many to pack into one summer....but so incredibly memorable. I can't
wait until the kids are older and bringing their own kids and we'll spend hours looking back at old pictures and this blog....remembering the wonderful family times we had. :-)
The Goertzen's is always a fun place to hang out as there's always something new to discover...like this treehouse that overlooks the bushes....sweet. Then there's the food...hmmmm....good food but of course the fellowship beats it all....there's always good visiting at the Goertzen's homestead at the lake. One is always welcome. :-) One night we watched the sunset out at Fur Lakes - it was gorgeous! and then we had fireworks out by the Esso. In the one photo, Roger is showing us the photo of Terry in the Guiness Book of World Records for building and driving the world's tallest bike....crazy guy.
Getting fishing rods ready takes patience sometimes but it's fun once the rods are ready and some fish are caught. Girls don't mind the fishing...they just refuse to eat the fish. :-) They'd much rather go tubing and boating with friends, which is okay cause mom loves to drive the boat. :-)
A couple of times this summer the kids and adults too sometimes, got to go on horse and buggy rides...girls really liked that...I think we didthis 3 times this summer and we had done it once in winter too when we had some family out. It was gorgeous going through the snow covered trees on the trails in the bush.
We got some spare wood from some kinds folks who were building houses in Shell Lake this past summer. Copper needed a dog house...but it kind of got invaded by Kyrstin and her friend...see them peeking out the top? Crazy how they both fit in there. :-)
Always such a blessing to be at the lake house/cottage. It was fun this year as we had renovations during the Spring so we've had a total new face lift inside. :-) Yes, you guessed it, orange is in the colors - the cupboards actually - are you surprised? Oranges and Browns - it looks lovely. We had a friend who he
lped us out with the flooring - thank you Gary - although he did have a chuckle or two at 
Roger at times (nice butt honey - I think he was trying to tell Brandon a thing or two about wearing your pants too low). :-)It was so nice to have hired painters and have the place painted while we were not there and then to come back and ....whaaalah....it was painted. Quite the shock at first but it looked much better than th
e whole white throughout. There was a bit of a mess to clean up after but it was well worth it. But it just totally changed the lo
ok of the place inside....a
s you can see - total facelift. Some new furniture came with the new paint job too...Kijiji's great. :-)When we got this dining room table and chair set on Kijiji, it ended up being from an old friend of ours who had it that we hadn't seen or heard from in ages...it's so cool how God orchestrates things in our lives and how He brings people through our lives and certain times. It was so good to connect with those friends again.
The kids love the parade...this year it was super special cause they got to ride in one of the wagon's - even drive it. Kyrstin got to have a visit with one of the ladies in a wagon on Friday night and meet some of the horses...she loves horses. So, the next day when they asked if the girls wanted to ride in the wagon...well, they were thoroughly excited!! This year they still were not too old to get their faces painted and ride their decorated bikes in the bike parade. Beautiful girls they are. :-) Lots of cute kids in the parade.
It was another great summer at the lake....tubing, boating, having kids clubs, swimming lessons, beach times, spending time with family and friends and getting to know new people...and other times just spending quietly in relaxation and thanking God for His many blessings to us. These are memories these little people will remember all their lives....I absolutely love the photo of Brandon & Zane. Adorable 'little' boys. :-)
This was such a great afternoon even though it was a bit cooler that day....we had Mitch and Jeromy out on the tubes and Mitch flipped out while his tube flew right over Jeromy and Jeromy's lookin around like "Where'd ya go dude??" It was so funny and I must admit, what a great shot!! And then there's the quadding dudes who got so terribly muddy...but with smiles on their faces. :-) They were a little dirty but I was sure to make them clean up their own mess....well, Brandon did anyway. :-) But fun times always come with work too...it takes work to have fun and you gotta work to be able to have fun at times....so they go hand in hand.
Always fun to have family come up and spend some time here with us. Love the fellowship and fires and the food of course ......and the smiles and laughter!! And the stars...oh the open skies you see from our place when the stars are out when we're sitting by the fire...one of these times I've gotta get some good pics of the stars and the northern lights. Just incredible from here. And then there's the fun part of collecting the peas from the garden...especially when we have fun little helpers like these guys. :-)
Sunrise one evening as we were finishing up golfing. There's my man, doing what he loves to do...golf and more golf. :-) This fox was on the golf course along with his brothers and sisters. They were so cute but he would always steal the golf balls...probably thought they were eggs. :-) Got Roger and Brandon frustrated a time or two. Another evening at sundown, there was an incredbile rainbow and the sky was just an incredible deep pink....can you see the 2nd rainbow?
Yes, that is my son, and I am very very proud of him. He does make me laugh and other times he makes me shake my head but my heart is always filled with love for him. :-) Alysha looks like she's standing in mid-air but she was jumping off the trampoline. Alysha doing her fun gymnastics stuff on the trampoline.
I love taking butterfly pics....isn't he gorgeous?? i just love him...I love how God made each one so incredibly unique...just like us humans...all different shapes and sizes. :-) And the birds, oh the birds, how I love the birds up at the lake....such diversity and beauty and glorious song...they are so fun to watch and capture. I love birds too. :-)
We painted the trim on our place this summer as well...also the trim on the camper out back...no more orange stripes....Yes, really, I allowed my hubby to paint over the orange stripes so they would match the green on the house....how about that for all you folks that think I'm so crazy about orange?? hee-hee
Easiest way to take Copper the dog out for a run...oh how he loves to run. :-) Brandon likes this way better too. :-) Copper, is the latest edition to our family....not sure what we were thinking at times cause he's a bundle of energy...totally unlike Coke...I like Coke...Coke just sits around and is quiet...completely the opposite as Copper. :-) But he is adorable...gotta admit that.
We got new neighbors in May too and it's been great getting to know them...they're a great couple. In the other photo, I just couldn't pass up that photo opportunity...these guys were sailing by, one's on the cell phone with his fishin pole hangin outa the boat, the other one is totally laid back and then the kid in the middle keeping himself busy. What a great pic!
