Category Archives: Colville

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.

 

Praises to Him Who Built the Hills ~ Hymn

Praises to Him Who Built the Hills

Praises to Him who built the hills;
Praises to Him the streams who fills;
Praises to Him who lights each star
That spark­les in the blue afar.

Praises to Him who makes the morn,
And bids it glow with beams new-born;
Who draws the sha­dows of the night,
Like cur­tains, o’er our wea­ried sight.

Praises to Him whose love has giv­en,
In Christ His Son, the Life of Heav­en;
Who for our dark­ness gives us light,
And turns to day our deep­est night.

Praises to Him, in grace who came,
To bear our woe, and sin, and shame;
Who lived to die, who died to rise,
The God-ac­cept­ed sac­ri­fice.

Praises to Him the chain who broke,
Opened the pri­son, burst the yoke,
Sent forth its cap­tives, glad and free,
Heirs of an end­less li­ber­ty.

Praises to Him who sheds abroad
Within our hearts the love of God;
The Spir­it of all truth and peace,
Fountain of joy and ho­li­ness!

The Fa­ther, Son, and Spir­it, now
The hands we lift, the knees we bow;
To Jah-Je­ho­vah thus we raise
The sin­ner’s song of end­less praise

Words: Horatius Bonar, 1861.

Better or Worse Hodgepodge

There is always a way to take a photo of our acreage without showing you the close-up of our out of control weeds! 🙂 We got behind and it seems there is no catching up. A couple evenings ago, I was thanking the LORD for this view out our bedroom window. It is His handiwork, not mine. I just water between the rain.

Thank you, Joyce, for more Hodgepodge Questions this week. 

1. What’s an adult problem nobody prepared you for? 

All the technology stuff and apps you need on your phone and those QR thingies to take a photo of so you can do stuff like, parking downtown, checking in for a flight, ordering food at your table. Besides being unprepared for it, I dislike it and avoid it as much as possible.

2. How tuned in are you to all the recent food related health news? Have you gotten rid of your scratched cookware? Did you pay attention to food additives before they made the news? What’s one healthy eating/cooking/food shopping habit you need to adopt? 

Oh no, what have I missed or should I be glad I missed it. Maybe I will learn more when I read all the answers from other hodgepodgers. The one habit we’d like to adopt is to eat less sugary things.

I was a home economics major but that doesn’t mean I’m the model of excellence in all things home economics. One thing I learned in a nutrition class that has always stuck with me is that there aren’t fattening foods, per se. What is ‘fattening’ is the total of what you eat not one individual thing. Does that make sense. Some foods have gotten a bad wrap.

3. What’s getting worse and worse as you get older? How about better and better? 

Worse and worse is my memory and being able to recall the right word or the name of something or your name in a pinch! The struggle is true and real.

Better and better is my assurance of and the hope I have in the one true God who saved me by sending His Son, Jesus Christ to be the substitute for my punishment and the redeemer of my life here and the giver of my life in heaven for eternity.

4. Are you more of an indoor person or an outdoor person? Elaborate. 

I’m a little of both. By outside, if you mean having a stroll through a beautiful garden or around beautiful ancient ruins I’m a fan. I’m not a fan of getting to the top of the mountain by hiking where there are mosquitoes and other bugs and natural prey to contend with all the way. I do enjoy an early morning stroll along the beach. The cool of the morning calls to me. I guess I’m a comfort traveler or outdoorsy person. Strong emphasis on comfort.

From 2006-2009 we lived in Camarillo, California while Greg worked in Thousand Oaks temporarily.  Most Saturdays we would walk the beaches starting before sunrise. We moved back to our home in Kenmore (NE of Seattle) in early 2010.

I enjoy being inside in the morning hours in my robe and slippers getting ready for the day leisurely. I’m not a fan of being stuck indoors, though. I will enjoy strolling through a cathedral, or a museum, or a library. I prefer eating inside.

5. If you had an expert personal assistant today, what would you have them do? 

Since being healthy is all the rage, I’ll take a personal chef who makes healthy food Greg and I would eat.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

We are having a garage sale this Friday and Saturday. Pricing and organizing takes a lot of time. Hopefully we’ll make enough so that we feel it was worth it and at the same time get rid of a lot of stuff we don’t use anymore.

There will be several more tables added and more stuff but this was the start of things for the sale. That pretty butterfly came to visit while I was pricing things.

We have a fire in our area and people are pulling together to help and give shelter to people and animals.

This fire is north and across the Columbia river from us.

Staying safe in Colville. Hope all is well in your neck of the woods.

Fishing

Our Colville kids went fishing recently.

It was an epic fishing day for JJ. He caught the first fish of the day.

He also caught the largest fish of the day!

Addy enjoys the fishing part but not the slimy fish part.

Last Wednesday the boat was launched in the lake for a cooling off outing. A beautiful time on the water.

When Gramps and I went over for an amazing lamb gyro meal with homemade pita, gyro lamb meat, and tzatziki, JJ was excited to tell me he swam off the boat in the lake and showed me how far he swam. The lamb that we enjoyed was from the lamb butchering that Gramps helped with last week.

Addy and JJ made dessert for our meal and even hand picked all the raspberries. It was delicous!

Quote of the night from JJ; “Everything is better home made!”

We are hard at work here at our country bungalow getting ready for a garage sale on Friday and Saturday. We still have a lot to do before Friday. I keep finding more things to add to the piles. If I’m scarce on my visits you’ll know I’m busy in the shop pricing items to sell!

Three Cheers for the Red, White and Blue!

And…three cheers for our kids who share their photos with us! From Colville, Bothell and Lynnwood everyone had their version of celebrating Independence Day. God bless America.

My heart is heavy because of the tragedy from the Guadalupe River surge in Texas. I can’t imagine the pain and grief so many are going through. I’m sure many of you are feeling the same way. Prayers continue…

Freedom Rings Hodgepodge

Sizzling into Hodgepodge Wednesday this week. Thank you, Joyce! 

Today is forecast to be hot, hot, hot. If I do anything outside it will be in the early hours. But now on to the questions.

1. What does freedom mean to you? 

Freedom means I can choose. I can choose what I believe, where I live, where I get an education, where I go to church, what I wear, what I eat, where I work, what I do for fun, where I travel, and all of that without fear of being thrown into prison because of those choices.

I can also choose to give up a freedom for a greater cause like parenting, being a wife, being a friend, being a citizen, being a member of the Body of Christ. As a mother I chose to give up many freedoms so that I could help my children. As a wife I can give up some of my freedom to be a better helpmate. In serving others sometimes you give up personal freedoms, too.

There are national freedoms and personal freedoms.

I don’t want to abuse my relationships by demanding my freedoms to the extreme.

The more I think on this the more there is to say about freedom. There are times that God will take my freedoms away to teach me something I need to learn. Maybe through an illness or a loss. I’ll save those thoughts for another time.

2. How will you celebrate Independence Day this year? If you live outside the USA answer this question as it relates to your own country’s patriotic holiday, wherever that may land on the calendar. 

We will go to an annual party in Colville with many of our church family. We bring our own meat to cook and a side or dessert to share. There are several grills for cooking the meat. There are games to play including an annual corn hole tournament. Fireworks are set off later in the evening.

3. This or that…red, white, or blue? Blue

Stars or stripes? Stars

Watermelon, home made ice cream, or blueberry pie? Watermelon

How do you feel about fireworks?  I enjoy watching them. I’m always reminded of our dear Pop who never bought fireworks that I’m aware of. If we asked, he would say, “Here’s a dollar, just burn it.” His sentiment was that spending money on fireworks was just burning up money that was better spent for something necessary. 🙂

That said, here in Colville we don’t set off fireworks just anywhere because we are in a high fire danger season. Many families shoot off fireworks on New Year’s Eve instead when there is snow on the ground. People in town can set them off without the greater danger of starting a wild fire.

4. What have you purchased recently that made you excited?

I talked about my new riding lawnmower last week. This week I was excited to have the window washers come. Clean windows are exciting and when someone else cleans them that is even more exciting!

5. I’m thankful to live in America (or fill in whatever country you call home) because____________.

…it’s the land of the free and home of the brave.

I’m so thankful God led my parents to make the choice to immigrate legally to the United States from Persia. They made the hard journey to settle in the Los Angeles area with our oldest sister Kathy and while our mom was pregnant with our sister, Vera. God led them on that journey and was with them all their 90 and 95 years. They enjoyed their freedom in the U.S. and their abundant life in Jesus Christ. That freedom and abundance is available to all of their children, children’s spouses, grandchildren and great grandchildren.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

I love decorating and celebrating the 4th of July, Independence Day in the U.S.A.

the fourth of July 019

Colors of Summer

Bell Flowers

Purple Campanula

July is coming in hot! Today is predicted to be the hottest day this week, 97F. How are things in your corner of the world?

Happy Canada Day to our neighbors in the North! 

Reminders from our Sunday sermon: Fight the good fight, the good spiritual fight. Don’t fight the wrong fight.  Salvation is by grace alone, by faith alone, through Christ alone. Stay faithful to the Gospel. Rest on the Gospel not your good works. We are not saved by our good behavior or good works. Bad doctrine and bad behavior go together. Don’t violate your conscience. Your faith and your conscience are not separable.

I was saved when God called me and I asked forgiveness for my sins and put my faith on the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Son of God, who died on the cross for my sins, rose from the dead, and is my Lord and Savior. He paid the penalty I could not pay and I am eternally grateful.

The Barn

Last week I showed a photo of the leaning barn taken from our kids’ driveway. The photo above is another shot I took last Friday. The next photo was from 7 years ago.

From July, 2018.

I’m adding more photos with closeups and different sides of the barn that I took last Friday.

We’ve enjoyed seeing this barn through the years and are sad that it won’t be in the landscape for many years to come unless it just decides to stay leaning and not collapsing. Judging from the photos it doesn’t seem likely that it will last for too much longer.

How will you spend the last day of June?

Ten Years Today

These two are celebrating their 10th Anniversary today. They had an overnight away last night and today in Idaho.

From their wedding, ten years ago…

Granny, Baba and Gramps are in charge of Addy and JJ while their parents are away.

On Thursday there was time on our acreage to see what they could discover. Gramps taught them how to whistle using a blade of grass. There was some sprinkler fun and hammering stakes in the ground. Lunch was an interesting combination of eggs, turkey sandwiches, a pancake, applesauce, sour cream and real maple syrup.

On Wednesday when I asked what treats Baba should have for their visit, JJ suggested popsicles. He said Ice cream can be eaten inside but popsicles are for outside.

Granny was in charge of Taekwondo and Baba was in charge of Irish Dance and then we all met up at one of the Mexican restaurants for dinner before Granny took Addy and JJ to their house for the night. There will be a slumber party in Addy’s room. As JJ put it at dinner, Granny is younger looking than me and she is in fact 13 years younger than me so the overnight gig was hers to enjoy!

I’m heading to the mountain this morning with a Sugar free Mocha with double shots to reward that young granny for taking the night shift!

A view from the mountain driveway. That barn is leaning more and more. We are all wondering when it will collapse.

Happy Friday everyone.