My parents were able to come for a week in October! And we were so glad, so excited to have them here again. I had seen them for that brief wedding weekend of Will and Amanda's in April, but they hadn't been able to be here for almost a year and a half.
Daddy doing some reading...
...but he also did a ton of fixit job around the house, and then he worked on our shed! I was so happy to get this done- almost all of it while they were here. Dad and the kids took off the shingles on the side, Dad did a bunch of repairs, and then he and James sided it, Dad got the roof ready to be reshingled, and then after they left, James and I shingled it.
I loved that Erik was able to work alongside Grandpa. I hope he gets the chance to do that a lot more in the future.
And Katy helping out too.
Doing some coloring with Grandma - hope she learns how to do "shading" from her. :)
After church on Thanksgiving Sunday - we met up with all the Heikoop family at a park, had a picnic lunch and then went for a walk before going to Diane and Brad's for dinner.
Love this picture of these two.
I love that our two families communicate so well with each other. :)
Auntie Lannette and Amy
Tim took this one - and a bunch of the walking ones. :)
Marlene and Marvin surprised us all by coming for the weekend! Such a great shock, when the day before I walked into the Windmill, and saw Marvin standing there.... I don't get surprised often, so that was kinda neat.
Taking burs off Laura's dress after a potty trip in the bushes. :)
A bunch of the younger cousins. Almost all white blonds. :)
The newly engaged couple
My wild looking darling.
Family of three - love Jonathan's pencil in his ear - his trademark. Sometimes, my kids will stick a pencil behind their ear and be like Uncle Jonathan.
Love these two together. :)
Right before dinner, Henry announced about their newest child coming - little Abigail!! The last girl that they were waiting to get, decided that she didn't want to be adopted (she was older - 12) and so they couldn't get, when this little girl - 7 months at the time - appeared! Now we can't wait to meet her.
The kiddo's outside.
Peeking into the family, from the sun room.
The next day we hit the Simoce County Fair. It was such a fun time for the kids and us adults.
Learning how to milk a cow under Grandpa's teaching.
Laura loved the baby "chickies".
Erik was in his glory seeing all the tractors, gators, and mowers on display.
And all Amy wanted to do was work the gears.
There was a neat diving show that we all enjoyed.
With some crazy feats.
The churches in Simcoe worked together to do an outreach to the kids - telling the story of Noah in a few spots, then they got to slide in the bouncy boat, were given some gospel tracts, and got their faces painted. All free, which was neat.
Looking after little sis.
My Sunshiny Tiger.
Looking around at the artwork done by the youth - while Amy was kept busy watching Baby Einstein - she was reaching the end point... :)
And she found a quiet corner and just sat there for a bit.... so cute.
Watching a sheep shearing event, and touching the wool, and the lamb afterwards.
And finally - the demolotion derby that we were waiting for. Daddy had never seen one, so that was kind of neat.
Looking at the big big pumpkins.
Attemp #1 for a family picture
Attempt #2 :) Sure we'll go with this one.
A last picture before saying goodbye before the airport.
Always sad. But such a great time.
