Balloon fun

One evening Ken got out his famous balloons,

 and he soon had all the children clustered around.

Kenneth with his "hat"

Jared with his "dog"

A balloon parade after dark. :-)

And of course they make lovely decorations for their bedroom

 - they really truly do! :-)

This week...

Dwayne M & his brother Ken with son Drew

 (or as they put it: Worker, Helper, Clown 

- I leave it to you to figure out who's who :)) 

were here this week laying the ceramic tile.

They brought some special treats:

 thick sliced bacon, venison tenderloin, and pork chops :-)

And left behind some beautiful floors!!!

Helping to strike lines... ;-)

Isn't it gorgeous? 

We so appreciate the sacrifices they made to come bless us in this way!

Thank you so much Dwayne, Ken & Drew!

"Mykel"

Last Sunday this little cutie's dad brought him, because he could no longer care for him. The baby's mom died 2 months ago when he was 4 months old. The dad was milking his cow to feed the baby until the cow died. The dad's sister was helping him care for "Mykel" but when she got sick, he felt like he could no longer keep him.

He fit into our family so quickly - just as if he had always been here...

Weston loved his "little brother". Any time of the day or night he'd come running, "Mommy, where is the baby?!"

We were all smitten with him! ;-)

Michael, especially loved him, because they shared the same name...

It was fun for me to have TWO little boys... :-)

Isn't he SO CUTE?! 

But there comes a time to say good-bye, and it was a sad day when we said goodbye to him, as he went to join his (Lord willing) forever family. We are so glad to know that he is greatly loved and will be raised in a godly home.

Moonrise

Did you ever see the moon rise among the sunset colors?

What was really neat about this was that the next morning, I got to see it set among sunrise colors!!!! :)

Degaje!

Next week,  we plan to be laying ceramic tile in the addition. We had leftover grout and thin set from 4 years ago, but it was hard. So one evening we decided to see if we could break it up to use.

The children thought it was one party - each with their own can and stick!

And we actually got 150 lbs broken up and ready to use!

Around here...

We're having beautiful weather!

We have visitors...

(Dads & Ervin, Jennifer C., and Sharon, Steve S)

...and they've been painting! :-)

It's been great to see things getting done around here! I can't wait to show you more pictures!

And these guys are having fun sifting sand (or "making food") :)

And this is what Steve looked like after he had been grinding a concrete wall! :-)

Bonne Annee 2013!!!

I put a big pot o' bean with bacon soup on to simmer all day long, and New Year's eve we again enjoyed having our friends from GTH up to see the New Year in! ;-)

Some played games and some enjoyed the fire...

As the evening wore on, more and more joined the circle around the campfire...

But when 12:00 came, nearly everyone went to the roof to welcome the new year! ;-)