Category Archives: Addyson May

Friday’s Fave Five

It’s been awhile since I’ve participated in Susanne’s Friday’s Fave Five. I hope to visit some old friends today.

Friday’s Fave Five is a place to come on Friday’s and think back over your week and just post about 5 favorite things from your week. It can be anything that tickled your fancy over the week. Favorite quotes, posts, happenings, scriptures, recipes, pictures, great internet finds, etc., etc. Go ahead and grab the button and make your own post. Be as detailed as you like, the more detail the more fun for those of us visiting.  More guidelines can be found on Susanne’s blog, Living to Tell the Story.

1.Thankful for our snow covered landscape for many reasons. One of those reasons is the fact that we can ignore what’s under all that snow. No mowing or clearing brush or pulling weeds. Another snow episode is forecast for us today into tomorrow.

2. We dropped off our original wedding bands, my original engagement ring and my birthstone ring to the only jeweler in Colville to be sized. I’m thankful for the in-house service and that we’ll be able to wear those rings again after many many years of them sitting in storage instead of on our fingers.

3. We had a lovely dinner last evening at our kids’ home with our DIL’s family. Addy is loved by a so many.

4. I received a thank you note in the mail yesterday addressed to Aunt ellen from our niece, Hope, handwritten. That was the favorite piece of mail I’ve had in a month.

5. Thankful for great Bible teachers like John MacArthur at Grace to You and Alistair Begg at Truth for Life. February 9th is the 50 year anniversary of John MacArthur as pastor at Grace Community Church in California. Grace Community Church was the first church Dear and I attended when we were married and living in West Los Angeles in 1974-1975. I like to listen to the daily broadcasts from these two organizations and they enrich my life.

A bonus shot…

Addy has a new ride and she’s doing exceptional with potty training.

We are thankful for a car that can maneuver in the snow with good snow tires. If we get a new car for this area it will have a heated steering wheel and heated car seats!

What’s a favorite of yours this week?

January Birthdays

Jamie and Dan both had birthdays this week so we planned a dinner party. Happiest of birthdays to you Dan and Jamie. It’s going to be another landmark year in your lives as parents!

Jamie loves cobalt blue so I set the table with blues and since it’s winter I added snowflakes and sparkles.

Photos taken with different light in the morning and evening.

The birthday boy, birthday girl and Addy along with Jamie’s aunt, uncle and mother.

Addy loves and is loved by all these guests.

Addy is getting to be a pro at getting on and off Maverick!

Our firstborn son’s birthday is tomorrow. It’s a landmark one. Where did all those years go.

Happiest of birthdays to you, Josh! Glad we could spend time with you last weekend and that we’ll all be together again the last weekend in January!

First Road Trip of 2019!

We decided Thursday evening to hit the road Friday morning (January 11th) to visit our western kids. It’s a 5-1/2 to 6 hour drive from Colville to Bothell. The weather window looked real good for crossing the Cascade mountain range so we packed up for a quick trip. We had to be back home on Sunday.

This was the only photo I took on our trip west. This is the Vantage Bridge over the Columbia River Gorge. Our drive was smooth and easy all the way to our destination. We did not stop except to get a few gallons of gas in Cle Elum before going over Snoqualmie Pass into Western Washington.

Our first stop was at La Corona and these two joined us for an early dinner.

They just got their keys to their very first home. We were excited to make the trip to see their new home in person.

Before Dear and I left for this quick road trip I had made a big pot of Borsch. I froze several containers of the borsch and we took them to Western Washington for our kids to enjoy. We dropped off a container for our Colville kids, too, on Thursday afternoon.

Perfect for a warm up after playing in the snow.

While we were in Western Washington we didn’t take any photos except for the selfie at La Corona. After La Corona we all gathered at our oldest son’s home for some family time. On Saturday we drove to Katie and Andrew’s new home and had a little tour. From there the guys went to the big box store to get some things the kids will need to fix up their home. The girls gathered along with my sister Lana to do some fun shopping at our favorites, HomeGoods, TJMaxx, Target, Hobby Lobby and Costco. After Costco we all gathered at Josh and Laura’s again for a meal together that we brought home from Costco. I bought some new wall art for our country bungalow.

Early on Sunday morning we left for our trip back to Colville.

This is a new wild animal crossing bridge over Interstate 90 just east of Snoqualmie Pass.

We saw a lot of birds of prey from Cle Elum on through Ellensburg. Hard to get good photos speeding along the interstate at 70 miles plus. This was one eagle I was able to capture. After Ellensburg as we headed up and over Ryegrass we encountered some heavy fog that put a huge strain on our eyes.

Once the fog cleared we continued listening to our book on cd that helped our trip West and back East fly by. We were listening to the new Inspector Gamache crime mystery by Louise Penny, Kingdom of the Blind.

Dear got a migraine and I had to drive so no more photos till after we left Spokane and Dear was ready to drive again. In Spokane we stopped at Home Depot and Costco before heading north on highway 395.

The rest of these photos are from after we stopped for dinner in Chewelah at El Ranchito. The road from Chewelah to Colville is one we are very familiar with and the scenery changes seasonally but some things stay the same.

The big C and the cross are the landmarks we see as we approach city center in Colville.

We dropped off some goods for our kids in Colville that we purchased for them at Costco and had some sweet time with Addy before we headed the 8 miles home again, home again, jiggety jig.

It was good to get home and heat up the house before we hit the sack.

We still have a cd to listen to for the Inspector Gamache story’s end. Our trip afforded us 9 cd’s out of 10. Do you listen to books on cd? We love to travel that way.

We had/have 3 family birthdays this week. More about those events to come…

Up to Date…

This little munchkin got to spend some time with Baba and Gramps on Monday because these two…

… had things to do without the help of a toddler.

Addy is learning the lay of the land at Baba and Gramps’ house.

Having no skid socks makes running on the tile floors safer.

We had a lot of fun playing with the helium balloon, bouncy balls, the rocking horse, and a stethoscope. We made sure the dollies got their shoes back on. I’ll have to take a photo of where Addy likes to store those dolls besides Katie’s cradle.

My views today after we got another dusting of snow in the night.

1/2

We are expecting rain soon that will melt a lot of this away. Hopefully enough to melt the solid pack of ice underneath.

Today is a good day to stay in and make a big pot of Borsch.

 

Mosaic Monday

Who knew a helium balloon could bring so much delight. On Boxing day, in the evening, we stopped at our local Safeway market and after we rang out at the check stand the checker asked us if we could use this balloon. We said sure and took it home with us for free. When Addy came over with her parents last Thursday for dinner she had a delightful time with this free gift.

It’s been fun watching the birds hop and flit about in the snow. The really good hoppers are the quail.

We took a walk about the back acres to check out all the animal trails in the snow. We think we might have had a feral cat (it was looking at us one night through our family room slider), deer, mice and other critters. It might be time to get that critter night camera!

Today was a glorious sun filled day. We joined our kids at church and then had lunch with them. On our way home from their place we took this shot from their driveway. The best of views!

Linking up with Angie from Letting Go of the Bay Leaf for Mosaic Monday.

New Toys…

We wrapped Addy’s gift with a plastic table cloth. She noticed something different in the family room.

Baba and Gramps bought Addy a pony and Laura captured Addy’s curiosity about what was under the wrapping.

Uncle Josh and Auntie Laura bought Addy a mini trampoline.

Mommy and Daddy bought Addy a four wheeler and a helmet! It is good to learn country skills early.

On Wednesday the 2nd of January I worked on packing up Christmas and re-organizing our storage area. Things look so bare now. I wonder if Addy will notice all the bling put away? We are being warned of some new winter weather coming in the wee hours tomorrow morning. I’ve been patting myself on the back for getting out there and driving on the winter roads here. Hope 2019 is starting out well for you!

Christmas Mosaics 2018

Our Western Washington kids arrived on Christmas morning just before 11:00 a.m. I was watching expectantly at the living room window. They flew into the Spokane airport and rented their bright sleigh for the drive north to our house.

Our Eastern Washington kids arrived after Addy’s nap, about 3:30. We opened stocking gifts and then got ready for our dinner.

Prime Rib off the Traegar this year and it was delicious. It was nice to have the oven free for our side dishes, roasted vegetables, Yorkshire pudding and creamed corn.

 

On Boxing day we all gathered again for another batch of Dear’s Swedish Pancakes.

After our breakfast we played some games until it was time for Addy to go home for her nap. We gathered in the afternoon at Dan and Jamie’s for fun in the snow and for dinner. I’ve posted already about our fun in the snow.

Thank you, Vee, for suggesting PhotoScape for a collage making program. I went a little overboard but had fun.

I’ll wait and see if Angie has a link-up for Mosaic Monday or maybe I missed the fact that we are taking this Monday off.

Happy last day of 2018 everyone. What a year it was. I’ll put my New Year greeting up tomorrow but for now I’ll consider 2018 and all that God has guided us through.

Here’s the first paragraph and following sentence from a daily reading by Spurgeon for December 31st:

From day to day and from year to year my faith believes in the wisdom and love of God, and I know that I shall not believe in vain. No good word of his has ever failed, and I am sure that none shall ever fall to the ground. I put myself into his hand for guidance….

Boxing Day in the Snow

On Boxing Day we all gathered at Dan and Jamie’s after breakfast for some fun in the snow and dinner. When Addy woke up from her nap we headed down the driveway for some sledding on the steeper section of the 1 mile driveway.

The sled picked up some nice speed going down and the climb back up was manageable.

Couples decided to give it a try, too.

Laura even managed a selfie zooming downhill with the snow flying in her face.

 

Addy didn’t think it was time to go inside and half way to the garage she noticed Auntie Katie still on the sled and high tailed it to her.

One last ride into the house.

 

 

Another great family memory in the books!

The Western kids left Friday morning for their drive to Spokane Airport for their flight home. It was a quiet afternoon here at our Country Bungalow. Dear made a trip to the dump. Two months of trash disposal cost us $10. Today we woke up to a fresh snowfall. It looks like we have about six inches.

I’ll be staying put today enjoying some down time. How about you?

Six Days Till Christmas!!

Stay calm and listen to Christmas music. Our new 6 CD changer arrived yesterday and we are happy to have our favorite Christmas music playing again. It’s not fun to have your trusty cd changer stop functioning at Christmas. We realize that Cd changers might not be around for long so replacing ours while only two models are available on Amazon was a good move for us. How about you? Do you still use a cd changer or have you moved on to some other source for music?