Amazing Grace

GRACE- unmerited favor from God

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.


T'was Grace that taught my heart to fear.
And Grace, my fears relieved.
How precious did that Grace appear
The hour I first believed.


Through many dangers, toils and snares
I have already come;
'Tis Grace that brought me safe thus far
and Grace will lead me home.


The Lord has promised good to me.
His word my hope secures.
He will my shield and portion be,
As long as life endures.


Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
And mortal life shall cease,
I shall possess within the veil,
A life of joy and peace.


When we've been here ten thousand years
Bright shining as the sun.
We've no less days to sing God's praise
Than when we've first begun.

~John Newton

I've been thinking about Grace a lot today. My Aunt Jane was hospitalized with suspected leukemia and had AML confirmed on Wednesday.
As Jane's diagnoses came back it unearthed a lot of pain and memories of being without control. But I know that Taryn's diagnoses and death touched lives and hearts and souls in ways that we can't imagine. For all the pain our family felt God was able to use us to further His work. I'm not the same person I was 17 years ago, I think I'm a different mom and wife because of Taryn. Ryan and I grew closer. I learned to hold tightly but also to let go. I learned that I can handle BIG things but small things drive me over the edge.

Today as I sit here and ponder I have to praise God, Jane's husband, my Uncle Dwayne returned to God and grew to love Him deeply. And his salvation was instrumental in bringing Jane and Sarah into a closer and deeper walk with God. Even if Dwayne's is the only soul that was saved then who am I to wonder as to how God works?

God showers grace upon us not because of the good things we do but because He loves us. His grace and favor is unmerited- I can't earn it and even if I blow it and don't extend grace to those around me He still loves me and  is gracious to me. God's grace has showered us with 5 Boys and a Princess (2 Princesses counting Cheyney). And in the end, His Grace will lead me Home...

Now, because I don't want to leave you in tears- Enjoy!

Coloring Contest

Tovah entered a coloring contest at Anchor Bank. She was very serious about it, she found her Strawberry Shortcake puzzle and made sure she used the right colors on every stripe (Ryan says its because she is exactly like her mother!) She went in and looked at the other entries and said that they didn't use the right colors. Last week they called to say she had won! They started her a savings account with $5 in it. She told everyone that I said she could go to college now since she has a college fund. She's excited to put more money in it and as long as she never discovers that money can come out of it she probably will have a nice little nest egg when she is ready to go to college- maybe it'll buy books her first semester.

Talking about college, I submitted my registration for Centralia College today. I had to tell them what I was planning on doing- I put down Track 1 Associate in Science which includes biology, chemistry, physics, and earth science. My plan is to take whatever is offered at 8 and 9 a.m. and 1 independent study course each term. I'd love to transfer to St. Martins when I'm done but not sure that they offer anything I'd want so I probably will end up at Evergreen. Pre-Med is still my inclination but Med School and the rest would be difficult (not impossible but...)

Count Your Blessings

I am blessed by mud- for it means that we have rain to make things grow and to enjoy the green that makes this truly the "Evergreen" State

I am blessed by mud tracked into the house- for it means my children are active and healthy and can be outside enjoying the day

I am blessed by picky eaters- for it means that my family has plenty to eat and has never had to wonder where their next meal is coming from.

I am blessed by laundry- for it means that our home is full and our lives are blessed with God's exceeding abundance

When upon life's billows you are tempest tossed,

When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,

Count your many blessings- name them one by one,

And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

Count your blessings- name them one by one;

Count your blessings- see what God hath done;

Count your blessings- name them one by one;

Count your many blessings- see what God hath done.

~ Johnson Oatman, Jr.

Trip to Canada

This is my trip to Canada with Centralia First Christian Church. We went up for the Winter Retreat and we also got to hang around Olympic Village and downtown Vancouver. We were going to see an event but the tickets were too expensive (some were going for $1500!)

We went to an indoor water park. It was fun jumping off a five meter tall diving board!

These are some pictures of the trip:


The church we stayed at.

A picture of a medical clinic and pharmacy from the moving bus.

Rush being silly.

Pancake Tuesday

Ryan sent Rush out to the deep freeze to get sausage links for dinner tonight.

Rush: What's for dinner?

Ryan: It's Shrove Tuesday, we're having pancakes.

Rush: What?

Ryan: Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday, last day before Lent... eat up all the fat and sugar and meat in the house?

Rush still looks blank.

Regardless of the reason, pancakes for dinner is always a hit (except with Isaac, he ate bacon and cold cereal). The adults put blueberries in theirs and the kids gagged while we ate them. I guess the kids need a bit more church history or culture or whatever- they have no clue about Mardi Gras, Lent, or why you would give up meat for 40 days or even for one day a week.

On the Olympics front: the commercials are pretty good and I've yet to see curling. Ryan and Rush watched the Men's Biathalon today. I really wished I had asked the kids to get me a pair of those red mittens while they were in Vancouver.

~erica

Enjoy!

Olympics- Knitting and otherwise

I realized it's been forever since I posted. The older boys are supposed to post each week as a school assignment. If they don't finish their school for the week they don't get XBox for the weekend (none of them get it). You do the math- the last time all 3 of them posted in a week (they can negotiate other related projects for blog posts) and figure out how long its been since the XBox has been turned on by someone other than Ryan.


Rush's last few posts are actually pages for his WA State History notebook that I've been copying as blog posts for him. He's supposed to do 3 a week since this is a first semester class and I think the semester break has come and gone. But as I polished up his last page Ryan told me to stop getting all Type A about it so I made him help Arin with his post about Christmas Eve. Then I had to walk Ryan through the whole process, Rush was busy and couldn't help him. I have an ongoing list of possible Blog topics on the bulletin board for them to choose from or they can come up with their own idea. We're still working out the kinks....


I've been working on Nate & Cheyney's wedding Storybook. It's ready for them to preview it, it took a lot less time than the procrastinating took. Now I have a deadline for a book for Grandma Hendrickson's 90th Birthday. The party is March 13. I need to be working on it this weekend.


Back to the Olympics. Having them in Vancouver is pretty cool. That's like, we're 4 hours away from Fame and Glory! I'm looking forward to seeing ice skating, curling, Apollo Ohno, bobsledding, hockey, and the freestyle stuff on snowboards. We'll also watch some ski jumping, the luge, the biathalon, and whatever else is on at the same time as stuff we want to see.


We haven't had cable for 14 years but the last couple of years we have toyed with the idea of getting it but never saw a good offer for the stations we want. Well, we got a great offer for DirectTV and it includes Fox Sports NW and MLB so Ryan can watch his beloved Mariners (they have to show me some love to get back in my good graces) and we could get it installed in time to watch the Olympics. We sat down to watch the opening ceremony last night and the kids put themselves to be before the really cool stuff started.


Rush, Arin, and Isaac went to Winter Retreat in Vancouver this weekend. The group couldn't get tickets to any events but are going to be able to go to the Olympic Village and see the torch and stuff. They are going ice skating and playing Canadian 5-pin Bowling. They have enough money to buys t-shirts and pins but it'll be interesting to see what they actually buy as souvenirs.






The Yarn Harlot hosts a Knitting Olympics during the Winter Olympics. The basic rules are you have to cast on during the Opening Ceremony and be done by the time the torch is extinguished. It has to be a challenging project that you wouldn't normally be able to complete in 17 days. I really thought about participating but 1) I'd have to go buy yarn because the only thing in my stash is sock yarn and a pair of socks in 17 days wouldn't be a challenge and 2) I have a To Do list that looks like Santa's Naughty List and I can't drop it all to start a project that would consume every waking minute for 17 days. So, I'm going to work on completing my To Do List and getting Grandma's StoryBook done and working on our 2009 album. And maybe I'll go ahead and cast on that pair of socks and see how far I get on them too.

This is what my To Do List is looking like these days. I even managed to double book my laptop Monday night. I had to take it to Cub Scouts to make Blue & Gold invitations but I told Cheyney Ryan would have it when he came up to give Nathan his Kindle so they could preview the StoryBook.

~Erica

P.S. On the cable front- I'm not finding anything I want to watch. I've watched one episode of Bones, Red Green, and a few Whose Line Is It Anyways?

Christmas Eve

This is Christmas Eve of 2009 in the Engle house we are opening our Christmas Eve presents (AKA our PJs) here are some pictures from Christmas Eve:


Nate & Cheyney got us Halo MegaBlocks!

New jammies are a tradition.