winter wonderland

it finally snowed. i mean really snowed. like snowbanks taller than me, city streets became snowmobile trails, and the whole city had to dig itself out snowed. i found my sorels, went out with camera in hand and was passed by kleiner bruder chris on his snowmobile. then i came home to watch team canada beat slovakia 3-0 at the world juniors, followed by a little figure skating. oh man, do i love winter in canada.

bina turns four

winter wedding

stained glass and candles inside st. margaret's on a wintry night, fire dancers in the snow outside fort gibraltar, medievel dancers attempting to teach 100 people a group dance in front of the fire place, good wine, good company, great wedding. congratulations jen and mark!

christmas

moni & mike
mama thiessen

best gift idea for a 23 year old boy? apparently it's a lazy susan
awww, matching aprons!

opa in his story-telling chair
chris & danielle
oma keeping a close watch on her brood
turkey makes a boy tired
this prairie girl can't get enough of northern manitoba

m is for maple - the canadian alphabet. i think i need that book

chanel's toothless toothy grin
the braun girls put on a puppet show
we weren't allowed to leave without taking a family pic

winter the way it should be

white. icy. cold. windchills. frostbite. toques. parkas. sorels. i almost cried when we were landing in winnipeg and i could see the assiniboine river was frozen and covered in snow, just like every rooftop in the city. saw kids playing games of shinny on every outdoor rink we past and it warmed my heart like you wouldn't believe. i quickly remembered what it's like to walk and drive on ice and got laughed at by mom when i went out in my parka and it was only like -10. it worries me a bit that this canuck has become so soft that she can't even take -18 windchills anymore - i've already gotten frostbite twice! but i won't let a little frostbite stop me from enjoying a real winter. i'm off to go play in the snow.

in four days

i'll see snow instead of rain. i'll get to wear a parka. i'll get to drive. i'll get to watch the hour on tv rather than a monitor. i'll get to sleep in. i'll finally have a day off. i'll see all the good people i've been missing. and i'll probably start missing all the good people i've left behind.

let's conspire

to ignite

all the souls

that would

die
just to feel
alive

prague

endlich. i've wanted to visit prague for years. ever since i saw mission: impossible - the movie that inspired 98% of the guys in my high school to cut their hair like tom cruise. and thanks to our native tour guide, stepan, we saw everthing my lonely planet recommended: charles bridge, wenceslas square, prague castle, tyn cathedral, st nicholas church, the jewish cemetary, the changing of the guards, the christmas market, kampa park, the narrowest street in prague, the old town hall with its astronomical skeleton-ringing-the-bell clock, and even a czech 80s party. good times.

national theatre
charles bridge
me & silvia, charles bridge, prague castle

jazz band on charles bridge

wenceslas square & national museum
up close

jewish cemetary
christmas market & tyn church

changing of the guards
st vitus cathedral
stepan looking like a giant on the golden lane