I was hoping to blog about our Winnipeg trip before leaving for MCC orientation in Akron but that is one of the things that just didn’t get done in our few days between trips. Since I am writing from Pennsylvania on Peter’s computer, I will have to add the pictures later but thought I could at least write a bit in the meantime.

Our week in Winnipeg, Manitoba was wonderful! I felt immediately at home with the black soil and huge sky. The week was filled with visiting extended family that we hadn’t seen for three years. My grandparents are in their nineties and it was a gift to be able to spend time with them and for Brendan and Jason to get to know them a bit. A bonus was the massage treatment we received from Aunt Marilyn. The boys loved the potty plunger treatment, where she puts a plunger on your back and the suction loosens your skin. They tried it on themselves and everyone else the rest of the time. She spent over an hour with her fingers in Peter’s armpits, getting out the knots. I guess that is what you get for sitting at a computer for three years! He commented, between groans, that it was like medieval torture. But after he got over the soreness, he found himself feeling much better. Likewise, my treatment was fabulous but painful and I squirmed and shrieked the whole two hours. I too, recovered well and my back is much better now.

Over the weekend, we had family get-togethers on both my mom’s side and on my dad’s side of the family. We spent a day at the Heinrichs homestead where my brother and I have many wonderful memories. We loved going there on our summer visits and even spent extended time there a couple of summers. Uncle Edwin, whom Jason referred to as Uncle Edmun, treated our boys to all the joys of farm life. We recreated some of our childhood memories with our children like going down the zipline, gathering eggs in the chicken barn, and riding the tractor mower and four wheeler. And of course we had to have our traditional game of baseball which we discovered was more of a treat for Kevin and I than the rest of our cousins. The tradition is for all of us to line up according to height, take a few moments for the photo op, then number off to make teams. Everyone gets to bat when they are up and the unspoken rule is that the youngest members never get out and can keep running the bases. Those of us playing had a great time and hopefully, those watching had a few laughs as well. Then there are the new traditions, like playing bocce ball, that we enjoyed as well. The two constants are Aunt Betty Ann’s delicious rhubarb dessert and the mosquitoes!

We also spent time with the Dueck side of the family. My cousins, Tracy and Darren, live on a farm outside Winnipeg and we spent time at their place. Tracy and I visited for hours while the men and boys rode humongous tractors and took a ride in a semi. On Sunday, the rest of the Dueck clan came out to the farm to spend the afternoon together. Kevin and Rhonda and their kids, as well as my parents were also there so it really was complete. I enjoyed catching up with my other cousin and his girlfriend as well as my aunt and uncle and great aunties. A couple days later we all got together again to go five pin bowling and eat Chinese food, something that we used to do with my Grandma Dueck when we were growing up.

My cousins, Phil and Julie, were kind enough to host us for the week. This allowed us extra time to visit and play games and for Phil to be tackled by the boys. One of the extra perks of this arrangement is that we were able to go flying with Phil. He is a pilot and he arranged with a friend for us to go up one morning in a small Cessna plane. Phil and Bernie could take two of us up at a time so Brendan and I volunteered to go first. As we took off on the grass runway, I looked over at Brendan with his big headset on and he was grinning from ear to ear. We flew over Niverville, the town where we were staying, and over the Heinrichs farm where we had the family gathering. On our second pass over the farm, Uncle Edwin was out on the yard and we waved to him! This was a wonderful experience for all four of us - a real treat!

We returned home to California and had three days which went by very quickly. Friends of ours were moving to Colorado so we helped them pack and load their truck. We were also doing laundry and packing for Pennsylvania. In the midst of this, we also managed to pack a few more boxes for storage since we will only have a day and a half when we return before we have to have everything up to Fresno to be moved to Spokane for longterm storage. Saturday was spent with Jim, Terri and Quinn Brenneman who were visiting from Goshen, Indiana. They helped us celebrate Mom’s birthday as well as Nathaniel’s birthday. This was special to all of us as they were our pastors when Nathaniel was born and they were at the hospital to hold him and bless him before he died. Our tradition is to eat Angel Food Cake, ice cream and strawberries, on our around Nathaniel’s birthday. The afternoon was spent with a childhood friend of mine and her girls who lives in Orange County. We spent the afternoon in the pool, relaxing and catching up while the kids swam and played.

It was a bit of a whirlwind but most of what needed to happen did and we moved on to the next thing: MCC Orientation! More on that soon . . .