our weekend in st. Jacobs

Fiona's been reading an amish girl series of books and wanted to meet a real "rachel yoder"
so for our 18th wedding anniversary, we ventured to St. Jacobs in search of a family day togther that may or may not fetch us a pen pal
Fiona saw her first hot air balloons on the way into the area.
On Saturday morning, we wandered the market, enjoyed lots to see, went on a horse trolly tour and there was a lovely little 8 year old mennonite girl.
we had printed up pen pal cards and asked if she wanted to write back and forth to Fiona.
She must have been pretty excited as she darted to the house at the first opportunity to ask permission. I met her mom in their little quilt shop and explained the concept and what Fiona wished. The mom agreed, and then they even let us take photos/
so meet Karen Martin and we will share the letters as they go back and forth.

we wandered through the town of St. Jacobs and then met up with cousin Michael Krawiecki
Fiona and their middle daughter Katherine hit it off well. Monique and Michael, with the older 2 kids and Glenn and I chatted for 3 hours. Their youngest flitted between playing with the girls and checking in with the adults.

Mom and Uncle Bill are due to meet up soon. Michael will be sure to get Uncle Bill to wherever it makes sense for them to have long awaited hugs. Lots of excitement as Matthew, Don's son and his wife are expecting in March. He'll be the first of that generation in our extended family to have a baby and make the first Great Grandparents of that layer too!