oh...the place he'll go!

Oh the places you'll go! 
There is fun to be done! 
There are points to be scored. 
There are games to be won.
And the magical things you can do with that ball 
...will make you the winning-est winner of all.

~ Dr. Seuss, Oh, the Places You'll Go!

 

Meet my nephew, Andrew...

a graduate in the Class of 2013.

Oelwein, Iowa

He invited us to his grad party.

We sent our regrets...

since Iowa was a little far to go last Saturday.

And so we send our wishes from afar...

along with Dr. Seuss's sentiments.

(I'm thinking the doctor knew Andrew when he penned his book!)

 

 

You're off to Great Places!
Today is your day!

Your mountain is waiting,
So... get on your way!

 

You have brains in your head. 

You have feet in your shoes. 

You can steer yourself any direction you choose.

You're on your own. 

And you know what you know. 

And YOU are the one who'll decide where to go...

Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You're off to Great Places!
You're off and away!

Congratulations, Andrew...

from all those who frequent 'my front porch'.
Wishing you all the best as you journey on!

 ^'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 
'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, 
plans to give you hope and a future.'
Jeremiah 29:11

steinbach...the village stroll

While in Manitoba...

we had a chance to stroll down memory lane.

Our book launch tour took us to Steinbach...

and its amazing museum.

Mennonite Heritage Village exists to preserve and share the Mennonite heritage and illustrate a traditional way of life that has all but disappeared.

 So says the brochure.

Our book signing was well documented by Ellen...

right here. 

So I'll just make mention of the aprons in the gift shop...
and take you out to the village.

Who knew...
they sold 'our aprons' there as well!

Marg couldn't resist...
and brought one home as a souvenir.

 

We had a little time to stroll about the village.

The forty acre site spreads out from a village street...

 just like the Mennonite villages of old.

 

On one side of the street are early settlement buildings...

on the other are various businesses.

White picket fences...

...around large garden plots

...and original heritage homes with flowers on the window sills.

The museum is a major tourist attraction in southern Manitoba...

and hosts school tours throughout the year.

 It also boasts a working windmill...

...and a restaurant that dishes up hearty Mennonite food.

We checked it out...

of course!

The sampler included vereniki (perogies), coleslaw, brown bread, farmer sausage and rhubarb platz for dessert.

It was all good...

and the price was right! 

Enroute to our next book signing...

...Betty took us to a deli that sells fresh Bothwell squeaky cheese every Friday.

It was Friday.

We all stocked up!

I had to find out what squeaky cheese was all about.

Our afternoon event was hosted  by Ten Thousand Villages in Steinbach.

 

They had cooked up all kinds of goodies from the cookbook...

and served samples to the customers.

The 'sparkling white grape and lime punch' was served from a punch bowl exactly like the one pictured on page 74 of the Celebrations cookbook.

And I thought my bowl was one-of-a-kind!

I'll leave you with one last image...

...one of the peonies that bloomed everywhere in the Steinbach area.  

 Most striking!

And so ends our tour of Steinbach.

In a garden.

a classic father's day...

My dad doesn't ask for much.  

But several weeks ago he made a request.

There was to be a BBQ and vintage car show at Garden Park Tower on Father's Day...

and he wondered if maybe we could come...

and bring the old Monarch.

 We would do our best to make it happen...of course!

But the Monarch has left us stranded on occasion...

...and so we decided it might be better to tow it to Abbotsford instead of driving it.

Garden Park Tower...

...the name of the high-rise on the left.

A place dad has called home for the past year.

We unloaded the car just down the road...

and drove it to Garden Park.

There was a spot reserved for us...

 beside the 1972 Cadillac convertible.  

I hardly remember when cars were that big!

How nice of the Garden Park people to plan a BBQ for Father's Day!

Marge came down and joined us in the park for lunch.  

She hasn't been out much since she had a stroke in February...

so we were glad she could make it. 

 

 I recognized the voice before I saw the singer!

I knew Elsie a very long time ago (when she cut her first record)...

and she can still sing like the best of them!

She was the featured entertainment while we ate.

She sings songs my dad likes...

and sang one especially for him yesterday.

 Dad was quite thrilled to show his car to the guys...

inside and out.

He knows it well...

since he restored it to it's original condition himself.

 From the painting to the upholstery...

he did it all.

In theory it is now my car...

registered to my name.

In reality...

it's dad's car and always will be.

And he's quite pleased to have it  featured on the back cover of the original 

Mennonite Girls Can Cook cookbook.

Mary Ellen and Dot (my sisters) also joined us for lunch.

They each have a vintage car restored by dad as well.

Mary Ellen has a Mustang.  

Dot has a Cougar.

Neither had a trailer to bring them to the BBQ yesterday.

I'm most thankful that I still have a dad to spend time with on Father's Day...

or any other day...

for that matter!

 

 In the evening...

we took Tim and Heidi...

Maggie and Lucy out for a joy-ride in the Monarch.

Here's the thing...

there were no seat belts in 1947.

There are no seat belts today. 

How did that ever work with kids?

We drove most carefully to our destination.

DQ...for ice-cream.

It was Maggie's first DQ ice-cream cone...ever!

Due to her peanut allergy...

she has never been allowed DQ ice-cream.

Yesterday...

they decided to take a chance...

EpiPen at the ready.

All was well...

and Maggie had a most memorable Father's Day as well. 

And that in a nutshell...

was Father's Day 2013.

Have a wonderful Monday!