Sights of Summer
Friends from China have come a long way to share a meal with us

in the back yard.

Erik spent quite a few hours painting this summer.

Blue Sky overhead...

Conrad and that gang off on a Canoe Trip.

It was Conrad's second canoe trip this month. If he hadn't agreed to go, then Jordan, the other guy, wouldn't have been able to go. In the photo, the guys are in the front and the girls at the back. Erik's friend, Lisa, was one of the sponsors.

Beautiful clouds over Winnipeg one evening. Later we found out that this same weather system dropped hail on Mom and Dad's farm that evening. There wasn't all that much damage, but they had a lot of branches to clean up.

Our meal of the month with Mom and Dad was

Watermelon and Rollkuchen.

Twenty-One people came and enjoyed the feast.

Apparently people really like to eat rollkuchen but
they don't like to make it.

They kept remarking about what a treat it was!



There were 10 cars parked outside in a neat row!

Manitoba Road Trip

On July 24th we went on a day trip with Arthur's Uncle and Aunt to see some more of the sights around Manitoba, the province where we live, and to be together telling stories.

This is a small store in St. Lupicin.

We left home not sure where we'd end up. We were thinking of maybe going to Neepawa for the Lily Festival but we didn't make it. The potential of crowds of people kept us away.

Where did we go instead of Neepawa? We drove through a valley near Rosielle enjoying some actual hills in Manitoba. We spent a lot of time at the Austin Agricultural Museum. The Annual Thresherman's Reunion will be there next weekend so the place was looking pretty good in preparation for that. There were volunteers working all over the place but we toured most of the buildings without meeting a single soul.

This house was the original farmstead on the property. It housed a family with 11 kids. On the sign outside, there was a list of everyone's name.

We visited at least 4 old churches which have turned into museums. Three of them have been moved to the Austin museum. The one in the photos here is still on the site where it was built, in Cardinal, Manitoba.

We also went further up north to see the very conservative group of Mennonites who moved from Ontario to some farms north of Gladstone. They don't use electricity or motors for most things. Here is a small photo of them haying with horses and a wagon.

We stopped at a Mennonite house that was advertising potatoes and we bought $7 of new potatoes (dirt included). It was a bit sobering because the family was living in what looked to be complete poverty in an old house which I think should have been condemned. I didn't take any pictures because it seemed disrespectful. We also stopped at a workshop and met some men making furniture. They were using a gas powered motor to turn their saws and sanders.

We had supper in Portage La Prairie at Dick's Cafe, a Chinese restaurant recommended to us by my sister. The dinner for four was fantastic.

FIFA World Cup Party

These pictures were taken during the opening minutes of the game.

It had rather a slow start so the kids weren't into it yet.

Of course, when things got exciting, no one thought to take any pictures!!

We had food to represent Spain:

Garbonzo Stew

Shrimp with Garlic on Baguette

Peas

With Flan for Dessert

We had food to represent the Netherlands:

Meat in Milk

Meat-filled Pancake

Carrots (because of their genetic history)

For Dessert: Baked Apple Pancake

After the game, the kids went out to a neighbourhood

field to play some football of their own.

Arthur's Uncle and Aunt Celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary

We went out to Kenora to help them celebrate as did many other family members. The picture below shows all the siblings from the bride's side along with their spouses.

Conrad leaning against the hotel where we stayed.

We were happy to join in the festivities!