In preparation for the new baby coming, we put up a set of bunk beds in the kids room.
We went to the park with the cousins one day - Daniel and Esther -
The cousins :)
All the kids dressed up on Easter morning -
Julia kept sneaking behind the centerpiece and even ate a couple of the coffee beans!
The kids from the homeschool co-op did a program at the end of the year - and now we're getting ready to start again :)
Aaron's major spring project this year was reroofing the church.
He couldn't have done it by himself (and I did not want to get on the roof at all!) and so a friend named Tom stayed with us for the week to help and several church members and family put in a lot of work also! This is Tom, Aaron, and Silas removing the old shingles.
The first Saturday, a whole crew showed up :)
VBS! Our theme was "Galactic Starveyors" and we had a great week - seems like a long time ago now...
I taught the younger kids Bible lessons -
VBS also is a team effort and so many people pitched in to make things go smoothly!
The whole crowd on the last day -
Anna at my parent's church's VBS - She loves craft time!
Mine are the three cowboys/girls in the front with the green bandanas.
Esther, Anna, Kaleigh, Ellie, and Natalie getting ready for the program -
Aaron with our brand new baby - Grace Maria - June 24th -
The kids came to welcome their new sister - Grace has fit right into the family :)
Grandma and Grace
My Dad didn't get to come to the hospital, so he stopped in one evening to see the baby
Julia relaxing in the soybeans at the county fair!
Ronnie painting Anna's hand at the Good News Cabin -
Esther, Leah, and Anna on the big John Deere tractor at the fair -
Julia and Lily in matching outfits - Aaron's parents were able to spend a few weeks up here this summer and one weekend we all went "camping".
Itasca State Park
Campfire at night -
These dresses used to be Esther and Anna's - now they're Julia and Grace's! Julia always wants to know where the baby is and lets me know if she's "whining".
Aaron Joseph and Grace - he loves her, but I have to watch him around her because he's not always as careful as he should be!
Back to the camping - we went to another state park also and they fished off the dock - and actually caught some!
Aaron with the beautiful lake in the background -
We threw the fish back, but not before the kids gave them names...like Skill and Rose
Our little Gracie dolly -
The kids helped Aaron put in a new section of sidewalk - after they helped him tear up the old section -
Julia in a little dress a lady from church made for Grace -
Aaron giving Aaron Joseph a ride on his new mower :)
Julia drinking coffee? Not really - I just thought this picture looked funny!
The kids stared out the window for probably an hour watching them combine the field across the road.
The kids were excited for the corn maze to start again! - Not only is it fun itself, it's a great place to play with cousins...and first cousins once removed, and second cousins, and second cousins once removed....
This is the first cousins on the bale mountain -
The new waxy willow trail :)
Anna, Esther, and Esther going on a hayride -
Julia -
Julia -
The kids and Melita with the cow -
Here's the second cousins once removed -
Our church did a 'giving day' at the park - kind of like a free rummage sale - some friends from a church down in the cities brought the things up and the Lord gave us a beautiful day!
Sarah and Grace, Miriam and Felicity at Felicity's baby shower -
Joshua and Samuel -
Grace -
The little girls in the matching skirts Sarah made them -
Priscilla and the girls in their favorite store - the Granery!
The second cousins!
Aaron and the kids digging potatoes -
Julia and Aaron at the maze -
The beautiful fall colors -
I tried to get a picture of the other kids also, but they were running too fast...
This is this week - Grace is over three months old and just started laughing.
We went to the zoo -
The penguins were one of our very favorite animals to see -
The elephants were in the barn, so we got a good close up look -
OK, this is 4th of July - Elizabeth read the story of the national anthem to the children.
Anna at the parade -
Esther -
Aaron, Julia, and Aaron
This is Grace the day she came home from the hospital -
The giraffes at the zoo
The monkeys were showing off for us!
Libby helping Aaron at VBS -
