In the second week of July, Rachel and Rebekah left on a road trip, just the two of them, driving all the way from Zion, Illinois, to Rochester, New York. They wanted to go to an event that happens every year called the Indian Picnic. Our dad's mom is Iroquois, and the event is held on the Tuscarora reservation where she grew up, about 10 miles from Niagara Falls, New York. The Tuscarora are one of the six nations, or tribes, that make up the Iroquois. Rebekah also wanted to see Joel Salatin's farm in Virginia, one of the most famous organic farms in the U.S. On the way, they visited Niagara Falls; Washington D.C.; Arlington, VA; Gettysburg and Lancaster, Pennsylvania; and Mount Vernon. They had a great time, and here are the photos to prove it!

We went to an event at the Kenosha airport called "Wings and Wheels at the Airport." We came too late to see the car show, but we did see some pretty cool planes! 

Jo found two baby swallows in the parking lot. They didn't know what to do with themselves yet, so she took them upstairs to our flat roof to keep them safe. The parents found them and kept stuffing food in their mouths. One of the babies flew away after a short while, but the other one couldn't make his little wings work right. It took him another day of practice before he took off with mom and dad. 

On June 6th, some of us went to a dairy farm in Wisconsin. Rachel and Judah biked there as part of a group. It was a 50-mile trip- they had to get up at 4:30 in the morning! Rebekah, Ruth, Kath, and Johannah drove to the farm. It was pretty neat to see all the tractors and equipment they had there.

Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Pela, and Hosannah entered the yearly bookmark contest again, that the Zion-Benton Public Library holds. Ezekiel wanted to give it his best effort this time around, as it is his last time entering; the categories only go to 8th grade. Well, he did so good, some people thought it wasn't actually his work! It seriously is! He won first place, but Jeremiah won the overall prize and got his bookmark design published! 

   We visited two museums in April- the Kenosha Public Museum, and the Civil War Museum in Kenosha. The Public Museum had some exhibits of North American wildlife, and it showed how trappers and Indians lived long ago.
   The Civil War Museum had a special display about the battles of Gettysburg and Vicksburg. We had fun at both museums and learned some interesting things too!

Rachel is teaching the younger ones how to play the keyboard, and they are doing quite well. They each learned a piece, to play in the recital she organized. The little ones were so cute! Johannah and Rachel also played some duets together, and the show was quite a success!

What do you do with a sunny day and loads of snow? Go burn some energy! The kids had great fun playing in the snow and making snowmen. When we left, there was a whole row of snowmen that were all different sizes!

                     We had a little party with everyone getting dressed up and we handed out invitations.                                                                                     The little guys had a fun time!

Fikele is a very nice friend we know who lives in London. A week before Thanksgiving Day, she was visiting in our area, so we invited her over. We had a fun time when she came, and later when another friend, Rosa, came over to enjoy Thanksgiving Day with us!