Arielle's party

June 28, 2009

Wake up in a new bed, orient ourselves and get ready to drive to Jonathan and Sheri's. We are the first to arrive and see Julia, Sheri and Jonathan busy getting ready.

Great Grampa and Great Gramma arrive first and the party starts. People continue to come over the next hour. Uncle Mike, Aunt Karen and cousin Adam as well as friends Vergil and Krist and Kai all sit on the deck having a great time. Of course Arielle and Kai are the centre of attention.

We wait to barbeque sausage, eat the food and then open presents and have cake. Things are going very well as we laugh and talk and just have fun on the deck. At least it is not raining and we can enjoy the outdoors a bit.

Arielle opens her presents (with the help of mom) and seems to love the attention. She is such a good girl who is having so much fun. Everyone is snapping pictures, its like the papparazi. (sp)

Then Arielle is placed in her high chair and she gets to eat a piece of chocolate cake with icing all by herself. It is both hilarious and adorable as she digs into the feast. She demolishes the icing in no time and then plays with the cake, she is just so cute. We love being here with everyone watching them enjoy her and laughing with them. We have such a great family and Sheri has such great friends. Her friend Marie came after work and was able to share in the festivities.

It was amazing but Arielle went to bed OK we thought she would be so hopped up on sugar that she would never go to sleep but she held to her schedule like the good girl she is.

We left after she went to bed and returned to Mike and Karen's to talk and play some games. Adam loves to play games, as to we so we had a great time playing 99 and cribbage. Mike finished his paper and joined us for a game of 99. Again it was great to catch up and talk with Mike and Karen and here what has been happening in their lives.

Went to be looking forward to a day with Julia, Sheri and Arielle.

Blessings,

Glenn & Mira

Visiting old friends

June 27, 2009

Today we woke up with Arielle ready for coffee. Had coffee and spent the morning with Jonathan, Sheri and Arielle. Sheri is waiting for Julia to arrive at noon. We will be on our way to Steinbach by then to visit Norm & Sandi.

Arrive at Norm and Sandi's in rain and find out that the golf course is closed and we cannot go golfing. Glenn is disappointed, Mira not so much. Instead of golfing we go for lunch and catch up. Have a great time getting reacquainted and finding out how friends and family are doing.

Return to their house, have a glass of wine and continue our discussion. Norm and Glenn watch some golf in his TV room and Mira and Sandi stay in the living room as we carry on our conversation. It is so good to meet old friends and start where we left off as if we haven't missed a beat.

They had some serious water damage and were in the process of fixing their basement. What a mess but they had it under control.

Had a great dinner of salmon, wild rice and vegetables, it was absolutely scrumtious. We continued our reminiscing the rest of the night and then went to Mike and Karen (Mira's brother) in Kleefeld for the night. We caught them before they went to bed and had a chance to talk. We have a great family.

Then to bed and Arielle's birthday party the next day.

Blessings,

Glenn & Mira

A great day with Arielle

June 26, 2009

We woke up to the sound of Arielle, what music to our ears. Woke up slowly over coffee and toast.

Got ready for shopping for her birthday party after her nap. Went to St. Vital mall and bought all the necessary things for her party. She is such a good girl shopping, kicking her feet and watching the people.

Went to the children's play area where Arielle could crawl, climb and impress Grandma and Grandpa. She just loves having fun.

Then we went to DQ and had ice cream. Very much fun and refreshing.

Got home in time for her nap and had our own nap. I think we were as tired as she was. Man she's a lot of fun, or did I say that already.

Barbequed steak for supper and watched a movie after Arielle went to bed. What a lovely day just hanging out with the Banman family.

Tomorrow we see Norm and Sandi and hopefully can golf. We'll see if the weather cooperates.

Blessings,

Glenn & Mira

More Mira notes

June 25, 2009

6 am Arielle calls us awake! Starbucks coffee and playing with Arielle. Sheri goes to work at 11 am and Arielle and I made pasta salad. She is sitting on the counter as I worked around her. No tears as mom left. We had great fun.

Deck time with her car and shpent 30 minutes taking leaves and moving them from the deck to chair. Sooooooo cute. The ruler portion of her spirit was enjoying the orde of things.

She cried a little going for a nap but is napping still at 3:15 adn went down at 1:45. Grandma and Grandpa had a nap too! Whew!

Went for a long walk along the neighborhood streets, Arielle is kicking her legs and enjoying the ride.

Picked up Sheri from work and got home the same time as Jonathan. He mowed the lawn and Glenn barbequed pork tenderloin, it was great. We had supper after Arielle went to bed we watched Deep Impact. Ah Frodo you did other movies to.

See you tomorrow.

Blessings, Glenn & Mira

Mira's notes 2

June 24, 2009

Got up and packed and out of the the house by 8 am. Breakfast with mom Wiebe. Very strange to be in apartment 907 without dad.

We talked at length and blessed her as she blessed us. I am itching to get to Winnipeg and Arielle. We leave at 10 am and arrive at 703 Lorette. Arielle is adorable. I can't take my eyes off her as I carefully bond with her. She raised her arme to me in a short while and we were connected.

Glenn and Sheri went grocery shopping as Arielle and I played with her new toys. Favorite toy the Elmo telephone.

Supper of the best pizza in the world, Quality Pizza. Gave Arielle a bath and talked and went to sleep on the air mattress in the living room with a small pathway to baby's room and the bathroom.

Glenn & Mira

Mira's notes

June 23, 2009

Woke up at 8:45! Great sleep and breakfast was sensational. (toasted sweet bread, fruit and cereal) Shared stories of aunts, uncles, my gradparents of past family gatherings.

Next playing cribbage outside at the table listening to the wind blowing from the North, no humidity says mom with a smile. We check all the plants outside to see how they have grown (from the night before :)

Homemade soup for lunch and naptime for all. I sense the Father's pleasure as He watches the love we have for each other and as we clebrate His goodness in our lives.

It was beyond precous to overhear mom and dad having devotions together and prayed for their family. sigh what a blessing they are.

After a 20 minute nap we went to Aunt Tina and cousin Brenda. Able to bless them both and then came home and had "clopps" with mashed potatoes.

Had an important meeting with Bernie Loeppky our pastor for an hour and talked about Jesus versus religion, the state of the Mennonite Church, the conscientious objector wall being built in Winkler, and Glenn's future. He said "You'll find your legs Glenn, give yourself time".

Got home played cribbage and lost again. (Glenn and mom are just too good) We laughed and laughed, it is good for the soul.

more notes tomorrow.

Mira & Glenn

Settled in Manitoba

June 25, 2009


Well we are now settled in Manitoba. Tuesday and Wednesday morning we had a great time with Mira's parents and my step-mother Helen. It was great to talk and reminise with them. We learn something new about our heritage every time we talk. It was great.

Wednesday afternoon we went to see our grand daughter, Arielle, and oh and Sheri and Jonathan as well. We saw their new house for the first time and got settled quickly. Arielle is such a joy, we are really enjoying her. Grandparenting is a new and wonderful experience.

We are sleeping on the floor and a comfortable air bed and actually slept quite well. It's so good to be with our kids again, we are very blessed.

Today we will be baby sitting as Sheri goes to work. Spending a day with Arielle, oh joy. She is precious and beautiful, can't gush enough.

Their cat, Missmao, on the other hand is not that lovely. She hates the fact we are here and hisses every time we go past. Therefore she is relegated to the basement while we are here and we are OK with this. We now know how others feel when they visit us and have to deal with Molly's attitude. Sorry all:)

Blessings to all,
Glenn & Mira

Day 2 - Manitoba

June 22, 2009

That was the best shower in the world last night. After 12 1/2 hours on the road we slept like babies.

6am We are "on the road again." The scenery is absolutely amazing. The Canadian Shield is truly rugged and beautiful. Pristine lakes, clear streams along the road perfectly mirrored. We are hoping to see a moose beside the road.

Clara, our new GPS gadget, knew about Winkler after the first 4 letters. Us Winklerites were very proud. Clara is the name we gave to our gadget because she sounds like the telephone operators of yester-year, so we thought the name suited that picture.

Hardly any traffic on this beautiful morning as the sun shines down on us. :)

Same scenery mile after mile after mile..... There is some road construction as we listen to more Greg Boyd and also some John Paul Jackson. John Paul is talking about protocols for the next move of God. He talks about honouring Him, boundaries and discipline which all ring true. We'll listen to more later.

At 3pm Manitoba time we have reached the border. We have sung many Beatle songs, some Kris Kristofferson and Brian Doerksen. The melodies will definitely leave their mark in Matt's car.

We have arrived in Winkler at 6pm to a grand reception by mom and dad Thiesen. The table is set with cabbage borscht and home made buns, with watermelon and roll kuchen for desert, yum yum. Very completely satifying.

Next stop is Sheri and Jonathan and of course Arielle our grand daughter. yay.

Glenn & Mira

First Day

June 21, 2009

We slept downstairs so Nancy White had a clean be for her stay at our home! 4:30 am alarm rings. We were finally sleeping at 2 am and we were laughing because we both lost our pillows! Considered leaving then but fell back asleep.

5 am coffee in hand full car and a full tank of gas and we are off! We took the 407 to 400 and had a breakfast of champions at McDonalds in Barrie. 6:30 am, we are actually doing this, WOOT.

We made a stop at the French River because that is where Carl went with Joyce's dad. Pee break, water and beef jerky and we are off again.

Glenn did some prayer healing with Mira driving along and Jesus came and sparkled away the poor construction of her sub-concious that she received in a dream last night. Go God. Love travelling.

Listened to Greg Boyd teaching of ways to employ our imagination to practice imagining truth till it becomes a reality in our experience, transforming our mind. Here are 3 ways for Christ to live in us: 1. rest and receive from Him in solitude 2. live as though you are dead 3. imagine love coming down on you as a waterfall of God's love.

Sub sandwich and DQ cone in Sault Ste. Marie.

Lupins growing in bunches on the roadside; pink and purple ones. And then the beautiful and big Lake Superior. Its just majestic. Tree covered hills looking like portly gentlemen on either side of the road.

The fog rolls in from the lake as the sun shines!!. Sandy little beaches.

We sing loudly along witht he Who and country songs:) Must make a LCBO stop for wine tonight.

3pm and we have 240 km to go to Marathon. We gas up in Wawa.... picture this 2 old people leaning out the open door comingout of the car in a bend over position slowly creaking into an upright position. It was very funny to see.

Where is that dad-durn washroom:) It takes the years of learning about perseverance to get back into the car. We did it cause we are good at choosing rightly:)

Glenn & Mira

We prepare for our freedom journey

June 17, 2009

Well we are in the last days of furious preparation for our freedom journey out west. The car is ready, Arielle's things are in the trunk, Matthew's are ready to be put into the car and we have thought about what to pack. What's left is packing and the last minute details of leaving instructions for taking care of the yard and taking care of Molly and the house. Then on Sunday June 21 at 4:30 A.M. we will be setting our Magellan and driving off into the sunrise. (we have to go east before we go west). We couldn't be more excited. Just 3 more sleeps.

Our trip is pretty well planned around visiting family and friends but we are taking some time to kick back and relax. We plan on camping in Jasper for a few days with Eric and Julia and spending a weekend on Salt Spring Island. We look forward to each day with anticipation and must pinch ourselves that we are so fortunate and have friends and family across the country to enjoy and visit. The Lord has truly blessed us.

We will not be able to see everybody but we are making highlighted stops across the west taking the opportunity to thank and bless people as we go. I plan to update this blog as we go, if I can get internet access and time, just to let people know what is happening in our lives.