Christian Heritage Conference

We had heard a lot of great things about the Christian Heritage Homeschool conference in Redmond WA, so we decided to check it out this year.  Another deciding factor was that the keynote speakers were Voddie Baucham and Ted Tripp, a power packed duo.  We decided to go up early Thursday and try to visit the Pike Place Market.  The biggest challenge was navigating the streets of downtown Seattle and finding a parking spot for our van, which is too tall to fit in most of the garages.  Here we are at Pike Place having a snack of bratwurst.
One other note about the trip up.  We were barely into WA when we stopped at a rest area, and another large van pulled in next to us.  A bunch of kids hopped out as our kids were running circles trying to get some energy out.  As they were leaving they stopped and asked us if we were headed to Redmond, not sure what gave us away??  ;-)  Maybe it was the stereotypical white van, or the fact that we had a bunch of kids, or that they were running around a rest area on a Thursday during the school year at 10am.  We also met a family in our hotel that was from Canada, that has come down every year for 7 or 8 years, and it was closer to a 4-5 hour drive for them.

The conference is held at a large church in Redmond, and all the main sessions were in this large auditorium.  This is a picture from a session that I went to with the kids to hear about God's creation and all the unique attributes that God has given his creatures, attributes that could not have come about by evolution.

Our neighbors were also at the conference and apparently they found our van.  If you look closely right below the window you can see they are not Beaver fans.  The Beaver plates probably gave us away, because there were a ton of white vans similar to ours.

Here are the kids during a Friday afternoon session.

Gracie finally passed out, and slept through the whole session, which she needed badly.

Evan with his leg propped up on a stroller.  If you had not heard, the day before we left for the conference he tore his ligament at his ankle while wrestling with his brother.  So, it was tough for him to get around at the conference on crutches, and his foot was still really swollen.

Ethan and Evan with George Washington.  The kids were encouraged to ask him questions.

Mia with George.

The digital zoom on the Iphone is somewhat limited.  Friday night a family friend played a piano piece during the evening session.

Ethan talking to Paul Revere about his midnight ride.

The girls are still smiling, that is good.

The final session Saturday night had a choral piece that is all students.  They practice 3-4 times during the two days of the conference and then sang Saturday night, and they did a number of pieces.  Pretty impressive to throw that together in such a short period.

After the last session Saturday we headed to 5 Guys for dinner before we hit the road.  Everyone enjoyed their burgers and fries.

Part way home at rest area stop, Gracie climbed into Emma's seat, she is a little big for it now.  We had a good drive home, little traffic, clear night, but Emma cried for a good portion of it.  We pulled into our place around midnight.  Next time it might make sense to stay one more night.

We were very thankful that one of our neighbors daughters was willing to take care of our animals while we were gone.  And for our family that watched Obadiah the Guinea Pig.  We really enjoyed ourselves and it was interesting the different feel this conference had from the one in Oregon.  We got to visit with friends from church, as well as other people we don't see often, and we met new folks from various places.  

Short Vacation

This last weekend we headed over to Eagle Crest for our annual winter outing with the Turner side.  However we did not end up going sledding because the weather was so warm and there was not much for snow.  This made the drive over the Santiam pass very easy and low stress, so that was nice.  On the way over on Friday we stopped at the Detroit Ranger station and used the facilities while Emma got fed.  The kids and I also walked around the parking lot.

Saturday we headed into Bend to check out the Hobby Lobby that had recently opened.  Craft store on steroids.  They have lots of craft stuff and fun decor, and since they are owned by Christians there is a lot of Christian themed stuff.  I did like this sign:

And Jennie did pick this up:

Then the guys took off to Sportsmans warehouse for more manly stuff and Big R.  Then we headed to the pool after lunch.  Sunday was some Church time led by Mark and the off for a little hike down to the Deschutes.  

Back to the pool in the afternoon, and then early to bed for the kids, they were wiped out.  Monday we packed up and headed home.  We are very thankful for our neighbors willingness to care for our animals while we we're gone.  Evan had a few eggs to clean up when we got home and Lily found a quiet place to read her Smoky the Bear book.

Back to work and the routines.

Family Camp Bend OR

We went to Bend for a family camp.  Here is our camp, boys in the small tent and Dad, Mom and Girls in 

the big tent.

   

Mia's and Lily's Friend.

Here is the camp below us.

Here is the place where we eat.

They had wonderful songs and a good speaker.

Floating down the irrigation ditch with friends.

Here is a movie about it.

The irrigation ditch ran in to a pond were you could swim and paddle in a kayak.

One day they put out really big plastic sheet and put soap on it to make a giant slip and slide.

Evan throwing knives.

Grace playing.

Lily with her friend.

They had a giant zip line and it was fun.  Ethan on the zip.

Mia went with two of her new friends.

Evan on the zipline.

It is once a year so Lord willing we will do it again.