Prayer Needed

I am just putting out this quick post to be asking you all to be praying for friends of ours from our homeschool group. Last night their house burned down. Thankfully no one was hurt but they only got out with the clothes on their back. Please be praying for them! Their names are Monty, Donna, Erin, and Ian.

Thanks so much!

A Great Trip With No Pictures

Chris and I just got back from Annual Convention in Marysville and we had a great time! Unfortunately, we didn't take any pictures. :o(

It was so fun getting to see so many old friends and meeting new people, too. We really like going to convention. The worship was great, the preaching was good, and I even enjoyed the business sessions. A couple issues got a bit heated, but it is good to know that people in the LB are passionate about things.

This year they kind of threw together a pastors wives' session that was really nice. It was good just to get to be in a room of pastors' wives that had combined ministry years of over 600! And there were wives that were at convention that weren't even there. Before that session some of us that were at sem at the same time had lunch together. It was fun to see them but I missed those who weren't there.

I am still kicking myself for forgetting our camera on our trip to Seattle with friends from Canada. Mike had never been there and we saw all kinds of great stuff! It was a really fun day of great friends, great sights, and great food (like Ivar's seafood, baklava, fresh produce, and chocolate covered cheesecake)! Yum!

We are already looking forward to being at convention next year in Fergus!

Buried Treasure

It was another cold day on the river, but the boys insisted that the water feels warmer when the air is cold. Okay, whatever! I think they must have been a little cold because they buried each other in the warm sand.

Setting sail on a log boat

The boys sailed out to climb on the pilings

Andy's head

They buried Will standing up in a hole

The Kitchen Is (Almost) Done

A little over two weeks ago, following the drain incident, I decided to finish doing all the little things I have wanted to do in the kitchen. One was to replace all the rubber molding along the floor and to paint the insides of all the cupboards.

To do that you first have to take everything out of the cupboards!

It's all out!

All clear

Then when everything is out you can start priming and painting. I never realized how deep the cupboards were until I had to climb in to get them painted. I had paint all over me at the end of the day. Everyone knew I was painting!

They are all primed and ready to...

paint!!!

After all the cupboards were done, everything went back in. Well, not everything. Some was added to the ever-increasing "yard sale pile".

Chris got all the trim up, I put everything back on the walls and where it belonged. And it looks great!!! Now I hope I don't mess it up when I try painting the counters. We'll see how it goes.

Looking into the kitchen

Looking out of the kitchen

Now, we are going to do the bathroom. The faucet is leaking and had to be replaced today, so I decided it will be next...

He's Home!!!

We got word on Friday morning that Andy would be home on Saturday! His brothers could not have been any more excited than if we had told them we decided to celebrate Christmas twice this year!

They made signs and displays out of Legos, and waited anxiously by the window just watching for him to return.
All of the Lego men are welcoming Andy home!

Needless to say, Andy had a GREAT time! He saws tons of great stuff and had some fun adventures to share about! My parents had all of the pictures he took developed and brought their memory sticks so we could put all almost 2000 pictures on our computer and watch them on the TV. There are some beautiful photos and I can't wait to start his scrapbook! It was fun to see all the things they did, but Andy was more interested in catching up with his brothers.

Looking at pictures

When I have sorted through them better, I will post some of Andy's favorite pictures and see if I can't get him to write a little about his trip.

The Shipping Lanes

We went down to the river to play today and to watch
the Navy ships heading to the waterfront for Rose Festival.

Unfortunately we only got to see the last one, but there were other ships to watch too.




Navy ship










Ship #1


















Ship #2













Ship #3













It's really cool to be on the river when the ships go by, especially the really heavy ones, because they displace so much water (like ship #1). The water rushes away from the shore while the ship goes by and then rushes back in huge waves after it passes!

Friends met us there and the kids had fun playing in the water (despite the fact that it was only 58 and cloudy today), running around, and racing their RC cars and boats.






It was a fun afternoon!

Prayers and Picnics

It has been a crazy week around here! But we are done with school for the year, so we are all excited about that! With all the busy-ness, it was easy to be distracted about the fact that we hadn't heard from Andy and my parents for a while. Well, it got harder when my grandma called (again) to see if we are heard from them yet. It had been 8 days since we had heard and for a few days their phones went straight to voice mail. Although I kept a brave face, my mind was racing with all the horrible things that could have happened. So, I decided to just pray about it. I prayed about it all day on Thursday. After all, God is in control and I had to give it all to Him. Why is that so hard?

Then at 7:30 that evening, my sister calls and said my mom e-mailed us. So I ran down and checked my mail and sure enough there was an e-mail from my mom. They were at a museum in the Yukon that happened to have free internet access and computers for public use. They also just happened to have a movie that was not over until 8:30 so I could e-mail her back for a reply. Why am I still surprised when God answers prayers? Well I am just thankful that He is patient even when I am so slow to catch on. :o)

Today was our End-Of-the-Year Church picnic to celebrate the end of our "year" at church. We had a great time and the weather was perfect! (Another answer to prayer) Everyone had lots of fun! Now we go into summer mode at church. It will be nice to have a break and it makes it more fun when you start back up in the fall.

I wish I had pictures to share of all the festivities, but I was so busy having fun that I completely forgot to take any pictures. :o(

A Snake In The Drain

Unfortuantely I do not mean a reptile, I mean a plumber's snake. I honestly think I would have preferred the reptile. The boys could have caught it and made it a pet....yes, that would have been much easier. I don't know for sure but I am fairly certain that the whole reason that the kitchen sink stopped draining on Wednesday night was my fault....

Andy called from Canada and while I was chatting away about how it was snowing like gangbusters at their camp in Banff, I let the rice on the stove burn. In order to quickly make a new batch, I dumped the whole pan of sticky burned rice down the garbage disposal. Right after that, the sink stopped draining.

That night before bed I dumped a bottle of Liquid Plumber into the sink and went to bed. In the morning we had a sink full of Liquid Plumber. So my husband did what every bottle of drain cleaner and website says to NEVER, NEVER do. He plunged the sink, to no avail.

The next step was to borrow the snake from one of the trustees from church. After hours of pushing and cranking we still had a sink full of, now, disgusting black water. Not to mention that my poor husband and much of our kitchen was now also covered in the same disgusting black water.

In an attempt to carry on, I continued to make meals with water from the bathroom sink and just let the dishes pile up knowing that "eventually the sink will be cleared and I will be able to run the dishwasher again." (I have a aversion to doing dishes by hand.) After 4 meals and I Bible study group, the dishes really pile up.

Thankfully we got some great advice from one of the guys at Bible study on how to clear the drain, a Drain King. This is an attachment for the hose that shots a super powerful jet of water through your pipe to blast out the clog. So, first thing this morning Zack and I set out to acquire a Drain King. Two stores, a dozen donuts, and 2 Starbucks coffees later (I figured we deserved a treat) we found one and brought it home.

Upon our triumphant return, I found my husband washing all of my dirty dishes in the utility sink. (He definitely deserved those donuts!)

To make a long story short (I guess it's already a little late for that), IT WORKED!!!! The drain is clear again. Now all I have to do is clean!!!

Boys will be Boys

This past weekend Z and I had the opportunity to attend the annual "Mountain Men's Retreat" hosted by Greater Grace of Portland. The subtitle of the event is "God, guys, grub, guns" and is held at SoreAcres in Amboy. Thanks D.S. for letting us use your property! I have been several times before but this year was the first time for Z. I must admit that I was a little worried about how he would do around all the men but was pleasantly surprised to learn that several other men had brought their sons along.

G.P. was our Bible teacher for the weekend. The focus was on using our gifts for God's work. He did a great job of illustrating the how everyone has a purpose and how we must all work together if we are going to accomplish the big purpose God has given us.

As each of us arrives we were given a sealed envelope with instruction not to open it until instructed to and not to show anyone. At the appropriate time we were asked to identify what was in the envelope and what it was used for. Most of us learned that it is hard to know what it is or what it is used for when it isn't in the right context. Later we took all that various pieces from the envelopes and G.P. put them together to make a simple pistol. It was neat to see how all these pieces which we couldn't recognize alone easily fit within one another to form something we were all very familiar with. POINT: We all have talents and gifts and God calls us to work together to be His Church and to accomplish His purposes. All too often we either struggle to see how we fit in or we happily allow others to the do the work and miss out on the opportunity to be used by God.

Of course, having all the guys away from our wives didn't mean we were going to without food. C.M. has been our camp cook for years and always does great work. With him on the job it is like eating gormet camping food.

While the weather was predictably wet the clouds seemed to run out of moisture just in time for the Saturday afternoon gun show. Between the twenty or so guys there were probably something like 7 or 8 shotguns, 9 rifles, and a dozen handguns, with plenty of ammunition to go around. It was fun to try out some bigger caliber stuff.

---

On the way home we both agreed we had a great time. I am so thankful for this great opportunity to invest in my relationship with my son, and I am already looking forward to next year (when both Z and A will get to go!)

Just Will 'N' Me

This weekend the Leingangs split up. Andy, of course, was on his cruise. Chris and Zack went to a men's retreat. Will and I were left alone so we made the most of it! First we went out to supper at a Mexican food resturant in town that Will really likes and had a really yummy meal. Then we came home and played our favorite 2-player games that we hardly ever play because most of the time more than two people want to play a game around here. Oh, and we drank really good orange creme sodas while we played and ate peanuts, too.

After we put all the games away we watched a couple of episodes of Andy Griffith and ate chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream with chocolate syrup on it.

Will didn't want to sleep in the basement by himself so I brought all my scrapbooking stuff upstairs to the dining room table (where it still is), put in "Music and Lyrics" and went to work. When I crawled into bed at 12:30am, I found Will sleeping on my bed. He didn't like being alone. So I covered him up with an extra blanket and slept soundly until the phone rang at 6:50.

My mom called to check in about picking up Andy's stuff on the way through town. They are now headed for Alberta, Canada for a few weeks. Unfortunately, no one was home when they came. But Chris and I both got to talk to him on the phone and hear about what a great time he had! Although we miss him, we are so thankful that he gets to do this! Will and I had to go to a Women's Retreat planning meeting this morning at a resturant down south (sorry Will) and then we went and spent the day with my friend Kate.





Kate and I had a great time! I brought my sewing machine and she helped me make a purse. I was inspired when Emily posted pictures of the adorable purse she made and insisted that it was really easy. I, on the other hand, needed lots of help with the "easy-to-sew" pattern because I do not know the language it is written in. Thankfully, Kate was a great teacher and I only had to take it apart once. I got one done and another started, and I can't wait to make more. When we got done, we out to to a great Thai resturant and had a great lunch.

It's even got a liner!

It was lots of fun and I got out of cooking three meals in a row!