My husband Chris Lute and I have known each other since preschool. We both attended and graduated from Watson Groen Christian/Shoreline Christian School. My parents Richard and Eileen (Visser) Verver both taught at WGC/SCS. My siblings Ryan, Kevin and Teri also graduated from the school. Our youngest niece Isla attends preschool at Shoreline Christian School now. Chris's mom Kathy was a room parent and his dad Mike did a lot of work in the computer lab. Chris's sister Danielle attended WGC/SCS.
A number of my elementary teachers were influential in my decision to become a teacher. I was a TA (teacher's assistant) in the first grade classroom and the second grade classroom when I was in high school.
Some memories that really stand out to us from our time at Watson Groen Christian/Shoreline Christian School are our field trips to Yakima/Sunnyside apple picking in Second Grade, Pioneer Farms in Third Grade, and Deception Pass in Sixth Grade. We also remember Junior/Senior Banquet at Columbia Tower our Junior year and on The Spirit of Puget Sound our Senior Year. We have lots of great memories from our Senior Trip to Florence, Oregon, too.
We were highschool sweethearts and we went to the Junior/Senior Banquet together both our Junior and Senior years of high school. We lost touch, though, after we graduated from high school in June of 1999.
I graduated from Dordt College with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Elementary Education and a minor in English/Language Arts in 2003. I then went on to receive my Montessori Certification in Early Childhood Education in 2005 from the Montessori Teacher Education Center in San Leandro, CA. I love teaching preschool. I have been teaching in the field of early childhood education for fourteen years
Chris attended Lake Washington Technical College. Chris is great with computers and technology and he works in IT Support. Chris says he would not be in the computer/technology field today if it wasn't for all the time he spent in the computer lab at SCS.
In February 2007, My Mom, my brother Kevin, and his wife Cheryl were shopping at a second hand thrift store in Greenwood for a dining table for Kevin and Cheryl. Chris was working there at the time. My Mom taught at Watson Groen Christian/ Shoreline Christian School and Kevin was in the class above us. They got to talking and Chris gave Kevin his phone number to pass along to me for me to call him. Chris and I played phone tag. We reconnected and we got together for coffee.
The next year, in August 2008 we got engaged, and we got married June 27, 2009 at First Christian Reformed Church in Seattle. It's where my parents got married. It's where I was baptized. It's where we attended chapel together as students
We’re also excited the place where we grew up going to chapel and got married will be part of the next stage of our life as well. We have decided to add a tiny (but GREAT!) Lute to our family through adoption, and will be attending adoption trainings at First CRC. It is so awesome how God is working through all of this. Chris is going to be a great Dad. He is so great with our godsons and our nieces and nephews
You can find updates on our adoption journey on our GoFundMe page (click here to visit the page).
