Year in Review

New Years' Eve

The final day of 2007, a good time to review the year.

January - I 'officially' started my new job as Office Administrator for the Zurich Mennonite Church. I say 'officially' because I did actually start in Dec/07 but for some reason, I didn't start on the payroll until the new year. I absolutely love my job. It fits me to a "T". It allows me to use the God-given gifts to glorify HIS kingdom. I work 5 1/2 hours a day from Monday - Friday which is such a good balance, for work & home. What could be more perfect!

February - we celebrated my Dad's 65th birthday by taking the whole family to the states, and Krystle received her 'promise' ring from Gerard.

March - I started blogging, a dear friend thought I would be good at it so I started sharing my thoughts. (I am glad I did) Darcy also started his first job at the Little Inn of Bayfield.

April - Wayne & Kyle took a father-son trip to Cuba They had a wonderful time together.

May - We celebrated Darcy's 17th

& Krystle's 20th birthday.


June - Wayne finished another year of driving bus for St. Anne's Catholic Highschool.


July & August - we enjoyed our summer sitting by the pool.

September - Krystle moved back to Cambridge for her 2nd yr at Heritage. Darcy started GR 12 at Central Huron Secondary School. Wayne & I celebrated our 21st anniversary, and last but definitely not least Kyle celebrated his 19th birthday.


October - I celebrated my 40th birthday, with a delicious turkey dinner and all the trimmings. Got red roses from Wayne, a digital camera from my kids,


and got myself a tattoo.

Here is a close-up.


November - Wayne & I enjoyed a week of holidays in the Bahamas.


December - I celebrated the 1st anniversary of my job.
We enjoyed a wonderful Christmas season with our family.


Jeremiah 29:11 says 'For I know the plans I have for you' declares the LORD, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans for a hope and a future'.
Now, while I may not know what the future holds, I do know the ONE how holds my future.

Blessings

Christmas Joy

We had a wonderful Christmas, the whole day was filled with such joy. We ate a delicious breakfast of fresh fruit & dip, cinnamon rolls, muffins, cheese & hashbrown potatoes.
We opened stockings and the kids took turns giving out their gifts.

I got a new friend, her name is 'Bella'.


I got a plaque that has my favourite scripture verse from Jeremiah 29:11 on it.

This one won the 'crying' present. Each year the kids "compete" to see who can make me cry over their gift. And Kyle has won three years running.

I also got slippers, they are very warm & fuzzy.


Wayne got his chocolates.


And a new sweater from Heritage.


After Wayne & I opened our gifts we gave out ours.

My Mom & Dad came up and Gerard came over too. We played games ate oodles of munchies (nacho dip, tortilla wraps or "spudge rolls" as Kyle likes to call them, veggie pizza, cheese ball or salmon ball & crackers, and more fruit & dip.)

Krystle & Gerard had to leave a little early because they were going to the Zielman's to enjoy a delicious turkey dinner.

And of course before Mom & Dad left we ate our ever so yummy Christmas supper tradition of Limburger Cheese & Spanish Onion sandwiches.

Blessings

Boys and Toys

We got Kyle & Darcy the Guitar Hero III, Legends of Rock for Christmas. Both were pretty excited. Wayne & I went all over London to EB Games, Future Shop, Wal-Mart and we couldn't find it anywhere.
So I had resigned myself that we would have to give a gift certified to them for it. (It's not quite the same.)

But then 3 days before Christmas, Wayne & I went to Goderich to finish Christmas shopping for other stuff and as chance would have it, there were over 20 Guitar Hero games in Wal-mart. As I am cashing out at the register, three guys (mid 20's) were in line behind me and as I am placing the Guitar Hero III up to purchase it, the one guy looks at me as gives me 'the nod.'


We got Kyle a Futon for his room. (Only the cover is pictured here)


We got Darcy contact lenses,

and of course Aviator sunglasses.

Pretty cool dudes.

Blessings

'krys' mas angel

Krystle received a new 'Willow Tree Angel" this one is the 'Angel of Learning'.
I thought it was very appropriate since she is still in school. This is her 3rd angel so far for her collection. She has the 'Bright Star Angel' & Sign of Love Angel'. I just love these figurines. (even have my own collection)


She also got a gold watch, oh boy, was she excited.
Plus she also got quite a few little treats in her stocking.

Krystle is home for only two weeks during the Christmas break. So we've been tying to cram alot in with family dinners, meeting up with frineds and just hanging out. We still need to share her with Gerard but that's a given.

It's so hard to believe that another semester has come & gone. By the end of this school year she will be halfway through her program. I look forward to seeing where God will place her. With the program that she's taking and the new job that she has, the doors will be more open with so many more possibilities.
I get excited thinking about it, but then too, if I think to long, I get anxious.
I think that 'the letting go' is one of the hardest things about parenting.

Blessings

Three more sleeps.........

I remember when the kids were younger we used to count the passing of time by 'how many more sleeps' till the event.

.....ahhh how I miss those times.....

Christmas is such an exciting time of the year. But it also seems to be very stressful too. I've been talking to friends and there seems to be a common feeling of not being able to get everything (whatever that is ) all done.
I'm not sure why we put SO much pressure on ourselves (yes I am guilty of that too) to have it all together.

As our family is getting ready to celebrate Christmas, I try to tackle all the last minute preparations, without trying to get stressed, however, that is much easier said than done.

I look forward to spending time with my family and extended family. It's getting harder these days to gather together with everyone's busy schedules.

It's nice to have a holiday every once in a while to allow us the opportunity to slow down.

So in closing, I want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!!!

Blessings

Christmas Dinner

The annual 'Selah Family Bookstore' Christmas banquet.


Ironically none of us work there anymore.....LOL

I worked for Don & Susan Romphf from 2001 - 2004, while they owned the local Christian bookstore. Then they sold their bookstore, and the new owner chose not to have a Christmas banquet.

We decided that we still wanted to get together and we would plan our own annual Christmas dinner. We're now in our 3rd year!!!

I've always appreciated both Don & Susan. When I worked for them I knew that I could always count on them in times of ....well anything. And even though I no longer work for them, I still know that they are there for me, and vice versa.

Our times together are not as often as when I worked for them, but despite of no longer having the store connection, we're still very good friends. When we do get together, it seems like no time at all has passed and we're able to chat as always.

Even though they are close to age of my parents, I count them as one of our very dear and close friends.

Blessings

It's looking like Christmas

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, everywhere you go.........
and finally in my house too.

I have our tree decorated and ornamental things throughout the rest of the house too. Looks pretty good.

For the past three nights I have been busy making Christmas cards. I was at a stamp camp with Jane and she showed us these cool little 3x3 cards. I thought to myself that is exactly what I plan to do this year for Christmas. I used to stress out so much trying make the full 4 1/4 X 5 1/2 card only to stop making as many as I would like to because of the time it takes.

So here are four of the designs that I have got so far.

Cute, aren't they?

Wayne & I plan to start Christmas shopping on Friday. This time it was not by choice to wait this long, but by circumstances. I cannot believe how busy our lives seem to get this time of year.

And on Saturday, I'm planning on meeting my sister to do our Christmas baking. Last year was the first year we started sharing this job. First off it is much for fun doing it with someone, and we can make more kinds and share them. A better bonus is that we do it all at her house..... so the mess stays there! I do help with the clean-up.

It's so hard to believe that Christmas is only in 20 days. I sure am glad that we have snow on the ground, somehow it just seems more like Christmas.

Blessings

Bahamian Holidays

Wayne & I left on Sunday November 18th at 2:30 am to arrive in Toronto with enough time to find the Conquest booth to get our flight tickets and proceed through the gates to then end up waiting until the 7:30 am flight.
The flight was very smooth and it was in total 2 hours and 51 minutes. We were only 15 minutes from the airport to our hotel destination. So it seemed like in no time at all we were there.

This is the main building of the resort.

After unpacking and taking a walking tour throughout the layout of the resort we settled into the relaxed mode of lounging by the pool.

Each day we had much the same routine: breakfast, walk about, lounge by the pool, lunch at the beach grill, walk the beach, lounge by the pool, have supper at either the buffet restaurant (pictured below) or one of the al a carte restaurants.

Play ping-pong, watch the evening entertainment, visit with the many friends we met, and then head off to bed.
I know....... sounds tough, but hey somebody has to do it. LOL


We had a wonderful time.

We arrived home on November 25th at 4:00 am, went straight to bed and woke up at 7:00am to get ready for work.
It's taken me about a week to get caught up with sleep, laundry, housecleaning and all the rest.
This holiday was great and I would highly recommend this resort to anybody. We had amazing weather, great food everyday, and the locals we met were very friendly.

Blessings

Beautiful Bahamas

Superclub Breezes Beach Resort -- Bahamas



The Hotel where we stayed for 8 glorious days.


The view from the patio door in our room on the 4th floor.


View of the pool.


An island in the ocean.


My feet on the beach.


Just a little snap shot of our holiday in the Bahamas.
More to come....stay tuned!

Blessings

Home Sweet Home

There is something about home, that little four letter word that can invoke a multitude of emotions. For those of you who have been faithful at reading, you've probably noticed quite a time gap in my writing.

I was away.....to the beautiful Bahamas.
Wayne & I enjoyed a wonderful week of sun, relaxing by the pool, and spending quality & quantity time together. (24/7 literally)
I'll blog more on that after I get my photos uploaded. I'm a little too tired tonight as we arrived home at 4:00am today (Mon)


So I thought that until I was able to do that, I'd show a picture of the farm that we call home. It has been in Wayne's family since 1927. I did some research and found out that we are the 7th owner of this property since the Canada Company sold the land parcels. cool huh?

That's about all for now as I have tonnes of laundry and house cleaning (we left the boys home alone) to catch up on.

Blessings

Trouble sleeping

I've been having trouble sleeping lately. It's not that I am not tired when I go to bed or that I don't always sleep. But I am waking up not rested.

I am dreaming so much through the night. Most of which I do not remember. Other than to wake up thinking 'how weird was that'. I wonder why we dream. I know that in the Bible dreams were used to convey the message from God. Several different times are mentioned throughout the Bible, however my dreams, are just weird. There doesn't seem to be any message or any connection from one to another, and sometimes I 'll have the same weird dream.

This picture is one of tranquility. Just looking at it brings me peace.


Picture of Peace. That's what I look for. Peace. Perfect Peace. To know that I am where I should be and doing what I was created to do.

So since I cannot sleep, I read, right now I am re-reading the book "The Purpose Driven Life", by Rick Warren. In Chapter 2 titled "You are not an Accident", there is a poem that really helped and continues to help me sort though this maze we call life.

You are who you are for a reason.
You're part of an intricate plan.
You're a precious and perfect unique design,
Called God's special woman or man.

You look like you look for a reason.
Our God made no mistake.
He knit you together within the womb,
You're just what he wanted to make.

The parents you had were the ones that He chose,
And no matter how you may feel,
They were custom designed with God's plan in mind,
And they bear the Master's seal.

No, that trauma you faced was not easy.
And God wept that it hurt you so;
But it was allowed to shape your heart
So that into His likeness you'd grow.

You are who you are for a reason.
You've been formed by the Master's rod.
You are who you are, beloved,
Because there is a God!

How's that for powerful.

Blessings

Sparkle!

Meet Sparkle, my special little friend!
My mom gave this to me for my birthday, I wasn't able to post this picture with the others on the birthday blog, because I hadn't loaded it yet. So this is a little late, but here it is.

It might seem a little silly to some that I received a stuffed toy for my birthday. But you need to understand that I have been collecting Holstein cows ever since Wayne & I were married in 1986. I have stuffed cows, ceramic cows, glass cows, wooden cows, even cows dressed up in clothes. In fact every single room in the house, (except Krystle, Kyle & Darcy's bedrooms) I have a cow of some sort, or maybe even two or three. Each cow in my collection has been given a name, usually to remind me of where or when I got her, or even who gave her to me.

Wayne & I were dairy farmers, up until 1998 when our barn burned down. And even though we no longer have live animals on our farm, I still enjoy to have these critters around. The nice thing with these cows around is we no longer have to enjoy that 'dairy' air. I sure don't miss that.

Since Wayne works as a hired dairy man for Gerry he still gets his share but since he grew up with it, he doesn't mind it quite like I did.

I remember when I used to go visit my Schwartzentruber grandparents on their farm, and whenever I would walk into the barn, I plugged my nose the whole time I was in there. How ironic was it then that I married a dairy farmer.

Blessings

Christmas

Only 49 more days to go. It's so hard to believe that the Christmas season will soon be upon us. Although I guess most stores have started their decorating.
I've been chatting with friends and of course this time of year we tend to ask the old question "Have you started your Christmas shopping yet?" My answer is almost always 'No'.
For years Wayne & I only started shopping at the 1st of December, I have long since broken that tradition. As I was getting too stressed with all the last minute shopping.
However this year as I look at my calendar I realize the weekends are already getting full with dinner's and other events, and I am alarmed to try to figure out when I will start shopping.

Now you might wonder what does this picture have to do with Christmas.

This was the very first doll I received at my first Christmas. I was born in October so I was only 2 1/2 months old at Christmas. My Grandpa & Grandma Kaufman gave this to me. My sister got one the year she was born too. We were never allowed to play with these dolls hence it is still in the box. Growing up it used to bother me, not being allowed to play with it, but now I'm kinda glad. Or it would have been tossed away like all the others. This way I have a tangable reminder of my grandparents. (they have both passed away). It has very sentimental attachment to me.

I had put a few pictures into an album on my facebook account and this happened to be one of them. Underneath the photo I put "This doll was given to me by my Kaufman grandparents, for my First Chirstmas. We both celebrated our 40th birthday this year!" Krystle commented and I quote "this is the creeper doll! :S who you never took out of the box." obviously she doesn't feel the same nostalgia as me. LOL

Blessings

What a View!

This is one of the many photos I have taken with the 'new' camera my kids got me for my birthday.

Tonight I installed the Picture Perfect program so I can upload these photos from my camera to my computer. Krystle would be so proud of me. I was able to do this all by myself. Normally I would wait till she came home or till Gerard could come over. That way I could get them to do it and just show me how it all works rather than try to figure it out on my own. But yeah me, I did it. I have gotten better with the whole techno stuff.

So this photo then was the view from my front door on Tuesday October 30th. Absolutely Breathtaking!

We have had some gorgeous fall days, the warm weather is definitely spoiling us. I had overheard a conversation and these two people were already starting to complain that this weather can only last for so long. Well honestly what do you expect, it is November and we do live in Southwestern Ontario.

I do like the four seasons that we enjoy each year, but if I had to choose one over the others, it would definitely be autumn. This is my most favourite time of the year. It's not freezing like winter, not too mucky like spring and not too hot like summer

I think Autumn is just about as close to perfect for me.

Blessings

Grief

I know this is not one of the most pleasant of topics, however, in this life we all at sometime or another have experienced grief of some kind.

Yesterday, Wayne & I went for our walk, we naturally took both our dogs, however this time, Ace was hit by a car. He was able to get himself off the road, but then just laid in the ditch and bit at us as we tried to help him out. Wayne had to go back and get the truck and a pair of gloves so we could lift Ace into the truck to bring him back home. He just laid there moaning every once in a while. Before we went to bed I had Kyle check on him once more to see if he still had water, and Ace had died.



Kyle was pretty shook up and he was angry. I know that anger is one the many faces of grief, and I am sure we'll have a whole range of emotions as time continues on.
I am sure there are some reading this thinking it's only a dog, but to us he was like family.............
in fact today, when I went for a walk, I found myself looking for him as I would travel along, I really miss him.

So...... to the faithful readers, I would greatly appreciate it if after you read this you would say a prayer on our behalf, knowing that the God of all comfort will meet our needs and help us through this time.

Blessings

40th blog for my 40th birthday

I celebrated my 40th birthday this past Sunday (October 14). Yes I am admitting it.
Anyone who knows me knows that for the past 10 years, I have celebrated my 29th birthday repeatedly. In fact on Sunday, I even got a few wishes for turning 29. Unfortunately I had to correct them.

I struggled for a long time with the whole aging process, I wasn't ready to admit that I was getting older. After hearing that my mom had complimented me to her Ladies bible study group, about how proud she is of me for taking Titus 2:3 to heart I realized that my "age" doesn't change who I am.

I was overjoyed to share my birthday with Wayne, Krystle & Gerard, Kyle & Darcy. I made Thanksgiving dinner with ALL the trimmings. mmhm it was good! We even put candles in the pumpkin pie. The kids all went together and gave me a digital camera for my birthday. I was SO excited!



Wayne gave me these (aren't they gorgeous)


My sister Becky gave me these


I also went the Blue Dragon Tattoo Parlour and got myself this

here is a close up



I was SO nervous, and yes it did hurt (about like a bee sting) and it stayed hot longer, but it was well worth it.

Blessings

Giving of Thanks

We have so many things to be thankful for.

But to just name a few, my Lord Jesus Christ, who, in spite of knowing me, loved me enough to give HIS life for mine.

For Wayne, who loves me unconditionally.

For Krystle, Kyle & Darcy who delight me by just calling me 'Mom'.

My parents, brother & sister, who helped create the family of memories that I have.

My Aunt Ginny & Uncle Ken who opened their home to me when I was a troubled teen, and who allow me to call them 'Ma & Pa.'

For my friends, I cannot possibly name all of you (you know who you are), who inspire me & challenge me & accept me for who I am. 'Thank you'

For the farm and the country life that we are able to raise our family in.

AND the list of items could go on and on,

We have so many things to be thankful for.....
Please consider sharing with me "what is it that you are thankful for?"
I anticipate your response.

Blessings

The Gingerich's

Our family photo was taken recently because the Zurich Mennonite Church is celebrating 100 years in 2008. So the centennial committee is putting together a history book/ directory. They are doing a combined photo book with a historical account of where you are in life. The committee hired Sandra to do the photo shoot.

It is so hard to believe that my family has become so grown-up. It seems like only yesterday that we had three little kids. To look at them now, they are definitely not little anymore. Darcy at 17 is already 5' 10", just like dad, Kyle at 19 is 6' 2", Krystle at 20 is 5'7", and me well, I am the shortest in the bunch at 5'4".

Pretty good looking group, if I say so myself.

Krystle, Kyle & Darcy



I am so thankful for these three precious gifts from God. Each with their own unique gifts, talents & yes even challenges. It's been an amazing journey so far.

My dear friend Ruth was telling me yesterday that she finds it so hard to believe that our girls are already 20. I mean where did that time go? I look at some of the young moms in our church and try my best to encourage them to enjoy this time, because it goes too quickly. I am sure they are thinking "it's not going quick enough". Which if I recall, I thought the same thing. Why is it that when you're in it, it seems to feel like forever, but then you look back you think WOW, where did that time go? At least I did.

In Ecclesiastes 3:1 it says 'to everything there is a season and a time for every purpose under heaven'.

I'm trying to really enjoy each season in my life, not moaning over the past, and trying not to be overly anxious for the future. I do look forward to many, many more years together.

Blessings

Autumn

Time to harvest.

Last week Wayne was getting the soya beans off, it seemed a little early to me, but they were ready. Then he started working up the land to get it ready to plant the wheat. Since Wayne also drives the bus both in the morning and evening, it really cuts into his day. So last week Wednesday, when I was done at the office, I came home and jumped into the tractor and finished cultivating the field for him. I find driving tractor to be pretty boring, you just go back & forth in the field. In the particular field we were working there is a grass waterway, which is a bit of a nuisance, but makes the driving a little more exciting as I got to lift the cultivator in & out of the ground. Thank goodness there is a radio to listen to while driving or it could be really boring. With BX93 playing, I was able to pass the 2 1/2 hours quite quickly.

The rain we got yesterday is a definate booster for the crop. It was very needed. The crops didn't do as well as we had expected, so there was a bit of a shortfall in our contract.

You know when you start to really think about it farming is a little bit like gambling. You work up the ground, plant the seeds, and wait to see how much you get.

But as long as Wayne enjoys it, we'll stick to it, he afterall has a farmer's heart. One instilled from God. His whole life, he grew up on the farm and that's all he ever wanted to do. So after Grade 10, he quit school and began to farm. We were dairy farmers until 1998, when our barn burned down. God was so gracious to us, we lost our barn, yes, but we didn't lose any cattle (they were out because it was July), we came close to losing our house, but didn't, we almost lost the implement shed, but didn't. Our kids & dogs were safely away from harm's way. The volunteer fire-fighters made to our house in 8 minutes. While they couldn't save the barn, they were able to prevent anything else from going up in flames. WOW

Life has a way of going on. Wayne went out to work for a while, but eventually found his way back to farming not only our own land, but he also is a hired man for a neighbouring dairy farm.

Romans 8:28 says 'And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose' .

Blessings