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things we did a long time ago

Babysitting

We looked after Stan and Tricia's girls for a few hours one evening. They were fun.


Belen couldn't feed her baby sister fast enough.



Pretty Susanna



Fun in the park




Doors Open Winnipeg


We visited a few places in the North End. It was cool to see what we have close to home. To learn more about this unique annual event visit http://www.doorsopenwinnipeg.ca/.



Outside Holy Trinity Metropolitan Cathedral (the mosaic is made up of thousands of tiny tiles)


Inside Holy Trinity Metropolitan Cathedral



Seven Oaks House Museum



Child's bedroom




Kitchen - where servants prepared food.


We also went to Bleak House, but it was pretty... bleak.

We topped off our cultural morning with pitas at a local cafe/bakery.


Mmm... falafel!

pupusas, provocative word games and a picnic

We had some great family time in April, when Jordan and Ashleigh came home from Ireland and stopped in Manitoba for a few weeks on their way to B.C. Jer and I got to steal them away for an evening while the rest of the familia was at a wedding.

First, we went to La Fiesta for pupusas and other fantastic Salvadorean food. We waited forever for our meals, but were entertained by good conversation and genuine Salvadorean serenading in the meantime. We also had delicious fruit juices, and decided that even Jordan's rice juice was pretty tasty! Regrettably, no cameras were present at this event.

After stuffing ourselves with tortillas and cheese, we headed to our home for a provocative game of Probe. (See product shot below.)

During the two rounds we played, we were provoked to laughter, tears and deep thoughts. Did I mention that Probe is a provocative word game? Really, every home should have one.

On another day we enjoyed a picnic in the park. Too bad Jer had to leave early for work, and Chad had to be on the field. We had a blast playing Frisbee, being the super athletic family that we are. Afterwards we headed to Corydon for gelati, which was satisfying as always.

Kids on the blanket...

...grown-ups in the lawn chairs.

Jordan and Ashleigh are gone now, but they'll be back mid-June with their band featuring Sheree Plett and Jeremy Eisenhauer. You can see/hear them playing at exciting venues like Collective Cabaret (June 13), Ellice Theatre (June 14) and Riverside Park (June 15).

Note: See Kelsey's blog for more pics and thoughts on JordAsh's visit.

our baby

It's been so long since I (Jaimee) posted, partly because I wasn't sure what to say about this... Most of you already know that we lost our baby to a miscarriage near the end of March. It's been kind of rough, but we've also been blessed in many ways. I'd like to share 10 of the thoughts or actions that have blessed me and helped me heal:

1. getting cards from people we didn't expect
2. being allowed to grieve
3. realizing that Lamentations 3:22-33 is true
4. writing in a memory album for our baby
5. reading a tiny book called Born to Fly
6. realizing that I'm not in control
7. painting a piece of pottery in memory our baby
8. realizing that our child is with Jesus!
9. getting a phone call from a friend when I was feeling lonely
10. having some really great couple time

We also received many delicious meals, thoughtful cards, pretty flowers and even a visit in the hospital. We feel loved and incredibly blessed.

experimentation + pain

This is me after getting my widom teeth extracted. The pain after the surgery was not too bad. It was the infection that set in a couple of days later that sent me running to fill my T3 prescription.




After years of telling family and friends of my dream of one day making my own cheese, that day has finally arrived. My various cheese making products arrived a short time ago in the mail.

The Process:

heating the milk and adding the rennet...


straining the curds from the whey...


the final product... Mozzarella!


2nd final by-product... Ricotta (made from the whey)



My third attempt at cheese making was Monterey Jack. For this one I use an actual bacterial culture for innoculatind the warm milk. It was a long process (over 4 hours) until the curds were ready to be pressed.

my hand-made cheese press


The pressing took another 12 hours, then air-drying another 3 days. Once it was dry enough we sealed it in paraffin wax. Ideally, it was to age for 2-3 months like this. Unfortunately at about 1 month, we could see mold growing under the wax. I peeled the wax off and scraped off the mold, washed it and let it air dry for a while longer. The mold got worse and we deemed the project a failure. C'est dommage. Back to the drawing board.

It got a lot moldier after this.

our winter getaway

We're not sure what we needed to "getaway" from (maybe the cat?) but we had a splendid weekend in February at Falcon Trails Ranch. We stayed in a real log cabin, with a loft and a woodstove.

We did lots of reading and relaxing...

...and we even got a bit of excerise. We hiked 5 kms in the snow! This pic was taken near the beginning of the trail, before we were exhausted.

our little fall project

Back in April of 2006 we purchaced our first home. We are now officially North Enders. It is a nice little house with good neighboors. In fall, we decided to build a garage out back. Here are a few photos of construction in progress...

Construction begins around 9 in the morning



First wall is up! The Constructors for the day (and in order of appearance on photo) are Stan, Julio, Jeremy, Dad Loewen and Alex.




Our busy back yard. What's with Jer's expression? Did you just step on a nail or what? Where is your tool belt? Are you the official stand-around guy? Are you busy keeping the wall in place with your foot? Good job, keep it up.





The sun is starting to set as we start the rafters.



The last rafter is put into place as the day fades to black.

welcome to our 'hood

Some people may wonder why we moved to the north end. Here are just a few reasons in picture form
(more to come in the future).

our humble abode

some nice entryways

character homes

the church on church ave

our public library

fort garry horse - hasn't been used in a while

alicia's - the best perogies in winnipeg
frequented by John Candy (in life) and only 2 blocks from our house!

ice cream shanty - can't wait for summer!