On Saturday the 17th of August an afternoon boat adventure became reality. The younger set filled up all the seats on the boat for a cruise and landing on a beach. Gramps and Baba relaxed and recuperated at home.
Enjoying the best that summer offers in our own backyard! The weekend and Uncle Joshie and Auntie Lolo’s visit was coming to an end.
We all gathered at church on Sunday morning and Josh and Laura hit the road for home right after the service ended. Till next time, adieu!
Saturday morning the 17th of August we hit the Rotary Trail at 9am.
JJ was determined that Uncle Joshie would get him a Cat Tail from the trail.
The Battle of the Cat Tails!
Father and son #1. Our 2nd son was working this Saturday.
After our walk Greg and I headed home while the rest of our crew headed up to Bayles Mountain. An outing on the water was planned for after Dan’s work hours. That post is coming soon.
The Rotary Trail runs along and through the golf course and it is beside the high school and our little Colville airport. We noticed this huge craft at the air field. We’ve had several air resources around to help with the fires in our region.
Back to the current Saturday we had a nice amount of rain overnight and a lot of wind. There were many power outages around our county. Thankfully we weren’t part of any outages. Hopefully the storm aided instead of created more fire danger. The Fair is in town since Thursday and runs through Sunday. Greg and I went to the Fair on Thursday morning. Boise Cascade, a local company, pays for the first 1200 fair goers on Thursday and we were 2 of those 1200! There is a Fair parade this morning and I’ll meet up with our Grands for that. Other than that it will be a quiet Saturday.
Mornings around here are feeling more and more like Fall. Enjoy your last full weekend in August.
Friday morning the 16th of August we had Greg’s famous Swedish Pancakes for breakfast at Our Country Bungalow.
Our daughters in law were twinsies without planning it.
The three of us took off to do a little shopping while the guys stayed at our country bungalow. We couldn’t resist trying on these beauties off the sale rack. They did not come home with us but gave us a chuckle.
While we were gone the guys and Addy did some clearing of fallen branches on our property for which I was very thankful.
They finished that task and decided it was time to scale the mountain behind our home. We own part of Rattlesnake mountain and it was fun to hear about this trek up the mountain using game trails to traverse the steepness. Here is the team of four who took the climb!
Here are the views looking back down on our home.
It was fun to see these views without having to make the climb!
Friday night we enjoyed hamburgers at the Colville kids’ home.
Earlier a couple chickens got loose and they were tracked down and put back where they belong.
A little basketball and more shenanigans before dinner.
I could have gotten my days mixed up with all these photos.
After dinner and on our way back to our home we couldn’t resist snapping these photos from their driveway.
We all wonder when that great old barn is going to collapse.
Good night, Colville.
Saturday was another good day in Colville filled with fun in the sun. That will be another post or two.
Happy last full weekend of August!
Beautiful early summer morning getting our stair workout.
Wednesday Hodgepodge is here again. Thank you to Jo From This Side of the Pond for the questions we answer!
1. What’s the last thing you completely overreacted to?
I’m trying to drop some pounds…again. I tend to overreact when the scale does not show a loss equal to my sacrifice. The struggle is real.
2. Your top five snacks?
This time of year I love a sweet nectarine for a snack. Snack sized Payday, mini dark chocolate, mixed nuts, Sunflower or Pumpkin seeds are some of my go-to snacks.
3. What smell always brings back some type of memory? Elaborate.
When I make a big pot of borsch that can bring back many childhood memories. The overall aroma especially when I add the fresh dill can stir up memories of our mom in the kitchen or the big church meals. Cucumbers also are a memory trigger. Cucumbers, tomatoes and fresh slices of bread, that combination reminds my senses of times past.
4. What’s something you learned from the last book you read?
I learned so much from the Discipline of Grace by Jerry Bridges that it still sits on my desk for a re-read. What I learned is that I still have a lot to learn before I die. I’ll add this quote from a Scottish Commentator John Brown that Bridges quoted in the book and a few from Bridges;
“The mind is renewed when, under the influence of the Spirit, the truth is understood and believed, so as to displace the ignorance and error that previously prevailed.”
and one from Bridges;
“We do not transform ourselves although we have a part in the process.” and…
“…we should pray for knowledge of truth that will change our lives rather than simply inform our minds.”
5. What’s the next thing on your to-buy list? Will you make that purchase before the end of the year?
We do not have anything major on our to-buy list. We do wonder about our TV and whether it might need an upgrade, soon. Not a thing, but our septic is on the verge of needing to be pumped out. That will cost a few pennies!!
6. Insert your own random thought here.
How about this shot for a quintessential fun summer evening going up the driveway home with Auntie and Uncle.
Wednesday evening August 14th Uncle and Auntie arrived just at the end of soccer practice. We enjoyed dinner out at Rancho Chico before resting up for a full Thursday.
Bright and early Thursday morning the brothers had a tee time.
On Thursday after throwing some roasts in the slow cooker we headed to Bayles Mountain for lunch. The guys were there already after golfing 18 holes.
We had home made sourdough pita bread and tzatziki with steak and with the fresh veggies from the garden.
Everyone gathered back to our place in the afternoon after Addy’s dance practice.
We had dinner early and then some outdoor activities.
Mama deer was outside, too, and very interested in this little guy who got a kick out of seeing her so close. The Aronia Berries were ripe for the picking and everyone had a chance to get their hands stained purple.
While outside I got stung by one of these. The Yellow Jackets and hornets are in abundance this summer and they are aggressive. Our traps have been filling up quickly. Lots of chatter on our county sites about how to get rid of them!
Addy’s Soccer games are on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 6:30. Our son is coaching which makes it even more fun to watch. We piled into our vehicles and headed to the soccer fields.
Turned out that there was not a referee available so our son Josh stepped in for that role. Triple the fun watching Dan Coach, Addy play and Josh referee!
Go Addy!
Great job, Bobcats, Coach and Referee!!
I had to add a few more photos that I missed the first time around!
Thank you to Auntie Lolo for all the great photos!!
And that was Thursday. Friday and Saturday were two more full days that I’ll post about later this week.
I’ll share one more photo of the Northern Light show we had on Monday night.
This past Monday we also started a new routine for getting in shape. We are going up and down the stairs at our high school in town. We were pleased with all the hand rails so that we could do the workout more safely.
We don’t have any stairs in our current home so this is a good alternative for us. It takes a lot less time for us to get our heart rate up doing this than it does walking on the trail.
Uncle Joshie and Auntie Lolo are visiting so our days and evenings and mealtimes have been full and good. I’m sure I’ll be sharing some of the fun soon.
Have a good Friday everyone!
On Friday afternoon there was an advertised Birthday Party for Smokey The Bear at the Colville Museum but Smokey never showed. It was still a fun experience to walk around the museum and the museum grounds.
On Saturday we took a early morning trip to Spokane to make purchases to re-stock the kitchen cupboards at church since our VBS week depleted all the stock. The sunflower fields were not in their glory but it was fun to whiz by the fields of yellow and green.
Sunday morning was a wonderful church service with our VBS kids starting us off with one of their VBS Songs, God made the Manatee. From beginning to end it was good to worship God together.
On Sunday evening we celebrated our Grands’ Granny’s birthday at our Colville kids and this was the sunset we enjoyed driving down their driveway for home.
It was a good full weekend. Looking forward to Mid-week when Uncle Joshie and Auntie Lolo are planning a drive over the mountains for a short visit to enjoy some summer activities with us.
Have a good week everyone.
The Great Jungle Journey is our Vacation Bible School theme for 2024!
The theme verse for the week: To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. 1 Timothy 1;17
The Jungle Theme has been a hit! It’s such a treat to get a sweet hug at my station each evening from these two!
Craft and Science time outdoors under a shade cloth with misters!
I had to zoom in across the parking lot for these photos that are not sharp. A fun science experiment and a craft to take home.
There is a memory verse for each night of VBS.
Day 1: In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.- Genesis 1:1
Day 2: They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt, there is none who does good, not even one. -Psalm 14:3
Day 3: Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth. And from there the LORD dispersed them over the face of all the earth. -Genesis 11:9
Day 4: But to all who did receiver him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. ———John 1:12
Day 5: He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. – Revelation 21:4
We have had up to 185 children each night and 140 volunteers working with the kids and behind the scenes. Our amazing kitchen crew feeds the volunteers and their children dinner each night.
Besides VBS this week, Greg and I have been continuing our early morning walks on the Rotary Trail.
What’s new for you this August?
The bees enjoy lavender and our bushes are waning but they were full and fragrant through the end of July and into August.
Hummingbirds have a buzz of their own and they really love this new feeder we picked up at an estate sale. I have not been able to keep up with them with this feeder. We have had 5 at a time trying to push off others to get their turn.
The old feeder is okay when the new one is full of visitors.
A rare moment to enjoy this one all by itself.
This week we are having Vacations Bible School at our church and my job is to sell the t-shirts and hats each evening. At only $7 dollars they go fast. We don’t make a profit and probably even take a hit because of what we sell them for but it makes it more affordable to all.
Hope you are all having a good week.
Looking back…
This will be the first of three July Wrap-ups. The first one will be close to home and the second and third will be at a distance. We started the month in Walla Walla celebrating with our family and those posts have been shared.
Travels interrupted the documentation of the end of the school year but finally it happened in July!
Looks like they both decided Top Ramen was their favorite food. Hilarious, as their mom feeds them 3 well balanced meals a day!!
While watching them in early July they decided to give me a makeover.
It was hot but they managed to go cherry picking at a nearby orchard.
Dinner on the Columbia with fishing was refreshing on a hot night.
JJ caught his first stick!
Addy caught her very first fish!
Addy wasn’t interested in holding the fish so JJ took over the job for the fish photo!
Our hot water tank needed to be replaced and while the guys worked on hooking up the new tank we set up this water splash pool for the grands to keep cool while waiting.
Hooray the new hot tank is working and the guys are pleased with themselves! I’m pleased, too.
When the job was completed, we enjoyed a Creamy chicken noodle dish for dinner with a fresh produce salad from the kids garden to go along with it.
The kids brought over raspberries from their garden which inspired the baking of this Raspberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake.
I’ve already shared the other July happenings close to home like soccer camp, walks on the trail, summer blooms, summer critter visitors, Canadian visitors. I’ll save more blooming plants from our back acres for another day.
Happy August everyone!
The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b. 