A Late Summer Day...

This afternoon, after church, our friends, the Suttons, came and brought hamburger makings and chips and everything we needed for a very nice lunch! It was great! After lunch we all went to Sand Lake and went out on the lake with their boat...

We went tubing...

three boys... :) :)

Sylvia rode in the boat too! I think she is sleepy!

it was a lot of fun watching everyone's attempts at water skiing, water sledding, tubing, and what ever else we could try!

It was a beautiful afternoon to be out!

Eli, Joel and Noah all got up on the skis very fast! Here is Eli, I don't think he knew who his driver was...

until he had safely landed back by the dock.... lol Way to go Asher! (with a little help from Justin) :)

:)

A great way to spend a Sunday afternoon... Thank you Suttons for your thoughtfulness and generosity! We all enjoyed the day very much!

First Week of School - A Success!

This past week Mom started school with everyone! So far everything is going great! Tovala is catching on to everything very fast... as well as everyone else.

For science class on Thursday they were studying cat tails... so they did some fun projects together!

On Friday, when I got home from work, the kids had been playing all afternoon... they were making forts and having lots of fun!

Talia Joy, in hers and Seth's fort...

The Work of an almost Two Year Old...

On Friday Sylvia decided it was time to process the apples.... so she started putting them through the juicer.

Then she heated and stirred them...

She put the apple sauce into the jars...

and here she is with her all of her apple sauce!


;) she may have gotten a little help...

Bowling like a pro.... :P NOT!

Last night Hannah and I met our wonderful friend Katie in Osceola to spend one last evening with her before she flies out to France for several months... We decided to go bowling!

We got our beautiful shoes first!
and then we started our game.... before you look at the pictures, I have to let you know that it has been about 10 years since I last bowled... all the same I think we all had a blast!

Here is Hannah, getting ready to go....

and Katie... yes, Katie you definitely look the best while you play! :)



now don't laugh too hard at me....

yes, this is me... and my bowling stance! lol

despite my interesting bowling stance, I did manage to knock a few pins down and surprisingly enough, I won with my whopping 79 points - definitely all luck! :) lol

I am sure it would have been hilarious to watch us... we were quite the bowlers! I think I am going to have to work on my skills (or lack there of...) though! Hannah and I both decided that we should visit the bowling alley again some time with a few brothers...


Katie, I hope you are having a wonderful flight... by the time you read this you will be in France! We are praying for you and hope everything goes really well! Thanks for bowling with us... it is a great memory! :)

Short, but Sweet...

On Friday evening Dad and Mom drove to the airport to get Mrs. Carden! She flew in to spend the weekend with us.... and for Jennifer's bridal shower. On Saturday Aaron, Jennifer and Eli drove home. I looked out Hannah's window and saw Noah and Seth watching with binoculars for them at least an hour before their expected arrival... their was a couple of false alarms, but at last they did get home!

We all enjoyed having guests for the weekend! It is always great to have family home!

Bridal Shower for Jennifer!

On Sunday we had Jennifer's bridal shower... I think we ended
up having about 45 people here! It was a lot of fun! Jennifer
got to meet lots of our friends and family...
Our menu was Rye bread with a sesame seed and soy
sauce cream cheese, Peasant bread with tablesto
(kind of a mixture of tabouli and pesto), and spicy tomato/avocado and shrimp on lime chips... with cake for desert.

We split up into four teams and decorated cakes...

Here are all of the cakes, minus the girl's cupcakes...
(just to let you know what is up with the cake on the far left, since it is hard to see, it is a mountain with the bride and groom climbing to the top... and their are lots of trees and a waterfall!) :)

Aaron and all of the guys came back just in time for Aaron to judge the cakes... the little girl's team won, with their beautiful cupcakes! I think all of the sprinkles did it! :) It was a fun shower! Lots of people and lots of food!

Mrs. Carden and Jennifer left on Tuesday morning to drive back to Texas... and Aaron, after a very warm game of ultimate frisbee and a picnic with Hannah and I, went back home to Virginia.
We are very happy that Eli is home! :) :)

It was good to have everyone here... although we missed you Nathan and Abram! We are looking forward to all being together in Texas for Aaron and Jennifer's wedding!

Preparations...

All last week Mom, Hannah and I were baking cakes and preparing for our sister-in-law to be, Jennifer's, bridal shower. We made 4 cakes and lots of appetizers!
_pictures of the shower will follow soon_

Schieche Baby...

On Saturday, our good friends, the Schieches had their 4th baby-a beautiful baby boy!!

Dad, Mom and I went up and visited them shortly after he was born... but we are still waiting to hear what his name will be. :)

Congratulations Schieches!

"Nathan too!"

Last week every time we talked about Aaron, Jennifer and Eli coming home, someone would ask Sylvia, "Are Aaron, Jennifer and Eli coming home?" and she would promptly reply, "Nathan too" absolutely every time.

Nathan spends a lot of time on the computer talking to everyone, but Sylvia definitely enjoys it a lot! She loves to sit on Daddy's lap while he is talking to Nathan(in Germany) over google chat or with the web cam... Nathan makes paper airplanes with the kids, he watches Sylvia spin, and he spends a lot of time just talking to whoever might walk past the computer. It is a lot of fun!

Why this says that Joel posted it, I have no idea, but it is not true... I am Yetta! :) :) :)

VacationBibleSchool...

Last week the kids had Vacation Bible School - using a science theme...

Everyone really enjoyed it! Asher was thrilled; every day he would run around saying, "I am going to school tonight". They each made some new friends, created lots of fun science things, and learned a bunch of fun new songs! :)

Canoe Race....

On Saturday we had our canoe race! It was a lot of fun! Here are all of the people who competed.
In groups of two... starting from the left are the teams 1st place to last. :)

This is as everyone is taking off...

I think everyone had fun! Congratulations Ted and Stephen! :) :)