Happy Trails... Until We Meet Again!

As I write this, my brother Mark and his wife Brittany are dragging heavy suitcases, carry ons, hopes and dreams through the Seattle airport as they navigate their way to their gate for a flight to Tokyo.



But that isn't where their trail ends... over the next couple of days they'll be making their way to the final destination of SAIPAN-- in the Northern Mariana Islands. They're taking on the call from God and the adventure of teaching at a christian school in Saipan for this upcoming school year!(photos from Saipan courtesy of my brother... he took them while visiting my sister Suz who taught at the same school there three years ago-- gorgeous, isn't it?)


Our whole family spent the past several days with Mark and Brittany in hopes to fit in some of the time together with them that we'll be missing in the coming months. In fact, my mom planned a "Year of Celebration" with them-- complete with a Thanksgiving turkey dinner (and watermelon for a side dish). Since we don't want them missing out on our family holidays, we celebrated all birthdays and holidays from August through May within an hour of time. Here's a couple of photos of Christmas in July (as well as Thanksgiving, easter, Mother's day, many birthdays...).

Mark and Brit were also lucky enough to be here for the beginning of harvest-- dad's crop of bluegrass.




We will miss you, Mark and Brit! Our prayers are with you today for safe travels and blessings for you and those who you'll meet in Saipan! And all blog visitors, you can keep up with the Sawyers in Saipan on their blog!

Free To Be Me Sing-Along

Watch out, Francesca Battistelli! The Lenssen kids (and mom) are cruisin' downtown and singin' your tune at the top of our lungs... love it! (You'll want to press pause on my playlist at the bottom of my blog to hear the video better.)

Independence Day

It has been so long since I posted something... you won't mind that I post new-yet- already-old photos for your enjoyment, will you?

Here's a glimpse of the 4th at our house.

Virtual Vacay

I was kinda bummed when I realized that we don't have the $$$ to take a summer vaction of any kind this year... so you can imagine how excited I was when I read my friend Becky's blog!
She and her family are headed on a 16 state adventure this summer and her girls were afraid of missing out on summer fun at home with friends. So, Becky's leaving a "flat" version of her girls at home with friends so they won't miss out on anything.

Then in exchange, Becky generously offered to take along other people on their trip! (Well... a flat version of them at least!) So, Sadie and Allison jumped at the chance to "Hang with the Hofwegens" on their major road trip. (Grant wasn't interested... all he wants to do these days is ride on Dad and Grandpa's four wheelers.)

I made a "Flat Sadie and Flat Allison" and we said goodbye to them this afternoon. They've been mailed to Lynden and then will leave on the road trip July 2. Keep up on Becky's blog to follow where the Hofwegens, our girls and other stowaways will be this summer!

(And Beck... while the girls are with you in Lynden they'd love to say hello to friends or family there. They haven't given Grandma Sue a hug since Christmas! THANKS for taking them along! Just be sure to slather them up with sunscreen frequently and get them to bed before 10 pm or they'll be cranky the next day! :)

Sick of Snow Pix Posts??? TRY LIVING IN IT!!!

Seriously. The snowflakes coming down this morning around 6:30 am were just hilarious... ha ha ha. So, I thought, they'll be gone in a few minutes.

Nope. On June 10th, Pullman got SNOW. A lot of it, really. It came down hard through the noon hour. And so my kids got to make a snowman. On June 10th.

It's supposed to be sunny and 74 degrees on Friday. THANK GOODNESS!!!

And hopefully you won't see anymore photos of my kids in snow until next November. Seriously.

Steptoe Butte

After almost 50 consecutive days of work, Dwayne was able to be home with the family this weekend! Woo hoo!

When I asked him what he wanted to do, he said he wanted to go for a drive (really??? You've put thousands of miles on your truck in the last few months just driving around looking at fields for work. And now you want to do that on your first day off???).

So, we loaded up the truck and drove to the middle of nowhere to Steptoe Butte. Having been there as a child, I knew the view was beautiful and it was fun to hike around the hill.

The kids loved it. Simple pleasures. Picking weeds and finding rocks and sticks. Eating PBnJ and doritos. Watching paragliders hurl themselves off the hill (that part was REALLY cool). Basically hanging out together-- good times!

Here's a few pictures to share the experience.

Church Sermon Demonstration

At my church this morning, our pastor had planned a fun demonstration to show the height of Goliath (the giant that David slayed).

When I realized that several family members and friends were going to miss the demo due to serving elsewhere during the sermon time, I decided to tape it. (Especially for my friend Anita's husband John who is the base of the "man-stack" in the video-- thought he'd like to see himself!)

I hope you enjoy it-- it's educational AND entertaining for people of all ages.

Not-so-curly Redhead

So my middle child has the most beautiful red curly hair. I remember coveting red curly hair as a pre-teen (A red-headed blue eyed Miss Oregon won the Miss Teen USA pageant) and wished I could be so lucky.

Then God gave me a beautiful, curly red haired daughter. People comment on it ALL the time.

But she's decided she doesn't love the curly hair. She wants it to be straight like her mom and sister's hair. So, to humor her, we tried straightening it this week. And she loved it and showed it off to everyone.

I sure hope she'll learn to love her red curly hair. But it seems the grass is always greener, right?

New Game for your Kids

It's called "Phone Hide and Seek". Does your cordless landline phone (in my case... my ONLY phone) have a "PAGE" button on it? You know-- the button that, when you press it, makes the handset beep so loud that you'd be able to find it anywhere?

Well, a couple days ago, my 2 year old discovered this fascinating feature. (Who needs a cell phone, right?) So, we made a little game of it! He'd sit and count, eyes covered, while mommy would go hide the phone. Then he'd push the "PAGE" button and go searching for the phone. Sure enough, it kept us both busy for quite awhile (and I learned that the tougher the search, the more free minutes I had to pay bills!) Worked like a charm-- you oughta try it yourself!

Sadie's Spring Recital

For the family members who chose to skip the hour long recital of all kinds of kids you don't know...here's the one minute video of Sadie performing her piece, Roses from the South, Waltz 2 from Das Spitzentuch der Konigin, Opus 388 by Johann Strauss II, arr. Edwin McLean.

Notice the three note chord at the end of the song-- that's a big first!
(Turn off the background music at the very bottom of my blog to hear this better.)

Summer Camp at Ross Point

I have some great memories of church camp as a kid. We are blessed to have a great bible-based, safe and FUN camp close by. I went most summers as a kid, and can't wait to send my kids too-- my oldest had her first camp experience there last summer.

I've always remembered a photo (in the scrapbook my mom made me) of me by a tree overlooking the lagoon before campfire. When my daughter was at camp last year, I remembered the photo and tried to re-create it (swapping a bible for a bag of marshmallows as a prop...).

We were both at the tender age of 6 in the photos. Sniffle, sniffle. Wow!

The ZOO!!!

The kids and I spent last weekend with my three siblings in the Seattle area-- so much fun! The highlight of our trip was the Woodland Park Zoo. And who wouldn't enjoy Guitar Hero with your aunts and uncles! (Yes, Sadie's using an umbrella for her mock guitar...) Just had to share a couple photos.

Lenssen Look-alike Meters

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Family history - Geneology

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebrities - Collage - Morph

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Genealogy software - Roots

A Boy and His Tools

Two photos. Four months apart. Tools for different seasons.

My two year old has "made a living" by shovelling our driveway this last 4 months. Starting back in Novemer, as the first photo shows, his Dad gave him some good training.

Now that we've reached the end of March and see flowers in bloom, Grant retired his shovel and began to service his lawnmower, anticipating the need as our grass began to turn green.

Today, March 27, 2008... he's confused. We woke up to three inches of snow and a school delay. Does he bring the snow shovel back out and park the lawnmower?

Decisions. For a boy and his tools.

My Love

Eleven years. We just celebrated eleven years of marriage! I can't believe they've gone by so quickly... for better or for worse. My husband is really great-- I'm a blessed gal to have such a fantastic man until death do us part!

SWEET!!! (uh... 16)

GO COUGS!!!

Our little town of Pullman is in quite an uproar of excitement as we've watched our winning WSU men's basketball team ROCK their season and now find themselves in the top 16 teams of the NCAA! Good luck, Coach Bennett and team as you play #1 ranked Tarheels tomorrow night in NC. You'll have quite the cheering squad here in Pullman!

This post not for the weak stomach...

Seriously. If you get grossed out easily, don't check out this photo I'm posting. And you may think I'm a sicko for posting it, but it was just too funny (and us stay at home moms need a little humor in our days!).

In honor of St. Patricks Day, my two year old "gifted" me with a poopy diaper. But not just any poopy diaper-- it's GREEN. Yup. It wasn't staged, planned, or "Photoshopped". I have no idea what caused it. But since it's St. Patty's day I'm sharing it.

And now I'm even more seriously considering the beginning of potty training. Who wouldn't?


Here it is... don't get too grossed out!

LOVE Day

Happy Love Day!

I just had to post a recent photo of my little ones and I to tell the world how much I love them. So precious, and so quickly growing up...


And I just got a new scanner, so I had to scan a photo from ages past... almost 11 years ago. Happy Valentines Day to you too, my love!

MORE Snow Fun

Here's more photos of the fun we're having in the snow... gotta make the best of it because it's a nightmare to get anywhere around here with our eternal snow storm. (Did the White Witch become mayor of Pullman without my knowledge???)

Lenssen Blizzard Fun

Join our fun in this 2 1/2 minute video of our snow storm activities... wish you were here to join us! (Turn off my background music by scrolling to the bottom of my blog and clicking "pause" on my playlist before you click play on the video.)