Happy Birthday Chris

Yesterday was Chris' birthday. It's kind of nice that it fell on his day off this year. Unfortunately, it was not a day off for the boys and I. After school I went birthday shopping and picked up our new favorite pizza for supper (see Leingangs Recommend). We opened gifts, ate supper and then went out for Blizzards for dessert. Yum!

Dad likes his new Matrix movie

Every boys favorite gift - clothes! (sorry)

Zack played a birthday song on the guitar while he opened gifts

Blizzards at Dairy Queen

Happy Birthday, Chris. Thank you for being such a gift to our family. Thank you for being a loving, supportive husband and a fantastic father! May God richly bless you this year. We love you!

Birthdays and Boating

Friday night we had a birthday party at my parents' house for Chris, my grandma and my uncle Dennis. It was fun to get to see everybody again! We had great food and my grandma's favorite banana cake. I hadn't had it in years and I forgot how really good it is!

We all spent the night down there and went out this morning on the maiden voyage of Dad and Mom's new boat. Well, their new old boat. Dad got lots of work done this winter and she was ready to go. And God provided a PERFECT day to do it! It was sunny and warm, and a little windy. But hey, it is February after all.

she's in the water

Captain Grandpa

Will's getting his sea legs

It was so much fun to be out on the river. We can't wait to take her out this summer and spend the night on the boat and swim off the deck. It will be so much fun!!!!

Captain Will

enjoying the view of the blue sky

making lunch in the galley

We had a bit of trouble with the fuel pump on the motor which required a trip back home for a new fuel line and a slow trip back to the boat landing with the trolling motor. It was a little rough (you can tell if you watch the video) but that just makes it an adventure! But if we had sped by we would have missed seeing a sight that we had never seen before on the Columbia and may not see again.

comin' in slow

A HUGE sea lion was just ahead of our boat, bobbing in and out of the water. As we were making our way back to the landing we noticed him coming up in the middle of a flock of seagulls. As we got closer we saw that he had a gull in his mouth and was taking it under the water and then bringing it up and shaking it back and forth. The other seagulls were diving in and pecking at him as he surfaced. It was a pretty cool sight and not something you would see every day! I am hoping my brother was able to get a good movie of it.

heading home

Thanks for the cruise Captain Grandpa and First Mate Grandma! We had a great time! She's a beautiful boat!

Good Bye Moon

Tonight was the last lunar eclipse we will be able to see until 2010 and it was a clear night!!! In February, that is a miracle. We had a beautiful view of it right from our driveway. So we got out the telescope and had fun checking it out. We got to see craters on the moon and, thanks to the eclipse, got to see Saturn and it's rings! It was pretty cool because it was just a tiny version of all the pictures you see in books.

Here is a picture that Andy took of the eclipse. It was really dark but it is kind of a neat picture with the moon all red. (it's the brownish-red dot in the middle of the picture)

When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have set in place, what is man that You are mindful of him, the son of man that You care for him? Psalm 8: 3-4

Valentine's Dinner

Yesterday was our First Annual Valentine's Dinner. Our youth hosted a dinner for the church as a fundraiser. Thankfully, two of our youth leader's had done it before and she bought and prepped the food. Thanks, Susie! Josh made all of the placecards and Sonja let us borrow the beautiful decorations from their wedding. It looked really nice!

We had a really good time despite the fact that it was kind of crazy, there were TONS of dishes (thanks so much Dave!), the guys had to dress up, and the fact that we didn't eat until it was over. But it went well, the guests enjoyed themselves, and I learned a lot about what to do next year. If there is a next year... :o)

the guys looked so spiffy

Zack's table

Andy's table

Dave bent over the sink all night doing dishes! I am so grateful! (I hate dishes)

the kitchen was busy and crowded (even after it was over)

Ada Catherine

We got the news last night that we are going to have another niece this July! We are so excited!

Congratulations Frank and Amy!

Homeschool Day at the Capitol

Today we spent the day at the capitol in Olympia. It was a great day and we had lots of fun!




If you are ever in Washington, you should go and see it. (or you could go with us)

A Snowy Busy Saturday

Thanks to the ice, we enjoyed a quiet lazy Saturday last weekend. Despite the snow (it snowed nearly all day), we did NOT have a quiet Saturday this weekend. It was a little full, but LOTS of fun! I can't believe I almost didn't buy cocoa the night before because I figured that the snow season was over. :o)

First I got to enjoy a Mom's Craft Day with some of the moms from co-op. We had a great time as usual. I love being able to fellowship with these moms. It is one of the greatest blessings of our homeschool community. While I was away, the boys had fun too. The neighbor came by and they played in the snow and had hot cocoa. When it was said that a snowman taller than Zack couldn't be built, the boys took the challenge...

putting on the eyes

he's 7 feet tall!

Our godson, JD turned 1 on Friday! So in the afternoon, we headed over to his party to help him celebrate. We got him a life vest for the summer. I don't know how excited he'll be to wear it though.

he did NOT want to put it on

JD isn't sure what to think of Skink (their pet skink)

To top off the day, we did a shift at the rest stop. On a snowy February night, the 8 pm to 2 am shift is pretty slow. We all got sleepy towards the end of the night and were very thankful that our reinforcements came a little early. Needless to say, it was really hard getting up this morning.

the rest stop snowman

hanging out at the rest stop

While quiet lazy days are nice, busy days can be nice, too.

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!