Weekend Road Trip

We spent all day Friday and Sunday driving so we could be in Nampa, Idaho for my parents' 50th anniversary celebration on Saturday.

It took us just over 13 hours to get there. We averaged 66 mph with 5 stops on Friday, so it was a long day in the car. Lyle did all the driving. The girls were content with their earbuds in the back seat. The dog and the guinea pig went along, too, and rode in the back of our Jetta wagon. We put our car-top carrier on for luggage.

Laura and I entertained ourselves as we drove along by snapping pictures, posting them to Instagram and Facebook, and texting them to friends and family.

I love the scenery out west!

On Saturday we all gathered in my brother's yard for family pictures.

My sister is the "real" photographer in the family, and she took the portraits.

Me? I snapped a few shots of the men with their heads under the 1949 Chevy pickup...

...and one of the yard, just because I thought it was so pretty with the morning sunlight streaming through the trees.

 That afternoon we had a "party" with cake, family trivia games, and a slide-show of family pictures over the years. It was a fun day.

On Sunday morning we started home again.

We stopped to stretch our legs at Shoshone Falls in Twin Falls, Idaho...

...and then headed on down the road, through the salt flats of Utah...

...and through the mountains of western Colorado...

...and made it safely home again.

It was a good trip.

Our Homeschooling Decision

Okay, I'll confess... before I had children I honestly thought I would never homeschool. After all, I had survived public school just fine, and as long as I was involved in my children's education I was sure everything would be just fine. The year my oldest child turned 4, a friend who also only had preschoolers invited me to attend a homeschool curriculum fair in Wichita with her. (We lived in Kansas at the time.) My friend did intend to homeschool, and I was interested to see what was out there for preschool... because I knew I wouldn't be sending my child to school till kindergarten.

What an overwhelming and eye-opening experience that was! I took the tote box they gave us at the door and proceeded around the hall, gathering as much information as I could. And that's exactly what I recommend to folks who are considering homeschooling for the first time. Attend a conference. Explore your options.

Up until that time I only knew about a typical textbook curriculum, or a not-so-typical but still very cut-and-dried workbook approach. While I have always loved to teach, I wasn't sure that either of those approaches really appealed to me. I would really just rather read to my children. Imagine my delight when I discovered the literature-based approach to home education! I have always been a voracious reader... and I love to read aloud. To get to do that, and call it school? Umm... yeah, I b'lieve maybe I will homeschool! No, I really didn't make up my mind that day, but it sure gave me food for thought.

I had a part-time job in the evenings as assistant children's librarian at the public library. Working there I began to get to know the homeschoolers who regularly visited the library. Later that summer some of them came in with book lists because UPS was on strike, and their curriculum was delayed in coming. As they asked me to help them locate the books on their lists, I was delighted to find many of my childhood favorites included. Turns out, the book lists were from a company called Sonlight Curriculum.

What really clinched the decision for us was an opportunity to move out-of-state the next year, just before our daughter was due to start kindergarten. We moved to Idaho after school was out for the summer, so I didn't have a chance to check out the public school. My husband and I decided that I would try homeschooling for the kindergarten year and see how it went. After poring over dozens of catalogs, I finally settled on Sonlight  for that first year. By the end of the year, I couldn't imagine not continuing with Sonlight for the next year. And we never looked back.

I started representing Sonlight at conventions in 2000, when the children were still very young. Every year at the conventions I went to, I still explored my options. Yes, I loved Sonlight, but first and foremost, I wanted what was best for my kids. If there was a better curriculum for us out there, I wanted to know about it. Always, I came to the conclusion Sonlight was what our family needed. It is flexible enough that I could adapt it for my kids' individual needs and we could still enjoy and learn from all the great stories.

Looking back, I can't imagine what our life would have been like if we hadn't chosen to homeschool. It has been such a rewarding experience that I wouldn't trade for the world.

This post is part of Sonlight's 25th Anniversary Blog Party (February edition):

I hope you'll join the party.
I'd love to read your story...
plus you have a chance to win a great prize package!

A Sonlighting Family

The assignment today for the Sonlight 25th Anniversary Blog Party is to introduce my family, and share where we are on our homeschooling journey.

My students are these beautiful young ladies, ages 19 and 22. Our formal homeschooling days have recently ended. However, the girls do still currently live at home, so the learning continues. After all, thanks to Sonlight, we raised them to be "lifelong learners."

They say homeschooling actually starts at birth... and it does. When I hear a parent say they could never homeschool it makes me wonder what they think they were doing during those early years. However, our formal, curriculum-based homeschooling actually started in 1998 when Laura was ready for kindergarten. That's the year we started with Sonlight... but that's a story for another post.

Fast-forward to 2011... (and the years went by about that fast...) we were pleased to present Laura with her high school diploma at a group ceremony we had put together with a few other homeschooling friends in our area. Laura graduated in Idaho where we had lived since she was in kindergarten. It meant a lot to her to get to graduate with her friends.

Rebecca graduated this past spring (2014) after we had moved to Colorado. Since she only had one semester of school left after we moved, we hadn't connected with a homeschool group here. Instead we planned a special backyard ceremony just for her with her grandparents and church friends.

Over the years as I've shared our homeschooling story at conventions around the country, I tell how learning is a lifestyle in our family, not just something we do during school hours. And though the girls have graduated and are pursuing their adult lives now... the learning goes on.

This post is part of Sonlight's 25th Anniversary Blog Party (January edition):

   

I'd love to hear your story as well!

Why We Moved to Colorado

[Warning: long post.]
This past month has been such a whirlwind that I haven't taken the time to tell the whole story of why we all-of-a-sudden up and moved from Idaho to Colorado. I guess the story is better told from this end anyway, because we have been amazed at all the details that have come together to bring us here.

We loved living in north Idaho. For 15 years that has been our #1 choice of places to live. Montana was 2nd, and Colorado 3rd. That was as far as we had ranked the states, but obviously we love the west. We figured we would end up retiring in Idaho.

However, for the past 2 or 3 years Lyle has been sensing that it might be time for a job change. He had been working for the same company since 1998, and it's been a good job for him. He wasn't necessarily unhappy there, but he had some goals that he could see would likely never be fulfilled if he stayed at that job. We have been praying about that for quite awhile. This past summer he was actually considering applying for a job he found in Montana, but we just never did feel clear about that opportunity, so he ended up not pursuing it.

In early November, I received word that my stay-at-home contract with Sonlight (which I've had for 13 years) would not be renewed at the end of the year. They had decided to take the advisor positions in-house using employees instead of contractors. I knew that the decision was due (at least partly) to sales tax issues, which made using out-of-state employees much more difficult. After that heads-up Lyle told me, "When they call, ask them if it would make a difference if you lived in Montana or Colorado." (Montana doesn't currently have sales tax, and Colorado, of course, is where the company is located.)

We really didn't expect anything to come of it, but we thought it wouldn't hurt to ask. So I did. Much to my surprise I was immediately told, "Yes! We would be able to offer you a job if you lived in Colorado. Are you planning to move to Colorado?"

I said, "Well, I wasn't planning to. But we would consider it." They promised to get back to me in a few weeks with a formal job offer.

So we waited.

And prayed.

At that time Lyle didn't know of any openings in his field in the Denver area, so we prayed that if this was God's will for our lives that He would open up something there.

Naturally, a major move like this involves many, many details both small and large. Thanksgiving came and went, and we knew that if this was going to work it would need to happen right about the first of the year. It seemed impossible, but we kept praying for God's will.

For our entire marriage (28 years) Lyle and I have always prayed to stay in the center of God's will. Not what we think we want, but for what He wants. And it was the same this time. We honestly didn't have strong feelings one way or the other. It was so hard to know. Over and over I sang:

Ready to go. Ready to stay.
Ready my place to fill.
Ready for service, lowly or great.
Ready to do His will.

On December 5 I finally received a formal offer of full-time employment. As we read over the terms of the offer, we looked at each other and said, "I think we better go down there and check out the situation." That was a Thursday. On Sunday we flew into Denver, continuing to pray all the way.

We had previously researched churches in the area. We decided it would be a good idea to attend a service that week. If nothing else, we thought perhaps the people could tell us about the area, and offer insight or leads on jobs (for Lyle) or housing. Now, visiting new churches is not something Lyle and I enjoy, so it was unusual that we felt impressed to do that. But we gathered up our courage and went that Sunday night. (Our flight didn't get in early enough for us to make it to the morning service.) As we expected, the people were friendly. They were happy to hear we were considering moving to the area, and they hoped we would consider attending their church. It was a pleasant experience; about what we expected. We liked it well enough that we thought we would probably go back if we did end up moving.

Lyle spent Monday and Tuesday passing out resumes all over the city of Denver. He visited 29 print shops. Over and over he was told they didn't have any openings. On Tuesday he got a call-back from one shop that liked what they saw on his resume. They would have a part-time opening by the first of the year and would like for him to come in for an interview. He went for the interview but told them he needed a full-time job.

On Wednesday, I visited Sonlight (just because I was in the area) and told them that I didn't yet have an answer for them. In the hotel that night we decided we would take no further action. We were just trusting God to open the needed doors, and if nothing else happened, we would just enjoy a couple of days of "vacation" in Denver before flying home on Saturday. We both felt at peace with that.

Soon after we got up on Thursday Lyle's phone rang. It was the company he had interviewed with. They would like for him to come back for a second interview and meet both owners. They thought they might be able to offer him a full-time job, after all, based on his experience. Of the 29 shops he visited in the entire city of the Denver, this was the only one that gave him a call-back... and it just so happened that it was only 5 miles from where I would be working.

The interview went well, though they told him they needed a few days to put together a formal offer. Lyle was impressed with the company and thought he would like working there. That seemed promising, so that afternoon we starting looking for a place to live. We continued looking on Friday.

In the middle of the day on Friday we got a phone call from the pastor's wife of the church we had visited on Sunday. They invited us out for the evening. After such a stressful week, we thought an evening out sounded fun, and since a move seemed more likely we thought it would be good to get to know them a little better. We enjoyed visiting with them.

We really didn't expect to hear anything about Lyle's job that week, but while we were out that evening Lyle got a text from the manager of the shop telling him that he would be calling him with an offer next day. About noon on Saturday the call came. Amazingly, the offer was right where it needed to be.

You would think that would be the final answer, but like Gideon, we had to put out even more fleeces. Gotta talk to the kids. Gotta talk to Lyle's current boss (his brother). Gotta sell the house. Gotta find a place to live.

We flew home, still undecided. First, we talked to the kids. They were not thrilled with the idea, but were willing to go with us if that's what we decided. Lyle's brother also was not thrilled to see him go, but he was willing to release him if needed. He was very understanding and gracious about it.

And so on December 16, Lyle gave his brother a 3-week notice, and we starting packing. When our new friends in Colorado found out what our decision was they offered to help us find a place to live. We were looking at listed rentals all over the city, but hoping to not have a terribly long commute. It seemed that the rental market was pretty tight in Denver at the time, because every house we called about already had a contract out on it.

On Thursday, a house was listed only a mile-and-a-half from Sonlight. It was the size and price range we needed. The pastor's wife went to look at it for us, and we put our application in on it on Friday. On Tuesday (Christmas Eve) we heard from the property manager that our application had been approved. I couldn't believe it! I could actually walk to work and it's only a 6-mile commute for Lyle. Even with city traffic, that's not bad at all.

All through the holidays we frantically packed. We listed our house in Idaho with a realtor on Friday, loaded the truck on Saturday, and headed for Colorado on Sunday. When we arrived on Tuesday, the property manager was waiting to let us into our new home. And it turns out, we love the house! I like it even better than our house in Idaho. It has lots of trees in the backyard, which gives us a sense of privacy... plus we have a view of the mountains... right in the middle of the city.

A couple hours after we arrived a dozen or so people from "our new church" showed up to help us unload the truck. Some people we had never even met. What a blessing! We were so glad we followed through on the "impression" we had to visit that church when we were out here last month. God truly does work in mysterious ways.

We think we are going to like it here, once the shock of not living in Idaho wears off. We are praying for our house in Idaho to sell quickly. And we are praying that our new jobs go well.

God has apparently brought us to Colorado for a reason.

What an adventure!

Moving Day 1

We had hoped to be on the road by 9:00 a.m. today. However, it turned out we still had about 4 hours of work to do this morning, including final loading and cleaning, so it was almost noon by the time we were ready to pull out.

 My assigned "rig" was the Excursion pulling the Plan B (12-foot) trailer. Did I mention that I've never towed a trailer before in my life? Seems like a 1,000-mile trip over the mountains in January is a good time to learn, dontcha think? Ugh.

 I snapped this picture as we were ready to leave our neighborhood. Our caravan consists of Lyle driving the Penske truck towing the car-carrier with Laura's car on it, Laura driving our VW Jetta with a car-top carrier, and then me in the Excursion with another car-top carried and the cargo trailer. Lyle's co-pilot is Cookie-the-dog, and Rebecca is riding with Laura to keep her awake and entertained.

 The girls took these pictures as we drove through Montana today.

We got to our hotel in Bozeman, Montana about 9:00 p.m. The hotel beds are soft, which is a very good feature in a bed. We are looking forward to a good night's rest.

Tomorrow's destination: Casper, Wyoming.

Loading Day

 Saturday dawned cold and clear. We were so grateful for the sunshine, which is unusual for January in north Idaho. There were still patches of snow in the yard but nothing we couldn't work around. We had rented the largest truck available (26-feet long). At the beginning of the day it looked like there was gobs of room for all our stuff.

As more and more boxes were carried out of the house, I was almost embarrassed at how much stuff we have. Just way more than we need. This would have been a good time to get rid of a bunch of it, if I had just had time to make some decisions. As it was, I did give away quite a few boxes of books as well as a few obvious "time to let it go" items. Maybe I can weed out more on the other end as we unpack.

 We were blessed with a crew of about 20 friends who came to help us load. Lots of strong young backs made an overwhelming job a lot easier than it might have been. They called themselves "the worker monkeys."

 At lunchtime they enjoyed a pizza picnic in the empty living room.

 Several of them creatively formed what they called a "chain gang" for passing items up the stairs and out the door.

By mid-afternoon it was obvious that the Big Truck wasn't quite big enough. On to Plan B which was to go rent a cargo trailer to pull behind our Excursion. (We had already rented a car transport trailer for Lyle to pull behind the truck.)

Due to the short daylight hours this time of year, it was almost dark and getting much colder by the time we got back with the trailer. We got it loaded by flashlight and decided to call it a day, even though we still had the cars to load.

We slept in sleeping bags on the floor, which wasn't terribly comfortable... but we were so tired we didn't much care.

Up next... Moving Day 1.

The Adventure Begins

We're really going to do this thing.

We picked up the rental truck today. Will load tomorrow. And Sunday we roll!

It's been 2.5 weeks since we made our decision to move to Colorado and started packing. No wonder it seems unreal.

We stand in awe at the many times we've seen God's hand in this process. We wouldn't be doing this otherwise.

The weather's even cooperating, as much as it can for January. We'll be traveling over several mountain passes as a caravan-- Lyle driving the truck and Laura and I each driving one of our vehicles-- and we are praying for dry and clear highways.

I'll try to post updates as the Adventure unfolds!

Camping in the Fall

 Late summer and early fall seem to be when we get most of our weekend camping trips in. I love the weather this time of year. Sunny days with brilliant blue skies-- warm in the sunshine, but jacket-weather in the shade-- and crisp evenings once the sun goes down. Just perfect for enjoying a campfire.

 My favorite part about the campfire, though, is the man who does the cooking. Come to think of it, that's one of my favorite parts about camping. He just assumes he's in charge of cooking. Laura and I aren't stupid enough to try to convince him otherwise. We won't complain about relaxing by the fire watching him.

 For our family, camping is all about getting away for a day or two and just relaxing. And yes, the electronic devices usually come along. We realize we aren't truly "roughing it" but if we don't care, I expect no one else does either.

 Over the years, we've made a lot of great family memories on camping weekends, even when we don't do much but just sit around and look at the trees. It's a good opportunity to chat and laugh and read...

 ...and take pictures...

...and then come home and blog about it.

Late Summer Camping

Setting up camp. 

The highlight of the weekend:
4-wheeling with friends.

My view:
Looking over the shoulder of my Driving Man.

Deep woods creek. 

Our camp site at night.

Sunday Afternoon Drive

When the most-thoughtful-husband-ever surprises his wife with a new camera...

.

...(which she "needs" for blogging purposes, of course)...

... he should just naturally expect to be asked to take her for a scenic drive...

 ...on a sunny Sunday afternoon in September...

...just to try it out.

 Don't you think?

Then when he cooks supper on the backyard grill just as the sun is setting...

...that's what I call a pretty good day!

{For those of you to whom the technical details matter: 

My new camera is a Nikon Coolpix L820 with a 30x optical zoom. 

I am very happy to have it!}

Around the Place

My mums are in bloom. 

It seems a little early, but I'm not complaining. 

They are beautiful.

 The Girls are looking more matronly all the time. 

Peony is the prettiest, in my opinion. 

More importantly, we appreciate their diligent egg production.

The sunflowers are beginning to fade. 

It will be interesting to see how many make seeds that we can roast. 

We have several varieties, and they don't all make edible seeds.

The leaves on the Japanese Maple tree in our front yard are getting darker. 

They'll soon begin to fall.

It's definitely September!