Splish Splash

 This is what I found while during school with the kids upstairs. This thing, IN the downstairs toilet.

I had some splashing, and thought I better check...and sure enough - someone was having a blast. 

I tried to breathe a bit first when I saw it - cause in the midst of grossness, it was pretty cute. 

And creative.

And then ran for my camera. 

 Thankfully, it was a "clean" water experience. 

 Quite pleased with herself....

ahhhh.

but baby, let's not make this a habit, okay?

All tucked away safe and sound at naptime. 

She loves that blanket to be close to her hands or head, and is happiest with a bottle -which I have to start weaning her off of... but she's still my baby. :) 

Elijah's Baby Shower

Baby shower time!

The beautiful momma - Erika. Her little guy Elijah is a few months old already, but his shower was postponed due to other showers she had, and the busy chapel life. But now we got to celebrate. :)

Everything was blue - all the food was either blue, or on a blue plate, and of course decor, and a lot ladies wore blue. :) 

Janice and Amber. Janice had organized a baby guessing game  - trying to figure out who's baby picture it was - people from the chapel. So fun, and I was so wrong. :) 

The cake that Rachel T. made. :) 

Cutie girl - Elita. 

Mrs. Burchell and Mrs. McElrea. 

Shirley and Mary. 

Althea, Shelly, little Tia and Amanda. 

Guests of honor: Erika, and her sister Laura holding Elijah. :) 

Saying Goodbye

 Nelly's last Sunday at Bethel - there was a goodbye potluck, and a commendation service after. Bethel is sending out a missionary. :)
We sang a few songs in the morning service - first us three sang "Shepherd of My Soul" and the one of us all was "Our Father". Neat to sing together one more time...until next time.

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The neat sign that Shelly made for the potluck.

We sang "Tender Hearts" at the commendation part without Nelly - kinda sad, but she enjoyed it. :)

Giving her presentation.

Some of the elders praying for her - and all of us joining in it.

Then the next day - a bunch of us met at the Windmill for supper, to say goodbye. We were the few that weren't making it to the airport the next day.

Last pictures - in the dark - with this dear woman.

Then we went on a night time hay ride....and then we had to say goodbye.

Yes, I cried. 

I always do. I hate goodbyes. 

I know there's always a hello eventually - but so many people that I love are quite far away. 

But I'm extremely proud of Nelly, and the hard work she has done to get this far - how she's trusted God to guide, and how's she ready to live over there and serve others. He has faithfully led her. 

She's taking language lessons for a year, and has a couple options in mission work - one of which could be as an ESL teacher - as that's her "occupation". We'll see how God leads. 

And we'll thank Him for the ways we can keep in contact - makes the distance seem shorter.

Prayers for this sister are appreciated. :) 

The Heikoop Vacation

Finally it was time for the cottage. And we found one - after Sarah (and a few others) had spent hours and hours looking for one that we could get, after we forgot to book the first one months ago. But we got one, and off we went. :) In a convoy of five. (with a couple more cars to come later on.) I love that we all wanted to leave by 1 p.m. but in reality, and without much planning, we all left at 2 p.m. and met up - some of us by fluke. :) (picture above by Will)

 And we had conversations flying on WhatsApp, and pictures going back and forth - which made it quite fun. :) This is our little crew. 

 And Brad's boat - which I thought should be named the "Loch Ness".

At our cottage. Little Joel. :) 

James got this cup system going, so we didn't have to keep getting new cups out. There was duct tape underneath, with all our names on it, then our cups were on top - also with names on them. 

The cottage -  considering space in and out, it worked well for the 4 days we were there. 

Miss No-Fear Eden. :) She would just throw herself into the water, and swim like a fish - and even when it looked like she needed some assistance, wouldn't even call for help.... funny girl. 

Amy's footprints

Erik taking Hudson for a ride in the kayak. That kid loved boating, and taking other kids for rides. 

Erik dropped Hudson off on the floating dock so he could fish. That was Hudson's thing - and he even caught a few fish on his cute rod. 

Reuben doing his fishing thing. 

Ben took a bunch of the kids out on the boat a few times - which was a nice break for all. : )

The day that Tim and Lannette came up, a few of us sisters did our toes - and Katy got her fingers done too - so Katy and I got our picture taken. :) 

Showing off her two missing teeth. 

Cute Nessa - going to "the beach" - her favorite pastime. 

Coming back - all safe and sound. 

Love this shot of miss blue eyes. 

It was nice that the first bit of the lake had some sand in it, and we roped off an area for the kids to swim in. 

Mark and Jenelle going off for a bit. 

And these two taking off in the sea doo. 

Hendrik loved to fish -and he hated it when I'd take his picture. :) 

How many Heikoops can you seat on a dock? :)

Comfortable canoeing. 

Making sand/mud pies. 

Me and grumpy face. :)

Explaining something precise.

Best dad ever - took all four on the sea doo. Katy and Erik both got to drive. 

I took this picture when I thought there was a lot of people in the hot tub...but....

...apparantely you can get more in. :) Deanna took this shot. :) 

The food was amazing - as always - and I loved every minute of it. :) 

And for fun, here's our menu for the 4ish days. (laugh if you want - I like menus) :) 

Monday night: pulled pork, coleslaw, seven layer salad, bean casserole and brownies (James and Liz)

Tuesday morning: pancakes, sausages, steak, eggs, fruit, and yogurt (William and Amanda)

Tuesday night: gnocchi and gar, grilled vegetables (that were super gourmet) and strawberry shortcake (Ben and Deanna)

Wednesday morning: sausages, fresh biscuits, cheese omelette's, yogurt and fruit. (Sarah and Jonathan)

Wednesday night: Korean meal - sticky rice, Korean sliced beef in a sauce, corn, and three different kinds of sushi - I tried the cucumber kind. :) and Ice Cream Pie. (Nelly and Rob)

Thursday morning: fresh peach muffins, crepes with fried mushrooms, veggies and ham and cheese, yogurt and fruit. (mom and dad - and Mark and Jenelle)

Thursday night: Hamburgers, potato salad, Caesar salad and Apple Crisp. (meal by Brad and Diane and Heather brought the crisp)

Friday morning: free for all - cereal, leftover bread, yogurt. 

Love this shot of Nessa - and you can see the painting Dad started - his cottage tradition. 

Uncle Rob and Amy playing guitar together. Amy's got this thing for Uncle Rob and Uncle Tim. 

The power went out for a few hours one night, so we eventually got a bonfire going, (after putting the kids to bed by flashlight)

Matching father and son. 

Erik staring into space. Love how his colors match the coach. 

Testing the light with Nathan - for a quick shoot of Sarah and Jonathan's family. 

It was grand fun to have Henry and Heather here for the day on the Thursday. Swimming was more fun with the kids around, and good little visits. 

Auntie Nel doing "selfies" - or more like "us-ies"

One of the shots of these three. :) Nice family eh?

These boys were so cute - playing on their chairs.

Interrupted their talk, for a picture of these two. 

Any photos with Nelly in them are going to be of high value in the next while. (I should charge for them - haha) 

Oma coloring with the kiddo's. Such a good grandma. 

Playing around with this crazy kiddo. 

Hannah took this one of us. 

Lounging with the little boys. 

The last morning breakfast - and then it was pack up time. 

Getting a sister picture - just four days before Nelly's on the plane. 

And us two being us - and me trying so hard to look good beside her. :) 

And these two. :) 

Then off we all went. Meeting for lunch at Harvey's, and then going our separate ways. I had a photo shoot that evening, and a few were off to a family wedding, and some to visit friends. And the 2015 cottage was over - but with good memories. :)