Picture post!!

Well, a great week of fellowship and fun has come and gone... 

This morning, our friends headed back to their homes in the south.  We're praying for safety as they drive all day and well into the night. 

 

I asked if our new friends, Melva and her son, Dustin minded if I posted some of the pictures we took during the week, and they said it was fine with them, so here they are:

 

Our friends arrived Friday evening.  We took them over to Zach & Paula's where they slept (in the bed-and-breakfast basement) for most of the time that they were here.  (Thank you again SO much for opening up your home to them, Zach & Paula!!!!!!)

 

   Sabbath, we all went over to the Alfred church as Dustin was the guest preacher there that week.  We spent most of the day there, sharing in the potluck meal and the afternoon music service.

 

On Sunday, some of us went to Bismarck and did some shopping (after Mom got the vehicle stuck in the snowbank and Zach had to come pull us out!). 

 

Monday, we were busy preparing for the new years eve party.

 

Melva and my mom...  They were constantly finding things that they had in common in their lives, even down to what they studied in college. 

 

 Dustin and his backpacker guitar...

 Getting to know each other better....

 Melva helped with a lot of the dishes and cooking while they were here...

 Playing mind-bender games...

My family hosted a new years eve get-together on Tuesday.  Lauretta, Josephine, and Thaddaeus were the first to arrive.

 Josephine...

 We spent most of the time in the shop, as it would have been crowded for everyone to be in the house...

 Potluck time!

After eating and visiting, we spent the rest of the hours playing games until midnight... 

 We played, "Funglish", "Taboo", "Pictography" and "Never have I ever"...

 It was very nice to have the C. family here, as only a couple of us had met them before, although it felt like we knew them through blogging...

 Around 8:00pm, Miranda arrived---yay!  :)

 Just at midnight, Andrew and Dustin set off the huge fireworks that Dustin had brought for the party.  :)  (I don't have a picture of them though.)

 Miranda, Lauretta, Josephine and Thaddaeus spent the night and we had a great time with them all the next day, playing games, eating, visiting, and watching a long movie!

 We ladies had a slumber party in the living room and didn't get many hours of sleep, but had a great time visiting/laughing!!

 Andrew took some pictures of/for we ladies...

 Lauretta...

 Me...

 Me and my dear, dear sisters in the Lord!

 Our photographer...

 The young guys, playing games before the noon meal on Wednesday...

 SMILE~

 Food's ready...

 Thursday, I babysat Johanna and Tracy Jo for part of the day and brought them over to our house for the morning, which they enjoyed a lot.  They've been asking to go to "Your house" for quite a while already. 

Friday, we did our usual cleaning and cooking. 

Sabbath, we had home-fellowship (singing and Bible time) and played some games in the afternoon.

 My brothers and I taught Dustin how to play "Settlers of Catan"...

 And we played Dutch Blitz, and President...

 Melva...

Dustin taught us how to play a new (to us) game called "Bible hats".  It was pretty hilarious! 

 Jacob...

 My dad...

 This was taken early this morning...  If we look tired, it's probably because we were.  :)  We spent a lot of evenings visiting late and then getting up to do the regular chores. 
 It's always a blessing to meet new friends!

 

 

 

"May the Lord bless you indeed, Melva and Dustin!"