Making Paper Mache for the Fair

Mark made a pink pig with stars, Luke made a multi-colored monster with wings, & Nathan made a yellow bird with blue feet. We finally got all our fair entries delivered to the fair grounds yesterday & I was so relieved to be finished with them, that I forgot to take any more pictures. I'll get some while they are on display there. The boys can't wait to go to see if they won any prizes! 

Nathan: Our Tender-hearted Resident Comedian

School Time

We got back to school in late August this year. Mark is third grade, Luke is first, & Nathan is pre-school. We are using a curriculum called "My Father's World" for the first time, & so far we are really enjoying it. Here are our "First Day" pictures:

This shot is our first science experiment, which involved floating an egg in tap water vs. salt water:

 

Nathan's painting:

Luke's popsicle stick sculpture (one of his fair entries):

We really need to get to work on the rest of our fair entries now.
It begins Oct. 1! Each of the kids has 10 -12 projects to complete.

Still More of ND...

Luke tried on cousin Ezra's football gear.

Nathan kissed beautiful baby Elsa!

It rained so hard one day that Soren decided to put his life jacket on! Isabella amazed me with her big sister skills. (She is so good with all the younger kids!) & Eli tried on some funny socks for me. It is always such a joy to see each of our nieces & nephews & it was a lot of fun to introduce everyone to Luke & Nathan.

More ND Trip...

John comes from a BIG family - 11 kids - so we always have lots of loved ones to visit.

 Auntie Carolyn & Maddie               Luke & Maddie

Luke adores the babies & is very sweet with them.

 Mark & Nathan admiring Auntie Carolyn's animals

Touring the farm with Grandpa Dick

Super silly with Grandma Linda

More silliness...

Home Again!

We are happy to be home after more than 1300 miles in our faithful van. These are our dear friends, Paul & Kim with their three boys, that we met up with in MN.

The boys loved posing with our much-loved, long time friend, Ifeoma.

The boys played with their cousins in MN & they all checked to see who could curl their tongue.

Cute cousin, Alexandra

We also visited with our friends, Tim & Sarah, and their awesome five kids. 

 We stayed in a cute little cabin right on a ND lake. 

Our view was lovely. 

More pictures to come...

North Dakota - an update - especially for my Mom :)

I haven't been able to post much & I can't access my pictures right now, but we have been in ND for several days & are doing fine. We're staying at a summer camp & are right on a beautiful lake. The fields are full of little hopping frogs & the boys are delighting in chasing them around & admiring their glittery emerald skin.

The boys have been loving playing with all their cousins. So far they have met 18 & there are several more still - John's family is BIG!

We head back tomorrow. It's approx. a 24 hour drive so we'll be on the road awhile...pictures soon if I can...

Goin' On A Road Trip...

Yesterday we drove through NC, VA, WV, KY, IN & IL! That's over 12 hours of driving time! The boys all did great with the help of lots of snacks & multiple DVD's. Today we're headed for MN - only a 6 hour drive. That should be a walk in the park compared to yesterday...but we'll see.

Stories & photos to come...