Our time in Indiana...

Well, we've been home for quite a while already and I am way behind on updating!! I was pondering the wonderful memories we made during our time in Indiana and what a treasure this is for our children not only now but in the years ahead. I came across this post on Girltalk, one of my favorite blogs and it made me think of my mom. Truly, I think my mom could make a shack feel like home with all of her warm touches and hospitality. She and Pop-Pop make a great team...while Mimi is busy preparing food or painting little girls finger and toenails, he is busy keeping the other kiddos occupied with card games, Bocci ball, the 'washer' game, crossword puzzles, bike rides, trips to the park, kayak rides...I could go on and on. Thanks Mimi and Pop-Pop for filling our memory banks to overflowing once again. I apologize now for the abundance of pictures...there were so many to choose from :)
Thanks for checking in!
Mama B.

Mercy as breakfast helper- the 4 youngest took turns... L designated himself the official 'test taster' for every meal since he needs to 'fatten up'!!

A typical mealtime in the screen room ...it's a tight fit, but it works!

The kiddos with a robin's egg shell we found during a morning bike ride. One of my favorite things about our visits to Mimi and Pop-Pop's trailer are all of the opportunities to enjoy God's creation.

These hummingbirds fascinate me!! ...one of my favorite things to do is to sit and watch the wonderful assortment of birds which frequent Mimi's many feeders...the bird identification book gets lots of use during our visits!! We saw a variety of birds that we really don't get to view here in our backyard such as Red Winged Blackbirds, Rose Breasted Grosbeaks, Baltimore Orioles, and Red headed Woodpeckers....and my favorite: the hummingbird!

~P and Pop-Pop spent loads of time doing crosswords~

Savoring a sweet sibling moment

While the overall weather for the week was not the greatest (chilly!!) , the Lord blessed us with a couple of perfect beach days so that the kids could enjoy the lake and beach ...here's G ready to take a ride down the slide ...

Pop-Pop, Odesco and L on one of their kayak rides~

SPLASH!! P and Odesco enjoy some buddy time together :)

Flowers for Mommy...water lilies plucked during their kayak ride!

P, C, and Pop-Pop ....Male Bonding?!?

Cuddle Time :)

We attended "Streetfest" a huge community outreach put on by the church of Pop-Pop's nieces. It was a fun time with loads of free food, games, and music. Mercy made herself right at home and began plaiting the hair of one of her 'cousins' friends. These teenage girls were very gracious in letting a perfect stranger mess with their hair!!

After a rather long wait in line the 4 youngest had some cool balloon creations crafted by Happy the Clown! Of course the boys chose swords!

I think the boys would agree the long wait in line was well worth it!!

G chose something much more ladylike :)

Fathers Day!! Daddy opened a variety of homemade gifts from Mercy and the others as well. I had the privilege of honoring M the previous Sunday in front of our church family for the excellent way he is leading our family in the area of finances and giving. I am so grateful the Lord has blessed me with my man :) I am so thankful for his godly influence in the lives of our children...

I am also grateful that the Lord graciously brought Pop-Pop into my mom's life over 16 years ago. What a gift he has been to our family. Truly the Lord has restored the years that the locust has eaten!!!!

On Father's Day we went on a visit to historic Sauder Village... When Mercy saw this water pump she exclaimed,"Oh Mommy we had this in Libee-ra!!" It's amazing the things that she sees which remind her of her life in Africa!

Mercy says this basket reminds her of the one she used to carry clothes on wash day~

Believe it or not, at one time this was at one time Pop-Pop's log house...it has since been covered over with clapboard. One of the reasons we went to Sauder Village was to see the old log house that Pop-Pop and his family once lived in (it was moved from his farm to this location). Mimi and Pop-Pop had seen it before during a prior visit and it in fact had housed the Ice Cream Shoppe...so, we ventured over to the Ice Cream Shoppe and both of them realized that this was NOT Pop-Pop's old house-evidently the location had been moved...we were disappointed but enjoyed the yummy treats! Before leaving for the day, we stopped in the rest room and began talking with one of the employees who was changing out of her colonial garb...Mimi asked her if she remembered the old log cabin and sure enough she knew exactly which building it was. She asked us to a wait until she got changed and then she took us on a private tour of the house after the Village had officially closed. How kind of the Lord to bless our family in this way. He is the God of details :)!!

Our kind tour guide was even gracious enough to take the time to snap some family photos!!

Pop-Pop and our personal tour guide inside 'his' house :)

After Sauder Village we headed to the D's ('cousins') for a wonderful Father's Day picnic. The kids have such a blast together :)

A new day.... L finally agrees to give this a try without training wheels!

A dream come true...literally. L woke up and said he had a good dream ...he learned to ride his bike without any help from Daddy. Sure enough, this was the day for him to take off... a major milestone for our little man who was unable to keep up with the other 5 !! Daddy helped to steady him initially and then he was on his own :)

L also entertained us with his skateboarding skills!

And his love of wild creatures :)

Game time!

Snuggle time...it was COLD!!

Pop-Pop and look in action playing cops and robbers or something like that!

What a fun day we had at this science center and the best part is with our membership to the Boonshoft museum, we all got in free :) Also Mimi and Pop-Pop had a membership in Delaware to another museum and it reciprocated as well.

There was something for everyone here...a smaller hands-on section for those under 8 and some really cool exhibits for the older crowd...

This huge slide was a hit with some of our kiddos...others were disappointed as they were not quite tall enough to participate :(

In order to safely ride the slide, every body part has to be covered...so here's Daddy with goofy sleeves on to cover his bare arms!

The science center was not very crowded and when we attended the demonstrations, our kiddos were able to participate almost every time. Here's L, Mercy and Odesco being protons and electrons...Luke was instructed to say," I want an electron!" and Odesco would run over to L andrun circles around him. The funny thing was L couldn't quite get the wording right and said," I want an electronic!!" every time instead :) During this demonstration on static electricity Odesco volunteered to be a part of the 'shock' experiment after being warned that he would get zapped. A bunch of kids lined up...the first one touched the contraption you see on the table which builds up static electricity...he then took the hand of the child next to him and you could hear the shock (and the laughter of the affected child)....on it goes down the line...the man up front thought it was funny that Odesco's shoes even lit up when he got zapped...(we think he moved his feet, but who knows?!) C. leaned over to me amazed at Odesco's boldness and admitted that he would not have volunteered to be shocked...neither would I!!

A Fun Day for All!!

Early morning entertainment! As Pop-Pop was enjoying his morning coffee, he commented that we should charge admission to watch these guys play a game of UNO... with them it typically becomes a contact sport and often ends with me taking the cards away before someone gets hurt!

Day trip to Shipshewana...Mercy commented that this huge outdoor market reminded her of the open market in Liberia...here she found a bongo set and was not shy about testing them out.

~Taking a rest in the wagon~

The girlies with their bargain $1 sunglasses

L and Odesco sporting their new hats from Shipshewana~

My handsome hubby ~

Fishing...quite an experience as the little ones learned to cast...everyone LOOK OUT!! They are still learning the etiquette of casting in the midst of others....

C actually caught this fish but his cousin Tressa was the one showing it off for him!!

Uncle Dwayne, Pop-Pop, and Daddy helping to keep order (and protect eyeballs from stray fishing hooks) at the dock!

Keeping warm around the fire!!

Our annual tradition of making yummy cinnamon rolls for breakfast over the fire~

Scrumptious!!

Mercy and Tressa out for a spin~

Our handsome dude on Uncle Dwayne's boat~

Cute "cousins"!

Enjoying an afternoon cruise on the lake!

L --our resident artist at work sketching the bug he just found!

Bocci Ball with their little friend at the next campsite~

Our final night around the campfire...leaving is always so hard...the kiddos are already talking about next year. How grateful I am for all of these memories!