March break and Anna's 13th Tea Party

March Break week began with a visit from Rachel and little brother David on Sunday between services and continued with 4 GD girls staying over for several days.

  What fun we had doing a PJ party, giving foot massages, with lots of giggling, girl talk (they even managed to get some tidbits out of Auntie!), eating, playing twister, making my dog do tricks, playing organ & singing, reading, playing with dolls, making bracelets, 

 doing hair, 

 sewing - great job, Sarah!

 exploring the woods, climbing fallen trees and sitting in trees, 

baking an amazing DF,GR Ruby Chocolate Cake decorated with coconut cream icing and raspberries...  

preparing for and having an elaborate Tea Party in honour of Anneke becoming a teenager!

I even took out my special Dutch Tea Set from (Great) Oma N with the Dutch Grandfather Clocks on it!

Opa played Butler as the 6 elegant ladies sat to Tea

The funnest part of the party was the twirling & dancing to classical Ballet music in swirly old-fashioned dresses of mine and costume dresses,   

The girls had a great time - without watching even one movie the whole 3 days!  

We were able to all that and more (and I still got some rest times in) b/c the girls didn’t just sit there and wait to be served & entertained! Rather, they got right in there and helped make things happen!

And they even helped put the house back in order before they left! Thank you!

Such sweet, well trained girls are a delight to have! 

A few Christmas Break Pictures

Singing at the Homeschool Christmas Program

Our Family Christmas Dinner

One of the main gifts this year was a set of K'Nex (which we got from a Thrift Store for incredibly cheap!).  Here are some of the really cool things we can make from it.  They even have motors and work for real.  The kids found all the Polly Pockets in the house and gave them rides.  :)

Ferris Wheel

Swing Ride and Boom Ride

Sarah's b-day cake

And later ....

Joanna's birthday

Joanna's b-day cake

Pakjes

Once again, our family tradition was a wonderful day of fun, fellowship, and song.

Here are a few of the pictures that worked out for us.

All the grandchildren

The gifts in their creative wrappings

Of course, we all stood in line to hold and cuddle sweet baby Nathan.

Songs and music

Enjoying all the good food!

 

Agape Valley and a visit with John and Bets!

We camped at J & B's for a week while five of the kids went to a Bible Day Camp.

The week started off very wild, windy & stormy, and didn't really settle down until Wednesday. In a sunny interval Esther entertained Marike by floating boats in the puddles.

 We started off camping in the front yard but felt like we were going to be blown away :), so the next day we moved to the backyard. It is a lovely property surrounded by farmer's fields and a big sky!

 Here are the kids after "Splash Attack Thursday" at Camp.

 They get the ribbon & certificate if they memorize the "acheivement passage".

 We had a great time with J & B and family!

 

 These kids are great buddies.

 Joseph won first prize for best-looking boat, and James tied for 5th place.

 Friday aft/evening and Saturday we went to the beach. Looking through the pics I found this to be a fairly common scene - Sarah being dramatic while Anneke stands by observing... :)

 We had a BBQ dinner on the beach.

Thanks so much for having us, John and Betty! We had a great time!