Happy Birthday Will

In January of 1997 we were waiting and practicing for your arrival...

And then you came...

and we were so excited!

Then you grew...

and got bigger...

and bigger...

and taller...

and braver...

and tougher...

and sillier...

until you got to be 11 years old!!!

Will, you are a great kid and God has given you great gifts and talents! We love you and hope you have a birthday that is as fun as you are!!!

Snow Day

When you homeschool, you really don't get a snow day. The boys are out playing with the neighbor in the snow but will have to do school when they get back. On the bright side, we won't be going to school until late June to make up for the days we missed this winter!

This is the second or third morning this week we have woken up to snow. While I really miss the sunshine from last week, the snow does make it much nicer.

Here are some shots we took this morning...

Will headed out to the back right away

the fort is totally camoflauged in the snow

Can you see it?

it's a cold day for a swim

everybody worked on a snowman for the driveway

I don't know if the trees will survive the heavy snow

the snowman is done, now all he needs is some clothes

(the Mythbusters said that snowmen with clothes melt slower)

A Quiet Saturday

What do you get when a beautiful, sunny, cold week of perfect winter weather meets typical NW gray damp winter weather? Frozen drizzle...

These are tiny frozen drops of water hanging off the tree in our front window. The frozen precipitation left a thin slick sheet of ice here in our neck of the woods. So our once "too many things to do" Saturday became a quiet stay-at-home Saturday.

While we were disappointed that Grandma and Ben couldn't come visit from Seattle and the father-son football game was cancelled, it was nice to have a day of nothing.

We played games, watched a bit of TV, went for a dip in the hot tub, Andy worked on his Native Americans' homes project for school, Zack and Dad worked on the fort a bit, and I made a couple of purses.

Andy working on his teep

The longhouse frame is done!

We need to have this kind of Saturday more often!

Two Losses In One Day

First, as most of you know, the Packers lost to the Giants in yesterday's heartbreaking game. It is indeed a sad, sad day in Packerland. We are mourning the loss, but know that there is always next year. As soon as the game was over the phone rang as people called to give their condolances. But the whole game wasn't a total loss, we had friends over to watch the game with us and sorrow always likes company. Well, we had some company. Sonja is a good fellow Green Bay fan, but Dave was pulling for the Giants (and he's a Viking fan at heart). We still like him anyway. ;o)

My second loss of the day also happened during the game, but I didn't realize it until this afternoon. I was eating one of my really yummy dark chocolate almond clusters and felt like I broke my tooth. But I didn't feel any sharp edges and it didn't hurt too much so I didn't worry about it. Unfortunately, I touched it a while later and was afraid that something was definitely wrong.

A trip to the dentist this morning, and the look on his face, proved that I was right. My tooth broke in the back below the gum line. Because of an unnecessary root canal that was done twice in that tooth (that's a really LONG story) there was not enough of the tooth left to save. So now I am stuck with a pretty big hole in my smile. Well, I haven't been able to smile yet between my completely numb lip and the pain. :o)

On the bright side, God is faithful and good. While a bridge is VERY expensive, our dentist scheduled my appointment for Good Friday. Every Good Friday he does all his work for FREE! It is a blessing that we are truly thankful for. I am still waiting for the bright side of the Packer loss because I know that God can make everything good.

The Fort

Chris and the boys finished the fort. For pictures, check out the boys' blog. (see link on right)

It looks great guys! You did a really good job.

Wish Come True

Sometimes you get what you wish for....

Just last night I commented on a friend's blog that I wish it would snow or be 85 and sunny. And since it's January, this is what we woke up to this morning. Not a lot, but enough to look pretty and wintery.

Thank you God for the little things!

Rest Stop and Party

Yesterday was a full, fun day! We all got up at 6:30 and headed north to the rest stop on I-5 to serve coffee to tired travelers. Our church does this a couple of times a year as a fund raiser for various projects at our church. The weekend is divided into 4 or 6 hour shifts. Yesterday was an easy one (much easier than the 2am to 8am one). We meet all kinds of people and the boys always look forward to going.

After we were done at the rest stop, we headed south to the family January birthday party. Andy, Will, and my sisters Theresa and Amy all have birthdays in January so we have a big party to celebrate them all together. It was fun getting to see everyone. We had great talks, played Wii, shot the bow and arrow, flew the rc airplane and ate lots of good food! It was a really nice evening. Happy Birthday everyone!

MOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Now you try Charlie

Aunt Theresa got Andy a 1st edition of The Silmarillion!

Gun Day

It wasn't really Gun Day yesterday, but it kind of felt like it. I don't think I have seen so many guns and weapons in one day in my whole life.

We decided to head north and do some of the things we have wanted to do for a while but never do. So after we dropped off the boys' friend Ian (he spent the night) we headed to Fort Lewis' Military museum. If we had known we would have to go through a security checkpoint three times, wait to get a visitor's pass and have a background check (it's amazing how fast those guys can run a check on you) we would have gotten there sooner. :o) But it was worth it. It was really fun to see and read about all the history of the fort and the military presence in the NW in the past 200 years or so.



Then we headed back south to Cabela's! It is the first one in the NW and only Chris had been to one before. It was so cool! We were there for hours just looking at everything! If you live close by and like the outdoors, you have to go! They have about every animal you can imagine stuffed and on display somewhere, a shooting gallery, an aquarium, a cafe, and everything you could ever want for having fun in the Great Outdoors.





Here are 3 Reasons I Like Cabela's by Will
1. the scenery (you will have to check out the pictures!)
2. they have lots of good stuff
3. they have exotic food for exotic people like me (he really didn't know what exotic meant and we didn't eat there, but he thought it was cool that they had Wild Boar and Ostrich on the menu)
It was a great day and we did it all with hardly spending a dime (except for supper)!

Happy 13th Andy

Today Andy officially became a teenager! To celebrate this occasion we went bowling, ate lasanga and had brownies with chocolate chips and marshmallows! It's hard to believe he's growing up so fast. Happy Birthday Andy! We love you!!!

Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.

Joshua 1:7-9

Happy New Year

I can't believe it is 2008 already! Hope you all had as wonderful a year in 2007 as we did. Looking back at all that we did in 2007, we are truly blessed and thankful for all that the Lord has done for us and are confident that He will be with us in the new year as well.

We had lots of fun tonight bringing in 2008 with our church family. A family from our church invited us for supper this evening and we were treated to Mongolian grill. Greg has the entire thing set up on their back porch. It is incredible and WAY better than a restaurant! I ate so much there (2 plates full) I couldn't eat a thing the rest of the night. Thanks so much Greg and Carol, it was great!!!

Will and Geoffrey making their sauce

After supper we headed over to the church for our New Year's Eve party. I wish I had more pictures, but we were so busy having fun and playing games that I totally forgot to take any. :o( We had so much fun playing Catch Phrase and spoons, but I think we got a little rowdy for some of the other grown-ups in the room. :o)

Then we all went outside and set off fireworks!!! I LOVE fireworks and so did the kids. We did sparklers, Roman candles, mortars, and just a bunch of odds and ends, too.

When the fireworks were all done, we went back to the sanctuary to pray in the new year. It is so good to know that we know Who goes ahead of us and is capable of handling anything that will come our way in the future.

While most everyone else went home, the youth stayed for an overnight Lock-In. I just hope I can get up in the morning to get them.