Category Archives: Colville

Looking Back at May

Awana Awards were at the beginning of May. Both Addy and JJ did well and completed their books. Addy completed some extra credit books, too. JJ graduates from Cubbies and will be a Sparky with Addy next year.

A fieldtrip to the local small airport was a hit!

Our church had a fun Mother Daughter Pajama Princess Party.

Popcorn and licorice at the movie at the party.

Saturday of Mother’s Day weekend we got ready for a Mother’s Day Fun 5K at our local Rotary Trail.

A run to the finish line!

After our 5K this little guy got a nice haircut!

Our dear Addy had out-patient surgery on May 17th and all went well and her recovery went smoothly enough that she was able to be at her Piano Recital on May 20th. We made it back from the Westside in time to enjoy her piano pieces.

A great smile the day after her surgery!

She played two songs, Stand Up Stand Up for Jesus, and Holy Holy Holy. Well done, Addy!

One more catch-up post for May will come soon.

Monday at the Bungalow

Looking back on our busy weekend before we are full swing into a new busy week. I still can’t upload any new photos but I have many photos that show the state of the yard from years past and things look quite similar for this time of year.

Friday May 10th: On Friday evening we had our Princess Pajama Party at church and it was a hit! I joined Jamie, Addy and Granny at church and we were all in our comfy jammies. I had my Ugg slippers on, too. There was a hair braiding station, coloring stations, nail polish stations, animal face masks that were facials, wonderful snacks and then an hour long movie where the littles plopped down on their blankies and pillows with popcorn and licorice! Those adults who were still young enough to plop down easily and get up again got comfy with the littles, too. I stayed in a chair.

Friday night into the wee hours of Saturday we had a wonderful treat of the aurora borealis. I wish I could show you my photos. Amazing pinks and greens and blues looking straight up and for a time more on the horizon view we got the typical green frosty views. Those were clearer to the naked eye but the views right above were visible from camera photos which was very strange. You could see swaths of something looking up but no color until you looked at the images you snapped! A bucket list item to check off without flying to Iceland!

Saturday May 11th: On Saturday morning I met up with these two along with their mommy and granny and we walked the Rotary trail with an added loop to make it a 5k Strong Mom Walk that the City parks put on.

Saturday afternoon our now not as new Pastor and his creative wife had an open house for our church body to show us how things have shaped up at their new to them home. Many of our church body helped them move their stuff into the garage and get flooring pulled out and new flooring in etc, etc. and they wanted to have a little thank you for helping gathering. Our Pastor’s wife painted most of the walls in the home, used their stuff and gathered new stuff and decorated the whole home in such a lovely way. It was fun to have seen the before so we could really enjoy the ‘after’!

Sunday May 12th, Mother’s Day:

Sunday service was full with moms and their kids and our service was God honoring as usual with some very nice tributes to moms as well.

Sunday evening our Colville family came over for a Mother’s day meal and we had a good time catching up with them. JJ was eager to fill us in on all the things his dad and he did while the girls were at the mother daughter event at church.

As I type I hear the washing machine going. I’m putting fresh linens in both of our guest rooms.  Our guest rooms will be used this weekend by our former Pastor’s parents and brother who are traveling here for the wedding of our former pastor’s son on Saturday. We will miss the wedding since we are leaving for a long weekend on the other side of the mountains with this lovely crew below.

Planning: Laundry, a little dusting, mowing and packing is on my agenda for the week.

Organizing:

Things for our guests who will arrive while we are gone and leave before we return.

Continuing: 

With the missions prayer challenge.

I didn’t mention it last week but I’ve been doing a workout with a video daily except for Sundays. Today will be my 31st day!

Weeding out photos from past blog posts. Tedious and a little frustrating.

Reading:

Our church handed out a 31 day devotional for Women on Mother’s Day. All ladies 18 and up received one if they wanted one. Gospel Meditations for Women.

My daily Bible readings this week are in 2 Samuel, 1 Chronicles, Psalms and Acts.

I’m still reading through the Discipline of Grace by Jerry Bridges.

Quotable:

John Owen: “If you have any regard to the constancy of your faith, to the comfort of your life, the honor of God, for the salvation of your own soul, labor immediately to get your belief of the Word better founded.

Read the scripture constantly, study it seriously, search it diligently, hear it explained and applied by others, meditate on it yourself, and beg of God an understanding of it and a right faith in it.”

Thankful:

So thankful for all the love showered on me by our children and grandchildren. God is good to me.

Have a great week ahead everyone!

A New Week…

…with a fresh start.

Trying something new today with the following prompts:

Sunday May 5th: We left home for our church services at the regular time. This Sunday we were having a Missionary Emphasis with a Missions Auction later in the afternoon and early evening. I baked a cheesecake for our contribution to the auction and the highest bid was over $80. Later this week we will find out the total amount our Auction fundraiser yielded.

Monday May 6th: Today will be laundry day. A good day to do indoor things since we are having rain since Sunday afternoon. I’ll be getting guestrooms ready. While I’m typing the rhythm of the falling rain is loud and clear.

New challenge: I’m responding to a prayer initiative that our Missionary speaker shared with us called PRAY938. Thirty days of prayer asking God to send gospel workers into His harvest. (Based on Matthew 9:38) The challenge includes a booklet with prompts to help you pray specifically.

Planning: Monday mornings are my time for making lists and looking over what is on the calendar for this new week. That reminds me, I forgot to sign up for the Mother/daughter Princess Pajama party on Friday evening at our church. oops. Addy is so excited for this event. I need to plan a menu for our Mother’s Day small gathering on Sunday evening.

Organizing: We are participating in a group garage sale the first weekend in June so I have been organizing and pricing items I’ve set aside for that event. I’m happy with my progress thus far.

Current Books I’m Reading: Besides my Day by Day with J.C. Ryle, I’m reading The Discipline of Grace by Jerry Bridges. I’ve learned a lot from both books but I’m missing my daily readings from Spurgeon and will add his works back into my daily regiment.

Quotable: 

From J.C. Ryle: “Conversion is an illumination, a change from darkness to light, from blindness to seeing the kingdom of God.”

From Bridges: “Remember, the grace that brought salvation to you is the same grace that teaches you. But you must respond on the basis of grace, not law. That is why you must “preach the gospel to yourself every day.”

Thankful: I’m thankful that I see our grandchildren at church on Sundays and I get a special weekly hug from them.

Thomas Aquinas: “Give us, O, Lord thankful hearts which never forget Your goodness to us. Give us, O, Lord, grateful hearts, which do not waste time complaining.”

Hope you all have a thankful week ahead!

They Are Returning

We put out 3 hummingbird feeders this year. We are happy to see the little hummers return. They are not back in full force yet but we are happy to watch the ones that are enjoying the feeders.

Thursday morning between six an seven a.m. we were treated to a show by a group of deer running around and hopping in our backyard. I took a video that I wish I could share.

I’m adding a quote for the day here.

I am very sure that any man of common understanding may, by culture, care, attention, and labor, make himself what- ever he pleases, except a great poet.~ Lord Chesterfield

Hope the first weekend in May is filled with lots of joy for all who visit here.

Hurrah for Ice Cream

On Sunday these two enjoyed a scoop of ice cream in an ice cream cone after our dinner.

Such a simple good dessert.

What is your favorite brand and flavor? We are partial to Häagen-Dazs. One of our favorite flavors is Vanilla Swiss Almond. We only buy it when it goes on a good sale.

The grands above are enjoying Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough.

Got Skills?

Our grandson turned 5 this week and his new bike is already getting a workout. Riding a bicycle is a good skill to have! JJ at 5 already has many good life skills! We enjoyed a fun bowling party to celebrate JJ this past Saturday.

Thank you to Joyce From This Side of the Pond for skillfully posting questions each week for Wednesday Hodgepodge! 

1. What’s a skill you think everyone should have? 

Tying your shoes. Personal Hygiene. Use of basic tools. Cooking skills enough to be able to feed yourself. Basic Math. Reading. Writing. Following a Map. Driving. Putting gas in a vehicle. Earning money. Making a bed. Cleaning a toilet. Running a washing machine, dryer, and dishwasher. How to use a computer.

I could not stop at just one.

2. Do you have a special place or organizational system for gift wrapping?

I have a general bin with gift bags, wrapping paper and tissue and a separate Christmas bin with the same items. I also have a basic ribbon bin and a Christmas ribbon bin.

Do you still buy ‘real’ cards to send for birthdays, anniversaries, get-well, etc? 

I do still have real cards that I send for these events. TIP: Buy your cards at the Dollar stores where many cards are 2 for a dollar or a dollar each!

3. It’s National Banana Day…are you a fan? What’s your favorite thing to make with bananas or, if you’re not a cook, your favorite thing to eat that contains banana? 

We don’t keep bananas around here typically but when we do have bananas that have fully ripened we enjoy our favorite, Banana Bread.

4. Do you believe in second chances? Elaborate. 

Where would any of us be without second chances? We all fall, fail, make mistakes. We need to be forgiven and we need to forgive. We need reconciliation in this world.

Matthew 18:21-22  Then Peter came and said to Him, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” Jesus *said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.

5. What is your idea of fun? 

Fun for me is any event that makes me smile at the end of the day. The feeling of satisfaction that comes from time together, good conversations, worthwhile projects completed. Good things and good interactions that satisfy and improve your heart and mind. Time well spent.

Something specific that I enjoy is planning a trip. I like to research areas and consider all the choices of things to see and do. This is a fun exercise for me.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Besides all the birthday fun for JJ, Addy had her first Irish Dance Recital with the Haran Dancers.

Full post coming soon.

Five Today!

Happy Birthday to our favorite 5 year old!

Warning: This post is loaded with photos and could have been even more loaded!

Great Uncle and Auntie came prepared.

Granny and Granny Great watched all the shenanigans.

Auntie Katie pulled out the overall win with the best score and enjoyed beating out her brother with the most flamboyant of shirts.

She does own her own bowling ball and shoes!

I came in with the lowest score…too bad this isn’t golf.

Some of us have really good form!

 

And style…

 

 

The oldest bowlers.

 

 

One of the youngest first time bowlers!

The youngest first time bowler and birthday boy!

Sometimes he used the dino helper to roll the ball.

JJ waited patiently for Cake and Gifts!

Finally…time for cake!

It was worth the wait to see his new bicycle!

He ripped through the rest of the presents with ease.

His great uncle Scott made this holster and belt for him!

What a great keepsake!

JJ jumped up from opening all his presents and gave a thank you hug to us all.

We gathered up all our belongings and headed up to JJ’s house to spend a few hours before Addy’s Irish Dance Recital!

JJ ran into the house to change clothes and get his helmet on so he could ride his new bike! When he entered the house he exclaimed, “home at last”! What a character!

Happy birthday dear grandson of ours. Baba and Gramps love you so much. You are full of life and have an adventurous spirit. You are great at building things and coming up with ideas to hold things together. You give the best hugs. We love your vocabulary. You have the best laugh! We look forward to seeing the new things you learn while you are 5! God bless you and keep you all the days of your life!

 

April Birthday Weekend

We all gathered on Friday afternoon and evening when all our family arrived from Colville and across the mountains for the beginning of a big weekend to celebrate JJ’s 5th birthday and Addy’s first Irish dance recital. We were able to celebrate Andrew’s birthday, too!

I will post the photos from JJ”s Bowling party tomorrow. Addy’s recital photos will come later in the week. A full happy weekend.

On Friday evening we enjoyed Thai food and desserts which included Andrew’s favorite Pecan birthday pie!

Happy Birthday, Andrew!

The rest of these photos are from Saturday and Sunday between the other major happenings. Thank you so much to Laura for all these wonderful captures!

Addy was very excited to show Auntie Lolo the frog or whatever they are called when they are this small. They may be small but they fill the night air with their songs in Spring. It can be deafening.

Addy and JJ are also excited to show us all their small chicks that they hatched from an incubator.

The weather was amazing with sunshine and temps up into the 70’s.

What is that and where are you going with it?

All too soon the weekend was over and our ‘coast’ kids headed home.

We again have happy thoughts and full hearts as we recuperate from all the fun!

Happy U.S. tax day to all of my friends in the USA. Happy Monday to my friends from other parts of the world!

Early Spring at Our Country Bungalow

We are seeing more green around our country bungalow and the first pop of color are the Daffodils and the sweet Johnny Jump Ups.

I brought a bouquet in for the table and will be bringing in a second bouquet today for our weekend festivities.

On this past Tuesday we had our 2024 inaugural walk on the Rotary Trail. Speaking of inaugural, I mowed our acreage on Tuesday, also. This was an early start to mowing.

From a distance we thought this was a real heron but when I zoomed in it looks more like a statue.

There were lots of real birds chirping and singing as we walked.

This eagle was soaring.

This trail loop walk takes us just under an hour to complete.

Our glass fishing float was reflecting the clouds this past week and I zoomed in for a photo.

“This glass fishing float is one of the historical, handblown floats used for nautical buoyancy and fishing gear.”

We also have a basket full of smaller floats. This next photo of the floats was taken in the summer with our pest ‘Alvin’.

We have two car loads arriving at our Country Bungalow for the weekend and another Colville carload here for the late afternoon and evening. Today is Andrew’s birthday and we will celebrate him. Tomorrow we will celebrate JJ’s 5th birthday with a bowling party. His actual birthday is in the middle of this coming week. Tomorrow evening and Sunday afternoon Addy has a dance recital with her Irish dancing group. Fun times are afoot! I will be scarce here but busy in the kitchen and elsewhere.

Here’s todays birthday boy!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Have Patience Hodgepodge

On Tuesday we took our first walk of the year on the Rotary Trail here in Colville. What a beautiful day!

Thank you to Joyce From This Side of the Pond for Wednesday Hodgepodge.

1. Do you complete your own tax returns or hire out? Something you’ve found taxing lately? 

When we have to complete tax returns, we’ve always hired out.

I am finding weeding and other planter upkeep more and more taxing on my body the older I get. Just getting down and up again can be a challenge. Using the weed wacker and the hedge trimmer is harder and harder.

2. It’s spring (in the northern hemisphere anyway)…would you rather spend the day hiking in the great outdoors or planting a garden? Do you/will you have a garden this year? Flowers, vegetables, or a bit of both?

I’m not a hiker or a gardener. I will walk on relatively flat areas with gentle slopes in the great outdoors and I will weed the planters and mow in the grassy areas. We have a wonderful array of perennials that pop up every year without any help from me. I owe those lovely spots of color to previous owners of our country bungalow. Besides peonies, columbines, lavender, day lilies, lily of the valley, we have a relentless rhubarb plant and some garlic that emerges without help from us.

3. Do you consider yourself a patient person?

On the outside I can be very patient. I’m a Born Again follower of Jesus and because of that I am in a lifelong Sanctification process where the Holy Spirit is working on my inside changing my mind about a lot of things through what I read in God’s Word, The Bible. Part of that process is in making me more patient on the inside.

In what sort of situation is patience not desirable?

When your house is on fire or when a life is at risk it is time to abandon patience!

Are you happy with the degree of patience you have in your daily life? If not, what can you do to cultivate more of this quality in your life? 

In many situations I pray that God would give me a ‘Mary’ attitude instead of a ‘Martha’ attitude.

But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:41-42

The good portion is Jesus, believing on Him, sitting at His feet, following Him and learning more about Him and loving Him more and more which develops into a solid trust.

Some practical steps I’ve practiced lately…

Let someone go ahead of me in line. Plan ahead and give myself all the time necessary to accomplish tasks or get to an appointment on time. Think about the other person in a situation and consider what they might be going through. Don’t think too highly of myself and my importance. Consider the other person as important. Tell myself, I’m not in charge of the World, God is.

4. Do you like the flavor cinnamon? If so what’s your favorite something made with cinnamon? 

I do enjoy cinnamon. I don’t have them often but I won’t turn down a fresh out of the oven cinnamon roll!

5. Learn by watching or learn by doing? Elaborate. 

I need both the watching and the doing. After watching I can dive in and do and then I am more confident and better equipped to do.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Do any of you remember the Kids Psalty song ‘Have Patience’ from the 80’s?

Have patience, have patience, don’t be in such a hurry. When you get impatient you only start to worry. Remember, remember, that God is patient, too. And think of all the times that others had to wait for you.