F- Friday School

We love our homeschool co-op! I think our favorite classes (both for me to teach and the boys to take) were WWI this fall and the Dangerous Class for Boys in both the spring and the fall. In Dangerous Class men from the community came in to teach the boys about all sorts of different subjects like chess, astronomy, Mt St Helens, woodworking, knives & knots, military, cooking, fishing, canoeing, soccer, bicycle safety, fencing, self defense, government, auto maintenance, electricity, and archery. It was a really fun class!

fencing class

woodworking class

G- Garden

I have wanted a garden for such a long time and this year I finally decided to do it. Our friends, Kevin and Megan, came over with their beast of a tiller to help me break up the ground and get it started. God blessed us with a very fruitful crop that gave us more fresh produce than I could have imagined for the few plants we started with! It also provided us with a very full freezer, learning to can and beautiful shelves (that Chris made for me) to hold it all.

H- Hawaii

William turned 12 this year, which meant it was his turn to take a big trip with Grandpa and Grandma. Will has always wanted to go to the rainforest, so they decided that Hawaii was probably as close as they could get. So the three of them left the cold and snowy PNW for warm and sunny Hawaii for two weeks of tropical bliss. To see just some of the MANY gorgeous pictures they took, check out Remembering Hawaii

I- Ignition

This summer Zack, Andy and their friend Ian started a band to play at the Bible Camp talent show called Ignition. You have to check out their ROCKIN' performance !

They also added a few more members this fall and play special music at our homeschool co-op.

I have to admit, it’s pretty fun to be a “band mom”! We’re pretty proud of our rock stars! :o)

J- Justin & Melissa

Not only were we privileged to hear Justin speak at our Leadership Retreat in March, but we had so much fun spending time with them before they headed back to Alaska! Justin and Levi spent the day with my parents and Melissa and I headed to Salem to see our friend Emily and her son Elias. We all had a wonderful time! I wish we didn’t have to live so far away from one another. :o(

Elias, Emily, Melissa & Me

Melissa, Levi & Justin

K- Kids (Stella & Lily)

This year two sweet little girls made their appearance in the world. Our niece Stella Catherine was born in April. She is such a combination of both Maggie and Charlie. 

Lily Marie was born at the end of January and is already walking! It’s so fun to have more babies at church! Lily is the baby sister of our godson JD and the daughter of our youth leaders at church. And I think she looks just like her big brother! :o)

L- Leadership Retreat

Every year Chris and I look forward to the PNW CLBA Leadership Retreat in Cannon Beach. And this year was so special because our friend Justin Vold was the main speaker. It was even more special because he even brought his wife along with him! It was so fun to hear what God had to say to us through Justin and His Word and to hang out with so many of our dearest friends and co-laborers in the Lord! The whole weekend was such a blessing!

M- Marriage Rally

With the direction our country is headed we decided this year we would finally take a stand and get involved in a little bit of politics. Washington state had a measure on the ballot this fall to legally redefine marriage. So when we heard about the rally to oppose this referendum, we were there… and we brought friends. There were over 60 people there to take a stand for marriage and families! Although it passed, we were excited to teach our boys about standing up for what is right. And the boys and their friends were excited, too! My friend’s daughter told me that she hadn’t had so much fun since her birthday. :o)

N- Newsboys at the Washington State Fair

We love the Newsboys! So when we found out that they were playing at the WA state fair, we had to go. We took the day off of school and work and headed to Puyallup. We spent the day looking at animals, plants, rides, games, crafts, collections and people. We also got to eat some unique deep-fried stuff! Then that evening we enjoyed a Newsboys/DC Talk concert thanks to the addition of Michael Tait. They ROCKED and we had a fantastic time!!! Check out our day at the Western Washington State Fair

O- Office

After 4 years of having his “office” in the furnace “room”, I decided that Chris needed a real office more than our teenage sons needed a toy room. So it was good-bye toy room and hello office/guestroom. It took quite a bit of shuffling and a big pile of stuff for the co-op free table, but it’s all done. To see the move step-by-step check out the whole shuffle on our blog.

old office

 

new office

P- Praise Team

We have new additions to our church’s praise team this year: Carrie, Zack, and Andy. I sing and play the piano (which I haven’t done in about 17+ years and is not like riding a bike), Zack plays the guitar, and Andy plays the drums. Andy just got his drums for his birthday in January and was already playing in the co-op worship band 6 weeks later! He really has a gift! Like Zack, he taught himself to play and is really good at it. Both the boys are terrific and I am working hard to try to be as good and to play with them. It’s slow work but is paying off. We’re getting better and it is so fun to get to praise the Lord every Sunday! If you want to hear us play, come to any worship service at our church at 11:00am. Here are the directions :o) We’d love to see ya there!

Q- Quilts

Q is a hard letter to do! But thankfully I still love to quilt and even had time to make a few this year. These are two of my favorites.

One was for our godson’s new baby sister Lily who was born in January. She is so sweet and we had fun throwing her and her mommy a frog-themed baby shower 

The second one is one I made for our friend Kari who was married this year. We didn’t get to go to the wedding but I was so privileged that she had a shower in Fergus while we were there for Convention. The picnic quilt turned out so cute and seemed perfect for their new “lake house”!

R- Ropes Course

This year at Bible Camp all the Leingang men went on the high ropes course. It was a pretty big deal because Will has been afraid of heights his whole life. I think Mom was more nervous than he was. But they had lots of encouragement from their friends on the ground! They all did great and Mom was so proud that I bought them all commemorative t-shirts! You have to see the pics at High Ropes Course Day 1, High Ropes with Will & Chris

  He did it!

the guys in their shirts by the ropes course