The Growing Gant Family...

It never fails...I'm always in awe at how quickly time passes by.  Ten years ago my Calvin was born and before we know it, he'll be a teenager...May I pause in each moment we're given and reflect on how thankful I am for who God's given us in Calvin.   He decided he wanted to grow his hair out long to "try it out".  It's gotten pretty lengthy!  I'm honestly surprised that he hasn't wanted to cut it with the annoyance of it getting in his eyes, but we'll see how long he lets it go.   We got a visit from Grandpa and Grandma as well as the Sasaoka's from CA since it wasn't only Cal's 10th bday but my 40th.  It sure was fun getting to see them all at once.  Extra spoiled this year (o;   Cal wanted to take the whole family bowling for this birthday Avi on the 6th, Cal on the 8th and Me on the 9th. Happy Birthday to us! They both share my love for popcorn (o;

We always love it when the Thy's come to visit!  Mel always likes coming in the Fall because of how beautiful it is with the changing leave colors...something they don't get much of in CA.  We filled our time with soccer games, pumpkin patches, hikes and even a visit to Lake Pend Orielle.  The time always passes so quickly and the moments the boys get to spend with their cousins is something I'm so grateful for.  Thanks for the sacrifice to come see us Uncle Thom and Auntie Mel! Love them so much! This girl is growing up so fast (o; One of their favorite things...both to do and to eat!

BOTH boys enjoyed soccer this Fall with Real Life Sports! This was William's 2nd time playing and he made the decision all on his own.  He even asked at his last practice this season if Real Life let 9th graders play...He was already thinking about playing into 9th grade!  After his traumatizing experience in kindergarten, we've never pushed the idea of playing again.  Now he says he's really enjoying the sport.  I'm just thankful he's found something he likes to do that keeps him moving.  I want both boys to learn to love being active-however they want to do it. Although William's team didn't win a single game this year, he still managed to play hard, learn some new skills and finish the season.  Proud of him. Calvin's team made it to the top two teams in the league and ended up winning the Cereal Cup Championship.  This is his 2nd time winning the championship and obviously he was pretty excited.   What I love about real life sports is the empha...

 The Cross Country Elementary team at GPA is a short season of only about four weeks.  Calvin decided to try it this year.  Normally we would've said no to two sports at a time, but practices were actually between when Calvin got done with school and when William was released so it filled that gap nicely so we could pick them both up at the same time.  His 3rd grade teacher Mrs. Shroeder was the coach and he loved her last year so that made it fun.   Turns out, Cal's quite the runner!  There were two meets and out of over 40 other 4th grade kids from various schools, he came in 4th both times (1st from his school)!  I was able to be there for the 2nd meet and when he crossed the finish line he told me he was never running in cross country again (as he was out of breath and his face was beat red).  I told him to wait a few days...Sure enough, a few days later he was already talking about how he wanted to maybe try again next year.  It was fun ...

 Although this picture was taken during the first "week", I can now say the first week of 7th and 4th grades are going well!  With my work schedule I wasn't able to be there on the first day and so snapped this picture when I could (o;   This year starts the beginning of Middle School for William!  2027 will come before we know it.  Lord, help us to make the most of every opportunity because the days are short.  He's excited and it's awesome to see.  He gets his own (rented) iPad this year that's required by the school to complete his work and of course, that makes him a pretty big kid now (to say he's pretty proud of it).  He's super responsible.  Good practice for the days he'll have his own phone...Eeek!   As always, Calvin looks forward to school so he can mingle with his friends again.  It feels like everyone knows him and he's got new buddies after the first day.  I must say, he's a pretty fun and friendly kid.  No d...

 We more than paid for our Silverwood passes this year.   We had a total of 11 (Gpa & Gpa Pile, Roberts, Thornes, Strubelts, Beguelins, Gants, Hartleys, Greens, Mark & Brooke's family, Cox's and Wilsons) families who came and visited and enjoyed the park with us, both friends and family! It worked out perfectly for me as I didn't have much PTO time built up to take vacation.  Instead, people brought the vacation to us!  With the RV spot Curtis and Brian Meyers put in this past Spring, we were able to accommodate more people which was awesome.   This year will be a little different than future years if we decide to buy passes again since we had to trade off coming back home to let a little Ember out to potty (and occasionally clean up poop messes!!).  Overall, she did pretty good and the fun we were able to squeeze in between trips was more than plenty.   William surprised me and by the end of the season told us that Spin Cycle was his absolute ...

The continuation of my email thread to all of those who are lifting us up in prayer.  We are so thankful for each and every prayer that's been lifted up!   Thank you all for praying!  It’s been quite a whirlwind around here... *We signed and closed on our house yesterday!   *Monday at 10a is our scheduled inspection for our Idaho house. *Monday morning we pick up the moving truck to pack it up. *Monday evening we meet with our buyers to walk throughout our property and talk more about what we’ve done to upkeep it and discuss things we’re leaving behind.   *Monday night we take the moving truck to Molalla where we will be living with Curtis’ mom and step dad until we head to Idaho.  *Tuesday morning we head to Idaho with the moving truck to empty into into a rented storage unit.   *Wednesday morning we head back to Oregon!   We ask for continued prayers for the following things: (1) That the rest of the process of moving is covered in grace as th...