Hello to all you folks out in cyberspace!

It has been a whirlwind here at 234 Conway St. in the last week. I started school Wednesday. Yes, I made it through the first three days. So glad it's the weekend! No, really, it wasn't that bad. It looks like I have a nice bunch of rambunctious (sp?) kids. 25 to be exact. I was making apple juice last week, in the midst of preparing for class. But, overall, it has been a very positive start to the year. Rob Charach is our principal now, and we have a new vice principal for middle years! I am so excited about this, because that's my department and we really feel the support now that Jeff Thiessen is there (VP). He is the husband to Lynelle Friesen who was the pianist at our wedding. He taught at Linden for a number of years with me (he did gr.6) then he went to MBCI, now he's back. He's a servant leader, kind of quiet, but a great heart for the school. He and Rob make a great team. Today, Rob told me, one of our gr. 9 girls got stung by a wasp and went into anaphylactic shock! She would have died if they had not had the epi-pen ready on time. She was not wearing it, and Rob had to bring it to her - she was off campus about a block away, at a tennis club when it happened. Phew! The mood at school seems to be peaceful, some of the BAD highschool kids are not back this year, due to bad attitudes. I can sense the difference in the hallways. I used to pass them and could feel the negative vibes. Lorraine DeMonye is now VP for k-4 only. Rob looks after the Gr. 9-12. We have a new secretary for middle years too, Jan, and she went to highschool with Al in Winkler! Small world. She's really nice! And efficient!

Tonight we went to a potluck with people from our former Home Group. Rob and Toni (Antonette) hosted it. It was a nice evening. We are anticipating starting our little neighborhood Bible Study in October. So far, Paul and Lisa have committed to coming. We will keep praying for our neighbors and see what happens.

We are starting this "Making the Most of Your Marriage" course in October. It is a 7 week video course. We will help by facilitating discussion after the videos.

SNOW in Gramado? How long did it stay? Dwayne, I loved your detailed questions for each of us in your blog. Way to go! I took only the one course, Math curriculum, this summer. It introduced the new curriculum for 2007 Fall. Syl's wedding was really nice, worshipful. It started with worship singing! Very simple. Casual. Bar-B-Q reception, stand-up - kind of like yours. They served Coke in a can! And Pepsi too, and various other flavours. There was no program later. The reception was right after the ceremony. The whole wedding was over in 3 and one half hours.
It was so "Sylvia!" She would have liked to play ultimate frisbee, but wouldn't have been able to run in her wedding dress! Jonathon seems like a really nice guy. She had a bunch of her students there. Now she is Mrs. Epp. No longer Miss Fehr. It was cute to see her kids. They were thrilled!

Tomorrow we want to go to the MCC auction in Morris. We're going for lunch - maybe vereniki with schmont fat? Mmmmmm! Or maybe borscht? What do you think?

Dad, we hope you're feeling good today. I guess it was a long day yesterday. We'll see you soon. Maybe this weekend.

O.K. I will sign off. We love you all. We are praying for each one of you. May you sense God's direction and peace. God is good, all the time. He never forsakes His children. His mercies are new every morning.

Brenda