Harvest Party 2007

We had a great Harvest Party at church last night! It was lots of fun and we had more families from the community than we did from the church. Yeah!

We had games

and costumes

Will the hobo (not a bum)

Zack the soccer player (he had lots of costumes to choose from)

I'm a basket of clean laundry (Chris had clothes attached all over him and was a pile of dirty laundry, but we forgot to get a picture of us together)

food and an object lesson

Trunk-r-treating and a scarecrow

Dave dresses as a scarecrow with a basket of candy and sits VERY, VERY still until someone comes to take a piece out of his basket. He does a great job and the kids really like it!

a pumpkin carving contest

the Leingangs won the prize in every category (no, it wasn't fixed. There were no names on any of the entries. But we are kind proud.)

and of course, lots and lots of candy!!!

God answered lots of prayers and we are truly thankful for that!

Trick or Treating Down Memory Lane

Here are some old pictures I tore out of our scrapbooks. It was so fun looking back that I decided to share.

1995: clown and "whoo-whoo man" with Aunt Theresa

1996: scarecrow, a VERY pregnant pumpkin (the costume hid it well), and a dragon

1997: Winnie the Pooh, indian maiden, pizza (we won an internet costume contest with this one), and a knight

1998: Tiger Lily, Peter Pan and Captain Hook

(can you guess what our favorite movie was that year?)

Super Baby!

1999: my knight in shining armor rescues me from the dragon and then I ride off into the sunset with the cowboy on his trusty steed

Take Me To Your Leader

Will's pumpkin is done. Or is it a pumpkin???

Pumpkin Carving

Today we started carving pumpkins.

They turned out great!

Here take a look...

Chris' Jesus pumpkin (he is a pastor)

Andy's racoon pumpkin

Zack's scary face pumpkin

Will's pumpkin is coming soon!

The Fort Is Going Up

It's been a long while in the waiting, but the fort is up and started. Grandpa came up and helped Chris and the boys work on it all day. They got quite a bit done and are getting excited! The boys are making plans for the inside and the out as well as how to celebrate its completion.

It looks great! Good job guys!

Laying the floor

Do you see it?

Now can you see it?

The floor is done!

Putting up the trusses

Goodbye Mario

This morning the boys came up and said that our rat Mario was dead. He was a good pet despite the fact that he was a rat.

The only picture we could find is when he starred in the boys' exterminator commercial. He was not only a great pet but a fine actor as well.

We will miss you, Mario.

IKEA

After the boys' soccer game on Friday, I decided to take advantage of being so close to the new IKEA and finally go. Although I wasn't sure we were going to get there for a while. I should have gotten directions before we left. My dad came and picked up the boys and I got to spend the evening wandering the store with my mom and sister. It was a little cold and damp (not because of the weather, but becaause I dumped my cup of lingonberry juice in my lap at supper), but it was lots of fun! I love IKEA! It was really hard but I managed to escape the store with only 2 items. Their Christmas stuff was out and I found the perfect decoration for the dining room table...

While the girls were shopping the boys were helping grandpa with his new boat. This weekend's project was stripping off the woodgrain contact paper and a few other things as well. They had lots of fun and got a lot accomplished since they got to spend the night.

With the boys gone and Chris at the Men's Retreat, I was home alone. I didn't get much sleep but I got a lot of cleaning done. I checked out a digital audiobook from the library and listened to it while I cleaned. It was fun and I didn't have to feel guilty about ignoring everyone. :o)

It was a fun weekend, even with the quarterly business meeting at church! Now we'll see how long we can keep the house clean...

Co-op & Soccer & Derby, Oh My

Yesterday was a crazy fun day!

First we had Friday school in the morning. It was a great day and I was glad to be back teaching again!

Andy can really jump!

Friday afternoons are our soccer games in Vancouver and we have to leave shortly after co-op to get there. Thankfully Will made ricotta-stuffed pasta shells in his cooking class so we had a really yummy and filling lunch.

I missed the boys first game so it was fun to finally see them play a real game. They play really well! Will even took a turn at playing goalie. Grandpa and Grandma took advantage of the not-rainy weather to come and watch them play, too.

Then right after soccer we had to rush back home to race in the First Annual First Class Pinewood Derby. We were a little late but thankfully it takes a long time to race 58 cars in a double-elimination race for the first time. The race was a little long (2 and a half hours) but the kids had fun and it was great to watch them encourage and cheer one another on.

Zack and Andy both took 3rd place in their divisions, which is pretty good considering the only thing they did to their cars were to paint them and put on the wheels. But the most important thing was that they all had fun!

India Evangelical Mission

On Thursday Chris and I went to our third IEM banquet. Some couples from our church have been supporters of the mission for years and have invited us every year since we came. This year was at the Moticello Hotel in town. It is THE historic landmark in town, built by the city's founder in 1923.

Our dentist is also the vice president of IEM so it always reminds me to make appointments for the boys each fall. :o)

The IEM is a wonderful ministry to those who are dying in India without the Lord. They have a children's home, a Bible college that sends out workers every year to preach throughout India, 50 reading rooms, crusades that attract 1000s of people, medical clinics, a leper colony, and slum ministries. It is amazing to hear of all that God is doing in a highly persecuted country where God's light is so desperately needed. Please be praying for the Church in India.

If you would like to learn more, you can click on their link on our list of links or go to http://www.indiaevangelical.org/

Has It Really Been 15 Years?

We've been married 15 years today! It seems like we've been married forever and like it has flown by all at the same time. Happy Anniversary, honey! I love you! It's been an adventure!

Living The Life - Keeping The Faith

Hood Canal
Our meeting room - The Pines The Inn- where the offices and dining room is

This weekend was our Pacific NW District Women's Retreat in Seabeck, WA. When we arrived on Friday the weather was beautiful and sunny. It made the place even nicer.

It was an exhausting yet wonderful weekend! We had almost 70 ladies from around the district ranging from 16 to 90 years old. Our speaker, Carley Wecks, was wonderful! She spoke to our hearts. She was convicting, motivating, touching, personal, and relevant. She had the perfect mix of Scripture, personal stories, and group discussion. It was the first retreat I had been to in a long time that I truly felt like God was speaking to me.



We also had wonderful praise music with many of my favorite praise songs and hymns! Thanks Sonja and Ann!



Saturday evening we had a previous missionaries wife speak on how our current missionary wives are "Living the Life and Keeping the Faith". She wrote to all of the wives and asked them to send her a letter and she got LOTS of pages in response. After much editing, she read a 15-page compliation that really got to the heart of what our missionary wives are experiencing out on the field in Taiwan, Japan, East Asia, and Chad. And as if that weren't powerful enough, just as she was wrapping up the bagpipe band from the building next store came over and gave us an impromptu concert. (You can check it out on our friend Kari's blog from her link on our Friends list) It was really cool!



But we also had lots of fun with a Spa Nite on Friday evening with facials, sugar scrubs, nail polish and warm neck pillows. And on Saturday afternoon, we had crafts, shopping trips, and naps (to make up for the lack of sleep). Saturday night we had our testimony time and many of our ladies shared how God had worked in their lives. It was great!



Then on Sunday morning, my friend Anne Marie shared about how to Keep the Faith by being in the Word. I love Anne Marie! She had us rolling on the floor laughing while she shared real life stories from her life that were perfect illustrations of why we NEED to be in the Word.



Needless to say, it was a fantastic retreat and God answered ALL of our prayers and more! I can't believe I didn't get ANY pictures! AHHHHHH!!! I am hoping to contact someone who I know did take pictures and get her to send them to me.