Alia celebrated her 10th birthday in December. A few days later, she had a small party and a sleep over with a couple of friends.  Click the picture to see more from her parties.

-John

On November 28, there was a party helping Missionary Mary Ballenger celebrate her 70th birthday. Mary is a Missionary to Africa and is the Academic Dean at the West Africa Advanced School of Theology (WAAST).  It was a very nice time giving honor to this fine servant of God who has dedicated most of her life in His service.  Click HERE for more information on WAAST.  We love you Mary!

Click the picture to see more from the party.

I am late getting pictures of J.J.’s 6th birthday up. He had a fun party with a few of his friends last November.  Click the picture for more.

Our oldest daughter is “THE” teacher at the East Malt Hutterite Colony. We were invited to the colony before Christmas when we were picking up Heather to bring her home for the Christmas vacation.  We enjoyed a great Christmas performance by the kids, and met several Colony members.  We were treated like royalty and made some new friends.  Our children definitely want to go back and see their friends again.  Here are a couple of pictures.  Click one to see larger views.

- John

Ana turned 13 a couple of weeks ago.  Congratulations Ana!  She had a small party and invited a couple of her friends over. They had a great time and ate a lot of pizza.  Click on the photo to see a slide show of her fun time.

Click the picture to see a slide show of Ana's party.

- John

We enjoyed a fun time together on Sunday evening on August 30th as Neighborhood Assembly of God Church celebrated our summer picnic.  We totally stuffed ourselves on hamburgers, hot dogs, polish dogs, and more goodies than one is allowed to imagine.  We had super fellowship with those we love, and there were lots of games, blowups, and activities for kids of all ages.  There was even a creek to wade in to cool off.  All of this happened at the Kleffner Ranch, which has one of the largest (if not the largest) old barns in the United States.  Click on the picture to see a slide show of our fun evening.

Click the photo to see more from our fun picnic.

John

We made our second annual trek to Downpour Festival in Great Falls, MT  on Saturday, August 15.  Katie, Desire’, and Ana went with our church’s youth group on Friday.  The weather was very very cold and very rainy; but the presence of God was very very warm, and the title “Downpour Fest” was quite appropriate in both the physical and spiritual realms.

On Friday, the youth say KJ52, Sanctus Real, and Decyfer Down.  On Saturday, we were blessed with Among the Thirsty, Lincoln Brewster, Plumb, Brock Gill, and Casting Crowns.  WOW!

Here are some blurry pictures.

Life Brings Tears, Smiles, and Memories…
The Tears Dry, The Smiles Fade, But The Memories Last Forever.

Desire’ had a friend, Aleah,  from California visit for a week. They wanted to design a tee shirt and make a couple for themselves to remember each other by.  After rounding up all of the supplies, here are their creations.  Click a picture to see it larger.

Part of our family’s tradition, is to go to Glacier Bible Camp for our vacation. This year, camp started on July 3rd and went through July 10.  We had a very good time.  Here are some snippets and pictures of this year’s vacation.  Click your Internet Browser’s “back” button to return here after viewing the slide shows.  Enjoy!

John

Click the picture to see more of our 4th of July.	We spent July 4th at Ashley Lake, near Kalispell.  We had lots of fun with lots of friends and lots of relatives.  The kids got plenty wet, we did plenty of boating, we ate plenty of food, then we watched plenty of fireworks.
Click the picture to see our fireworks.	After the fun day, we set off a bunch of fireworks.
Click the picture to see more of Ana's Honor Star Crowning.	On Monday, July 6,  Ana and several other girls were Crowned as Honor Stars. Each girl spent a couple of year meeting several requirements that include a lot of Bible reading and memorization.  Great Job Ana!
Click the photo to see more from the fun NASCAR parade.	On Wednesday, July 6, the camp had a parade.  This is about the third year for the parade, and it has become a fun part of family camp.  This year’s theme was NASCAR.  Here are some of the imaginative entries.
Click the photo to see more of our relaxing evening with family and friends.	Bible Camp is always a good time to relax with family and friends. On Thursday, July 9, we had some of both over to the cabin.
Click the photo to see more of our fun at Lion Lake	Our last full day at camp was Friday, July 10. We enjoyed a bit of time at Lion Lake, a small lake near Hungry Horse lake.  It has become part of our time at camp and enjoy getting wet here most every year.
Click the photo to see more from "Spoon Lake"	Spoon Lake A few years ago, we stopped by a small lake (pond?) on the way home from Glacier Bible Camp, to stretch our legs.  While fiddling around, one of the kids found an old spoon.  We took that spoon and buried it at the base of a certain tree, and christened the lake “Spoon Lake”.  We though it would be fun to check in the future to see if the spoon was still there. This year, on the way home, we did stop once again at “Spoon Lake”.  After searching under the wrong tree for several minutes, we picked one last tree before leaving.  Lo and behold, there was the spoon.  It was full of pitch and took some time to clean it off.  We got some pictures and once again buried it for a future visit. Where is “Spoon Lake” you ask?  We can’t tell you; you might go and find our bit of treasure.

Click the photo for a slide show.

Katie and Desire’ had their Eighth Grade Graduation on Thursday. The School put on a nice ceremony.  We are proud of bout Katie and Desire’ for their accomplishments.  And also, congratulations to Desire’ for winning a “Citizenship Award” for her school and civic contributions.  She also received a fourth place ribbon for the Einstein Award in her science class.  That means she was the fourth highest in the science class.  We are proud of you both and we love you!  Click the picture to the left to view a slide show.

Dad and Mom