Katie's Choir Concert

 Katelyn was in a choir camp - for evenings in the middle of August. A new special friend invited her, and it was such a fun time for her, singing songs that honored the Lord. She loves being in a group with other girls, and this was perfect. 

They sang songs like "He Will Hold Me Fast", Lord You are so Precious to Me", "Amazing Grace (My Chains are Gone) and a few more. Really appreciated the three ladies that put so much into teach them that week. 

 They had a wonderful pianist that played a couple solo's which was beautiful. 

 Leanne saw a picture was being taken, so she got right in there. :) (with Katelyn's doll that Katelyn wanted to come hear the concert. ;)

 Katelyn and Charity- twinning in their matching dresses from Walmart.
The attire for the evening was black, and I looked a bunch of places, finally found K's dress at Walmart, and Charity's mom (and a couple other mom's of the choir girls) also found them there!
Thankful for that find.
Appreciate this friend for Katie. 

The Boy's Grins

Happy boy. He loves to bang and play. :) 

The boys. 

Chili Cookoff

Time for the almost annual Chapel Chili Cookoff at the Boumans.

Where those daring ;) bring their chili to be judged, and enjoyed by the chapel. 

Abby playing in the dirt kitchen and having a blast. 

The judging crew for this year. 

Janice getting ready to test taste .

Doris and Dorcas. 

Shelly and Willem. 

Mary, Steph and Cynthia. 

James putting his two bit's in the judging circle. 

The results came in.... And guess who won unamiously? 

Ben.... and he brought WENDY'S chili!!! 

Then Brad was next - so he basically won 1st, for like the 3rd year in a row.

And then Maureen F. 

James was 4th or 5th, so not too far down the list. :)

Such a fun evening. 

Jared and Breanne's Visit

Jared and Breanne were finishing up their 3 month trip across Canada and the states, and were almost home when they stopped for a few days at our place.

One of the days was their little girl Khaira's 7th birthday so we celebrated with a pool party - at neighbor of Diane's - and a craft afternoon - hosted by Nelly. :)

 Laura and the latest frog she found. 

 Pool party!

 Going for the food - she hates to go in the pool, some kind of fear right now. 

 Little poolside sitter. 

 Breanne and Kieran

 Popsicle time

 Eating his first Popsicle. 

 The birthday girl!

We were able to get a photo shoot on one of the evenings which was fun!

 These two were like twins - Kieran and Leanne. 

They sounded like each other, and sometimes I couldn't tell who was calling me or Breanne. 

 The summer days we all remember from being little. 

Barefoot, and playing on the swings. 

 It was so sweet - Khaira wanted to replicate a picture that Katie and Kilmeny had taken a couple years ago - so we did all the girls on the swings again... :) 

 Little darling. 

 Giving me her "cute" look. 

The next morning - Jared and Breanne left for the the last bit of their trip homeward. Thankful for good friends & good fellowship!

In the Crib together

I love how the kids love on Jason. Reading to him - bringing him to me in the mornings when he wakes up (that's Laura or Erik's job every morning), and playing with him. Such wonderful siblings he has.

Welcoming Nelly Home

Nelly is back! She's here for a few months until her baby is born - and Peter will join her in a few weeks. We are all so glad to have her around - we had a BBQ - by Rob and Miranda the day after she arrived.

Not the greatest shot of James, but love how him and the boys are chatting.

Shantel and Abby. 

Growing Willim. 

Went on a hayride all together.