Category Archives: Colville

3 Alarm Fire!

Welcome to Fire Station #3!

Here’s Engine #3! Our daughter in law created another fabulous cake.

Stop, Drop and Roll!

All the usual suspects and more were in the station enjoying each other before lunch was fired up on the barbecue.

The spotlight this day was on Fireman Jaymison.

Some people came dressed to the T with flames on!

We had our lunch of brats, hot dogs, coleslaw, potato salad and other goodies. We cleaned up after lunch and then we were all surprised to hear the fire alarm go off. The fire chief and fireman pulled on their boots and headed outside to see what the alarm was all about. Sure enough there was a fire that needed to be put out!

The Fire Chief supervised as Fireman #3 helped to put out the fire!

Fireman JJ was relieved of duty while the Fire Chief took over and was helped by other guests at the party.

JJ kept an eye on the action from a safe distance.

The fire was put out successfully.

All those from Fire District #3 posed for their photo.

After all that hard work it was time to light the candles and sing Happy Birthday!

Two fires put out in one day!

We had two other April birthdays to celebrate with a candle on this day. Our Andrew and Jamie D. had a dessert made in their honor.

Time for presents!

Fun with his very own Pop up Fire Rescue truck. Room for JJ and his friend David.

Now for all the guests.

Granny Great and Jim

Granny

Great Uncle Scott and Aunt Rhonda

Uncle Josh and Auntie Lolo.

Auntie Katie and Uncle Andrew

The Dickinson family, long time friends.

Mylee and her family. Long time friend of the family.

Gramps and Baba

Brother and sister.

This 3 year old was a real trooper through all those photos and all the action of the day. His birthday this year landed on the Saturday between Good Friday and Easter. Not every birthday will land on Easter weekend, thankfully.

Baba and Gramps love you JJ and we are thankful that you are growing strong and healthy. It’s fun to watch you build things with blocks and Construx. Bikes, your jeep, swings, sticks and rocks along with dirt keep you occupied outside. You love being outside and thanks to your mom and dad you are allowed to spend lots of time in the fresh air. Thank you for your cuddles and hugs. You are our favorite 3 year old in all the world!

Celebrating Our Risen Savior

After church we all gathered at Dan and Jamie’s for a delicious lunch of several different soups, chili and homemade bread. Before the day progressed to the Easter egg hunt and opening the treats in the Easter Baskets we stepped outside for our Easter photos.

There were some serious conversations going on while enjoying the soups.

Four baskets full of fun to dig into after the hunt. I found these cute baskets at the Dollar Store, which is now the $1.25 store.

The dad’s snuck out to hide all the eggs. Ready, set, go!

Everyone got a basket full.

There was lots of delight in opening the eggs to see what was inside.

The adults and kids enjoyed Dan’s creations. He is perfecting his macarons masterfully!

The day was not over yet because before dinner we all jumped into our cars and drove north several miles for Jamie D’s baptism. It was the perfect culmination on this Easter Day.

I still will be posting all the photos from our grandson’s 3rd birthday party that we enjoyed on the Saturday of Easter Weekend. That will wait until Monday. Happy weekend to all!

Slim and Fluffy

We have feral cats that show up regularly and we have given them names. We don’t interact with them and when they see us they run away. They aren’t the socializing variety. They aren’t strays. They are feral. They live in a wild state.

Fluffy and Slim are regulars around here.

Since the birds have returned they are more regular in their visits. The were having a growling competition on this day and we watched for a long time to see who would win. I think it was a draw.

There are free spay and neuter clinics in our county to control the feral populations. You can tell if a cat has been ‘fixed’ because they put a tag on one of their ears.

The Caravan

It’s been a while since we have seen any deer in our back area so we were surprised to see several show up last week. We weren’t excited to see them go after all the new Spring growth.

There were six in our yard and then we looked up on the hill and saw a number of them in a caravan across the mountain.

We counted up to 16 deer hiking through missing some of the earlier ones.

Those on our side of the fence found a way to join up with the rest.

Holy Week all the way up to Easter Monday is filled with activities with family and friends. After Easter when we have some breathing room I’ll share all the activities.

Although I have posts ready to go for this special week my visits will be scarce. Hope all is well in your corners!

Open House in April

We had a very busy weekend and full to the brim Sunday.

Back in the end of 2021 we invited several folk from our church to come over for a Happy New Year get together on January 3rd of 2022. We had to cancel that event because of snow and icy conditions with a promise to reschedule when our front area would be safe for walking without anyone breaking a hip on the ice! Well that day finally arrived and we rescheduled the event for April 3rd!

Twenty Five folk from our church stopped by after church for food and fellowship. It was a houseful with all possible seats filled in three different rooms. The food was enjoyed and I forgot to take one photo of the spread! We had pulled pork sliders, coleslaw (Kathy’s recipe without mayo that you should try, delicious), Vinegret (Russian Beet Salad), baked beans, and Applesauce Spice cupcakes for dessert. Some folk went back through the buffet line for thirds so we knew the food tasted just fine.

Everyone left by 3pm and then our kids and grands came over for leftovers at 5:30. We prayed that our food would be enough to feed all and it did with lots to spare. Thank you Lord.

Not expected at all but fun to receive these hostess/host gifts from some of the folk who came.

From sweet Diana, my trusty helper in the church kitchen.

From Gene and Marilyn, a newer couple who moved to Colville from Southern California.

Soup cozies for Dear and me.

From Gordon and Christine long time residents of Colville who host our Monday evening Bible Study.

A good day with a promise kept.

Happy first full week in April everyone!

Big Steps

This little guy made a big step in the month of March. He joined his big sister at the weekly trusted homeschool co-op that Addy has been part of since last year.

Getting dropped off together they go boldly ahead with no looking back, no hesitation.

JJ has entered a new phase both for Co-op and for Sunday School. “No cry” he told me. He goes in willingly and enjoys himself.

We are so thankful for this step and the growth that each one of them is experiencing. Thankful we can trust the content of what they are learning, too.

Fun With Gnomes

With the help of my daughter we finished this huge puzzle Saturday the 19th of March. I started it well before and worked on it for a couple of weeks. It was good to have the help of Katie at the end. It was challenging but fun. I like this scene and the shades of blue and green.

Forest Gnomes by Jeff Tift. Item no. 36510

Me and my puzzler.

Oh…the weather outside has been lovely. We even pulled out a couple patio chairs to soak up some vitamin D.

We have a busy week and weekend ahead. How is life where you are?

Friday Smiles

When we were in Spokane on Monday we picked up a couple bunches of daffodils at Trader Joe’s. We enjoyed them on our table on Tuesday night at an early St. Patrick’s day dinner. Photo fail again as I didn’t take a photo of the St. Patty’s Day table I set.

Daffodils are such a happy flower. They make me smile. Another thing that is making me smile is that the snow is melting and it’s such an easy walk to the garage now. Watching the birds is making us smile, too. Photos coming soon.

Speaking of smiling, today our kids are arriving for the weekend and we have a special 5 year old to celebrate so I will be scarce on the internet. Hope you all have a great weekend and you find something to make you smile.