The Birthday Finale

Today is our firstborn’s birthday and that brings our family January birthdays to their finale. He is a joy to us and to so many others.

Happy birthday, dear Joshie! Here’s to a year filled with many good things and lots of love and growth in the Lord.

Every good and perfect gift comes from above.

Glad we could celebrate you in person back in December.

Here’s a celebration from a few years back.

Seahawks are in the playoffs so this collage with you sporting your Seahawk Jersey seemed appropriate to share.

Of course soccer and the Sounders have a lot of extra loyalty for you and our whole family.

You are loyal fans when they are home and away.

I love that you and Laura made it all the way to Toronto to see the Sounders win the MLS cup!

Family times at the games are a great memory.

With FIFA World Cup coming to the USA again it brings memories from 1994 when the USA hosted this popular world event. Seeing prices and how hard it is to get tickets for games this year makes the fact that both you and Dan got ticket packages for less than $100 for a few games in each package seem like a miracle. Not only did you get tickets but we were able to meet the whole U.S. team at their practice field and their hotel. What fun that was to experience.

Hopefully, tickets will become available for you this time around!

Another memory is popping up for the year.

Looking ahead to October, this experience from 1997 comes to mind. You and Dan have been back to Hawaii since 1997 but it will bring back memories when we are all back there together again. I won’t be renting any beach rafts this time around!

Hope you have a special day today and that you know how much you are appreciated and loved.

Go Sounders…oops…Go Seahawks!

Old and New History Hodgepodge

This photo was taken in Persia in the late 1940’s, after our mom and pop immigrated to the USA. My maternal grandparents are seated on the right lower side of the photo. Our cousin Alex is standing between them.

The photo above is of the paternal side of our family from the 1950’s. In the middle is our Babushka and Dzedushka. Our cousin Johnny is on our Babushka’s lap. I’m seated below our Dzedushka , just to the right.

Our Paternal and Maternal sides of the family are Russian.

It’s Wednesday and time for Hodgepodge. Thank you, Joyce!

1. Next Sunday is Grandparent’s Day. Share a favorite memory, photo, recipe, or something you learned from a grandparent.

Our maternal grandmother was widowed young while she and our grandfather were living in Persia so our maternal grandfather never made it to the USA. He died shortly after our mom and pop immigrated and that was very hard for our mom being so far away and getting the news that her father was killed. Our little Babushka lost her left hand and arm up to her elbow when she was a child. She only had one hand but her embroidering skills were amazing. She was very patient in trying to teach me that skill but it wasn’t something I could excel at. She was a praying grandmother and she prayed for all her grandchildren. One thing she would tell us young people, “Don’t got out when it’s dark, nothing good happens in the dark.”

The collage shows one of her wedding gifts to Greg and me. It is an embroidered table cloth and 8 napkins. I cherish this gift from her hand.

I had a closer relationship with my maternal grandmother.

2. What’s a quote from a book (besides The Bible) that has stayed with you?

‘It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out of your door. You step into the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to’ – Bilbo

by J.R.R. Tolkien. It is spoken by Bilbo Baggins in The Fellowship of the Ring.

Truth be told, the quote I use more often is, “It comes in Pints?” (from the film)

3. What’s your number one food pet peeve?

I’m not a fan of someone chewing with their mouth open.

4. What’s one thing about you that is still the same as it was when you were young?

I’m still in the habit of smiling not to mention my hairdo!

5. September is National Preparedness Month…does your family have an emergency plan? Do you have some sort of preparedness kit you keep on hand? If so, tell us one thing that’s kept there.

Our sons are prepared but we aren’t. My emergency plan is to get to one of our son’s homes in case of a major emergency. We do have our important papers, etc. in a quick grab container.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

On Sunday our own Seattle Sounders made history by winning the Leagues Cup Final against Inter-Miami. Josh and Laura were there to be part of the history.

We live too far from Lumen Field to participate in these games anymore so I love to live vicariously through Josh and Laura and their love of the game of soccer!

The Seattle Sounders’ quest to their first-ever Leagues Cup trophy is complete.

With Sunday night’s 3-0 win over Inter Miami, the Sounders were crowned champions of the tournament, becoming the only team in MLS to capture every major North American soccer trophy to date.

The game was not televised on any English speaking channel that we get on Dish so I had to watch it on a Mexican station. I was happy to be able to see it in real time and thankful for the Mexican station! I just set the volume low. 🙂

Lumen Field delivered an electric atmosphere, with a record crowd of 69,314 – surpassing the old mark of 69,274. And, in a rare sight, most of that support was for the home side rather than the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner. Seattle fed off it from the start.

The Ballon d’Or is an annual football award presented by French magazine France Football since 1956 to honour the player deemed to have performed the best over the previous season.

Lionel Messi has won the Ballon d’Or a record eight times and he was playing on the Miami team.

One Day At a Time

Three days of nonstop fun here in Colville. I’ll cover one day at a time. On Thursday morning, Addy, JJ and a friend had the great experience of the local escape room. They managed to escape in 42 minutes. They had to find clues, crack codes, solve puzzles with a time limit. Addy felt she could have cut that time down if she was alone.

Jamie was able to watch them via a computer screen while they worked in the room to escape.

On Thursday evening we met at the fields for Addy and JJ’s soccer games. As per usual, Dan was called on to referee JJ’s game. Josh and Laura had rolled in from the other side of the mountains in time to be able to enjoy seeing both JJ and Addy play and to have other fun at the fields, too. What fun to see all ‘our boys’ on the same field!

JJ was ready to protect the goal.

Addy’s team played their game on a field just beyond JJ’s field and it made it easy to switch between the games at half time. Addy’s game started late because of a referee snafu so we were all able to be on the same field for a good portion of her game.

What a special treat to have Uncle Joshie and Auntie LoLo at the games.

Jimbo’s Ice Cream truck knows just where to come for nonstop business. We ended the evening with ice cream treats.

That was Thursday August 21st. We still had a few more days to fill with fun while Uncle and Auntie were visiting. Those posts will appear later this week.

Here we are in the last week of August. For summer lovers it’s a hard pill to swallow. Hope whoever you are you can take each new day and all it has to offer you in stride and in peace.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

²a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
³a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
⁴a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
⁵a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
⁶a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
⁷a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
⁸a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.

News in the Neighborhood

Another year of swimming lessons are in the books!

Our museum unveiled a new mural that was recreated from a black and white photo taken 100 years ago of Kettle Falls area on the Columbia River as it was before the Grand Coulee Dam was completed downstream in 1941. This area is now under water.

In other news Greg replaced our aged and failing gate this past week.

As usual he does great work!

The 2025 soccer season is on full kick ahead. Addy and JJ are busy on the pitch.

It’s a ‘kick’ to see their dad referring, too.

Hope y’all have a great Friday!

Wrapping Last Week Up

At soccer camp last week we had intermittent showers and winds and a beautiful rainbow!

It was a very full week with soccer camp in the evening and golf camp in the morning, not to mention Irish Dance practice, too!

Our road is being asphalted from highway 395 all the way to highway 25. That’s about 20 miles worth. There are times where we have to wait at our driveway for a pilot car to let us out. We have to plan our trips wisely and also leave plenty of time in advance if we have an appointment. The road is looking real nice and it will be great when it is all done.

We have been enjoying my brother and his son being with us since Saturday afternoon. I will have lots of posts to share soon.

I’ll leave you with some flowers that are blooming in our planters right now.

Enjoy the final days of July!

Hello Summer Views and News

We’ve had a mix of blue skies and rain showers for the beginning of summer. It has been a banner year for our clematis varieties.

The yellow day lilies are always the first of the lilies to bloom.

Addy and JJ had fun at Golf Camp. We visited the camp on Wednesday held at the Chewelah Golf and Country Club.

On Thursday they were able to play nine holes of golf.

On the other side of the mountains, the Seattle Sounders had tournament games with international teams and Josh and Laura were able to attend.

Our kids had uninvited visitors on their mountain. The farmer/rancher was called to lead this girl back home…but she must have told her friends that the grass was greener here because later in the day this crew arrived. There are fencing repairs needed by the owner of these cows.

We finally decided to give this Mexican restaurant a try since the ownership and management changed. We gave it a thumbs up. For our small town with limited restaurants it’s interesting that we have three Mexican Restaurants.

We are still enjoying the many shades of green with pops of color on our property.

We had some rain on Saturday and on Sunday in the late afternoon we had thunderstorms and a real good soak.

This Monday morning would be a great time to do some weeding since the soil is very wet and softer than usual.

Quote of the week:

“Never start with your problems. Never! Never start with earth; never start with men. Always start in heaven; always start with God.”

(Martin Lloyd-Jones, Seeking the Face of God: Nine Reflections on the Psalms)

Psalm 71:1 In you, O LORD, do I take refuge…

S is for…

For April I’m challenging myself to an A-Z photo a day excluding Sundays and in addition to any regular posts that come to be.

Today is Tuesday, April 22nd, and we are on the letter S.

S is for Soccer and for Seattle Sounders Soccer Team

A couple of Joshua’s teams.

A couple of Dan’s teams.

Katie’s team.

There were a couple years in Junior High and High School that the boys played on the school team together. That was a fun treat.

It’s no secret that I have been a soccer fan since our kids started playing in their early years and continued into high school.

World Cup 1994 was in the United States and that solidified our national and international love of the sport. World Cup is coming back to the United States, Mexico and Canada in 2026.

After their soccer glory days were over we became fans of the Seattle Sounders and our son has had season tickets from the beginning, since 2009.

In 1994 our boys were 15 and 13. We flew to Southern California to catch all the World Cup excitement we could. We found the U.S.A. training facility in Southern California and were able to see some of the team practice and get an autograph.

After finding the training ground we also found the hotel where they were staying and managed to meet up with most of the players who were very approachable and happy to sign the team poster.

Dan and I were able to attend a game between Brazil and Cameroon at Stanford Stadium.

Josh had tickets for games at the Rose Bowl.

Participating in this historical event was thrilling for our family.

After World Cup the boys still had years of soccer left to play before their Soccer glory days were over.

Since 2009 we’ve enjoyed professional soccer in person in the United States, Canada, in England and Scotland and Italy. Whenever we travel to the United Kingdom with Josh and Laura, a futbol match is in the itinerary.

Josh and Laura have been able to attend a few Major League Soccer Championship games along with regular games in several states. I was able to attend two of the championship games that ended up being in Seattle, 2009 and 2019. In 2009 Seattle hosted but didn’t play. We’ve all been to Seattle Sounders games but Josh and Laura have enjoyed the most games in person.

Josh and Laura trying not to freeze in Toronto in 2016! We won the championship!

Then in 2019 the kids got me a ticket to enjoy the MLS Cup Champions game and Seattle won again! It’s amazing to win a championship on your home field!

And now I get to watch our ‘Grands’ play soccer.

Great Uncle Arnold wrote this poem in a letter to Greg’s mom about our boys playing soccer.

Playing Soccer in the Rain

It’s raining steadily and hard,
So puddles, growing in the yard
Spill over, and run down the street
Past where this street and others meet.

The boys play soccer in the rain
They run and strive with might and main
To kick the ball into the net
In spite of getting soaking wet.

The teams they play on won 1st prize
It’s good that they could realize
Success for all the joy and pain
Of playing soccer in the rain.

The letter S was covered satisfactorily here today.

Hope your week is starting well.

Scotland Travel Journal ~ Celtic

On the same Saturday as our visit to Glasgow Cathedral and the Necropolis we attended the Celtic v. Hearts game at Celtic Park Stadium. It is our tradition when traveling with Josh and Laura to attend at least one futbol (soccer) match. Josh has a good source to secure tickets for us and they are always tickets that include special seats and hospitality.

Celtic won the game and after the game we decided to wait around to see if Josh could get his Jersey signed by a U.S. Player who is on the Celtic team.

Success! It was fun to greet Cameron Carter-Vickers and congratulate him on his performance in the game.

Our time at the stadium was complete and now we hoped an Uber could pick us up and get us to our dinner reservations on time.

We made it with 5 minutes to spare! The Ox and Finch is a Michelin star restaurant with small plates on offer that were all very interesting and out of the ordinary. We enjoyed our time.

It was the end of a very filled first full day and only full day in Glasgow.

We had breakfast on Sunday at the Ivy again before we packed up and journeyed to Stirling for our next big adventure.

I had some extra shots of our time at the Ivy from Saturday morning.

The rest of these photos are from Sunday morning the 15th of September.

While waiting for our uber to Stirling, Laura was able to search out the music this Piper was playing and get a video and photo of him. It was a bucket list item for Laura. She got a few more of these moments, too.

Goodbye Glasgow. We enjoyed our stay.

Waiting for our Uber ride to Stirling.

At every turn and every new experience we thanked God for His goodness to us.

End of the Season

The last game of the summer soccer season for the Bobcats! Jamie captured this great photo with Addy doing her little kickback move with her dad in the background being the coach and the referee. Great season Bobcats and coach Dan!

I have the cutest video of JJ and his end of season scrimmage but I wasn’t able to share it with my photo platform.

These next photos are of the roads we travel back and forth to get to the play fields and to the high school for our Stair climbing fitness times.

We had some sprinkles on the morning I took these.

I love the layers of mountains that we get to enjoy. We are so thankful for our peaceful country views with most of our traffic pauses because of animals crossing the road!

Here in the USA we have our Labor Day Weekend with the Monday holiday. The last hurrah of summer for many. Our schools start next week here in Colville. Our Fall programs at church begin next week, too.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Four Full Days in August!

Wednesday evening August 14th Uncle and Auntie arrived just at the end of soccer practice. We enjoyed dinner out at Rancho Chico before resting up for a full Thursday.

Bright and early Thursday morning the brothers had a tee time.

On Thursday after throwing some roasts in the slow cooker we headed to Bayles Mountain for lunch. The guys were there already after golfing 18 holes.

We had home made sourdough pita bread and tzatziki with steak and with the fresh veggies from the garden.

Everyone gathered back to our place in the afternoon after Addy’s dance practice.

We had dinner early and then some outdoor activities.

Mama deer was outside, too, and very interested in this little guy who got a kick out of seeing her so close. The Aronia Berries were ripe for the picking and everyone had a chance to get their hands stained purple.

While outside I got stung by one of these. The Yellow Jackets and hornets are in abundance this summer and they are aggressive. Our traps have been filling up quickly. Lots of chatter on our county sites about how to get rid of them!

Addy’s Soccer games are on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 6:30. Our son is coaching which makes it even more fun to watch. We piled into our vehicles and headed to the soccer fields.

Turned out that there was not a referee available so our son Josh stepped in for that role. Triple the fun watching Dan Coach, Addy play and Josh referee!