It’s that time of the summer when soccer camps happen and right on the heels our city youth soccer teams are formed.
Tonight they will meet their teams and coaches for the next few weeks.
Meanwhile here are some current visitors on our property.
Turkey families have been showing up.
They are very hard to see but these are itty bitty little quail. They are so little and so cute.
Fun to see the flitting butterflies landing on the lavender.
I’ll share what has been blooming here in my next post.
Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, The Gateway of Dreams statue. Greg had a conference in Atlanta and Katie and Andrew flew down from Jacksonville, North Carolina to join us for a couple days. This was in October of 2012.
Another summertime Wednesday Hodgepodge is up and running. Thank you, Joyce!
1. The Olympics kick off this coming weekend. Will you be watching? If you could watch just one event in person, which one would you choose?
I will watch some of the Olympics depending on the timing of favorite events.
Gymnastics is always a favorite.
Greg was a torch bearer for his company in the 1984 Olympics that took place in Los Angeles. As a family we were able to watch rowing events at Lake Casitas close to our home. We lived in Ventura, California during the 84 Summer Olympics.
2. Have you ever been to Paris? Is this a city you’d like to visit? What’s your favorite ‘French thing’?
I am not pulled with the desire to travel to Paris. French food is probably my favorite ‘French thing’.
3. Macaron, creme brulee, chocolate soufle, mille feuille, or an eclair…your favorite French patisserie from the ones listed?
Our son has mastered the art of making macarons. We’ve enjoyed many flavors of his melt in your mouth treat. Above are some of the macarons he made for Addy’s Birthday Tea Party and below are the ones he made for our family gathering to celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary. Our actual 50th is on December 6th of this year but we chose to enjoy summer weather for our big celebration.
4. July 24th is National Cousins Day…do you have many cousins? Are you close to them? Will you see any of your cousins on July 24th?
I have cousins that I love and enjoy visiting with when we can. Lately it’s mostly at funerals that I might see them.
Our kids get together with many of their cousins at least twice a year. Their cousins from California came up for a visit so all our kids gathered in Leavenworth, Washington on July 16th for a quick visit.
Josh, Laura and Katie had several days of enjoying their cousins in the Seattle area last week. Josh and Laura made a quick trip to California over the weekend to spend time with more of their cousins and some aunts and uncles!
Cousins with an aunt and uncle thrown in! Huntington Beach, California this past weekend.
5. Last time you went somewhere that felt like ‘everyone and his cousin‘ was there?
Lately this will only happen when we travel. The last large crowd event we were in the midst of was in Liverpool at the Anfield stadium for a football/soccer match in September of 2023. Everyone and his cousin was there!
Even though it’s been several years since we visited London, that city is a sea of humanity that you cannot separate yourself from easily.
6. Insert your own random thought here.
One more cousin shot from Huntington Beach. My brother and his family were visiting from Dallas which was a very good reason for many family members to come together. Josh and Laura flew down from Washington to join in the fun.
“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.
In other news, things have cooled a wee bit and later this week they are promising the 80’s instead of 90’s!
See you soon Hodgepodgers!
Tuesday July 2nd was pack up and drive home day. No formal breakfast at the airbnb but one last swim was in order!
It was an amazing trip and time together.
Goodbye Walla Walla.
We decided on a different route home north on highway 12 to 127 and then onto 195 to Spokane and then on 395 all the way home.
Our Colville kids took a different route home and stopped at Palouse Falls.
After the Palouse this was the scene in the rear view window for these tired out Grands.
Coming and going it was a wonderful family time being together and seeing sites we’ve never seen before.
Back to the present. It is hot, real hot. On Sunday we got up to 105 and today will be another blistering day before we start a gradual cool down. We are laying low and only outside in the early hours. Hope you are keeping cool in your neck of the woods.
A peachy sunrise on the last Saturday in June in Richland, Washington.
Joyce has some summertime Hodgepodge questions for us this week. Are you playing?
1. What is an adult problem nobody prepared you for?
Growing old and all the things that come with that like; balance issues, getting up off the floor, bruising, hot flashes. I could have just gone with hot flashes…
2. Without mentioning any tech, what’s your most prized possession?
One thing? Can I say my home even though there are a lot of techy things in it? Not the actual structure but the idea of my own place where I can relax and be safe and enjoy. Also a place where I can invite people in for relationship and community.
3. It’s National Peach Ice Cream Day (July 17th). Will you be celebrating?
I could make it happen since Wednesday is Farmer’s Market in town and they might have fresh peaches.
Do you like peaches?
Yes I do but nectarines are my favorite summer fruit.
Given a choice would you prefer peach ice cream, peach pie, peach cobbler, or just hand me a peach?
Fresh Peach Pie. Way back when I enjoyed a scoop of peach ice cream in the center of half a cantaloupe, delicious!
Do you own anything that is peach in color?
Do our day lilies count?
4. What makes a friendship successful?
Forgiveness. The ability to say…”I was wrong, will you forgive me?”
5. Let’s give our brains a rest and do a little summertime this or that…
beach or pool? In my older age and avoidance of sun exposure I’m going with pool. You’ll find me under the umbrella or close to the pool in whatever shade is available.
ice cream or snowcone? A snowcone is fun or a slurpy which is kind of like a snowcone.
amusement park or camping? The quiet of camping sounds better to me if someone else has totally set up the camping area. I could come visit for the afternoon and then go home to my own bed.
burger or hot dog? We had the best lamb burger last night. We bought the meat from a local rancher. A good Chicago Dog is always a treat, too.
watermelon or strawberries? I’ll save strawberries for Spring and say a good sweet watermelon.
get up early or sleep in late? Get up early while it is still cool and enjoy a cup of coffee with the birds singing.
sunrise or sunset? In these parts sunset comes late in the summer and we are sometimes in bed before sunset so it’s sunrise for me!
6. Insert your own random thought here.
Catching up with some summertime swim lesson photos at the local pool.
Someone was brave enough to jump off the diving board in the deep pool!
Thanks for stopping by Hodgepodgers and others, too. Hope your summer is going swimmingly.
Our last full day together in Walla Walla started off with cuddles on the couch with the Grands before breakfast. Our breakfast was served up by Josh and Laura, Joshua’s now famous Huevos Rancheros. Morning swim time before we all headed downtown for our meal out at the Indian restaurant. After our lunch we all bought treats at Bright’s, fudge, caramel apples, ice cream cones, lollipops and other delights. Back to our airbnb for a nap before we had more swim time and a delicious burger meal created and served up by Katie and Andrew. Some Frisbee time was thrown in there somewhere, too, and jigsaw puzzle time here and there. There was one more surprise before bedtime.
This photo was of our movie night on Sunday evening, not Monday but this is where all the morning cuddling happened, too.
Earlier in the weekend Katie and I got the frame of the puzzle done and others contributed here and there to completing it.
Walking to Main Street for our Indian Restaurant meal.
Someone almost fell asleep waiting for his lunch. Swimming really takes it out of you. After lunch we shopped for some souvenirs from Walla Walla before having our treats at Bright’s.
Time to leave Main street behind and head back to the house.
There was another kind of ‘pool time’, too.
Finishing the jigsaw puzzle.
The ‘littles’ weren’t the only ones who had a nap.
Before it was time for bed we had another surprise. Many months before our gathering we gave Josh and Laura an old movie reel of our church wedding shower from November of 1974. They were able to send it out to digitize it and we all watched it together by casting it on the TV. My brother-in-law recorded the movie. It was silent and poor in quality but rich in memories. Both my maternal and paternal grandmother were in it, my parents and Greg’s parents and many other friends and family who have since gone to heaven. Such a sweet finale to our family gathering to celebrate our 50th year.
One more post to come on our travels home on Tuesday and any bits and bobs I might have forgotten.
Happy Tuesday to you. Our temperatures are still soaring close to and above 100. Our hot water tank got replaced on Saturday with the help of our son. We are keeping things low key and doing inside or early morning projects around the house. Hope all is well in your corner.
On Sunday the 30th of June we had breakfast and lunch at the airbnb. Dan and Jamie provided these 2 meals for us all. For breakfast, Dan used Jamie’s sourdough bread to make French Toast to order and an egg on the side if we wanted.
After breakfast we had a glorious time at the pool as Greg baptized Dan. Greg gave a great background on what baptism is and Dan explained to all of us why he was taking this step of obedience.
After Dan’s baptism there was lots of splashing and fun in the pool before and after lunch!
For lunch we had a Charcuterie spread that was over the top.
More pool time after lunch.
Such delight!
For dinner on Sunday night we tried a Mexican Restaurant and it was okay. Some of us thought we should have gone back to the Greek restaurant. We were fed and we came back to our airbnb. Baba and Gramps offered to watch a movie with Addy and JJ while the married siblings went into downtown Walla Walla for some fun. We watched Greyfriar’s Bobby and it was a little slow for the Grands but we persevered to the end just as everyone came back home and it was time for bed for the littles.
Some photos from downtown Walla Walla…
Bright’s was a fun candy, ice cream, novelty store that they found and that we would all enjoy on Monday after our lunch downtown.
So thankful to God for these souls!
Dan and Jamie had just celebrated their 9th Anniversary on the 27th of June!
It was a good and glorious day from beginning to end!
Thanking God for his lovingkindness to all of us!
We made plans months ago for an early celebration with our family of ten in Walla Walla for Greg and my 50th wedding anniversary. Our actual anniversary is on December 6th but getting the ten of us together that time of year can be difficult. We decided on Walla Walla which was a place none of us had been to before. Laura researched the areas Airbnb options and we looked at a couple possibilities and decided on the Italian Villa. We locked in our dates that were good for each family unit and started making plans. On Saturday the 29th of June our four vehicles had driven equal distances from the northeast of Washington and the Western Puget Sound area of Washington to arrive here.
When Greg and I arrived at four we were in for a special surprise from our kids.
Who are those young kids!?
Dan’s macarons arranged in the numerals to celebrate our 50 years!
Laura retrieved photos from each of our kids’ weddings to add to ours for this special memorial photo collage. This is the message included in the photo collage…
They also had t-shirts made for us. All these things were a fun surprise and great beginning for our time together.
Thank you to all our kids for how you love and honor us!!
We all had our own bedrooms and each couple had their own bathroom. Not too shabby. Plenty of room for all of us to spread out.
We got settled and then got ready for dinner out at Yama’s Greek Eats in downtown Walla Walla. This would end up being our family favorite out of three restaurants we ate at. If you find yourself in Walla Walla eat here!
Our first day of celebration came to a close with excitement about pool time on Sunday and another special event. More to come, soon.
Our gifts have found their special place in our home.
We are currently in a heat wave and staying cool inside as much as possible. Hope all is well in your corner.
I’m pausing until next week in sharing our amazing family time in Walla Walla the last two days of June and first two days of July.
We had a fun time at our 4th of July late afternoon and early evening festivities after tackling our acreage that seemed to get way out of control while we were gone. Mowing and weeding and watering were at the top of the list. We are enjoying sunshine and warmth here in Colville. Yesterday the temps were in the upper 80’s and today we have a forecast of 93. We are on a trend that will take us above 100 in a few days! Yikes. I see lots of watering in the evening and early hours the next several days.
Stay cool y’all!
Joyce has the questions for our Wednesday Hodgepodge posted and ready for us to answer. Welcome!
1. It’s a big week in the US of A as we celebrate Independence Day. Do you have any special plans? How will you mark the day? BBQ? pool-lake-beach time? fireworks? homemade ice cream? If you’re not an American you can tell us what’s happening in your corner of the world on Thursday.
We are celebrating with a good crowd on the 4th. We bring our own meat to barbecue and a dish to share with the crowd, either a side or a dessert. The party starts at 4pm and ends after fireworks. In between there is a very competitive Corn Hole tournament. Fireworks are downplayed in our corner of the U.S. because of fire danger.
2. What’s your favorite ‘All-American’ dessert?
I’m going with Chocolate Chip Cookies and Strawberry Shortcake.
3. Does that patriotic feeling come easily to you, or are you having to work for it more these days? What’s something that makes you proud to be a citizen of your country?
If I think about how our country was founded and the principles that shaped our Constitution and governance I can be proud and patriotic. Our leadership these days brings me down in this area. I’m thankful my hope and future are in God’s hands.
4. Your favorite ‘patriotic’ movie? Favorite patriotic song?
Yankee Doodle Dandy for the movie and America The Beautiful for the song.
5. One simple pleasure on your July ‘bucket list’?
Besides the 4th our calendar is free of any big events so I’ll say relaxed mornings are on my July bucket list.
6. Insert your own random thought here.
Our family of ten have been enjoying each other since Saturday in Walla Walla, Washington at a VRBO. Today, Tuesday, we are all traveling to our respective homes. It has been such a delightful 4 days and there will be several posts covering our time together. Today will be a day of laundry and yard work!
Happy July Y’all!
A day at the lake. (Thank you, Jamie, for this great photo!)
Look carefully to spot the young quail.
Shade cloth up and doing it’s magic making it pleasant to sit out on the deck.
I love the cool of the mornings and listening to all the birds singing.
We rested from our labors on Sunday but the days prior we did a lot of work outside tackling some weeds, weed cloth and mowing the lawn. We are back to a watering regiment since we haven’t had rain the last few days. Do you have to water?
Have a good week!
The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b. 