New Addition

No, we're not 'expecting'. I'd like to clarify that before we begin.

Last weekend, August 16, 2008, Benjamin and Stephanie were married.
But I'm getting ahead of myself.
Travis and I started our vacation with a wedding, but it wasn't Ben's, it was Brad & Erin's.
Brad, a long-time friend of Travis's and a co-MC with Ben at our wedding, was married the weekend prior to Ben & Steph,
August 9, 2008.

Brad, Travis, & Terry. We do have a nicer one of the three, but this one is so typical of Brad that I had to post it.
Besides, nice pictures are boring.

After Brad's wedding, Travis and I spent some time in Swift Current visiting family.
We got to spend Sunday with Granny & Papa...

Travis stayed behind to visit with mom (Cindy) and beat his dad (first time ever!!) at golf while I headed north to Waldheim.
I didn't realize how much I'd missed walks on gravel roads and camp fires.

The week flew by and it was time to head back to Swift again for Ben & Steph's wedding. The day was a steamy + 32 degrees, and everything went off without a hitch. Here are a few (okay, a lot!) of my favorite moments from the rehearsal & the big day...

Dancing groomsmen.
I really wish we'd caught this on video.
These guys are pros.

There was a whole lot of laughter at the rehearsal,
and again at the wedding.
Was it nerves? Or was it Dan.....?

The big day.

Waiting.....

Mom & Dad
getting the show started on the right foot.



More laughing....


You guessed it,
even more laughing....


The wedding party


I'd like to take this moment to introduce to you.... General Lee.
I think this car was in just as many pictures, and received just as many compliments as the Bride!


A dream fulfilled.
Taking the General Lee for a rip...
It even had the horn!


The reception was outdoors, in Dan's back yard.
The weather was perfect, the food was great, and classic rock from the 60's & 70's (vinyl yet!) played in the background (with just the perfect amount of static).


VIP!!


Family
You don't realize how much you miss them,
until they're all in the same place at once.




Our new immediate family.
I've said it before, but I'll say it again.
We're one good looking group.


The extended Fehr family.
Grandma, Grandpa, Dad, his three sisters and their spouses


And that pretty much concludes what I'm willing to post tonight.
Oh I've got more, but I'm guessing you've had enough. For now.
Me too. I'm all wedding-ed out.
But I can't wait to see everyone again.
Especially those of you that we missed this time around.

It's Not January Anymore!

I could go on about how I'm horrible at keeping this up to date. But you already know that, so we'll leave it there.

January is long gone, and far too many things have happened since then. Travis and I no longer live in Tofield, we have moved into Edmonton. Why? I found a job in the city, Travis goes to school in the city, spending 1 1/2 hours in the car every day wasn't much fun, not to mention the money we spent on gas.

So we're big city kids now, and it's not so bad. Everything is still within walking distance. We've traded the howling coyotes for the odd siren or friendly drunk guy yelling in the Denny's parking lot. I now walk on paved paths and not dirt roads. Everyone has wimpy lap dogs instead of real dogs. You get the idea.

But this weekend I got to be a small town kid again. Vegreville had it's annual Father's day car show & demo derby. Nothing makes my day quite like a demo derby (the car show is what you do while they clean up the derby ring). Stop in next year and maybe we'll take you.

Here's a bit of our day...


The ultimate Rig Pig truck. Who knew Ford made an F-650??Not as funny, but much better looking. Travis is the one with taste/class.


I really don't think this needs a caption. It's pretty self explanatory. However, the picture doesn't do the event justice, so I've added a video. Hope it makes you smile as much as it made me smile!!
And I promise we'll update this thing before November, so check back!

Baby It's Cold Outside!

Well Mr. Gore... after this week I think you can take your Global Warming theories and... well... you can shove em'.

-35 degrees Celsius, -45 with windchill is not warm. I think it's time to switch back to that ice age theory.

This is my iced-up balcony door, which I can no longer open. And the ice fog that we woke up to this morning.

So I'm working from home and Travis is curled up in bed trying to keep warm.

Anyways, despite the terrible weather, we had a great weekend (I can tell it was a great weekend because I'm out of coffee). Grandma and Grandpa drove up early Friday afternoon, Benjamin left Saturday morning at 3 am and made it here in time for breakfast and coffee, and Timothy joined us later that evening. So we had a couple days to catch up on everything that's been happening.


First things first, Ben and Steph were engaged last Monday (if you see him around, have him tell you the story. It's amazingly storybook-like). After 24 years of waiting, I'll finally have the little sister I've always wanted. And I don't have to go through all of the annoying little sister stuff, such as raided closets, missing shoes, and cat fights. We love Steph and we're so glad that she'll be an official part of the family come August 16 of this year.


Timothy was able to stay until Sunday afternoon before racing back to Red Deer in time for the evening service at the church he's interning at. He was very brave and sang a song at our local church Sunday morning, and had all of the little old ladies going on and on about what a nice voice he has. And Ben was hero of the morning when he stepped up and filled in for the drummer who was too sick that morning to play. Now everyone involved in worship teams is asking me if he'd ever consider moving to Tofield.

And now the house is silent.
Empty.
But my heart is still full and warm from the great conversations and time spent with family. Now if only my half full cup of coffee would do the same for my icy hands....

A Whirlwind Christmas

What's better than spending Christmas with your family? How about six Christmases with six different families?? And of course a meal at almost every single one of them.

We began our whirlwind tour with a day at Granny and Papa's in Central Butte. Everyone but Uncle Mike, who had to work, was able to make it out for the day.









Travis and I snuck out that afternoon to visit Grandma Hart who was a lot more spunky than the last time we stopped by. No picture to show you, she opted not to as her hairdresser wasn't coming out until the next day. We'll snag a picture next time.

The next morning was present time with Mom Rehbein and Larald (thanks for the loot!) and then we were off again to Larald's brother's home for supper with the Shaw's.

After a lazy morning and a quick family photo op.
We ran across town to Uncle Dennis's place for the Hart Christmas. We had a chance to sit down with Dad and Linda Hart, and of course Vikki and Scott. The Christmas Poker game was squeezed in right before dinner and Travis walked away with........$4!!! (buy in was $2)

We said goodbye and shot across town again.

Tired yet? Wait, there's still more!!

This time to Tim and Liz's home where the Ulrich family was getting together. Well, a portion of the Ulrich family was getting together...

And who of all people should swing by but Rachel Driedger who I haven't seen for at least two years. So glad you called!!

Much, much later that night after a lot of singing, scrabble, dutch blitz..... we crawled into bed to rest up for the sixth and final Christmas get together.

Boxing day morning we met at Benjamin's new place for the Fehr Christmas. Even though he's in the middle of renos, Benjamin played a super host and even managed to sneak Steph out for a bit of a visit.




And that was our whirlwind Christmas. Dizzy yet? Try doing it on a continuously full stomach! For those of you we didn't make it out to see, we're sorry. We tried, really we did. I hope you had a great Christmas, and maybe we'll see you sooner then you think!

Christmas Warm-ups

It's officially time for stretchy pants, and we're still a week and a half away from Christmas!
Last Friday Travis and I attended our church's annual Christmas banquet, where for the price of $3/person and 2L of pickles, we were able to eat ham & turkey till our hearts were content and our pants pulled at their seams. It was wonderfully laid back. No fancy programs or games this year. Just a chance to eat good food with some really good friends.

Fast forward to Saturday, our apartment building had a Christmas supper. So once again, we bellied up to the table and stuffed ourselves with more turkey.

Sunday we took the day nice and slow and met up with a group of friends at the Stoker's new place in Round Hill. And of course, ate more food. Travis and I are the only couple out of the 10 of us without kids, and so naturally, they fascinate me. And surprisingly, I don't terrify them!

This is Saraphina. Her dad, Adam, was baptized the same day Travis was. Saraphina is nothing but sunshine and giggles. At one point she was topless and sitting in a box she had just emptied.

This is Avery, you've seen pictures of his older brother Darien in a previous post. Avery decided he wanted to wear Travis's sweater. And how can you refuse that face? And yes, you're seeing things correctly. The pastor's son is sucking on a cross.

This is Serri. We play volleyball with Matt and Alissa on Monday's, and after a year of living in the same town we finally got together!

So now we're spending the week digesting, going for long walks and getting ready for yet another weekend full of Christmas warm-ups. We're doing our part to get ready for Christmas, what are you doing?

November - A Long Overdue Update

Where did November go? I try to remember what we've done and where we've been, but it's all a blur of school, work, essay proofing, trying to decide what to make for supper, forgetting to make supper.... I realize it's been a long time since we last updated this page, but in all honesty, other than a few special days, not a whole lot has happened. Well, nothing anyone really wants to read about. That being said, here's what happened to us last month.....

That same weekend Cindy and Larald came out for a visit. It was great to see them again, it's been a long time. And Larald gave us the honor of taking him on his first trip to the West Edmonton Mall. And boy did we choose a terrible day to go! Wall-to-wall people, and it wasn't even December yet! Unfortunately, I forgot the camera and we have no pictures for Larald to remember his big day by. Sorry Larald. But we'll think of you every time Travis puts on his flashy new shoes.

We said goodbye early Monday morning. I went to work, Travis to school, and Cindy & Larald back to Swift. Not even an hour after we had said goodbye, a friendly Sherwood park Nissan kissed our bumper. A perfect start to a freezing cold day. And no, it's still not fixed.

Fast forward to the weekend. I had big plans that included Christmas decorations and cookies. Well, I fought the tree up just in time to shower and race off to the Ulrich Cattle Liner Christmas party. It looks kind of funny. The tree that is. All the lights are on the inside. And sadly, there are still no Christmas cookies.

That Sunday Travis and I were accepted as members at the church we've been attending for the last year. A big step, but we're glad we finally made it.

After the service we went to Sherwood park with Murray & Sharron for dinner and I was finally able to see the Petro plant that Travis worked at all summer. The very tall tower in the center is what he was painting all those months. Pretty impressive.

And that was November. Thrilling I know. We like to live life on the edge when we can.

We hope your month was a little more interesting than ours was and we can't wait to hear about it when we see you in a couple of weeks.

And finally, Cindy, I thought I'd add this just for you.....

Thanksgiving Long Weekend

Thanksgiving, the perfect holiday set right in the middle of the busy season. The break given right when I usually need it most. We'd planned to stay home for the weekend and save our gas money for Christmas time, but a wonderful couple had pity on us and sponsored our trip back to SK (thanks mom & dad).

Unfortunately Travis's professors saw fit to load him up with a whole lot of extra work. He opted to stay home and try to get a handle on things instead of putting them off and spending the next week playing catch-up. What a mature, smart man I married.

Benjamin and Timothy couldn't make it out, and with Travis back it Tofield it was just the three of us (mom, dad, and myself) for the weekend. So the weekend was nice and relaxing. Nothing fussy. Just a lot of peace, quiet, and time spent enjoying each other's company.Except for the part where Grandpa came over and we ripped up the deck.

Well, they ripped up the deck and I took the dog for a nice long walk down old country roads.

And of course, I had to be officially introduced to dad's latest 'pets'. Yes, they all have names though the only two I can remember at the moment are Grunt and Lard. Surprisingly they don't stink nearly as bad as I thought they would. Dad would tell you it's because they're free range, healthy pigs. And they're sure going to be a nice addition to the freezer come winter! Poor Grunt...

And what's a trip home without a trip to the new yard, or the 'farm' as we like to call it. Mom and Dad have a beautiful quarter of land just North West of Laird. Though I didn't make it home in time to see the leaves still on the trees which makes things looks a little bare, the area is perfect. From the top of the ravine we were able to watch a doe head for cover. And the beavers have made themselves a nice little lake out of the natural spring that runs through the bottom of the ravine. Nice and wild.

And what could make a great weekend even better? Well, after a safe trip back of course. How about news of a future wedding? That's right, sometime around 5pm that same evening while I was dodging potholes, Larald was proposing to Cindy (my very happy mother-in-law). So congratulations! By the way, that means she said yes. Now there's something to be thankful for, right Larald?