.......

We watched the kite.......

Our time left at home seems very short and we want to make the most of every moment. I think we did that this weekend.

Oh Ruby.

Ruby, if you weren't so darn precious I wouldn't miss you as much and saying good bye to you wouldn't be so hard. Just stop it, would you?

Pink Booted Farmer

Morning Rituals

I can almost do my morning ritual with my eyes closed. I walk over to my Black & Decker Cup at a Time, put 2 heaping tablespoons of finely ground Columbian Light & Lively (Bill grinds my coffee for me...what a guy!), pour in a mug of cold, filtered water, push the on button and wait for it to brew in all it's glory.

Drew's ritual is a little different, but he probably can do it with his eyes closed as well. Every morning he sits at the computer, goes to purolator.com and enters the tracking number (which I'm sure he has memorized) to see if our Visas are en route to Winkler.

Here's a big shout out to Purolator: "VISAS come! VISAS come! VISAS come!".

I'm from Winkler and I'm proud of it!

War Wounds

Bill is the toughest guy on the block. As he tells it, he was carrying a 'wog that was a wittle bit too heavy and dropped it on his weg'. It must've dropped pretty hard cuz it left a nice 3 inch sliver (more like a small twig) stuck in his thigh. AJ tried to pull it out but it wouldn't come, so off we went to the E.R. in Julie's Ambulance (thanks for the lift, Jules).

Bill was not only tough, but also incredibly brave. The doctor tugged and tugged while Bill tried his best not to cry, but the pain was just too much. Eventually he couldn't take it anymore and started shaking and crying. The sliver wasn't going to come out easily. The doctor decided to freeze it. She stuck a needle right into the wounded flesh......this is when I started to turn very pale.....then she cut the skin around the sliver so she could pull it out. When it came out we were face to face with a bloody 1 1/2 inch piece of wood that had been lodged into Bill's muscular thigh. Brave Bill said, 'it doesn't hurt anymore'.

Lesson learned. Today Bill was at the farm loading some more 'wogs' and told me, "I only pick up wogs that I can handle." Let's always remember that, okay Bill?

boot camp ready.

We're twice as ready for PNG today as were were yesterday. Bill and Jester got their 'boot camp' haircuts and we found out our work permits have been approved.

My real picture of the day would have been Jester's #2 diaper. He must've eaten some green play-doh yesterday cuz it looked like we could've taken it out of the diaper, slapped it on the table, and rolled it out to make a snake or a snowman all over again.....but that would've been so inappropriate.

Breaking 'em in

These are the sandals I bought for going to PNG. I was thinking about our family moving to Ukarumpa today and that it's a lot like breaking in a pair of new shoes. It's exciting to wear a new pair of shoes, but often there are a few sore spots. I've considered to start breaking in these shoes now, but part of me just wants to wait until we get there...... break in our new life and my new shoes at the same time.

Fargs Extravaganza

My 'rents took the entire family to Fargo, ND for the weekend. Bill has not been this pumped for a long time. He was just all around pumped and for good reason....swimming, a ferris wheel, Nana and Papa, Ruby, C&C, and a mini fridge all at his disposal all weekend long.








Here's Papa and Jester at the pool. They're very excited about the waterslide. I just need to say it.....You guys look GREAT.















Bill and Jester had perma-smiles at the pool. This is them warming up their toes in the hot tub. When I was little I used it for something else........when I was little, okay?













See? The smiles don't end. Even Drew couldn't stop.











Here are the boys playing in "Agra Falls". I didn't have the heart to tell Bill it actually wasn't Niagra falls.... only a giant mushroom that doubled as a water fountain.








Jester and Bill loved chillin' out in the room. The juice was flowin'.....and rarely stopped.


Oh Ruby. A.k.a. Rubes, Rubster, Bunks, Bunker, Bunky, and Sweets. And check out her hot mom.




There he is in all his glory..... the Man. The man who made this weekend possible. On behalf of Bill, Jester, Drew and myself I'd like to sincerely thank him and his lovely wife for all they do for us. The weekend at the Ramada will forever be etched in our memories.

Picture of the Day

I'll be forever grateful to my dad (and mom) because he gave me the best Christmas present ever (A little early, I know). It's the camera of my dreams. I've been snapping pictures constantly since he gave it to me. Here's the biggest shout out to Marvy for the present! THANKS! HOORAAAAAAY!


My brother challenged me to post a 'picture of the day' while we're in PNG. I've decided to start already since I'm so camera happy. It may not be every day, but I'll try my best. I'll try and post a picture that best captures my day.....



Here is Bill only moments after having (and I kid you not) an hour and a half long temper tantrum. I know. It's hard to believe for me too.

Coming soon! Fargs Extravaganza.

Take the Poll

Take the Poll on the right. Vote as many times as you like.
If you aren't feeling sad I just might get mad.
Our days are numbered here in Winks. That really kinda stinks.
All my friends I will miss. Before I leave I will give you all a big fat kiss.
Jester is awake now from his nap. So I must end this really cool rap.

Captain Sam

This weekend I went on a little cruise aboard the Christabel. What a great little ship with a hunky captain. Aye Aye Captain was all I could say.

The rest of the crew was a little crazy, colorful, and one guy kept pressuring me to repent (God bless his soul). All I can say is PTL for Captain Sam Ironheart.

Tip of the Week

This one's for you, Crystal. You inspired me and brought me back to my blogging roots. It was more guilt than conviction, but hey, whatever motivates the people.

From my kitchen to yours.....

Wash while you cook. I try to fill up my sink with hot soapy water before I start baking or cooking. I'm about 75% more likely to wash the dishes this way. It's a great way to stay neat, clean, and motivated in the kitchen. Go get 'em Tiger.

Brotherly Love

Bill has the flu. There's been stuff flying out of both ends. I'm praying for a plug.

Along with the flu we've been hit with an infestation of brotherly love. Yesterday Bill woke up from his nap before Jester. Jester was sleeping peacefully when Bill took it upon himself to wake him up. I had a stern lecture with Bill. "Bill, you have to let Jester sleep until he's ready to wake up. Why did you wake him up?" Bill said, "because I love him." What do you say to that? Bill just couldn't wait for Jester to wake up. He had to be with him that very moment.

Jester had his revenge. Bill hit the hay quite early last night. Drew and I were hanging out upstairs when Jester disappeared into the basement. Drew went to see what Jester was up to and well, he had climbed up onto Bill's bed and was laying right on top of Bill hugging and kissing him. Bill was a little annoyed and said, "Jester, can't you see I'm trying to sleep? Sheesh."

Brotherly love is a beautiful thing.....even if you lose a little sleep over it.

Farewell Old Friend

Bill lost a close companion today. If farewells can ever be happy then this one was. You know how you just know when a season of friendship is supposed to end? When the friendship served it's purpose and now it's time to move on? Well Bill knew. It almost seemed like the whole process freed him up a little. It was a little liberating for him even though he'd never admit it. Bill, I'm proud of you. Farewells aren't easy and yet you carried yourself with such poise and grace and integrity. Here's to 3 years of great 'suckage' and great memories.

Christmas Prep

Jolly Jester was super pumped when our Christmas tree arrived. He's all about the real tree idea. He's right - it's worth the shedding needles and the chore of watering it everyday. It's really a small price to pay to have a real live tree in your livingroom.

Bill and Jester are all about Christmas baking. Nothing says 'Merry Christmas' in that old fashioned way like a decorated sugar cookie. If you are priviledged enough to eat one of our custom decorated cookies I can't guarantee that there won't be some saliva on it.

There was some discussion going on at the table as to what is the right amount of sprinkles to put on the cookie. Bill was adament about it. You can't be stingy on the sprinkles. Jester on the other hand says it is possible to have too much of a good thing. Bill then accused Jester of just saying that because he personally wanted to consume any sprinkles that we didn't use for decorating. Ya know, I think Bill was right. Jester did consume a large amount of sprinkles.

We all know that snow removal is a big part of the Christmas season. Bill loves getting out there to shovel the driveway. Bill has this amazing quality to be enthusiastic and optimistic pretty much all the time. This really helps him out in the snow removal department. I know most people have a 'bahumbug' attitude towards shovelling.....But not Bill. All I can say is treasures in Heaven for Bill, treasures in Heaven.

As for Jester.....Well, hopefully he'll get treasure in Heaven for watching Bill shovel.

La Target Boutique

Me and my G.F.'s headed south over the border to G.F. Our first stop was Target. We were all hungry for lunch but sometimes you must sacrifice to shop. Even my 8 month pregnant sis was willing to sacrifice eating lunch and head straight into Target and that says something. It speaks of a deep commitment. Target, we pledge our allegiance to you.

If only me and my G.F.'s could stay overnight in G.F. That way we could devote an entire day to strolling through Target's isles. But no, we only had 12 hours. And Target could only take a portion of the time. It felt so unfair. I almost felt like I owed Target an apology.

So we stormed through Target's doors. We collaborated. What was our strategy going to be? It had to be precise and efficient. Then we got sidetracked by the $1.00 display. Crystal found some gift bags (and took several minutes deciding which color to buy), Heather found some cool wooden toys for the twins, Tiffany looked just plain ol' overwhelmed, and me? I headed straight to the gift wrap. You can't go wrong with a roll of gift wrap for $1.00.

I can hardly even remember what happened after that. Once in a while I would randomly bump into one of my G.F.'s while wandering through Target. "Oh hey!" we'd say to each other, "Check this out!" or "What do you think about this?" or "Should I get this?" or "You should REALLY get that." We tried to forget about the duty we would have to pay at the border. We tried REALLY hard to forget about that. And we did.

In total we spent a glorious 3 hours in Target. I felt a little rushed. I didn't get to experience everything Target has to offer. But hey, 3 hours is better than no hours.

Here's a big shout out to my G.F.'s who made my Target experience in G.F. so much fun. YOU ROCK G.F.'s !!!