Mother's Day, Jr/Sr Banquet, Inspirational Sundays and Great Friends Pt 2

Our good friends Tim and Ruth Kaiser :)  

 

 Sunday was a very busy day at the Whitaker Farm. First we all went to church. Which was a huge blessing to all of us. A group called Teen Challenge came from Peoria . They have an all men's choir which sounded beautiful. They are a group of men (in this case 25.), that are trying to over come drug, alcohol, or other addictions they may be struggling with. Most all had been through some type of secular program and failed. They then went to this program in Peoria which is centered around Christ and His power to not only heal but to save these which were lost.  It is a 14 month program, and the participants live at the facilities, and moved into many different work programs. Trying with God's help to get their lives back on track. And live how He would have them live with His power, and strength to help them.  The testimonies of the graduates were heart wrenching and beautiful to hear. How the Lord had reached down and pulled each one of these off their knees and was making them into strong men of God.  Our God is truly awesome.

Then, after church and a short rest, we got to visit The Kaiser Farm!  After a delicious supper  with hamburgers grilled by Jacob, and wonderful potatoes, green beans, and salad made by the girls. The wonderful time of fellowship began!   In this picture the girls are playing an exciting game of Dutch Blitz (which is one of our favorites), and the little girls are playing memory. :)

The boys downstairs were busy farming. :)

Olivia and Joshua were too busy playing house to turn around for pictures!

Not sure who these 2 desperadoes belong to!  :)

Our 2 great men also did a lot of  visiting in the Kaisers new basement. We all had a great time together. In spite of it being pretty cold out the kids still went outside, played on the trampoline, looked for snakes, and in general just enjoyed being together. When it was time to go home the little girls all hugged each other good bye. (which was very sweet.) The kids are still talking about it. They are a very dear Christian family and we are glad that we have had the privilege to get to know them over the years.  We all look forward to being with them again in the future.  :)

Gracie has been teaching Dan to ride a 2 wheel bike. He is catching on pretty well. Although neither have mastered stopping quite yet. :)

Doug is a master at removing splinters. So when Gracie discovered yesterday morning that she had 4, she went straight to him!  I love pictures like this. He is such a good man!

This was an interesting play dough man that Jake came up with. That he really wanted a picture of.    Well' I think that about does it.  Other than these things listed Doug will hopefully finish planting today, the girls took their last finals at school today, (we still have a few weeks of homeschool), and the Summer can now begin!  Hooray!!  I am so looking forward to being all together and not being so busy.  Hope your summer is a wonderfully blessed one too!    Thanks for visiting!   ~The Whitakers  :)