Visitors From Afar...

It was a neat treat to be able to see my cousins - the Josties - when they came through Ontario on their singing tour last week. Some of you may know them through the jostieflicks on youtube. :)

 

 Most of the family. I had my 50 mm. prime lens, so I couldn't fit all of them in one shot.

 Cousins, Emily and Jeremiah with Uncle Dale.

Erik and Josh - Josh (and the rest of them!) are so good with kids. 

Trying to get a shot of us ladies. :) Getting to see Zoe, and meet her baby girl and husband was real special too!  

Then a couple days later, they were all able to come for lunch on their way to the next concert. A special blessing to have them in our home. :)

Thanksgiving in New York

This year, we all went to Henry and Heather's in Lewiston, for a lovely Canadian Thanksgiving!

We came Sunday evening, and it was kinda like old times - having Sunday evening "snack/dinner" at Henry and Heather's again. I miss those times. :) But we still have them, and treasure them even more I guess. And with Rachel, Hannah and Lydia often in charge of the food, it was extra yummy. :) (Hannah made potato soup, and Rachel made the pizza...)

It was also brother Will's birthday, so James and one of the girls put together a "mocha" cake to celebrate another year. 

Henry and Reuben relaxing.

(Tim took this shot - actually, I took very few of this weekend's pictures. The camera got picked up by lots of people, so I can credit them all. :) But they're mostly from Tim, with some from Diane, and Will I think. :)  

Monday morning - most of us went shopping (since the states stores are open!) in different places. Then we came home and enjoyed an amazing dinner.  

 Tim being his usual self.

 The little kid's table.

 Right before he went to bed for being so cranky.

I know -you'd never guess it. :)

 The mature table.

 The rest of us.

 

 

We all brought something to contribute to the meal - I brought our family's special jello. :)  

 Afterwards, most of the guys had a nap, while us girls visited, did hair, and I did a couple quick photo shoots of Ben and Deanna, and Brad and Diane (which will be on the other blog sometime soon) and then we all went on a lovely walk.

This was when everyone had fun snapping some great shots with the camera. :)

 

 Cute some twosome.

 All of us older Heikoop girls - missing Sarah, Nelly and Marlene

 Sibling love.

 

 James snitching some rotting apples to throw at unsuspecting family members along the walk.

 

 Smashing Dee and Ben.

Caleb, Micah and Tim.

And then, our little man.

Then back at the house, we had some dessert, packed up, and we all headed back to our individual homes.

Humbled and so grateful to God, for the two families I've been given.

My First {Real} Fair

After a photo shoot in Kitchen a couple Saturdays ago, We decided (with the invite from Brad and Diane) to continue on and go to the Rockton Fair/Demolition Derby about 20 minutes away.

I felt like I was in the cartoon "Charlotte's Web", and thought about how much fun, the rodents have once the gates are shut. :) The kids loved it! The derby (the main attraction) was super packed, so we squeezed in for a bit, and then looked around the rest of the fairgrounds until joining up with Brad and Diane.

 Looking at the pigeons, rabbits, and turkeys in one of the buildings.

 Erik with the bestest toys. :)

 Katelyn so happy that she got to go on the carousel. :) We weren't going to buy any tickets for rides - they're super expensive, but James went up to the ticket lady, and asked if there were a couple free tickets for the kids to ride the carousel. I stood back with the kids, and couldn't believe it when she handed him two VIP passes - so you could ride any of the rides with those passes. :) (James has a way with people) So we stood in line, when some other lady handed us two "normal" tickets that she didn't need anymore. But the carousel needed 3 tickets - so James just asked if he could use two - and the guy let him and Katelyn ride on the horses. :) (adults ride free with their kids) So Erik and I watched while the two of them went round and round. :)

 

 

 Then we walked around more - and decided to try the Ferris wheel with the free VIP tickets - which we actually needed 4 tickets with the kids, but the guy let us in anyways. :) So that was nice.

Walking back to the derby area, James held up Erik to one of the french fry guys, and asked if they had any food for his "malnourished" son - (while poking his chubby cheeks) and the guy gave him some french fries that wouldn't be able to be sold much longer, so we even enjoyed a "fair treat". :) All because my husband doesn't mind asking :) even when I'm a bit embarrassed. :)

Yup - I'm proud of him. :)

Then back to the derby.

  (view from the Ferris Wheel)

 James trying out the "impress your girl-and hit the bell" thingy majeg. :)

 And the derby - it was fun. Kinda crazy, but fun.

 I was proud I got this "action" shot. :) They had stock cars at the end which we were fun too. Although every car I cheered on, died like RIGHT away...

With Brad and Diane (taking the shot) and their friends Jen and Josh.

Yes, Erik LOVED the derby. Even though it was late and cold out, he and Katy had a blast. 

The cute couple. :)

So, that was my first fair experience. (other than Foremost's County Fair - where I won 2nd prize for my bread making skills. :) Corinne C. won 1st, and another lady from our church won 3rd. :)

Special moments.

Our Playroom

I fnally am starting to get some pictures put up of our house. :)

Nope, we're still not done. Just a bunch of little things to do, and a bunch of decorating to do. But that all takes time, and I better not wait til everything is perfect, or you'll never see pictures. :)

Here is our playroom. One of the cutest rooms in the house, in my opinion. :)

It used to be the "wine cellar", we're guessing, from the previous owners. The man had made some rough shelves, and there was good evidence of grape/juice spills to think that was what it was. (he made his own wine from the grape arbor in the back)

We were going to just leave this under the stairs area for a winter project...but we had some drywall and insulation that had to get out of the way, extra carpet and paint etc. - plus James was starting to work from home, which meant if the toys could be put somewhere else, and the children had a fun place to play, that would be helpful. :)

So, here you go. 

 

BEFORE: 

AFTER:

 

 The view from "the adult side" of life. :)

Isn't the paint colors fun! :)

The leftover green is from our guest room, and the blue paint was a mistint from Lowes. James did an amazing job of fixing the 2x4's, insulating, re-wiring, drywallimg, mudding and sanding...  and I got the fun part - painting. :)

Those blessed shelves were leftovers from the Windmill's old shelving system.

You know me - I. Love. Shelves.  

 A neat "God providing" story is about the chalkboard paint. :)

 Just one of those little things that God does, that you're thankful for... I had told our next door neighbor about wanting to do a chalkboard on the one side, and she had some extra paint for me to use -leftover from their home's previous owners. That worked out perfectly, and cut our very minimal cost down even more.

The bench had been in here when it was the wine cellar - we just fixed it up, sanded it down a bit, and painted it. Works perfect for the kid's toys. :)  

The celing works perfect for the kids for now - Katy will have a year or so before she hits the ceiling, but then she can duck. :) I enjoy being in there with them, so, if an almost 8.5 month expectant momma can fit in, so can they, when they're older.

The banner is made from scrapbook paper, yarn and cardstock I had - making it kinda cute. :)

And NO - the playroom doesn't look like this all the time.
It's a playroom. :)

But, it's easy to clean up, everything has a place, and now I can easily weed through extra toys and throw, throw, throw away when need be.

So there you go - the first "new house tour".

Can't wait to show you more, when I um.....clean up the floors upstairs...and do some decorating. :)

Lil' Sunshine

 

We were at a wedding last weekend, and one of the bridesmaids let Katelyn hold her bouquet - she was pretty happy. :)

Dad & Mom's Visit

Dad and Mom were here for a whole week!! What a pleasure that was!!

They were on a three week trip, celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary, and spent some time at a music convention in Kentucky, stopped at the Creation Musuem, and other places - making their way up to Ontario for some time with us. That was very special.

 

We went to St. Jacobs the day after they came. It was raining a bit that day, but we managed to see the petting zoo quickly.

 

Stopped in at the Lego Store to let the kids play for a bit.

(okay, Grandpa did too - he babysat while mom and I walked around the small mall)

Daddy reading Katelyn Bible Stories almost every night. She loved it.

Dad and Mom spent so much time helping us fix things around the house, that just haven't got dealt with yet, like fixing/attaching the doorbell...

...knocking off a brick shelf that was positively annoying... :)

...putting blinds up..

...and Dad changed over all our cream switches/outlets to white ones - a special house-warming gift they said. :) That was a lot of work which we wouldn't have got to for a long time.

The little man after the evening church service.

Grandma coloring with Katelyn - just like she used to do with me.

Erik joining in the fun.

Mom made curtins for Katie's room, a pillow and a little cradle sheet/pillow set. It looks so lovely!

Mom brought a special bubble blower for the bathtub for Katelyn to try out.

The night before they left, they took us out to dinner - a special treat- a Chinese buffet. Such a treasure to enjoy being with your parents.

The happy couple. :)

All of us. Then they took us to Home Depot, where they got us a new light for our bathroom upstairs! (and dad even managed to install it before they left the next day, among other things he accomplished)

Erik and his favorite toy in the world.

More Bible Stories - Daddy is so good at telling stories. I loved it when he told us different stories growing up.

Yup, that's me right now.

34 weeks at that shot - and please realize that there is a shadow behind me... :)

Me and my big boy.

In the morning before they left, we went to the park for one last time of playing.

My children have such great grandparents.

Daddy and me...

Momma and me

A quick shot...

Sibling love - well, most of the time.

Then it was time to say goodbye.

It was sad.

Lots of tears.

 And they left.

It was a special time with them here...always have to treasure each moment from God.