Rachel's Challenge

Wednesday night, we went to the Idaho Center where there was this "Rachel's Challenge" that had come to Nampa and all area schools, families, churches were invited to come and listen.
Rachel was the first to be murdered at Columbine High School in 1999's massacre. Her father now speaks to thousands about her life and how she impacted others with kindness.

Our church's youth group was going, and so we decided to go as a family to help out with the driving. It was remarkable to see how this one girl is able to continue spreading acts of kindness through the family's continuing efforts of bringing her story our entire nation.

As a recap, Rachel loved those who either just needed a helping hand, or needed an advocate when bullied. Testimonies from people who had come into contact with her show that their own lives have dramatically changed, simply by realizing she was doing this with a purpose and how they appreciated her for what she had done for them.

Rachel is an inspiring story, one that if you should get the opportunity to hear about her in your community, you should go! They even had channel 7 news there, broadcasting live to the entire valley community. Click on the title of post to be taken to her website.

I Got My Bookcase!

I've been waiting for this for months. All winter, the books have sat in the garage, in danger of getting soaked by the snow melting off the truck and sloping directly toward the boxes. Since construction has slowed to a snail pace, we found a cabinet maker that was willing to give us a great deal. They made the bookcases in paint grade material, and installed them. Dave then spent his time doing his thing.

When I had the boys all start bringing up the boxes, they grumbled that all those boxes would never fit. Close, but I got them all in!
Now, I'll be able to find what I'm looking for. I never want to have to live out of boxes again. Now, the next project is to get the pictures out of the boxes, and get them hung. We could have done that earlier, but somehow, those things just don't get done unless we make it a project of the day.

A Quiet Week

I am still doing more standing than sitting. I can't even lay down on my back yet, so sleeping is rough. But, things are getting done, so I'm happy.

Last week, Zach did a volcano experiment. Here is a rare picture of him!
I let the boys do most of their school work on their own, and they did fairly well with the list.
The boys all got their ski passes for the rest of this season and next. I found 2 snowboards on Craigslist so they don't have to rent every time. Dave got a real nice board with bindings and boots that fit great too. We got a board with bindings that we thought was a 149c, but turns out it is a 155 like Dave's, so Josh will use it instead of Zach. Next time we'll bring our own measuring tape! I can't believe the owner didn't know what size they had. With the passes came 3 lift tickets. I'm on a quest to get in shape for next season, and wear those bomber protection pants while learning. THen, towards the end of the season if I care to venture off the bunny hill, I can use the lift tickets to get up on the real mountain. It was a better deal than buying a pass for me.

We finally got our bookcases installed this week. Dave is busy as I type getting them painted. I can't wait to get all the boxes of books unpacked from the garage.

We had a visit from the Elders of the church. Seems they do this once a year and everyone is on a every other year cycle. We got this year's cycle. We found out a little more about the Education fund the church has. Our school of choice is most likely not going to be one of the supported schools for long. We have 3 other schools to choose from, and next year the boys will be attending one of them. Our neighbors go to Nampa Christain, as well as just about Josh's whole Sunday School class. The more local school is Cole Valley, and the third choice is Foundations Academy, a Classical School here in town. I guess our next step is to visit the schools.