Something New

Just posted for sale on Lulu, 10 brand new sock patterns:

You know you need this for Christmas presents......  (click on the picture to go to the site for purchase)

The cover is one of my favorites- Silver Lining.
Some samples of the other patterns-

Double Ivy (another personal fave):

 Deviate (with yarn from Tempted):

 Rainforest (with yarn from Three Irish Girls);

 and Suzee Q (with yarn from Blue Moon Fiber Arts):

Get the book to find out the inspiration for the patterns. :)

Many many thanks to my brother-in-law, Bert, for doing all the photography. :)

Some Knitting

Remember this post I wrote- way back in April or so?  About the brown Celtic Gryphon socks?? Well, it took me a full year, but I finally finished this pair of socks!!!! I have 2 matching socks, just in time for when I need to start wearing socks again. I can't believe how long it took me to make them. It has just been such a busy year!

Last month, I also knit a couple of baby hats.
They were the same:

Except that one had a longer cuff- as I misread the pattern. 2" is a lot more than 1/2". Oops. But it still turned out cute. I'm going to have to knit some more here very soon. There are so many new babies expected! So sweet and fun. I love knitting baby stuff. It's so fast- because it's so small....

And, I also finally finished a big sweater! One that should have taken me 6 weeks, but took more like 4 months because of the move and school starting....
So here is a sneak preview- this pattern will be coming out in my book next year, look for it!

(Doesn't it look nice on my handsome hubby? ;D)

Things I Love About Homeschooling

Building learning models together:

Field trips:

And occasionally being done with school before noon. 

Homeschooling is fun. :)

A Letter from my Husband:

Fall 2012

“The Lord bless you and keep you and cause his face to shine on you”

Thank you for receiving this letter and taking the time to read it. I hope that it finds you more in love with Jesus and dwelling on His awesome word than a few months ago when we sent the last support letter out.

This Summer has been very busy with our family. As many of you know we have moved again (12 times in 12 years of marriage…..) and are back in Southeast Portland and renting a beautiful house that belongs to the director of Skatechurch; Paul Anderson. It has been a blessing to us to be 12 miles closer in to church, Skatechurch, and to my work sites. Paul moved his family back to his hometown of San Louis Obispo California to plant another Skatechurch.

I was also blessed to be able to go on another Canada trip with the Bible study faithful’s from Skatechurch this year. We traveled, without incidentJ, throughout Vancouver B.C. Sharing the Gospel at skateparks, encouraging each other to follow the Lord, and other obnoxious behaviors contrary to society’s norms.

The demo team was busy this summer as well with a number of demos in Oregon and Washington. I was blessed to lead a great team in skateboard demonstration silliness/awesomeness and Gospel presentations.

The start of the school year has brought back the crowds on every night of Skatechurch ministry. Please be in prayer for this coming year. Ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into the fields because they are ripe for harvest and we want to be the ones who get to share the truth of the Gospel with them and disciple those that come to Him in faith in the finished work of Jesus on the cross!

On the home front, Laurel has been very busy raising our 4 (wow!) children, doing home school, and being my wonderful helper. Laurel has also been spending a lot of time dealing with her health, as it is not going well. Her diet is very limited right now due to her increasing allergies and our lack of money to be able to get her the foods she needs and the professional help necessary (naturopaths, MD’s, and nutritionists) to move her health forward. As it is, she is having severe reactions that can only be controlled by epinephrine injections on a weekly basis.

 Please pray for her. If you are able to help us out financially it would really be a blessing right now.

Our current monthly deficit is about $500.

The Lord has provided a lot of work for me to try and fill in this gap (I am currently working around 60 hours a week) but we are still under water. This has restricted my availability to my family as well as to Skatechurch.  

I know that The Lord will provide for us and protect us in His time as He always has. I just need to ask you to be in prayer for us as we go through this season and to come on board as our supporters if at all possible. Seriously, if you could send $5 dollars a month it would be a blessing to us.

Thank you again for taking the time to read this letter and for being a part of our lives and the ministry of Skatechurch.

All donations to Skatechurch are tax deductible. You can give by check or money order by mailing to:

                Skatechurch

                11954 NE Glisan St. PMB #516

                Portland, OR. 97220

Or by visiting the Skatechurch website at www.skatechurch.net and donating with your debit or credit card using Paypal. 

Love in Christ,

Joel, Laurel, Daisy, Ian, Asher, and Milo Coombs.

Jesus Loves Me...

This I know,
For the Bible tells me so
Little Ones to Him belong,
They are weak
But He is Strong.

How good God is. All the time.

But sometimes we notice it more than other times.



Today, I went for a bike ride. We needed groceries, and Joel's bike had a basket on the back of it, so I went for a bike ride to get some groceries.
I stayed mainly on the neighborhood roads. I really dislike riding a bike on the main streets.

The line at the grocery store was long, and it took a long time to get checked out. It is Fall, and it gets darker faster than I am used to.

On the way home, at the last turn off the last main street into my neighborhood,
I got hit by a car.
No, actually, the BIKE got hit by a car. The front tire. Which is now folded at a 45 degree angle.

Now, let me tell you how I know Jesus loves me.

The driver's windows were open, he didn't see me until he hit me, but he heard me yell, so he saw me faster than he otherwise would have.  There was no other traffic on the 5-lane road we were on for quite a ways- so the cars had time to see what happened and stop so I could get myself, my bike, and my groceries out of the road. My groceries, I might add, that were undamaged except for the sweet potato that broke in half. The milk did not spill at all.

I'm alright. I have some mild sprains and some bumps and bruises, but I'm fine, really. No hospital visit, no blood, no ripped ACL's (which is amazing, considering how many times they've already been replaced).  The only real damage was to the bike- which Joel got for free anyway. I'm sad  he's out a bike and we can't do family bike rides now- but I'm not sure he'll let me back on a bike for awhile anyway....

Jesus loves me.

Last night, I was somewhat lamenting the fact that I don't meet very many people in situations where I can share Jesus with them.  Well, leave it to me to find some dramatic way to fix that.  I hope to see the driver at church some Sunday. Jesus loves him too.