Life at the Leingangs'

Family Flashback- Will’s Birth Day 1997

2012-01-31T11:13:00.001-08:00

Here are some super cute shots of the day Will was born and his brother’s came to meet him for the very first time! But first Grandma had them practice holding babies…

Then they got to hold a real baby…

Zack got to go first and hold Will all by himself!

Then it was Andy’s turn. I love the look on his face that says, “Yeah, now it’s my turn.”

Zack and Andy also brought presents for Will that they picked out themselves.

You can totally tell they how they are checking them out that they really want to open the sweet toys they just bought for Will! LOL

Grandpa and Grandma Ide came to see Will, too.

Then Momma & Will got to enjoy some alone time…

Happy Birthday Will! I can’t believe how fast it’s gone! I guess time really does fly when you’re having fun!!! Thanks for all the fun!

Family Flashback- First Snow

2012-01-18T13:02:00.001-08:00

It is hard to believe that the same boy that got up at 6:30 this morning and played out in the snow for 3 hours didn’t always like the snow…

Zack was so excited when he woke up that morning in 1994 and saw snow out the window! He put on all his snow gear and we headed out to Grandpa and Grandma’s to play with Uncle Frank and Aunt Theresa.

wearing his new hat that Aunt Amy sent him from Euro Disney

Unfortunately, he wasn’t nearly as excited about being out in the snow…

He did NOT want me to put him down! (oh, and check out the sweet giant video camera…)

But just like all good parents who meet with some resistance when we want our children to do things that we know they’ll like if they just give it a chance (much like eating veggies), we didn’t give in…

He cried every time his boots hit the snow…

Uncle Frank felt sorry for him and held him while we went next door to cut our Christmas tree.

notice the “I’m still not happy” face

Not to be deterred, we finally found something he liked…

Well, at least he stopped crying…

Then we decided to kick it up a notch…

We knew he’d like it eventually… But don’t go too fast, Daddy! Don’t worry… they were barely moving but poor Uncle Frank got tired of pulling them both around the yard! :o)

Snowpocalypse

2012-01-18T12:22:00.001-08:00

The snow officially made its appearance on Sunday but wasn’t a very impressive show. At only 369 feet, we didn’t get much. Although it continued to snow off and on for three days, we didn’t have that much, it would just melt in between the very short snow showers.

But last night was forecasted to be the “Big One”. While it did start snowing at about 4:00 yesterday afternoon and didn’t stop, we still didn’t have any snow on the driveway or on our garbage cans when we went to bed…

I had lost hope completely and wasn’t holding my breath on school being cancelled for Zack and Andy in the morning. The forecast was calling for rain by 8am and 40 degrees before noon.:o(

I woke up at about 6:10am and couldn’t go back to sleep. I figured I might as well take a peek out the window and see if it had stopped yet…

Nope! I hadn’t stopped yet!!! So I figured if it was still supposed to rain by 8:00, everybody had better get up and see this school or no school.

It is amazing how quickly even teenage boys get out of bed when you open their door and say, “Look outside. It’s snowing!”

What happened to my planters???

It’s like a candle made out of snow

It was just too beautiful and enticing to not enjoy! Despite the dark and early hour, we all donned our snow gear and headed out to play in the snow!

the front yard looked pretty much like the back yard

the van had a bit of snow on it…

this is the snow that accumulated on the rear wiper of the van

making snow angels in the driveway

the garbage can was bare when we went to bed

perfect packing snow make a big snowball FAST

it barely SQUEEZED between the cars

started the next one on the uphill side of the street

even so, it wasn’t long before he needed help pushing

our house from across the street

the house looks so pretty in the snow!

our quiet peaceful street

Watching the sun come up doesn’t seem so bad when you’re out in the snow! ;o)

About the time the sun came up, the rain started… Just a light rain though.

It looks like a lot of snow, even in the light!

the deck steps disappeared

the chicken coop looks so much better in the snow!

the snowman eventually needed a ladder

Snowman sentry #1

Snowman sentry #2

Unfortunately, our poor woodshed couldn’t take the weight of all the snow and the water… The boys thought a car crashed into something or a firework went off.

After all the playing, and building and shoveling and clearing we came in for hot cocoa and warm homemade sticky buns for breakfast! I love snow days!!!

Happy January Birthdays

2012-01-16T20:56:00.001-08:00

In our family, we group birthdays and celebrate together. We have done it that way ever since I was a little kid and I’m so glad it’s a tradition we haven’t quit!

The kids play upstairs while waiting for dinner

January is Andy, Amy, Theresa and Will’s birthdays. This year we celebrated on Amy’s actual birthday!

This year we had waffles from my parents’ new professional Belgian waffle-maker. They were delicious and I have decided that we NEED one!!! ;o)

Elsie had applesauce for her dinner,but I think she enjoyed it! Look at those chubby pink cheeks! She is so sweet!

We also opened gifts, which is always fun!

Legos! Always a good choice!

What could be in such a huge box?

It is a very flat drum bag… So why the huge box? Who knows??? But it made for a pretty impressive gift!

It also made for a super fun toy for the kids! Thanks, Amazon!

Will is excited about this one and he doesn’t even know what it is…

Will got a light box for taking pictures! He must have known it was something he was gonna really like…

His first light box picture… a Lego, of course!

Even after all that playing and opening we were still pretty full. But it was time for birthday cake anyway…

After all the candles are in, we light ‘em…

I love how Stella did the candles in Amy’s pie! She made sure they were in there really good! LOL

“Happy Birthday to You…”

Andy’s Birthday

2012-01-03T22:49:00.001-08:00

Today Andy turned 17 and I snapped a really good pic of him to mark the grand occasion and just had to share it!

Maybe it was the rum cake??? LOL

Family Flashback- Andy Turns 5!

2012-01-03T10:18:00.001-08:00

We celebrated Andy’s birthday yesterday with a trip to Portland. We went to two music stores (we love going to music stores), wandered the mall, had supper at Red Robin and dessert at Krispy Kreme!!! Yummy!!!

After we got home, the boys all piled back in the van and went to stay with friends on their last night before school starts again on Wednesday. So, while I was enjoying the quiet I got to thinking about other fun years we celebrated Andy’s birthday. The year that he turned 5 came to mind…

When Andy turned 5, clear back in 2000, we lived in one of my favorite houses down in Rockwood. We had a family party on his actual birthday that year.

The highlight was getting his bike…

I love the look of surprise on his face!

And this unknown gift was apparently something he really wanted, too! I just wish I could remember or figure out what it was???

Look how excited Andy and Zack are!

That year for Christmas, the boys all got life-sized stuffed dogs. So Andy got some “supplies” for their new puppies. Their favorite was the box of Milk Bones that was filled up with candy! As you can see, Will enjoyed them a LOT!!! LOL

It was such a fun birthday party that Andy didn’t even mind getting clothes…

Clothes are fun as long as they are Buzz Lightyear clothes!

We also had a snowman themed party for his friends that year. I bought all kinds of snowman stuff on clearance after Christmas!

We even had snowman pb&j sandwiches!

But to make his snowman birthday even more special, God gave us snow when we woke up that morning!!! Now that was a terrific birthday present!

We had lots of fun with all his friends!

Happy Birthday, Andy!!! We love you and are so proud of you and hope you have a super wonderful year!!!

Family Flashback–New Year’s 1998

2011-12-31T14:02:00.001-08:00

This year was Zack and Andy’s very first official New Year’s party. We celebrated by having Grandparents and Aunt Theresa and Uncle Frank over to our apartment to play games and ring in the new year together.

Unfortunately, the boys had so much fun playing games and eating snacks that they didn’t make it to see in 1998…

This picture makes me kind of sad because my grandpa died just a couple of weeks after this picture was taken… Yup, I still miss him! So thankful for pictures and great memories!!!

Christmas Day

2011-12-28T20:29:00.001-08:00

Sundays make for a chaotic Christmas morning at our house! But it is nice to worship our newborn King on the day we celebrate His birth!

We got up a bit late, opened our stockings, and headed to church. Andy even played “I Celebrate the Day” for us. He did a beautiful job!

Unlike most Sunday mornings, no one was really hungry when we got home, so we went right into opening presents…

new ear buds for Andy

Will got the last of what he needed to buy his new camera. Yeah, he was pretty happy about it!

Andy also got a new drum

Zack is now sporting a new .30-06

The most exciting gift of the day was the new PS3 from Santa! He got a really great deal on it by trading in all the Will stuff at Game Stop. Santa is really proud of doing it all without the boys suspecting a thing!!!

So the rest of the day we played Uncharted until we left for Portland to have Christmas dinner with the family.

It was another very merry Christmas for the Leingangs!

Christmas Eve

2011-12-27T18:04:00.001-08:00

This year we celebrated Christmas Eve like our friends across the pond. We had tons of fun food from the UK! Wassail, egg nog, stuffed tomatoes & mushrooms, scones with lemon curd, cheesy pudding, goose, bread sauce, bangers & mash, cottage pie, turkish delight, tarts, brandy snaps, and flaming figgy pudding. By the end of the night we were stuffed!!! Oooo, we even had Christmas crackers for everyone…

Amy and Maggie open their cracker

Elsie looked the cutest in her paper crown!

In between cooking and eating, we played games and opened gifts. It’s just as much fun seeing what everyone else got as it is getting things yourself!

playing the Logo game

Ada felt pretty grown up using Aunt Theresa’s camera!

Maggie got Alice in Wonderland

Charlie got Bullseye!

Theresa made Elsie an adorable fox jumper

Stella liked the scarf I made her, she just didn’t like posing for a picture. ;o)

Just before heading to church we lit the figgy pudding! It was beautiful!

Our candlelight service went really well and we even had visitors! And this year, we arrived before most of the congregation! LOL

We came home tired and watched a movie before sending everyone off to bed early so Santa could get a good night’s sleep!

It was a smashing good Christmas eve!!!

Family Flashback- Seattle Family Christmas

2011-12-23T21:43:00.001-08:00

Here’s a family Christmas in Seattle way back in 1999…

We spent the night at Aunt Margaret’s and then went to Grandma & Grandpa’s for Christmas.

At Aunt Margaret’s

Playing Legos with Uncle Tom

The grandmas

All ready for presents!!!

Seattle Family Christmas

2011-12-23T21:18:00.001-08:00

On Wednesday, we drove up to Kirkland and had family Christmas up at Chris’ Aunt Margaret’s house. Christmas with family is always fun and special and this was no exception! And this year, Mark was able to join us, too!

We had a wonderful time getting to visit with everyone, eating good food, opening presents and playing our new Logo board game from Tom. What a hoot that was! We laughed and laughed and had great fun!

Wearing the blinking Santa hat means you’re Santa, Tom! ;o)

But Donita made a very cute Santa’s helper!

That’s the fun new board game…

Aunt Margaret

Andy got a Kindle from Mark!!!

Donny

Zack’s chocolate gun

William got Photoshop from Mark!!!

Opening more gifts!

Thanks for the very fun evening, everyone!!!

Christmas Lights & Krispy Kreme

2011-12-15T22:34:00.001-08:00

Every year we mix up a thermos of hot cocoa and grab a box of Christmas cookies, hop in the van and take a driving tour of the Christmas lights around town. This year’s tour was a bit further away but something new to us. My sister was able to secure some VIP vehicle passes to the Winter Wonderland at Portland International Raceway (her office makes all of their cd’s)!

It was fun to see all new lights for a change of pace! We saw the North Pole, a ski resort, the 12 Days of Christmas, Baby Jesus, dinosaurs, the ocean, Santa and a whole lot more!!!

On the way south, Chris mentioned that he had a hankering for hot Krispy Kremes… Who am I to deny him that??? So we called my mom, got the address of the nearest Krispy Kreme, programmed the GPS and found the glowing red “hot donuts” sign on!

They even had snowman donuts just coming off the line. I liked them so much I had my picture taken with them! After all, I am getting a bit old for Santa…

Family Flashback- Kicking Off Christmas

2011-11-30T07:25:00.001-08:00

Last night we did our traditional Christmas kick-off. All the decorations are up, the lights are lit, the cookies are made… Then we start out the season with what it is really all about: Jesus!

There is just something about reading the Christmas story by candle/Christmas tree light that helps you really put Jesus back into focus.

As you can see, we’ve done this for a long time!

First we get the tree… (every year my parents’ neighbor gave us a tree)

Reading the Christmas story

After the story is read, I break into the stash of Christmas goodies all ready to go in the freezer, make some cocoa and enjoy what is sure to be another magical Christmas season!

Yay! It’s time for cookies and cocoa!!!

Body Worlds At OMSI

2011-11-21T20:57:00.001-08:00

Today I took Will on a field trip with our co-op to the Body World exhibit at OMSI. The first couple of hours we just wandered around the other exhibits (which we had seen many times before) waiting to see what we’d really gone for…

A high-tech computer game from 1994. You have to take a floppy disk to help save the museum!!! (and it actually makes you READ to play the game!)

William is much better at brain teaser puzzles than I am!

I really wanted to know what was at the top of these stairs???

Playing with magnets

Firing the bass drum air cannon to make the pinwheels spin.

part of the old clock from the Oregonian building

satellite picture of a hurricane

Turbine Hall from above

Now we know where all the paper airplanes go…

Will REALLY wants one of these rocks! (but he chose a pen that looks like a hypodermic needle instead…)

Then it was our turn to enter the Body Worlds exhibit…

Just imagine my blood & guts/photography loving son’s profound disappointment when he learned that there were NO CAMERAS ALLOWED inside the exhibit!

Thankfully the exhibit was so captivating and awe-inspiring that he didn’t mind too much that he couldn’t take any winning shots. But he did often mention how much he really, really, really wished he could!

So, while I wish I had lots of cool pictures of all the incredible things we saw, I don’t have any! But you can check out this link to get an idea of what we saw… click HERE. (But don’t say I didn’t warn you…)

But I have to say that the entire time I was there I was thinking about the marvelous creation that God has made in human beings (and animals)! These verses from Psalm 139 kept going through my mind the entire time I was there:

‎"For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, Your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be."

Guys, Girls, Guns & Guts (Pumpkin Guts…)

2011-11-15T22:33:00.001-08:00

For the first time ever, Chris and I got to go to the annual Pumpkin Bash at Sore Acres. Will and I had to come late because of the photography class, but it also meant that Dad and Frank got to go, too!

When we arrived at Sore Acres we found that there was a whole lot of good food, guns, rain, campfires, great friends and smashed pumpkins!

Oh, and lots of camo, too! ; o)

Poor pumpkins!

The Wii Fit board was a whole lot tougher than we expected!

Shooting is fun but watching is fun, too!

This bad boy was the life of the party this year!

We all came home soaking wet but had a fantastic time! Next year we’re praying harder for nice weather…

A Day Downtown

2011-11-13T21:16:00.001-08:00

William and I were gifted a photography class in downtown Portland on Saturday. We spent the night at Dad & Mom’s and were fortunate enough to have my dad drop us off and pick us up! (I think he really just wanted to go downtown and see the Occupy Portland camp… LOL)

We didn’t really get a good glimpse of too many of the actual Occupiers themselves since they were all still in bed at 9:30am. It more resembles a lice-infested homeless camp than an organized political protest against… Wait, what are they protesting??? I was grateful however for all the police officers who were there to help keep everyone safe! Thank you Portland PD!

William already knew most of what was covered in our class but we did discover lots of cool places to shoot the next time we are in Portland! I can’t wait to go back and see what kind of shots he’ll capture! But here are the ones he took in class…

Winter Jam 2011

2011-11-12T21:29:00.001-08:00

This year we finally got to go to Winter Jam down at the Memorial Coliseum in Portland. Although I had to teach Friday School, Zack, Andy and Hobo (Elijah) drove down in order to wait in line at 10am! They braved the cold damp weather for 5 hours before Chris, Will, Riley and I arrived to find only this many people when we got there…

This only made us appreciate their sacrifice (although unnecessary) all the more! Thankfully it did not start raining until much later in the day and we had a spot under cover!

William took some of the waiting time to explore and take a few shots of the Rose Quarter…

When the doors opened we were one of the first to arrive and we got AWESOME seats right by the stage!!! This was not only more fun and loud, but also allowed William to get some sweet pictures! It was really hard to pick!

This year’s line-up was amazing: Newsboys, Matthew West, Kutless, Fireflight, NewSong, RED, KJ-52, Dara Maclean, For King & Country, and Patrick Ryan Clark & guest speaker Tony Nolan!

Our favorites were RED, KJ-52, Fireflight, Kutless and Newsboys! But the whole show was so great and I am already looking forward to next year…

KJ-52 (he was not on nearly long enough)

RED (LOVE these guys and that we could feel the heat from the flames!)

Newsong

Fireflight

Kutless (loved worshipping with these guys!!!)

Newsboys (Man, we love these guys! Duncan Phillips is the BEST!!!)

“Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise.” Psalm 98:4

Lego Son

2011-11-03T20:39:00.001-07:00

Our youngest son is now officially a Lego mini-figure…

He used to look like his brothers but slightly shorter. This sticker we bought at Brick Con just seemed so much more appropriate. I am going to try to buy everyone a more descriptive sticker this year. Oh, and I need another dog and a cat…

We Have A Winner!

2011-11-02T22:17:00.001-07:00

William spent about two months composing and taking pictures for a blacklight Lego photo contest on Flickr. Today they posted the results and he won third place! Not only are we very proud of him but Will is pretty excited, too! Honor and recognition are great but a set of super amazing Brick Arms is even better!!!

Here is the winning shot:

Crash

The recovery team approached the destroyed space craft to recover as much of the computers as possible.

This is what the contest judge had to say about this shot:

“My family and I went round and round on Third Place quite a bit--as I said, the judging was very difficult given the high quality of so many entries, and the competition for the top three slots was intense!
This scene was not the strongest entry from a technical standpoint--there were others with cleaner photography and more intricate builds. For us, though, those flaws were overshadowed by its composition, its emotional and dramatic impact, and we just kept coming back and looking at it, imagining the story that lay behind it--a sure sign of a winner.”

This shot took Honorable Mention:

Ice

The mountain climber stood there, awe struck, not only by the vast beauty of the glacier, but from the glowing matter, and the eerie glow it cast onto the arctic tundra below.

Judge’s remarks:

“As with Crash, this scene just grabbed us and wouldn't let go despite its simplicity and the technical weakness of the low-light photography. I took a liking to this photo early on and everyone in my family who saw it thought it really deserved to win something, even though we couldn't justify bumping any of the entries that ended up making the final cut.
Both MorsLEGO and Lego Photography already have winning entries, so in recognition of these two shots I'll be throwing a little extra surprise in your prize packages.”

You can see all of the winners HERE.

Check out all of Will’s pictures on his photostream at Lego Photography.

Just wait until he gets his new camera…

Harvest Party 2011

2011-11-01T22:47:00.001-07:00

This year’s Harvest Party was another great success! Having it on a school night had an impact on the number of visitors and how long they stayed but didn’t seem to deter our faithful volunteers. Thanks to all those who came and worked so hard! Hope you all had as much fun as the kids. I know I did!

waiting for kids to arrive

Mom & Dad did a great job at the cake walk! All the kids loved the cake walk!

Kathy and Karen helped the kids with their crafts

Everybody had fun at the games!

Asher, our favorite little bug!

For some reason popping balloons is TONS of fun!

Of course there was LOTS of candy!!!

Percy the happy pumpkin

Trunk r Treating (wish our trunk looked as festive and fun as Mom & Dad’s did!)

While it took HOURS to set up, thanks to all the FANTASTIC help take down was all done in about 45 minutes! Our helpers are the BEST!!!

Family Pumpkin Party

2011-10-30T22:16:00.001-07:00

For the first time ever, we got to go to the family Halloween party at the Clark’s place. We were all pretty tired from working the opening shift at the rest stop, but it was totally worth it!

There was all kinds of yummy treats…

Tanna made really yummy pumpkin cake pops!

Tractor rides down to the creek for s’mores…

Campfires…

Checking out Grandpa’s new root cellar…

Carving pumpkins…

Somehow we only got pictures of Theresa’s airstream pumpkin! But it was adorable!!!

Fall colors…

Thanks for the fantastic day with family and friends! We are truly blessed!!!

Family Flashback- Rock Church Harvest Party 2001

2011-10-30T21:55:00.001-07:00

I am busily trying to get ready for our church Harvest Party tomorrow night and thought about all the time and effort that went into the Harvest Parties we did while we were with Youth Ministries in Chandler. In fact, we were so busy that I only have a couple of pictures… : o(

But what great memories we have!

That year we had the kids paint pumpkins and I had them all delivered to our house to get hosed off and clean before the party. There were a whole lot of pumpkins!

Oh, I miss shorts and t-shirt weather in October (and November and December…)

Family Flashback Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-26T21:36:00.001-07:00

Here is a Leingang family flashback from the year 1997. The first shots are of Zack’s preschool field trip to the pumpkin patch and the rest are from our family trip to Fir Point Farms. Zack was 4, Andy 2, and poor William was only 9 months old and didn’t get to go to the pumpkin patch at all… (sorry Will!)

Fir Point Farms was so much fun that we made it a tradition!

This was probably the one and only time they ever stood behind the “girl one” for a picture. ;o)

Zack takes a visit to the corn village

pony rides

Feeding the goats that live in the trees. They are like the Swiss Goat-Family Robinson. LOL

Our favorite part was the Nut House! (maybe because it reminded us of home… Just kidding!) It was like an old-fashioned ball pit. I always wanted to have one at our house but where does one get that many nuts???

Maybe some year we’ll go back for old times sake…

Cider Press

2011-10-24T22:33:00.001-07:00

We realized that this year was the fifth year the boys have gone to press cider with the Cummings. This year I decided to tag along. It was fun to see the process! Usually we just see the results strewn all over the kitchen floor when we go to pick them up.

The past couple of years have not been good for local apples, so they ordered another bin of apples this year and had it delivered from Yakima. Six hundred pounds is a whole lot of apples!!!

Will obviously took the first picture! Unfortunately he got caught up in the fun and quit after this one.

It was just fun to be part of a bigger community getting together and having fun. Kind of like a quilting bee or a barn raising… In all we pressed (and drank) about 60 gallons of cider!!! We had to quit because we ran out of containers!

Even the rain didn’t deter these guys!

Some of those apples were really BIG!

First the apples get chopped and then they get pressed.

Then we strain the cider through cheese cloth into our containers.

A couple of neighbors had some apples to share, so the kids went over to glean some more for us to press…

Sometimes just climbing the tree works better than ladders

We also picked some grapes from the grape vines and threw them in, too. Apple & white grape cider is mighty tasty!

When it was all said and done we had a whole lot of cider! And it didn’t take long at all with all that good help…

Everyone worked hard but they still found time to play… especially when it came time for clean-up! ;o)

the leftovers don’t look so appetizing

Pressing cider is much easier when you can use a hose for clean-up. Too bad we couldn’t have used it on her poor kitchen floor!

The best part of cider pressing… having a fridge full of cider! We brought home 10 gallons!!!

Thankfully the shelves held up until we could get it all canned! Whew!

Thanks again, Cummings family! It wouldn’t seem like fall without cider…

Truckin’ Along

2011-10-16T21:05:00.001-07:00

It has been a long time since the Leingangs have owned a truck… Way too long! We haven’t had a pick-up since we were first married and Zack was a baby. Actually we were all babies back then.

our first truck

The three of us (well, four… but Andy didn’t come along for another few months.)

We decided it was about time we were a truck family once again. Our family has gotten bigger and so has our Chevy truck…

We took her up to Sore Acres after a load of firewood, after all that’s what we got her for. She did great!

It won’t take nearly as long to get our winter’s worth of wood now!

I think her next job is to go pick up the splitter… But I really can’t wait to take her up to the snow and then camping!!! I’m ready for next summer already! ;o)

McMenamins Edgefield

2011-10-11T22:20:00.001-07:00

Yesterday Chris and I celebrated 19 years of happily ever after by spending a night at McMenamins Edgefield in Troutdale. It is a 74 acre resort with hotels, spas, restaurants, movie theater, gardens, live music… It was originally built in 1911 as the county poor farm, where the poor (namely the elderly and disabled) were supported by the public. They lived on site and those that were able were required to help work the farm. Much of the artwork and buildings reflect the original intent of the property.

But while you are there, you hardly feel poor. The European style rooms (a common bathroom is down the hall) are comfy and without TVs or phones. You don’t miss them. With live music, theater, and tons of places to explore and relax there is no shortage of things to do!

We enjoyed a wonderful and relaxing dinner at the Black Rabbit! We had prawn wontons, salad (mine had a rosewater vinaigrette), steak, broccoli, lamb shanks, chipotle yams, and spinach. Everything was so delicious and served at the perfect pace to enjoy it all!

After dinner, we walked around and explored the grounds before watching a movie at the theater. Cowboys vs Aliens wasn’t the best flick we’ve ever seen, but the Terminator Chocolate Cake with fresh raspberry sauce made up for it!

The Little Red Shed was a tiny and intimate place with a cozy fire burning in the fireplace.

This circle of trees with picnic tables and a fire pit was so lovely at night with the lights hanging in the trees, a fire in the grate and rain dripping through the leaves!

Before checking out in the morning, we stopped by the soaking pool at Ruby’s spa for a dip.

It was hard to believe that such a large pool could be so warm (about 101)!

Not only was it a delightful way to spend our anniversary but it was also the first time the boys stayed home alone overnight! When we called to tell them goodnight after the movie at 11:00, they were already asleep and in bed. Yes, we woke them up! And when I opened the dishwasher and found it still hot I thought something was wrong with it… Nope, they had done a load of dishes so they could fit the rest of the dirty dishes it the dishwasher! Having the best boys in the world is the best gift ever!!!

Brick Con 2011

2011-10-02T22:47:00.001-07:00

On Saturday we took Will and Elijah (aka Hobo) to Brick Con 2011 at the Seattle Center. Will has wanted to go for a while and this year we finally did it…

Here every Lego enthusiast comes to showcase and sell his wares to other Lego fanatics. There were Lego guns, Lego mini-figs, Lego books, magazines, t-shirts, jewelry, new sets, old sets, discontinued sets, custom sets… Anything that money could buy! Sometimes LOTS of money!!!

the Brick Arms dealer

that’s a lot of mini-figs!

ghillie suits

This impressive WWI German soldier complete with gas mask, weapon with bayonet, canteen, ammo pouch and spade just had to come home with us!

I have to tell you that I have never seen so many little boys concentrated in one building ever in all my life. I would be willing to wager that for every little girl there were about 200 very excited and bright-eyed little boys dreaming of a room full of Legos of every shape and color, mine included!

From the balcony it didn’t seem as crowded as it did while on the floor!

There was so much to see that it made one’s head spin to admire so much talent and creativity all crammed into one room! I could not even begin to calculate the cumulative time it took to design and build all that was there to see. Most builders take a full year or more to complete their displays!

We let Will have the camera, so there aren’t any pics of us or any people at all… unless you are under 2” tall and made of plastic. LOL

Here is just a small sampling of all the incredible things there were to see!

the flooding of Isengard in phenomenal and accurate detail

river boats, calendars, skeletons and sushi

just one of many themed chess sets

mosaic works of art

dragons

bees

alien landscapes

castles with REAL water waterfalls!

dwarf mines

medieval palaces

scary volcanoes with smoke coming from the top

1.21 gigawatts to go Back to the Future

impenetrable fortresses

office high rises

a dual screen movie theater that actually played Lego movies on the screens!

a carnival complete with moving rides and midway games

a tranquil little farm

this kids made the most AMAZING firearms completely out of Legos with moving parts! Here he is demonstrating and giving a history lesson on the M1 Garand.

cathedral with stained glass windows

One big bridge!

a slaughter house complete with trailer park next door… ;o)

After we had seen everything we did a bit of sight seeing around the Seattle Center. But not without taking a few Lego pics along the way…

When Will stopped to take this shot in a fountain, a little boy excitedly shouted to his dad, “Look, there’s even Lego guys in the fountain!”

Peter Parker also stopped to admire the fountain before going home.

A trip to Seattle hardly seems complete without a stop at Pike’s Place Market…

What a fantastic day!!!

Ooo… I almost forgot! We saw this convoy from Fort Lewis on our way there. Pretty cool!!!

Riding the Waves

2011-09-26T22:29:00.001-07:00

I suppose more accurately it would be titled, “Riding on What is Left of the Waves After They Start to Recede Back Into the Ocean”. ;o)

My mom bought Zack a skimboard while we were at the beach and he fell in love with it! He could do it over and over and over again… The beach wasn’t ideal because of the pretty steep slope, but it didn’t seem to deter him one bit.

Zack had so much fun with it that Andy decided to join him and got one, too. Thanks Grandma!

Skimboarding is perfect for the NW coasts because you don’t actually have to be in the water to do it, which is good because the water on the beach is COLD!

In fact the cold didn’t seem to bother them at all… Neither did the fact that it was raining!

My crazy boys had tons of fun! Can’t wait to get out and find the perfect “wave” next year!

Devil’s Punchbowl

2011-09-25T23:12:00.001-07:00

Uncle Dennis came for one night while we were at the beach. After watching the sunset at Otter Crest, we drove over to the Devil’s Punchbowl.

We’d only ever been there at high tide but Dennis was all excited about going at low tide again in the morning and doing a bit of exploring in the Punchbowl.

So we woke up bright and early, hopped in the car, stopped for coffee on the way out of town and made our way to the park.

We could not have asked for a more beautiful day! The sun was out, the sky was blue and there wasn’t a breath of wind! The tide was low and we were able to explore the beach, the punchbowl and the tide pools without getting too wet…

the entrance in the distance

inside Devil’s Punchbowl

looking up

the crow was looking down

a window out

we got wet taking this shot (a sneaker wave came in)

poking around the caves in the back of the bowl

That afternoon we went back to see what it looked like at high tide…

you’d get a whole lot wetter now!

The whole beach was under water! I stood on those rocks in the picture above! What a difference!

Thanks for taking us down there, Uncle Dennis! It really was a fun trip!

Bella Beach Up Close

2011-09-22T23:19:00.001-07:00

William, thanks so much for these gorgeous shots!

Beautiful Beach Views

2011-09-21T18:55:00.001-07:00

The Oregon coast is truly one of God’s most beautiful creations! And thankfully Will was able to capture some of that beauty while we were at the beach last week…

These are the rocks we walked out to

getting closer…

looking back towards the house

the view from the rocks

Whale Cove at Depot Bay

Depot Bay shops

the sunset from the front porch

We raced to this spectacular viewpoint in order to catch the sunset

We made it!

the beach at Devil’s Punchbowl

Grandma wanted a picture of all of us in this EXACT spot

Now you can see us!

Beach Play

2011-09-20T21:48:00.001-07:00

Being so close to the beach, and having fairly nice weather, meant we got to spend quite a bit of time on the beach. We did some walking, exploring, digging, kite-flying and just plain old having fun!

We decided to walk down the beach to the rocks in the distance… They were REALLY in the distance!

There was this really cool tree growing along the edge of the cliff with all its roots exposed and a little secret hideaway under the branches!

Driftwood cemetery

Andy decided to climb out on the rocks for a better view.

even though they were barefoot, Will, Zack and Frank decided to join him

Andy found something to climb!

It is hard to dig when the tide is coming in!

Loved this fire pit that someone dug!

Theresa made some deep footprints

Andy and Uncle Dennis finally got the kite up! But the wind didn’t stick around for long… :(

Grandpa and Dad gave Will a hand with his digging

Where is Will???

Oh, there he is!

That’s quite a hole, Will!

Apparently it is never too cold or rainy to have fun digging on the beach!

Bella Beach With The Fam

2011-09-19T22:16:00.001-07:00

Grandma Ide has wanted to go to the beach for a very long time! So before time ran out and everyone was busy and back to school she rented a gorgeous house in Lincoln City for us all to stay in! Chris had the week off from church, the house had internet for teaching, and so we took off after Family Nite and headed out…

We arrived very late (about 12:45) and went straight to bed. But in the morning we got the full tour of the place. It was HUGE! The whole house had a great floor plan and TONS of space. Kitchen, living room, family room, game room, three bedrooms, a bunk room, 4 baths, hot tub, BBQ, fire pit and a short walk to the beach! PERFECT!

While we missed seeing Amy & Greg and the kids we did get to spend time with Frank, Amy and the girls! Uncle Dennis and Grandpa Frank even came down to stay later in the week…

I’m enjoying the kitchen more than Elsie ;o)

Having some quiet time with the Muppet Show

Playing pool in the game room (I LOVE the concrete floors!)

Grandma made us LOTS of wonderful meals! Thanks!!!

Ada enjoyed the sour cream with her lunch!

A Day Made To Order

2011-09-07T22:18:00.001-07:00

While most of the world was starting school today, we decided to take advantage of our flexibility, and the must awaited arrival of summer, and spend the day on the river. If we had ordered exactly what we wanted out of the day, it would have been precisely what God gave us! Ninety degrees, sunny blue skies, not a breath of wind, water like glass… PERFECT! Utterly perfect!

The place we normally camp was under water!

Glassy smooth!

The only waves were from boat wakes and passing ships

Friends came along to enjoy the day and made it that much more fun! We swam, dug holes, ate, read, tossed the Frisbee, talked, bathed in mud (ok, only Will, Riley and Falynne did that), tubed, skied (even I skied), jumped off the boat into the river… all our favorite things to do!

the boys start digging out their mud bath

tubing

Even Falynne went tubing!

But the mud was the favorite for these two!

It was the ideal day! Even Max was good and had lots of fun!

Thanks for the wonderful day, guys! What a way to make the most of the end of summer…

Camping For A Day

2011-09-05T22:30:00.001-07:00

We were invited to go camping up at Sore Acres over Labor Day weekend. Unfortunately, we couldn’t go for the weekend! But we did go up for one night… And it was gorgeous!

We just enjoyed the great company of friends, reading in the sunshine, cutting and splitting firewood, campfires, exploring on the quad, shooting guns, making movies, and trying to keep our puppy from eating paint balls… (Didn’t do so well on that last one. Thankfully, paint balls aren’t deadly!)

Shooting guns

riding the quad

Sitting around the campfire

We didn’t get too many pictures. But Will got some great close-ups! See if you can guess what they are???

Did ya guess what they were?

Other than surprising a truck load of trespassing partiers and the dog eating paint balls, not much exciting happened until the trip home…

Chris noticed the van was pulling a bit to the left when he braked. So he did a test, braked hard and the van veered hard to the left. At the same moment we heard a rock skip along the road under the van. At the exact same moment we heard a horrible scraping sort of noise. Knowing it couldn’t be good, we took it easy until we could find a place to pull over.

Flashlights came out and a VERY flat driver’s side front tire was discovered with no more writing on the outside of the tire! Finding the spare was a bit of a challenge since you don’t expect to find it under the van between the two front seats… But we found it, changed it and was back on the road at a slow and easy 45-55mph all the way home safe and sound!

Woodcutting

2011-09-01T15:31:00.001-07:00

We went woodcutting for the first time this year yesterday. I know, it’s not a good idea to wait so long when you heat with wood but…

It was a nice day for it and no one cut themselves with the chainsaw and we spent the day with friends!

first we fell the trees

Then we limb them

Then all the limbs go into giant piles to chip

Then the boys load the cut up wood into the quad trailer and take it to the truck. That is if William isn’t dead in the trailer…

Then you mess around with the chainsaw for a funny picture…

Then you build a fire to cook hot dogs and chili for lunch

Lastly, you celebrate being done by driving the quad up to the top of the mountain to enjoy the view!

Can’t wait to go again soon!

Hiking Coldwater Lake

2011-08-31T23:03:00.001-07:00

Yesterday we did a bit of hiking around the Coldwater Lake area at Mt. St. Helen’s. As we got closer to the mountain, the temperature began to drop…

It’s not very clear, but it says 45!

Thankfully, the boys were prepared for just about everything! In fact, it was almost disappointing that we didn’t get lost… ;o)

The first trail we hit was the Hummocks Trail. This 2.4 mile loop wandered through the hummocks at the base of the mountain that were formed during the 1980 eruption. It wandered past some ponds and just above the river.

Hitting the trail… with our jackets

Riley is playing King of the Mountain!

The view from Riley’s mountain

We even saw a few critters on the trail…

a duck…

& a cute little frog

it didn’t take long to lose the jackets…

We made it!!!

After lunch at Coldwater Lake, we decided to try to find the logging equipment destroyed by the eruption on South Coldwater trail… after all, how hard could it be???

the boys had trouble following the rules from the start… ;o)

the road we drove in on

the hummocks we hiked through earlier

the mountain

the lake we ate lunch at

the clouds (which were now at the same level we were)

looking WAY down at the lake

It wasn’t so much that it was so far as it was that it was that we just seemed to be climbing higher and higher and higher… We climbed 1300 feet in 2 miles!!!

You don’t realize how big Coldwater is until you are so far above it!

And just when we thought we couldn’t go any farther, Andy called from further up the trail to say that we had finally made it…

The poor old thing didn’t fare well in the blast! On the other hand… it fared pretty well through the blast. I was kind of disappointed that more people didn’t know about it. Andy pointed out that it was a good thing more people didn’t know about it… As you can see, no one has really disturbed it. Best part: NO graffiti!

Here are some great close-ups that Will took:

The hike down was much easier!

an old water truck

thank heaven that Riley and Zack were able to hold that log up so we could pass under… LOL

Thanks Megan and Riley for a very fun day! We can’t wait to go back and take Chris!!!

Terry Taylor Treasures

2011-08-12T22:22:00.001-07:00

This year Theresa joined us again for our trip to the Terry Taylor garage sale. As always there were tons of garage sales and people everywhere!

If only I put my hair in curlers

Very cute bread wrapper!

It’s a kabob maker

This 1947 Nash was a gorgeous car!

I just had to bring home this fish tray!

I also got a new egg cup!

A great deal on trims!

I love these vintage can labels! They are so pretty!

As a bonus, this year’s sale included an estate sale of an elderly couple who collected owls and had lots of fun old stuff!

What a sweet little couple!

Matches

A Belgian toiletries kit

This print needs a frame

Circa 1953

I’ve been looking for a set of these for forever!

It needs a few alterations but I can’t wait to wear it this winter!

I picked up some great treasures at the sale but some of the best things were part of the house!

I want lights like this in our hallway!

This Formica is terrific!

This pink dishwasher is incredible! I especially love the round rack on top!

But this little beauty was my absolute favorite thing of all! I really gotta get me one of these! It’s got everything you could ever need!

I am already looking forward to next year’s Terry Taylor!

Great Escape 2011 Last Day

2011-08-11T22:50:00.001-07:00

The last day we awoke to a light misty rain falling. We ate a quick breakfast and packed up in record time! Everyone hopped in the cars and we drove up to spend the morning walking through Seaside.

First stop: The Candyman! 170 flavors of salt water taffy. Not as good as Bruce’s but a really fun store! We also brought home some very interesting flavors like jalapeno, rum raisin, pumpkin pie and black widow to name a few. Some were good, some were not…

Then we all split up and saw the town! Chris and I didn’t take any pictures of our shopping trip but the boys apparently had lots of fun exploring the shops and the beach!

At the arcade

Will and his little friend

Wouldn’t we all???

That’s a good lookin’ bunch of guys!

It got Hobo!!!

Didn’t you learn your lesson the last time???

Hitting the beach

We all met up again at lunch and headed to the fateful lunch at Broadway Park and then the ER… See HERE for that whole story!

Before we went back to Longview we stopped at the Rag & Bone… We figured Will deserved a stop there!

How could you not like a place with real Viking and knight helmets and army stuff???

Great Escape 2011 was a blast and I can’t wait for next year… (yes, I already know where we’re going!)

Great Escape 2011 Day Three

2011-08-10T21:48:00.001-07:00

Most of the third day consisted of a second game of assassins (Zack had craftily won the previous day) and much plotting, suspicion and watching of one’s back.

The trip for the afternoon was to be to the remains of the Peter Iredale. But since the time of our arrival coincided with the highest tide of the month, we chose to drive a bit further south to Cannon Beach and Ecola State Park.

But before heading to the park our group descended onto to Bruce’s Candy Kitchen in Cannon Beach. Much candy was bought (and eaten), including a 5 pound gummi bear!

Riley and his bear

Thanks to the confusion and busyness of the store, many people were assassinated and only two remained by the time we reached the park. It was there decided that the two survivors would battle it out in a Sharpie duel to determine the winner…

After much fighting, the victory was won by Beth but she relinquished the prize to Hobo.

Now everyone was free to relax and enjoy the views and hikes that Ecola State Park had to offer!

When we saw this beach we decided we had to get there!

We had checked out all the views, changed into shorts and hiking shoes and took off down the trail towards the sandy and secluded beach…

Considering how far down the beach was, we certainly did a lot of hiking up. But when we arrived, we found it was all worth it!

There were only two other souls on the beach. The first thing the kids did was jump into the cool refreshing water and set off down the beach to do a bit of exploring…

and digging in the sand, of course!

Eventually we noticed that clouds were rolling in… FAST! Then we noticed that town had completely disappeared. Rain was seen in the clouds over the ocean… It was time to get back to the cars before we got WET!

Somehow the hike that seemed much uphill on the way to the beach, also seemed to be much uphill on the way back! Only even more so! Thankfully, by the time the clouds reached the park there was no rain left in them!

Needless to say, we were all exhausted by the time bedtime rolled around that evening!