Invasion!

That's right! Somehow chicken pox entered into our household, and none of the six youngest had previously had it. Thus, it is currently running its course through the household.

If anybody would like to be exposed (or would like their children to be exposed), please contact us! We would be delighted to have you over and give you a plentiful opportunity to get it as well! :-)

Kimberly had the privilege of being the first one to have them. She is finally well.

David and HollyBeth definitely have them now. I believe they stopped counting when they reached 100 that they could see on themselves.

I seem to be having symptoms of its oncoming, but don't have the delightful, itchy spots yet.

Zach and Lisa don't have spots yet, but whether or not they're getting the early symptoms is a little bit harder to tell.

We would certainly appreciate prayer for patience in dealing with these chicken pox, but also for dealing with each other as it is especially easy to be short with everybody when we're not feeling well.

Valerie's Birthday

Happy 28th Birthday, Valerie!

The Birthday roses.

Bacon and Cream Cheese Crescents - Val's favorite!

Valerie made her own meal - pizza, made just like they made it in Canada.

There were quite a few different kinds of pizza!
She chose ice cream cookie sandwiches for dessert.
The September birthday people!

Dad's Birthday

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Look at all those candles!A scrumptious meal!

Valerie and Julie both lit the candles.

50 candles are pretty bright when they are all together on a cake!

We love you, Dad! Happy Birthday!

Vacation - Smoky Mountains

On Tuesday afternoon we headed towards Tennessee - the Smoky Mountains and Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg area. We stayed at a cabin in the mountains until Thursday morning.

This is the cabin we stayed in. It was VERY nice!

We played quite a bit of pool. We ended up making a sign-up sheet to keep track of who was wishing to play with whom. If you wanted to play someone, you put down both your initials and theirs. It was pretty fun!
The main room downstairs.

There was a spiral staircase! It was so neat!

The kitchen and dining room.

The chimney.

The living room upstairs.

On Wednesday we were able to go swimming.
There was a stream near the pool that you were allowed to wade in. A few members of our family thought that sounded like fun so they decided to do it. Zach was the first one in the water (of course!) and what should he happen to see but this snake who also saw him! He got out of there pretty quickly! We aren't sure what kind it is but it looked like it could have been a copperhead or water mocassin - not exactly the snakes you want to be around, you know. When in doubt, it's better to be safe than sorry! Needless to say, they changed their minds about wading. :)

These two cabins were "next door" to us.

All ready to leave.

On our way out!

Vacation - Creation Museum

We started our vacation on Monday, August 24th, by going to Ohio to visit our friends, the Bissons. Then on Tuesday, both our families went to the Creation Museum in Kentucky.

On the way to the museum it was really foggy. We saw these smokestacks, but we didn't see anything that they were attached to, so it looked like they were just coming out of the clouds!

At the Museum At the Petting Zoo

This is a zorse. What do you think it is a cross between?

Everyone is observing the wallaby that was brought out of its cage area for our benefit. :)

On to the next thing!