Our Aussie family arrives!

Two weeks have flown by! And it's been busy but wonderful! Shantel finished her swimming lessons.  She really had a great time learning the basics of staying afloat and learning some basic strokes.

Taleesha playing with Bennett!

Friday afternoon, it poured with rain. At that very time, we were driving through the rain and heading for Abbotsford airport to pick up brother John and SIL Caren. And so amidst the rain, the plane landed and before long we could welcome them with open arms! It was wonderful to see them again. 

  

Our church had organised a Dine and Dash that evening, so we thought to introduce our visitors to the Lynden hospitality right away! So with 15 minutes to get ready, we headed off to the various addresses for appertisers, dinner and dessert.  It was a fun way to meet lots of people, but they were certainly ready for their nest by 11pm.

The following day a big Houweling BBQ was organised in BC. We had a great turn out with wonderful food and even we met family we hadn't met before! They had a pool and hot tub so the kids had a ball!

Tante Fien and Hester. We all wore name tags so we know who we all were! Very helpful!

On Saturday morning Sumas had its annual parade. The kids have worked out now that parades mean lollies (candy) so they were well prepared to catch all the flying candy by making sure they had a bag to collect them in!

The rest of the weekend was taken up by visiting uncles, aunties and cousins. On Tuesday it was Canada Day so along with John and Veronica and cousin Rob, Steve and Colby we headed to Whatcom Lake and enjoyed a relaxing day. John had his boat so the guys did some skiing and took the kids for a ride. It was a very pleasant day.

A trip to Edaleen's Dairy ensured Caren got her super duper icecream!

In the evening we had a bbq at our place along with John and Veronica and our next door neighbours. We headed up the mountain before it got dark for a spectacular view of the valley below. It was an incredible sight.

And Wednesday we said goodbye to Jaclyn who left for Australia. She flew on her own and has since arrived safe and sound and is getting all acquainted with Anthea and her friends!

In the evening we had dinner at Hester's. Yum it was delicious!

The boys learnt that this is the best way to get the fire started!

On Thursday we headed up to Mt Baker. We went right up to Artist Point and really enjoyed seeing the walls of snow where the road had been cleared and Steve and John and girls went up the slopes and down on the sled. It was still quite chilly, around 10 degrees and even the top toilets were totally covered in snow.

And Friday was the 4th of July; Independance Day! Caren and myself went to Hester's and had a very relaxing morning. The boys bought a few fireworks and so once it got semi dark, we did a few for the little girls. Once they were in bed and it got really dark, the boys got their crackers out and set them off. We were very proud of our private mini display! All night we could hear the crackers going off. Fireworks are legal in America within a certain timeframe. Some places they are banned but in general, anyone can buy them and set them off.

Mini fireworks for the little girls!

Saturday the boys along with Dave and James headed to Goat Mountain Trail and did a hike to the top. The views were spectucular and the hike grueling but the views were certainly worth it!

Stefan went for few days with his friend Alec and his family to Okenagan and had a great time!

Well, that's a run down of the last fortnight. It's been a really nice week catching up and showing our guests the land where we live. Next week is pretty busy too but more on that once it's happened.

Thanks for popping past. We pray all is well where ever you live. God bless.