Monday, October 14, 2013

2013 Family Economics and Mentorship Conference!

Our family had a great time this weekend,
and learned a lot at the
Family Economics and Mentorship Conference in Ocean Shores, WA.
It was full of inspiring speakers!
 
And we had some fun times of fellowship with many families!
 
I was so busy enjoying the speakers and visiting,
that I didn't take many pictures! 
The only ones I snapped were of our delicious waffle breakfast that Lydia fixed for us in the hotel lobby, and a few of playtime on the beach!
 






Thursday, October 10, 2013

What We Learned About on Our Field Trip Today! :-)

 
Oceanology!
 
Wildlife Biology!
 
 
Patience!
Hmmmmmm . . .Ecology?
 

 or maybe fishing? ;-)
Wind Velocity!

Gravity!
 
 
Sociology (the effects of peer pressure)
 
 Creative Thinking!
Geology!
 Physics!
Physical Fitness!
 
 
 
Brotherly Love!
Arithmetic!

 
Psychology?
 Culture Studies!
 Hydrology!

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Quadruple the Fun ~ Part I

It's that time of year again,
when we get to celebrate our four blessings that came at once;  
(Beautifully sewn outfits thanks to Grammie Bowes! :-)

 and eat lots of cake; : -)

and rejoice in how they are growing up in the Lord . . .
from tiny babes, to sweet 16 . . . now to 17;  
and thank God for all the fun and joy they bring!  :-)


We praise the Lord for each one of our special blessings!
We love how God has created each one so unique,
with the abilities and various gifts He has given them!
 What a blessing it is to watch His beautiful plan for them unfold! 

Sunday, October 6, 2013

Speechless!

What do you get when you have . . .
an amazingly gifted musician with an amazingly gifted band
that together make amazing, God-honoring music;
a big group of people from all different ethnicities, churches,
walks of life, cities and age ranges;
collective praise and worship of our awesome God that nearly raises the roof; :-)
and a passionate plea for orphans in their distress
 . . . . that all show up in the same place?   
 
A little taste of heaven, and a Steven Curtis Chapman concert! : -)
And Kyle and I had the privilege and joy of taking Valerie,
the birthday girl,
to all this and more!
 
 
 
 
 
Laura Story joined in to sing "How Great Thou Art"
with SCC and the band. 
 We enjoyed their medley of some of his oldie-but-goodie songs!
And then he sang many of his new ones!
 We love the fact that SCC is so passionate about orphan care,
and devotes so much at his concerts to raising awareness of the orphan crisis.
He encourages everyone to be involved in orphan care,
whether as a sponsor of children through the organization Show Hope
that he and his family started 10 years ago,
or through adoption.  (They had an adoption agency booth there as well!) 
These next photos were from some slides that were playing before the concert started.
 
Show Hope has helped place over 4,000 children in Christian families through grants
that help with their adoption expenses.



We were very blessed to have Daddy, Timmy, Joe, and Benjamin
escort us up and back to Seattle.
It was really nice to have dinner with them,
and then have door-to-door drop-off and pick-up at the concert! 
Thanks guys!
And of course, Kyle is always up for the making of some goofy fun pictures.
And Kyle especially enjoys teasing Valerie about SCC's "older" age. 
(He IS a grandpa, after all!)
But all in good fun!
Here, he is teasing her about how he might just be sleeping through the concert.

 
 
 

What a very special evening!
Happy Birthday, Valerie! :-)
 


Friday, October 4, 2013

First Days of October!

We've had a full first few days of October!
with some fun "firsts" and a couple extra-special big events in our family!
 
 
Since moving here 9 years ago,
we have been very blessed with using Costco car canopies for our "barns,"
both to house the farm animals and their hay.
They've really worked great . . .most of the time . . .
except for the times when the roofs and sides have ripped and/or been blown away!
(And the kids haven't particularly enjoyed moving hay in the middle of the night. ;-)   
So, in the back of their minds, the girls have always had this
 romantic notion of having a "real" barn one day! :-)
Well, after nine years of waiting and saving,
Victoria and Caroline just purchased a real metal "barn!"
They even chose barn red for the color!
After Daddy, Kyle and the girls did lots of prep work for the foundation,
it was put up by three men (in the rain) in only four hours! 
  
Woo hoo!
What a big day!
 
Then, another huge milestone for Kyle arrived in a couple big boxes!
After three or more years in the works,
Kyle holds in his hand one of the copies of his published book,
 Crossroads of the Other World!
Hooray! 
You can find out more about it at:
and
Brielle was given her very first doll baby today,
by a very special friend! (pictured below ;-)
 
 
Thanks so much, Carolyn for a wonderful day together!

 
We also had a wonderful mid-week visit at the home of some new friends we met at the home school kick-off picnic that invited our family and another family over for dinner! 
They were very brave . . . and very hospitable!
It was a big group and very enjoyable!
 We had lots of fun, food and fellowship!
What a blessing!
We hope to do these get-together more often!
 
Valerie was very excited about receiving her long-anticipated, special-ordered copy
of SCC's new album!  And she's counting down the hours to his concert tomorrow night!
 
~We also praise the Lord for another
great check-up
in Seattle for Richie this week! ~
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