German company!

After Amana colonies, we were able to spend some time with family from Germany, the Miehle-Honeckers.  Sarah came last fall and lived with Dad and Mom Beutel, so Max was very excited to see her again!  On this visit were also her parents (Peter and Bettina), sister (Magdalena), and grandma (Esther).

First, a quick picture of Max and Nora playing with one of our Amana purchases:  giant cardboard building blocks!

Sunday evening Greg and I (mostly Greg) made supper for his family and the Germans, as they had all spent 5 or so days together at a cabin in Gatlinburg, TN and got home that night.  No pictures, but supper was very yummy.  Monday night, we had a gathering at the cabin for family and friends who wanted to meet our visitors.

Grandpa and Magdalena

One of the tables

All of our German guests!  L-R: Esther, Peter, Sarah, Bettina, Magdalena

Max, of course, wanted to sit on Sarah's lap and be in the picture!

Another random picture....Max now knows how to take pictures with my cell phone.  If I leave it sitting where he can reach it, he will take pictures of anything he can.  Here, the subject is his computer. :)

On Tuesday, Greg, A. Trish, Katy, Sarah, Magdalena, and I all went miniature golfing.  (Thanks to my mom for watching all 3 kids at home!)  Here's Trishy lining up a shot.

See that hole in the bottom right of the picture?  It's really a long pipe that sends your ball all the way back to the beginning of the hole.  Guess whose went in?  That would be Trish. :)

Magdalena hitting away from the water.

Me, getting my ball from way out in the brush

This is the best picture we could get with the self-timer...there were some impatient golfers behind us!

The winner of the game lining up his shot.

The final scores were:  Greg-54, Trish-60, Magdalena-66, Me-67, Katy-69, and Sarah-74.  It was a very fun morning!

On Tuesday evening, then, we went to Nate and Steph's for fatty patties and s'mores.  We knew our visitors were leaving for Chicago the next day and it was our last chance to be with them.

Greg giving Sarah a hard time...not too unusual....he likes to act like a big brother. :)

Me and my sweetie

Bettina clearly enjoyed hers....

....as did Esther!

Thanks you so much, Peter, Bettina, Sarah, Magdalena, and Esther, for coming to visit all of us here in Illinois!  We love you and miss you already!