Nelly's Birthday Hay Ride

Most of the family got together to celebrate Nelly's birthday (end of July) and to welcome Sarah home from 2 months in Zambia, Africa. Sarah had been working at the Chitokoloki mission hospital delivering babies, and helping where needed. For those of you who heard of the mission plane crash that took the life of Jay and Katrina Erikson, Sarah had just been dropped off by Jay when she arrived at the hospital a couple hours before he and his wife went on a short trip that ended in a river. Sarah and another single young woman, looked after their two little girls until their families came to get the. (Info on the crash/hospital is at: http://www.chitokoloki.com/)

We're so thankful that Sarah was brought home safely, and we all had a lovely evening on a hay ride - thanks to brother Mark's work putting the trailer together.

Erik rearing to go. Give him a tractor, and he's one happy boy.

But, as much as he loves it, he eventually falls asleep in Mark's arms.

So, back he comes to mommy, and stays sleeping for quite a while.

Nelly's birthday "candle" - all singing "Happy Birthday". I was treasuring all these times spend with the girls around, because soon Nelly is heading to Manitoba for school, and Sarah is up north delivering babies, as a Certified Canadian Midwife! :)

Sumertime with the Cousins

 

We had a few of the nieces and nephews over during the summer for a day or two. Having them a bit further away makes it more special to be together.

 Katie and Erik enjoyed it, and our pool got some good use. :)

 

The cuties. 

Holding their breath in the water. (well, Erik sorta got it)

Amazing how many kids you get in those little pools. 

Nathan reading to Erik. It's neat to watch the older cousins help out the younger.  

Then it was Hudson's 1st birthday!!

Ben and Deanna had a bunch of us over for an outside supper, and to watch him experience his "cake smash". :) I had fun taking the pictures of the cutie - and there is a few more on my photo blog - www.photographyblizabeth.blogspot.com if you want to see more. 

The family of three - almost four! Deanna's due end of September, so soon Hudson will have a playmate! 

Darling little guy. I think he like the icing best. Smart kid - his auntie made the icing. :)

The four Ontario cousins. :)

Everyone else is in Manitoba or New York State.

Guess these four will get into a lot of trouble have a lot of fun together in the future.

Erik, scared, yet loving the party blowers. :)

(sigh...Isn't he cute?)

Another time, we had Julia and Caleb and Hendrik for a couple days. The boys were a big help to us, as they let me sleep in one morning while watching the kids, and helped James with drywalling the playroom. Special times with special people. :)

His Last Day at the Windmill...

James' last day of work at the Windmill was July 28th.

We went to see him in his last hours there as a surprise.

Got a last ice-cream snack there during a quick break. 

End of the day/weekend displays - empty - that's a good thing!

And after all the customers had gone, James got his SECOND "pie-in-the-face" episode.

He deserved it though, after all the pies he's shoved in the faces of the staff who are leaving over the years. :) So, a couple of the workers, had to get em' good. And they did. :) Thankfully, they've switched over to using mostly just whipped cream, so it's not as wasteful - just really messy. :)

So now what for James? Well, I think I mentioned it earlier, but after leaving the Windmill - a long-thought-out-prayed-over-decision, James took the month of August off to work on the house we just bought, and then is starting at Whitebird in Hamilton. Whitebird is a corrugate/packaging/office supply-sanitation company that was started around 30 years ago by his dad. So it's a family company, but James is an employee, which can be nice for a change. He will be doing sales, which he'll do great at. Lots of learning, but that's what he needs right now, and wants to do. Hopefully, it will give him a bit more family time with us - one of the reasons for the switch - as well as for serving in our church - as the corrugate company doesn't keep as long of hours as the food companies have to.

So, if you think of it, pray for us in this transition. :) It's exciting and different.

But, you usually, you need change to grow.

And that's a good thing.

Grand River Cruise

I have a bunch of pictures from the Windmill Staff Get-Together, but they a bit corrupted. But just in case I can fix them, I'll leave this blog post open for editing in the future. :)

Our Vacation Bible School

Middle of July . (yes, that's how far I'm behind in the blogging world.)

Our church's VBS went well. James taught a class, and I was one of the "helpers". Shantel, looked after Erik as well as a few other little ones, which was awesome.

And look who was sorta "big enough" to go to VBS! :)

Katie got to experience most of VBS, which was neat for her. She loved the skits, and crafts. 

Watching a couple of the uncles (in the middle) is always a highlight. 

James, being his adorable self during craft time. 

Craft time. 

James' class. He always has original ideas to teach the verses to the kids. :) I peeked in one night, and the kids are stuffing their mouths with marshmallows while learning the verse. They loved it.  

Another class - Deanna and her group. 

Katie's group - led by Janice. 

And then were many other helpers -like the faithful McElrea's. Neat to see everyone reaching out to the children around the area. We had around 50 kids for the week, and may God keep working in their hearts.

Summer Delight!

 

Two cousins lovin' the speed of the boat!

I Heart Faces Photo Challenge

 

What Little Boys Look Like

Real boys have dirt on their faces.

Strong fingers to hold onto the swing, just like the big kids.

Have determined, but adorable smiles.

Just plain cute.