What a great weekend!

We were so excited to host Dwayne's family here for the weekend! His mom and brothers were all here together for the first time ever, and the first time in years for any of them even individually visiting. Here's a slideshow of photos highlighting their visit.

Come back and see us anytime! (Grant asked where you all were today... and then asked when his birthday party is going to be in an assumption that you'll be here!) The kids really miss you a lot already.

First Fishin' Trip With Dad

While Mom was away at a women's retreat for church, Dad and the kids were invited to head up the Snake River for a little fishing trip. We've got some really generous and fantastic church friends who run an incredible ministry called Better Fishing Ministries and take people out on the beautiful Snake River. While on the river, there is ample opportunity and visual stimulus to talk about God and the gift of his son, Jesus.




Since several moms were at the church retreat, a few dads and the kids got to take a trip they'll likely not forget anytime soon. And thanks to Lauren (the only woman who was on the boat), the "left behind" moms got to witness a bit of the fun via photographs! Thanks, Lauren!

Long Time...

No See!

Sorry to those regular followers of my blog... this last month blew by with no new posts! I've been busy over at Mom-e-Memoirs (in case you didn't know about my "other blog"). But one of my pet peeves are long waits between posts... so my apologies.

My last post did promise photos of harvest... and even though it's long over, I've only just now finished editing the pics I took during one of our favorite local times of the year.



We spent time at "both farms" for harvest... my dad farms at two locations. One is his family homestead, and the other is my mom's family homestead about 45 minutes away. This year we got to include Dwayne's brother Dan in the "family business" and we really appreciated his help driving trucks. It was fun to see the brothers work together out in the fields. The kids LOVE every minute we spend on the farm-- they get so dirty! Grant is especially fond of the farm. He announced this year that "I want to be a farmer like mine Grandpa!" (notice his hat says "Grandpa's Side Kick"... they're a perfect team!)
The very best part of harvest is playing in the wheat trucks. It's way better than sand (but still finds its way into body cracks and crevices)and always great to invite family friends out to experience farm life. Next year if you're around in August, come and join us!

Big FIRSTS in LenssenVille!

Our household is experiencing a big week of FIRSTS!

Our FIRST day of Second Grade for Sadie was on Wednesday... the weather was crummy but she was all smiles! She's got the same teacher she had in kindergarten and she can't wait to start doing science and art. She'll be starting piano lessons and AWANA again soon too.

Tomorrow is Allison's FIRST day on her own at Kindergarten! Today she and Mom got to hang out in her classroom together to get used to the idea of school. Say a little prayer for our sweet 5 year old who can really get anxious about new places and people...

Today Grant took his FIRST field trip to work with Dad. He wore his overalls and work boots and had fun messing around Dad's office. Another Grant FIRST-- last night the boys had the project of taking down his crib and delivered it to Grandpa's shop for storage. He's finally sleeping in his "big boy" bed!

And tomorrow will be Mom's FIRST day with two girls in school and only Grant at home! That's going to be interesting...

Tomorrow will be Dwayne's FIRST day of working wheat harvest with his brother, Dan. Dwayne LOVES harvest and will enjoy sharing it with another Ag-loving, deer scouting brother of his! (Photos of that to come!)

Skype-- LOVE it!

Have you ever used Skype?

If you haven't, you gotta look into it! As a kid who watched "The Jetsons" after school, I dreamed of the day in the 21st century when we'd be talking on the phone and SEEING the person on the other end at the same time... and now my childhood dream has come true! And it's FREE!

You can use Skype to make "phone calls" for free to anyone in the world using an internet connection and a microphone. And if you have webcams (or like me you download a DV driver to use your digital video camera instead of purchasing yet another technology item), you can see the people you're talking to!

Our family was motivated to try this w/ my brother and sister in law who are in Saipan for the year. We talked to them for the first time this last weekend and it was just like they were there with us! I even snapped a photo of them while we chatted. :)

We'll have fun with this all year sharing our crafts and school projects, piano recitals and dance performances from my kids to their Aunt and Uncle who are so far away!

Our Visit to Meet Mya

Got to meet my beautiful niece (and my kids' cousin... they were so excited!)! I just had to share a few photos with you...

Mya Elizabeth is Here!

Welcome to the family, Mya Elizabeth!

My sister Julie and her husband Rob just received the great gift of a beautiful baby girl... their first baby. Congratulations to them...and now I have a new niece!
Mya was born yesterday on the 2nd, at 4:34 am. She was 7 lbs., 8 oz. and 20 1/2 inches long.

We're thrilled to see some photos of her, and we can't wait to meet her in person!

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!