Category Archives: Addyson May

Of Boats and Birthdays…

Tuesday July 29th was my brother and sister’s birthday. They are twins. It was fun to have one of the ‘twins’ with us to celebrate his birthday this year. Our Colville kids own a boat and the plan for this Tuesday was for them to treat their uncle and cousin to a day on the water. Their boat is not a yacht so Greg and I stayed home for boat time.

While the crew were boating I baked a cake and prepared our taco dinner. The candle on the cake had a small explosion of edible confetti that was fun. Note to self: read the directions before you light the candle. For the first candle I didn’t read the fact that I was supposed to put in the edible sprinkles ahead of lighting the candle. Thankfully there were two candles in the package and Jamie loaded up the second candle and Dan lit it for a successful ‘second take’ on singing and lighting and exploding!

The evening was capped off with a game of SkyJo which has become our ‘go to’ card game this year.

Wednesday morning was pack up day with a trip to the airport for our visitors. We stopped for breakfast at Frank’s Diner and another stop at Spokane Falls for a quick view before we continued on to the airport.

The Spokane International airport was a short ten minute drive from here. We dropped off my brother and nephew with hugs and good wishes. ‘God be with you till we meet again’.

We still had to make a couple shopping stops on the way back to Colville for supplies for our Vacation Bible School. After stopping at the Chef’s Store and Costco we drove the rest of our 70 mile trip to Colville with views of clouds that warned of Thunderstorms that were ready to burst at any minute.

We are thankful for the time we could all spend with my brother and nephew in our corner of the world.

Dallas to Colville

My brother and our nephew traveled to Colville to enjoy a Father/Son time with us. Leonard is the youngest of my siblings being born 6 minutes after his twin, Lana. Andrew has an older sister, Hope. Hope was enjoying some cousin time in California. We stopped at The Master’s Brewpub in Deer Park on the way home from the airport for a meal.

As we continued home, we passed many sunflower fields. Andrew was born in the Ukraine so we pulled off the highway to get a photo of him with the sunflowers. They are Ukraine’s national flower and are associated with peace, the sun, and the warmth of the Ukrainian spirit.

Once home we had a walk about and played some Corn Hole.

On Sunday we met up with our family at church.

After church we enjoyed Greg’s famous Swedish Pancakes.

Sunday dinner was on Bayles Mountain. What a treat we had, lamb gyros with homemade gyros and tzatziki. Homemade Ice Cream with huckleberry sauce was our dessert. Our kids picked all the huckleberries themselves.

Jamie remembered to take the group shots and we are grateful for them. Andrew is our children’s cousin. He is cousin once removed to our grands.

Driving down our kids’ driveway for home we stopped for our traditional spot for a photo.

I’ll share our Monday and Tuesday doings in another post.

We had some intense thunderstorms yesterday and our temps dropped by 20 degrees by the time the storms ceased.

Happy August to you all.

Wrapping Last Week Up

At soccer camp last week we had intermittent showers and winds and a beautiful rainbow!

It was a very full week with soccer camp in the evening and golf camp in the morning, not to mention Irish Dance practice, too!

Our road is being asphalted from highway 395 all the way to highway 25. That’s about 20 miles worth. There are times where we have to wait at our driveway for a pilot car to let us out. We have to plan our trips wisely and also leave plenty of time in advance if we have an appointment. The road is looking real nice and it will be great when it is all done.

We have been enjoying my brother and his son being with us since Saturday afternoon. I will have lots of posts to share soon.

I’ll leave you with some flowers that are blooming in our planters right now.

Enjoy the final days of July!

The Great Exchange #4

We are calling the long weekend of July 17th-20th, The Great Exchange. Dan flew west and Laura flew East, exchanging planes.

After the celebration at Yep Kanum Park in Colville we gathered at our country bungalow for some water fun and for dinner.

After cooling off in the water, we enjoyed an Asian noodle dish with chicken that was easy to throw together and a salad. We had a blueberry lemon loaf for dessert with a dollop of ice cream.

Sunday morning we gathered at church filling a row and then came back to our place for Greg’s famous Swedish Pancakes with little smokies and fresh fruit.

Addy and JJ have moved on to enjoying Legos.

There was some epic tug of war battles under the dining room table! They left our bungalow with more events planned before Auntie left for the airport.

Time with Auntie was coming to a close.

Meanwhile on the other side of the mountains.

Saturday morning started early with a game of golf for our boys and Jamie D. These three have been friends since elementary school.

The brothers weekend was a relaxing hit!

We are so thankful to the LORD for our two beautiful daughters in law.

It was time to say goodbye. Auntie LOLO drove Dan and Jamie’s truck to the airport, parking it for Dan to pick up when he arrived on his flight. He had driven LOLO’s car to Seatac for her to be able to drive it home when she arrived. That was the plan anyway but there was a huge glitch to this great plan.

Both of their flights were part of the huge Alaska Airlines Snafu on Sunday night. All flights were grounded with no hope of them traveling this night. LOLO found a hotel next to the airport to spend the night in and Dan drove back to Josh and Laura’s for the night. They decided the best thing for the two of them to do on Monday morning was for each of them to drive and meet up halfway, exchange cars and continue to their homes. That worked great and they were both back at their own homes in the early afternoon.

Sometimes you just have to go with the flow and find a new plan. Thankful it worked out in a good way for both of them to get home safely. Thank you, LORD!

Today, a week later we are heading to the airport to pick up my brother and his son for a 4 day visit here. We have some events planned and are looking forward to extended time together. I will be scarce on the internet for several days. Enjoy the last days of July, everyone!

Just Beachy Hodgepodge

Three generations at the beach in Southern California in the early 70’s.

It’s time for another summertime Wednesday Hodgepodge. Thank you, Joyce!

1. When does time pass slowly for you?

When waiting on news from a loved one. When flying from Seattle to the U.K.

When does time pass quickly for you? 

When spending time with loved ones and watching how fast our grandchildren grow from stage to stage.

2. Do you have a favorite beach? What’s your favorite ‘beach’ activity? Tell us what we’d find in your beach bag.

Laguna Beach in the early 70’s.

Over the years favorite beaches included, Newport, Huntington, Laguna, Emma Wood (Ventura), San Clemente, and Refugio (campground on the beach above Santa Barbara).

In my 74 years of life, over half of those years were lived close enough to a beach to spend a day there or just a few miles from a beach. Our sons were born while we lived in Huntington Beach and our daughter was born in Ventura which is also a ‘beach’ town. In my younger years I loved to be in the waves or do a little body surfing. In high school, I enjoyed playing ‘Hearts’ on a beach towel with friends slathering on the cocoa butter to get a tan (I know…dumb). With small children, I didn’t like the beach because of all the sand I had to clean off everyone, the sand in the food and the panic I’d feel about them being swept away in the waves. In my older days we lived temporarily in Camarillo a short distance to the beach. I loved to have a walk on the beach before dawn and watch the waves and the sea birds. Currently, I’m not a fan of being on the beach on a hot day. If I’m going to spend any amount of time on the beach it will be in the Winter, at sunrise or sunset.

My bag is most likely in the car and I would be hands free except for my camera or my cell phone. I would be taking photos of the birds and the surfers and the waves. I’d have sunblock on and a hat. I would be walking along the shore and not sitting. 🙂

Cousins camping at Refugio State Beach in California, 1984.

3. Your favorite book or movie with a beach setting? 

Flipper and Voyage of the Dawn Treader

4. What’s a food you love, but find it’s a pain to eat? Is it worth it? 

Love is a strong word. I enjoy mussels and they aren’t the easiest to eat. Caramels are delicious but they might pull out a crown. Peanut brittle is another thing that can be dangerous for teeth but is delicious.

5.  Do you like roller coasters? What’s the best (or worst) roller coaster you’ve been on? 

Big Thunder Mountain January of 2023.

I enjoy the Disney rides that are roller coasterish like, Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain, or Space Mountain. I’m not a fan of carnival rides.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

Addy and JJ below the Huntington Beach Pier in the town where their Dad and Uncle were born.

Great Exchange Weekend #2

This great weekend actually started on a Thursday. I posted photos yesterday from all the Thursday happenings. Today I’ll share some Friday photos, mostly from Bayles Mountain.

This little guy looking down the hall, “Is she awake, yet?” Both Addy and JJ love to have Auntie Lolo around.

Indoor Crafts…

Time for some outdoor exercise…

First the Kung Fu kind of exercise…

Come join us, Auntie Lolo!

She is such a good sport!

And now for the cooling off kind of exercise…

Off the mountain for dinner in town on Friday evening…

…past the old barn. How long will she last?

The quintessential driveway evening view looking towards town and our great layering of mountains.

Friday was in the books and we still had two more days of interesting, delicious, fun, inspiring and challenging experiences to come.

 

Great Exchange Weekend Recap #1

Our family had a full fun weekend on both sides of the mountains. I’ll call it the ‘Great Exchange Weekend of July 2025’. Our Son flew West and our Daughter-in-law flew East passing each other at the Spokane airport.

Auntie LoLo arrived to spend the weekend on our side of the mountains and our son Dan took off to spend the weekend with his brother on the west side.

Jamie and the kids waited for Auntie after dropping Dan off for his flight to SeaTac. The kids were so thrilled to have Auntie here for the weekend.

Our westside kids got together after Dan arrived for a meal together. Although it was a ‘brother’ weekend, Katie got to see her brothers. too.

Here in Colville there was hours filled enjoying Auntie Lolo. First up, time spent in the garden unveiling all the incredible produce.

Some of the crop goes right into the mouth.

Checking how tall the vines have grown. “How does your garden grow?”

Speaking of growth our Grands are growing into more independence in their leisure time. They still like to have the company of the adults they love but they can play on their own knowing the adults are close by.

There were many more ‘events’ over the weekend that I’ll need to save for another day.

I’m ever so thankful to Auntie Lolo for all the photos she shares!

Adding the latest from the Hope Fire:

7/21/2025 Hope Fire Quick Facts
🔥 Size: 7,891 Acres
👷‍♂️ Personnel: 1,027
✅ Containment: 45%

Happy Monday to you all.

Name Dropping Hodgepodge

One of the Hodgepodge questions asked us if we’d been to a Disney Park. This photo is from the end of 1991 just before we attended the 1992 Rose Bowl Game in Pasadena on New Year’s Day 1992, University of Washington v. Michigan. Many college football fans represented their colors at Disneyland before and after the Rose Bowl game.

A fresh week of Wednesday Hodgepodge questions thanks to Joyce From This Side of the Pond.

1. What’s a characteristic you admire in others? Elaborate.

I really admire people who can engage others in conversation by asking good questions. I’d like to develop the art of asking good questions in order to get to know people better.

2. Do you have a favorite mug? Let’s see it. Why is this one your favorite?

The mug on the left is my favorite daily mug. It greets me in the morning with a good 16 ounces of coffee. I bought that mug in Windsor, England at a TKMaxx.

3. July 15th is/was National Give Something Away Day…will you (or did you, depending on what day you answer these questions) give something away? If so what? Do you regularly give away or do you tend to  ‘accumulate’?

We will be donating even more stuff from our garage sale to ‘The Bridge’ here in Colville. The back of my vehicle is filled with stuff.

4. You’re planning a trip. Do you prefer exploring big cities or smaller, more off the grid towns? World Atlas lists these 12 ‘off the grid’ towns to see in 2025. How many on the list have you seen? Of those listed which one would you most like to visit? Tell us why?

Boothbay Harbor Maine, Middlebury Vermont, New Hope Pennsylvania, Rehoboth Beach Delaware, Brevard North Carolina, Saugatuck Michigan, Medora North Dakota, Ouray Colorado, Lamoille Nevada, Neah Bay Washington, Hood River Oregon, or Cambria California

We’ve only been to the West Coast areas listed in California, Oregon and Washington states.

We saw Neah Bay on our way to Cape Flattery in Washington State. It is part of the Makah Reservation.

We crossed the Hood River Bridge from Oregon to Washington State to go to Bonneville Hot Springs.

In September of 2009 we were in Cambria. It is a charming little seaside town on the California Coast.

*You can read more about each destination by clicking the link above.

5. Have you ever…ridden a motorcycle? Yes, in high school.

I had a ‘boyfriend’ that gave me a ride.

been to a Disney park? Yes

Collage above is with photos from 1986 and 1991.

Growing up in Southern California and living there until 1988 afforded us lots of trips to Disneyland over the years. Our 9th grade end of year party was at Disneyland. The last time I was there was a family trip to Disneyland in January of 2023.

met a celebrity? Yes, and I have a lot of shameless name dropping to add here. 🙂

In 2013 when Josh, Laura, Greg and I were in London we stopped in at one of Jamie Oliver’s Restaurants and he happened to walk in while we were there. He came to our table to say hi and we got a photo with him.

Greg and I also had the interesting experience of sitting in the VIP box for an Elton John concert at Dodger Stadium for his performance there in 1975. We didn’t meet Elton but we met his mother who was seated there, too. The office manager for Elton was a friend of ours and we were hosting John and Jan and their toddler at our apartment in Los Angeles. We drove John to the concert and he flashed his ID/VIP passes for parking and to get us seats.

In November of 1960 my older sisters and I walked the block and a half to Whittier Boulevard in Montebello to watch John F. Kennedy come by in a convertible and we were able to shake his hand. He was campaigning in the Los Angeles area.

Greg met Peter Falk (Columbo). Greg, his dad and brother painted Columbo’s house in Beverly Hills 1972ish.

One of our favorite famous people who never aspired to fame and who was a humble servant of God, died on Monday, John MacArthur, the pastor of Grace Community church for 56 years. He was our first pastor after we were married. His fame centers on his faith in Jesus Christ and faithful expository preaching of the Word of God. We spent a more intimate time with both him and his father Jack at a Christmas dinner party in the Hollywood Hills in the home of a famous Hollywood set designer, Bob Keene. Bob and Sharon invited us to the dinner while we were still living in Huntington Beach in the 1980’s. We met and became good friends with Bob Keene while singing in the Christian band that Bob’s brother was the leader of. Bob’s brother Tom, an arranger/ composer and musician was also famous in L.A. for his musical skills. Tom Keene has arranged and produced hundreds of albums and played for such artists as Ralph Carmichael, Bill Gaither and Andrae Crouch. But, back to Bob…

This tribute was written about Bob Keene after he died in 2003. His funeral service was held at Grace Community Church.

won a contest? Yes

The school district our kids were part of had a contest to name a new school. The new school was taking in students from Woodin Elementary and Moorlands Elementary so I came up with Woodmoor for the name of the new school and they chose it over all the other entries.

Woodmoor Elementary School ~ Home of the Dolphins

Tell us something about whatever you answered yes to on this list.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

A beloved pastor who finished his race and is with his Savior (1939-2025).

Garage Sale 2025

It was a long two days in the heat but we made it through with some good profits. Just before we closed the doors on Saturday afternoon we had some large last minute sales.

It was fun to watch these two engage with the public and sell their goods. People were very generous and they made $72.00 over the two days. We were only open for business from 8am until 3pm Friday and Saturday.

The conversation of the day was all about the heat and about the fires. It was fun to meet some neighbors we’d never meet without them stopping at the sale. With so much acreage between homes it’s not easy to meet. We recognized some employees from Wal-Mart.

When the sale was over on Saturday, Jamie’s mom volunteered to load the back of her pick-up with items that didn’t sell and that we didn’t want to hang onto anymore. That was so generous and we are thankful.

Our trees are helpful with the shade they provide.

What a blessing it was to be able to have the sale in the shop instead of everything being outside in the heat.

We are recuperating and it will take a couple days to get back to normal around here.

In other news…

Last Thursday morning while we were getting set up for the garage sale we had the fun treat of seeing a Doe with her two fawns. It is so cute to watch the fawns frolicking. I wasn’t quick enough to get a shot of them while they were on our property. If you look closely you can just make them out in the center of the photo.

Last Wednesday Addy had some dental work done and she was such a trooper. She got an ice cream treat after her procedure.

She was smiling before and still smiling after it was all done.

The fire that is closest to us, Hope Fire, is still not contained. Our community is doing their best to help with support for the fire fighters and with housing animals, etc.

This is an update from Sunday night:

A considerable amount of progress has been made on the Hope Fire. Crews worked diligently to strengthen the control line along the southwest and southeast flank of the fire. Other lines were improved or added, including completion of structural protections on Flagstaff Mountain. Aerial operations are being used to cool down hotspots. Total containment for the fire has been updated to 8%.

I am behind in visiting blogs and hope to catch-up when my brain recovers. Hope all is well with y’all.

 

Huckleberry Season!

It’s Huckleberry season around these parts and our Colville kids found a good spot for picking them. It’s not for the faint of heart.

Steep terrain is a given when picking.

I’m glad they went before the fires started.

Nearly 7,000 acres have burned between Kettle Falls and Northport, Washington, with no containment of the fire as of Thursday morning, fire officials said.

The Hope fire, burning near Northport Flat Creek Road and 15 Mile Creek Road on the north side of the Columbia River, has grown to 6,764 acres with level 3 evacuations, meaning to leave immediately, remaining in effect. The fire is about 15 miles north of Kettle Falls.

Wednesday evening the winds were blowing in our direction so it was very smoky making our eyes hurt. Thursday we did not get that same level of smoke. We saw helicopters flying all day for water drops. We’ve been in the shop working hard getting everything ready for our Garage sale today and tomorrow. That is why you haven’t heard much from me. I hope to catch up with y’all next week.

Have a great Friday!