So much Love (sounds like dear Oma!)

Sheri - you are truly hilarious! That post made me laugh many times (oh and by the way this is Ali) "Colours of His Love" was the first thing I thought of right when you mentioned Oma and Opa's 50th! And at the reunion in California 2010 I trust (speaking on behalf of emily, lydia, chelsey, luke and jeremy) that we could pull that song off - actions and everything (because clearly the actions are the best part!) just like it was yesterday! If my calculations serve me correctly, I do believe that I would have been approximately 8 (give or take a year) at the time of the 50th. Hey, didn't Jordanna sing and write a song for Grandma and Grandpa as well as Jon? I want to hear both songs again. I'm sure I have a dvd somewhere back home in whitby (I have to specify houses now which is weird because yeah, I have my own pad! Come check it out sometime...I may even feed you in the limited ways I know how!) Anyway, good memories of that time together during the 50th! The 60th was pretty fun too - funny seeing how hot the californians were in our sticky, humid, hard to breath when you walk outside kind of heat! Niagara Falls trip was pretty fun - completely new experience for Aris (sorry if I spelt it wrong, not sure if it's 1 r or 2) I'm pretty sure - maybe Andrea too I forget. As for the snow ball fight/snow fun/nature walk by the creek - I would hardly say that you and chelsey dominated! Just because you have many snowballs to throw doesn't mean they are actually hitting the target ;) which I do believe is the object of a snowball fight!! Gorgeous day it was then - the key to winter survival (in my opinion) is to get in it and enjoy it so that was sure accomplished - and what better to enjoy it with the Californians (who I think secretly really like winter and the beauty, snow, snow fun, etc, etc, etc) even though they were freezing! Ha, can't help but chuckle to myself :) You guys were funny to watch and listen to when you're talking about snow and how cold it is - all your comments are great - "I can't feel my face...I'm numb..If that doesn't wake you up I don't know what will!" Anyways, I'm wrapping this up now - man no limit to these posts? That could be dangerous with me - as one point leads to the next and I go on a tangent! The point is if I had to sum it up - I love you all! And it's not just surface like I enjoy hanging out with you when you're here kind of love ..it's I respect you all for different reasons and I so appreciate and love our relationships as individuals together and collectively as a unit. Our family has grown into something really special. It's unfortunate that death was the "bridge" if you will but it is really awesome to see that amongst the pain and hurt, there can be joy - this reminds me of one of my all time favourite songs my Sara Groves - called "Less like Scars". It's quite an old song but still applies to my life so often. Goodness, the first line of the song is - "it's been a hard year but I'm climbing out of the rubble". How much more can that relate to what our family has been through! Check it out on youtube or something and we can talk about it! Really enjoyed our time together. It was a no brainer for me to take a week off school (just the 2nd week into the new semester) to be around to connect, share and love eachother in the midst of our sadness. Can't wait for so many cool things to come of this Penner blog! Love, Ali