2019

 So can you actually have a blog if you only post on it once a year? It's kind of funny looking back at pictures and having so many of some things and no pictures at all of other events. I covered the whole year in two posts (this is the second) - Hope you like pictures of kids :)

You probably know that the Mennonite Heritage Village in Stienbach is one of our very favorite places - we went a couple times this summer -

 This is inside of the windmill -

 On some special days, they have a petting zoo -

 The old threshing machine was running-

 The Heppner memorial -

 At the corn maze!

 Every time we went in the Granery, Grace wanted to play with the stuffed chicken :)

 The pigs are always so cute at the beginning of the year - but not by the end!

 Grace likes animals more than any of our other children.

 Another big event of our fall, was a trip to TN to visit family and friends and we did some hiking as well.

 I love this picture of our family - except you can't see Grace - she's in the carrier behind Aaron.

 The hike to Laurel Falls was paved, but still the longest and hardest one we did.

 We went to the aquarium in Gatlinburg with the extended family -

 We hadn't seen Aaron's older sister, and his nieces, and their families, for a few years, so it was really fun to catch up with everyone. Two of his brothers and their families couldn't come, but otherwise everyone else was there and we had several meals together. This picnic was at a city park and as we were leaving, a bear came and dug through our trash!

 Aaron and Aaron Joseph are on the other side of the tree :)

 This nature trail was a lot longer that the sign said it would be, which had me a little worried, but it was really pretty and not nearly as crowded as some of the other places.

 A scenic overlook - I love looking at the mountains, but I do not like driving in them!

 Aaron said this was a sycamore tree!

 On the bale mountain at the corn maze -

 Esther's 8th birthday!

 Julia's 3rd birthday!

 All the cousins on the bale mountain - in order of age -

 Merry Christmas! - In case you didn't get our Christmas card, this was the picture we used.

 This one actually turned out clear.

 We got this moose at a party several years ago - it sings an annoying song, but is one of the kids favorite Christmas toys - with the benefit that I won't cry if they ruin it.

 Aaron and I were out, and the drive was so pretty that we stopped for a picture.

 Esther was a shepherd, "Jeanette Isabella", in our Christmas program.

 Anna was the angel Gabriel -

 I'm not sure how well Julia sang at the program, but she's still singing the songs around the house!

 Julia opening her stocking -

 We went sledding Christmas afternoon -

 Aaron Joseph's 5th birthday! - As you can probably tell, we don't always do fancy birthday cakes - sometimes we'll just use something that we have on hand... but even though it was Christmas, Aaron wanted his own cake - and he picked out a mix and the round pan!

 Anna opening her stocking at my parents -

Aaron's mom mailed up some boxes :) One of the gifts was this puzzle for the family -