Departure and Arrivals

After being in Washington state for 3 full weeks it was time to put the Washington State sticker on Wholly Rollin’s travel map.

Thursday morning the 22nd of October was departure day for this dear family and their rig.

Thursday was a beautiful Fall day but our grass area under the truck tires was soggy and soft and the back wheels of the truck were spinning in the mud. Oye.

Dear came to the rescue with his 4 wheel drive truck and a heavy duty chain.

Success!

The truck and rig were free to continue on the Wholly Rollin adventure on to Kennewick, Washington and then into Oregon.

It was a privilege to enjoy my brother’s family for an extended period of time.

Until we meet again may God continue to direct your paths and bless your journey.

On this same morning Josh and Laura departed from the west side of the Cascades on their journey to Colville for our annual Hunting weekend, a 5-1/2 hour trip. Little did any of us know that Providence would allow an intersection of our eastward travelers with our westward departed travelers! On their way on I-90 Wholly Rollin pulled off at the Sprague Rest Area just as Josh and Laura were passing Ritzville which is 20 miles west of Sprague. Leonard and Mandy decided to text Josh and Laura to see where they were on their journey and to both traveling groups delight they were able to meet up at the Sprague Rest Area.

A photo op some conversation and then both groups hit the road again for their final destinations.

So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, goodbye!

Josh and Laura arrived to our place a little before four and these two couldn’t be happier to see their Uncle and Auntie. And then at 6:30 pm Uncle Andrew and Auntie Katie arrived and there was more excitement. We are anticipating a full weekend of fun and fellowship.

As I type on this Friday morning the snow is gently falling here in Colville. This was a surprise forecast this week and it will make hunting and family photo taking a little more interesting than usual. Our hunting crew were up on the mountain by six thirty AM this Friday morning.

 

I took the above photo yesterday in the morning.

And here’s the view this morning Friday October 23rd!

Happy Friday everyone!

Family on the Trail

I’m posting some of our gatherings in order of happenings here for the sake of history.

Before we headed to meet up with extended family on the Westside of the mountains we had some good times together in our neck of the woods with my brother’s family who are Wholly Rollin around the USA. On Saturday the 3rd of October we enjoyed breakfast together and after breakfast we hit the Rotary Trail to get some exercise.

We were still experiencing smoky skies this past weekend and the beginning of the week.

Jaymison warmed up to my brother in record time for him.

After naps on Saturday everyone gathered at our place again for dinner.

On Sunday we enjoyed dinner at Dan and Jamie’s and had a tour of their garden.

On Monday morning the kids had their home schooling (History Lesson outside) before we hit the road to the Western side of the Cascades to meet up with more family.

My brother’s family is still on the West side of the Cascades and I’m back home on the Eastside. Hope to catch up with your blogs soon.

Where in the World…

…is our traveling family?

My youngest brother and his family are having an RV adventure around the USA (Wholly-Rollin) for who knows how long. My sister Lana and her hubby Steve met up with them in South Dakota the 16th through the 19th of September and here are a couple photos I “borrowed” from them. Leonard, Mandy, Hope and Andrew will soon make it to our neck of the woods the beginning of October. Hope and Andrew are being RV schooled enjoying God’s amazing creations around the USA. They have just left the Yellowstone Area and the Grand Tetons heading to Montana.

Leonard and Lana, the babies of our family. They are twins. The Black Hills of South Dakota.

Meanwhile back in our neck of the woods,  Jaymison and Addyson enjoying the beginning of Autumn.

Addy is enjoying a carrot fresh out of the garden and JJ is always pleased to be seated on any piece of machinery!

After I got the framework of the puzzle done and a lot of the interior done, Dear helped me finish up this Matryoshka Doll puzzle. He did leave the final pieces for me. It was a tough one but satisfying to see it completed. This is our 7th COVID-19 puzzle in the books!

Have you taken up puzzles lately? Do you grow carrots in your garden? Are you part of the RVing world? What’s the favorite place you’ve traveled to in the USA?

Farewell to Summer…

…with a look back starting in June and Father’s Day.

Father’s Day on the Eastside and then on the Westside…

On to July…

Visitors of the critter variety and…

…wonderful human visitors from California.

We ended July with cherry picking.

On to August…

Parties with Addy’s first Lemonade Stand!

Outdoor projects: Painting the deck and filling in the pond.

All our kids gathered together on the Westside.

Long time friends of the family with our kids.

Back on the Eastside and fun with Baba while Daddy and Gramps worked on the shop.

Grand finale for August was getting the last panels on the shop roof!

In September…a little rearranging of the furniture.

JJ got to come over to Baba and Gramps without his big sister.

We celebrated Gramps’ birthday twice.

The last week of Summer all across the state of Washington we had smokie skies and we stayed inside and limited our activity.

Today I’m happy to report that this is what our skies look like just in time for the end of summer. We are all so thankful to have clear blue skies with white fluffy clouds.

What a relief it was to be out and about in the wonderful weather. We won’t take it for granted anytime soon.

Cinderella and Her Helper…

On Saturday morning our son Dan came over with Addy and JJ bright and early with their breakfast in tow. Dan was helping Dear prepare the Shop pad for cement by putting down the vapor barrier and then putting the re-bar on top in a grid pattern and fastening it to stay in it’s grid. I’ll show photos later. The point of this story is that Addy, JJ and Baba had to fill our time together with activities. From the photos you’ll see that some may feel I over worked my two young grandchildren.

Believe it or not the three of us managed to mix up banana bread batter and get it into the oven without any “major” mishaps. We did have flour to vacuum up!

JJ only managed to get a little taste of flour in our preparations. Addy was a big help by finding the cup measures and teaspoons, etc. that Baba asked her to fetch while supervising JJ with her eagle eyes so he would be safe on the chair and wouldn’t drop too much flour on the floor. Addy measured out the ingredients except for the salt. I cracked the egg. They both are hands on helpers. They both enjoyed “washing” the dishes. Shh…don’t tell them that I re-washed them all after they left for home.

Vacuuming was the favorite activity of the morning for JJ!

We all had to stay inside the last few days because of the unhealthy air quality from the smoke from the fires on the whole West Coast!

Hope you all have a good week ahead.

Celebrating Gramps!

On the morning of Dear’s birthday September 9th our Daughter in law sent a text with these photos of Addy, JJ, and Rayna wishing Gramps a Happy Birthday. Love that Addy is singing in the first photo.

We were invited for dinner at their home on the day and enjoyed Lengua Tacos. Delicious. It wasn’t easy capturing a photo of the three of them.

The day after Dear’s birthday we headed to Chewelah for Mexican and we were treated royally by our favorite waiter.

On 9/11 this was the view of the horrible air quality in Seattle taken by one of the news agencies. Can you find the Space Needle? Our air quality in Northeastern Washington isn’t good either but it is not this bad…yet. They say we are in for the smoke coming our way from California and Oregon. We are all praying the the fires (so many of them) can be extinguished and that we can get some precipitation to clean the air. The West Coast is burning. Good time to consider your eternal destiny.

This morning Dan and the Grands are coming over. Dan will be helping Dear prepare the shop pad for the cement pour by laying the vapor barrier and the re-bar. I’ll be watching Addy and JJ while that work happens.

Morning Visitor

Outside, inside, all around the yard. JJ and Baba had fun for several hours on Friday while mommy and Addy joined Granny and Granny Great to help at their garage sale. Sales went well and not having charming, busy JJ made life easier on everyone. Addy had a great time selling things and people even offered her change just for being cute.

Hope y’all are having a good Labor Day Weekend.

Fruit

Today is August 27th and our word is Fruit.

Proverbs 11:30 (ESV)

The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and whoever captures souls is wise.

From Paul:

 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing” – John 15:5

From Maristella:

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”
Galatians 5:22-23 | NIV

From Vera:

““Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits.”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭7:15-20‬ ‭NASB‬‬

From Happy One:

Galatians 5:22&23 KJV
But the FRUIT of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 
Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
From Cheryl:
Psalm 92:12-15
The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree, He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
Those who are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God.
They shall still bear fruit in old age;
they shall be fresh and flourishing,
To declare that the Lord is upright; He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.

If you have a verse or verses share them in the comments and I’ll add them here.

Speaking of fruit here is a teaser from a morning of Cherry Picking a while back. I’ll share more when I get the okay.

Dog Gone Hodgepodge

Rayna on our back deck last Saturday while we were dog sitting for our kids.

1. The Hodgepodge lands on National Dog Day this year (August 26th). Do you own a dog? Did you have a dog when you were growing up, or maybe some other kind of pet? Would you say you’re more of a dog person or a cat person? Neither is okay too : )

We do not own a dog. We just got done dog sitting for our kids this past Sunday. Neither Dear nor I had a dog growing up. Dear and his brother had parakeets, Poncho and Peppino.  Our daughter had rats for a while, Fats and Pinkie. We were tricked into owning those rats. Our son and his best friend bought two rats, without asking, for a Science experiment at our house and then Katie fell in love with them so we had to keep them. Katie took good care of them and trained them to do a few tricks. Even when rats die it is very sad. Sigh.

Dear and I are neither cat or dog people.

Our son Dan on the right and his best friend Jamie on the left were the junior highers who bought those rats for their science experiment. These three guys have been good friends since elementary school. Jamie with his son David Daniel, Joshua and Daniel with his son Jaymison Joshua.  Names for their sons that honor this friendship.

2. Last time you felt ‘dog tired’?

If I have to do yard work when temps are above 90 I get dog tired.

3. It’s said you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. When did you last prove this idiom true or prove it wrong?

This old dog learned a new trick after we moved to the country with a little acreage. I have mastered the riding lawn mower.

4. A favorite book, television show, or movie featuring a dog. Why did you love it?

Growing up I really enjoyed Lassie. Even though there were calamities on the show Lassie always saved the day. The good endings were appreciated.

5. Last time you had reason to (literally or figuratively) exclaim ‘hot diggity dog’?

My sister Lana brought us a couple masks that she ordered from Amazon after she saw one on her hairdresser.  These masks are so much more comfortable than cloth masks. Today when I had to run errands I wore it and was so happy to be able to smile, breath and not fog up my glasses. There is a little tension on the chin but the ease in every other aspect was wonderful! Hot diggity dog, since I have to wear a mask, this one makes me happy!

6.  Insert your own random thought here.

See the second part of question 1 about friendships.

Thank you Joyce for coming up with the questions for the Hodgepodge. Click on hodgepodge to see more or join in.