Reformation Day Faire

This past weekend was our Reformation Day Faire. This year was a lot of work for several families of our church, but it was all worth it! The preparations made everything flow smoothly and we were able to overcome the small challenges.

The Faire started on Friday with the men of the church putting up the castle wall. I didn't get a picutre but hopefully some of the other links will have a good picture. The men spent a couple Saturday building and painting the wall and it came out wonderfully!

On the schedule for Friday was Pastor Severn, Doug Bond and a concert in the evening by Charlie Zahm.

Saturday morning brought talks by Pastor McDonald and Doug Bond. The lunch was provided by Alwans, a meat market in Peoria. They out did themselves again with the wonderful food. After lunch a bagpiper came through the church and led the attendees out to the Town Square. The Square had different interactive booths: candle making, printing, sewing, leather stamping, sewing, chess, checkers, wheat weaving, rope making, and boffer making. After the town square most families walked over to the park for some highland games and the boffer war.

Enjoy the pictures!

reformation Day Fair

Miscellaneous pictures

I haven't been very good at keeping up with things on this blog. Here are some pictures of the last month or so to show you what we have been up to.

Sara and Mathias reading together

School time!

Sara falling asleep at the table

Sara on her bike

Sara sleeping with her bear that is an mp3 player

Sara and Josiah

Josiah and his Wedgit robot

I can't even think of a good caption for this one. They will be embarrassed though when they see it!

Sara on her slide

Ashly and her first decorated cake. It was for Mom's birthday

Mom on her birthday

Life Chain Sunday

Sara and Geneva. SOme days they love each other, others days they don't. Some day they will be great friends.

Sara folding the laundry

Sara loves to play with my quilt fabric. Maybe she'll be a quilter some day!

Cara's Birthday

This post is a bit over due. Last week Monday Cara celebrated her 8th birthday. On the Friday before Grandpa and Grandma came over to celebrate. Games were played and books were read. Then it came time for Cara to open her gifts. She had been wanting 2 American Girl movies: Kit and Samantha. She wasn't disappointed. On Saturday night we watched Kit as a family and enjoyed the movie.

After gifts came the birthday brownies topped with marshmallow and chocolate frosting. Most anything with Chocolate is a hit for Cara.

Monday finally came and our sweet daughter officially turned 8 years old. In our home, the birthday person gets to pick the meals. For breakfast she wanted pancakes, for lunch grilled cheese, and for the 3rd or 4th year in a row, chicken on the bone, cooked carrots, and mashed potatoes for dinner. Cara LOVES chicken on the bone.

After dinner we gathered in the family room to open her gifts: pot holder for her kitchen, material for sewing, new dresses from Lands End, and 2 new Odyssey cd's. For her cake, Ashly decorated a flower cake in pink and yellow.

Cara is such a blessing to our family. She is helpful and is excited about learning to sew and cook. She has a cheerful and caring personality. This really comes out when others are not feeling well or when Daddy is working from home. She loves to be his secretary and bring him coffee, water, and snacks.

Here are some pictures of Cara over the last 8 years:

Happy Birthday, Cara

We Love you!