Enjoyed your timely post, Rachel!
It was a great week- thank the Lord for family and for the ability to spend time together like this at such a great place! Thanks to your parents also!
Glad that the whole clan was able to come up this year and Lizzi for the whole week! So nice!
Heidi managed a good number of days and brought her very recent beau! (they jumped in running - and are still running!) Tim stayed for a couple days at the beginning and the end of the week as his clan was up next Heidi stayed a couple days with them- how convenient! And we enjoyed a short visit with our friends among them on Friday - his parents and Marty & Irene.
Bitter-sweet: Mark spent the weekend with us and almost got an extra day due to car problems - but got it done in time to leave on Mon so had no excuse to take an extra day off after all.
Josh is so good with the little tykes and always gets giggles & smiles out of Marike
(Josh's just started YPs -as well as Rachel)
With more YPs and teens this year, the volley ball was more often in use- and of courses Opa got right in there! (great shot Rachel)
Even the little kids got into it!
Lessons/practice with Heidi, and Lizzi (below)
Day guests were Chris & Krista family. Arianna & Nathaniel loved being in the water with Mommy (Krista)
while Chris stayed high & dry except when he got a wet little one on his lap - nice way to cool down without having to swim!
Mom didn't get in either - but not by choice! I myself took every opportunity I could to get in for a few minutes - no swimming across the lake for me as some of the fitter among us liked to do!
And then there was this little creature who learned to swim here - amazing how quickly dogs learn this - but she didn't relish it and when carried in and plopped in she'd immediately turn aroung and dog paddle (literally!) back to shore! No water dog here!
Yes, Tia, the newest member of our household made her first visit here with us and did pretty well once she got used to sleeping outside in a crate and being tied up most of the day! (She did manage to break loose to chase a squirrel a few times but thankfully didn't stray too far!)
The kids (& adults for the most part) enjoyed playing with, feeding, watching her cute antics and walking her.
"Look at me! I'm walking the dog!"
Dog sitting??
Her first time travelling so long didn't go too well but she did much better on the way back, thankfully - didn't throw up once! (Looks like she's smiling here, eh?)
And I must mention how nice it was that the "Westies" managed to come up while trying to sell their house (Herm had to stay behind unfortunately!). Time and opportunities to spend together are getting fewer so it was an extra precious time. The girls will especially miss each other - and I - Lisa!
We were blessed again with very nice weather, very few bugs, very fresh air (thanks to the drought & resulting fire ban! :)) and safety! - Though we did get a scare with little David:
Parents, beware: these floating bathing-suits cannot be used without constant supervision - one moment he's standing in the water, the next he's flipped down face first unable to get up due to the floatation devices on his back. Yikes!
Here he is on the raft after he was fished out of the water by these guys hanging out on the raft - or rather, floating about on the raft.
Oma still loves it when her kids (or grandkids) take her for a canoe ride!
Aahh, this is the life!
Craft with Oma - box gardens
In their Sunday best... Willie looks quite pleased to be posing beside his cute little cousins friends!
Nice to see the 3 of them playing together alot more this year.
All these precious people, precious memories - gifts of God's grace!
Kees & Alice celebrated their 50th wedding 2 weeks before us and Gonnie & Jack 2 weeks later!
