Black raspberry jam

Yesterday we picked the ripe black raspberries, and Donia turned them into delicious jam! There are lots more ripening, so we should be able to make quite a few more batches.

Another beautiful late summer day

We invited the three youngest Matthia kids to join us. Our first stop were these 50 huge straw bales stacked for pick-up. They were in the field right to the north of our path. Eddie and Dustin: these guys are going to miss each other when Matthias leave for furlough next week. Our little H2O interlude: We found out today that they will be filling in rocks around the tracks for driving safety. Danika, Doreen and Lynette: Ditto to the comment on Dustin and Eddie. The cousins will be missed a lot! Evan and Danielle, the youngest set of playmates! They have the least understanding of the farewell that is just around the corner!

Enjoying our New Paths and the Water Accumulation after our big Rain last Friday

Donovan with his missing top tooth! :) Enjoying the new path The shoes were quickly discarded at the sight of the huge puddles. The water looks red, because the stones underneath are red. The water was pretty clean though, because there was no mud in it! Buddies! Danielle-tiptoeing through the water Doreen Waving at the passing travelers Devon rode out on his bike and surprised us! Enjoying the water one last time on the way home again Running through the harvested fields

Greenville Glimpses

Derek gave the girls a tour of his work area and projects. Goofing off! Preparations for the fall Sunday: Waiting for the Church bus

Home Happenings

Shooting star watchers :) An hour after church that night. As one of my girls put it, "The stars were playing peek-a-boo with the clouds" on our side of the world. A wonderful treat: Sweet Corn! It was sent to us by friends who live on the German-French border and who grow it to sell. This new cement track was put in on "our" field path. It definitely changed the natural look we had out there, but it is now much easier to walk for exercise. The puddle above is a result of the thunderstorm last night and the rains today. Yesterday we had record highs for Germany this summer: 36°. Today it was exactly half that warm. Heading back to Niedern

An Unexpected Blessing: Stopover in Toronto, Canada

After a turbulent flight over the Atlantic, the girls landed in Toronto and were told that a storm was causing the cancellation of their flight to South Carolina. They had flown with Air Canada, and the airline very graciously put them up in a hotel until they were able fly out on Wednesday. Being together gave them the opportunity to explore the city a little bit on subways and trams. They got into some of the weather front, and bought umbrellas to stay a little drier. Here a sampling of their adventure:

Last Sunday with the Girls

This summer flew by with our family reunion, lots of company, camp and then getting ready to go again. We thank the Lord for the time we had together. Derek is happy to have the girls on his side of the big pond now. :) So our loss is his (and many other people's) gain. We are praying the Lord will give them a very good year at BJ. We grilled hamburgers for our last Sunday meal together on a beautiful sunny day.