Category Archives: Washington

A Hodgepodge Full of Cliches!

We made it to our little Country Fair Parade on Saturday morning. We were only sprinkled on and didn’t get wet…just sprinkled. ‘Every cloud has a silver lining.’ Our Grands were able to gather a bunch of candy as the different participants in the parade threw the treats to the sides of Main street. Our Fire department starts the parade off with their sirens and such and that is why Addy and JJ have their ear protection on! ‘Better Safe than Sorry’

Onward to our questions of the week…

Yikes! It’s the last Wednesday Hodgepodge for August! Thank you to Jo, From This Side of the Pond, for the questions that ‘give us a run for our money‘.

1. What is one cliche you think is nonsense?

‘Easy as pie’, for me, is nonsense. Getting the pie crust just right and making a great pie without a ‘soggy bottom’ is not easy for me. I wasn’t raised with a pie baking mom so making a pie has always been intimidating. That said, I do appreciate my pie making friends and their great pies with the crust being just right!

What’s one you think holds truth?  

‘Ugly as sin’ Sin is ugly and has caused all the trouble we’ve ever seen in our world or will ever see. So thankful that God made a way for us to be out from under it’s condemnation! That way came through Jesus Christ and His sacrifice on the cross for our sin. Colossians 1:13-14: For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

2. What’s the last thing you broke and how did it happen? 

Recently, I knocked a stemless wine glass off my little side table and it shattered and traveled to many places unknown. The glass did not have wine in it, it was empty which was a good thing! It was a cheap variety of glass, too, not a Riedel, (if you know, you know). ‘Don’t cry over spilled milk’

3. Are you a fan of s’mores? Have you had a s’more this summer?

Not a fan and no I haven’t had a s’more this summer.

Last thing you ate that you wanted to ask for ‘s’more of’? 

A Scone with lemon curd. ‘One Man’s Meat is Another Man’s poison’

4. A mode of transportation you’ve never tried? Will you someday? 

I’ve never tried a Hover board and I will never try them. I’m at the ‘it’s too easy to break a hip’ stage of life! ‘Don’t Play With Fire’

5. Believe it or not, next week’s Hodgepodge lands in a brand new month. What’s your happiest memory from the month we’re bidding adieu? 

My favorite part of August was when Josh and Laura came for a 4 day visit in the middle of the month. All the gathering moments together were sweet and it’s always good to spend time together ‘face to face’.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Speaking of Josh and Laura, they celebrated their 23rd wedding anniversary this past Sunday.

This is what I posted on Facebook about them…
Thanking God today for your twenty third wedding anniversary Josh and Laura!
We are so thankful to God for creating each of you and bringing you together, the very best of teams. Your generosity and caring hearts have helped so many. Your niece and nephews’ lives have been enriched with your love and care and generosity! May God continue to strengthen you in Him and with each other and in the ‘Body of Christ’! We love you, we love you, we love you!
Pops and I will take you out for dinner in Scotland to celebrate…soon!!
Happy Cliche Hodgepodge y’all. I hope to get around to most of you this week. Wow! Labor Day weekend is just ahead of us. Put on those white shoes and celebrate those remaining days of summer!

Last Saturday

Saturday morning the 17th of August we hit the Rotary Trail at 9am.

JJ was determined that Uncle Joshie would get him a Cat Tail from the trail.

The Battle of the Cat Tails!

Father and son #1. Our 2nd son was working this Saturday.

After our walk Greg and I headed home while the rest of our crew headed up to Bayles Mountain. An outing on the water was planned for after Dan’s work hours. That post is coming soon.

The Rotary Trail runs along and through the golf course and it is beside the high school and our little Colville airport. We noticed this huge craft at the air field. We’ve had several air resources around to help with the fires in our region.

Back to the current Saturday we had a nice amount of rain overnight and a lot of wind. There were many power outages around our county. Thankfully we weren’t part of any outages. Hopefully the storm aided instead of created more fire danger. The Fair is in town since Thursday and runs through Sunday. Greg and I went to the Fair on Thursday morning. Boise Cascade, a local company, pays for the first 1200 fair goers on Thursday and we were 2 of those 1200! There is a Fair parade this morning and I’ll meet up with our Grands for that. Other than that it will be a quiet Saturday.

Mornings around here are feeling more and more like Fall. Enjoy your last full weekend in August.

An August Week

The Great Jungle Journey is our Vacation Bible School theme for 2024!

The theme verse for the week: To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. 1 Timothy 1;17

The Jungle Theme has been a hit! It’s such a treat to get a sweet hug at my station each evening from these two!

Craft and Science time outdoors under a shade cloth with misters!

I had to zoom in across the parking lot for these photos that are not sharp. A fun science experiment and a craft to take home.

There is a memory verse for each night of VBS.

Day 1: In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.- Genesis 1:1

Day 2: They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt, there is none who does good, not even one. -Psalm 14:3

Day 3: Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth. And from there the LORD dispersed them over the face of all the earth. -Genesis 11:9

Day 4: But to all who did receiver him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. ———John 1:12

Day 5: He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. – Revelation 21:4

We have had up to 185 children each night and 140 volunteers working with the kids and behind the scenes. Our amazing kitchen crew feeds the volunteers and their children dinner each night.

Besides VBS this week, Greg and I have been continuing our early morning walks on the Rotary Trail.

What’s new for you this August?

Early Morning Walks

On Monday of this week we started early morning walks along the Rotary Trail in Colville. The trail circles the Golf Course. These are some photos I took with my phone on two different mornings.

Smoke from fires have made sunrise and sunset interesting.

A hawk

There is usually only one eagle perched on these polls but on this day I had a twofer.

Now for a smoky sunset…

This was on Tuesday on our way home from a class we are taking at our church on Biblical Counseling. Our windshield needed a good cleaning!

Some Olympic competitions have been televised already. I’ve watched a couple Olympic soccer games and we’ll see if we sit down to watch the opening ceremonies on Saturday.

We have cooled down as of yesterday and it was a nice relief.

Happy Friday everyone. Hope you have a nice last weekend in July! Here we are this Friday morning on the trail. My, what long legs we have.

 

Along the Way…

Our little family of 10 planned a special getaway to Walla Walla for Saturday the 29th of June until Tuesday the 2nd of July. Greg and I left a day early to make a stop at Palouse Falls and spend the night in Richland, Washington.

We found our way to the parking lot at the viewpoint to see the falls.

 

From Palouse Falls we headed a little west to the town of Richland which is part of the Tri-Cities for a night at a Marriott property. We had enough points to have our night for free. When we checked in the friendly employee upgraded us to a suite with a view of the water (The Columbia River) for which we were grateful. We dropped off our luggage and ventured to the restaurant we chose for our dinner. We were back to our room for an early night and woke up on Saturday to a lovely sunrise.

We would have several hours to wile away on this day until we met up with Katie and Andrew for a wine tasting at Seven Hills Winery at 1:30. The Walla Walla area and the Columbia Valley area in this part of our state is renowned for wine production. Our check in time for our Airbnb wasn’t until 4pm.

Cheers!

There is much more to share. Thank you for stopping by.

In Like a Cat?

We’ve had some varied Winter weather here the last few days. Thursday and Friday the skies were blue with pretty white clouds and very cold. This is the view we have as we get close to the highway traveling from our home.

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. Psalm 19:1-2
Grateful for our views where God has planted us for this season of our lives. Thank you, LORD.

March has not come in like a Lion and I hope it still will go out like a lamb.

This photo is looking back driving towards our home from the highway.

Saturday we had a change in the weather and got some wet snow that started to stick for a while.

It all melted off the plants and posts and bird houses by Saturday evening.

I might have spoken too soon about March coming in like a cat instead of a lion because this morning we woke up to another 3 inches of fluffy snow! And now we have 5 inches!

We have some busier days ahead in March, especially with Easter landing on the very last day of March this year.

How does March look for you?

What’s Your View Hodgepodge

Joyce, From This Side of the Pond has new questions for Wednesday Hodgepodge to inspire the Thinker in us.

I love this view from August of 2019 when a few of our MGCC (Mennonite Girls Can Cook) friends came to camp in our front acre for a few days. Such a fun time of eating and fellowship together.

1. What kind of thinker are you-doer concrete thinking) analyst (analytical and abstract thinking), orator (logical thinking) inventor (imaginative thinking) or original thinker (creative)? What makes you say so? You can try this little quiz (link here) to help with your answer. 

I scored the highest in Doer/Original Thinker. Get er done people! 🙂

2. Do you own a crock pot, air fryer, and/or instapot? Do you leave said small appliance sitting out? How often do you use it/them? Favorite thing to make in one of these? 

Just a Crock pot. We had an instapot for awhile but I gave it to our kids because it mostly sat in the cupboard. Crock pot is in my pantry. I use it infrequently. I like to use it for a roast or for Carnitas.

3. What’s something you hold a strong opinion on that matters not at all in the grand scheme of things? 

Coffee should be black and unadulterated. No flavored coffee for me, please. Freshly ground, too, please. And strong, please. Make it strong. Is that a strong enough opinion?

4. Describe the view from your window. 

When we were looking for our retirement home in 2018, one of the desires I expressed was to have views out my windows that did not include a neighbor’s carport or any building in close proximity. I’m so grateful for our views. This is our kitchen sink window view. We see trees and mountains and horses and barns in the distance. Sometimes we see haystacks or rolls of hay. Frequently we are visited by deer, turkeys, quail, barn swallows and occasionally we smell a skunk. Just to keep it real we also get that foul smell in the air sometimes because there are lots of cows around us. It reminds us that we live in the country.

5. Do you have a favorite brand? Explain.

Toyota. We love our Toyotas. Our Toyotas have served us well and lasted a long time. Our Toyota Van was the first brand new Toyota we bought in 1985 just before Katie was born. Our 1992 Toyota Corolla all track was such a great car in the snow. We gifted our used Toyotas to our kids and they served them well, too.  Our 1999 Camry was gifted to Katie and Andrew. Katie and I drove it across the U.S. from the Seattle area to Camp LeJeune, Jacksonville N.C. in 2014 to set up an apartment for K & A upon Andrew’s return from Afghanistan. That car made it back from Jacksonville with Katie and Andrew after Andrew’s service was completed and they used it until 2020ish.  That Toyota was then gifted to our Grand Nephew who lives in Southern California. Unfortunately it was totaled in an accident last year. Our Grand Nephew was not injured in that accident and it was not his fault. In total we’ve purchased 5 new Toyotas. We also purchased 4 used Toyotas. Currently we still have our 2007 Camry and we have a 2019 Toyota Highlander.

On our cross country trip in 2014, our first stop from our home in Kenmore for the night was in Bozeman, Montana. When we woke up and looked out the window we saw the car covered with snow. That was not something we anticipated. We put our big girl pants on and soldiered on with God’s help to our next stop in Rapid City, South Dakota.

6. Insert your own random thought here.  

Seajack 6 pentax-001

This is the rear view mirror of that 1999 Camry looking back on the highway during our epic journey across the USA in 2014. It was fun to look back and remember this trip with my daughter with all it’s twists and turns.

Foggy With a Chance of Sunshine

We have had quite a stretch of foggy days with several days of rain, too.

“Faith is like radar that sees through the fog—the reality of things at a distance that the human eye cannot see.” – Corrie Ten Boom.

 

And then a glorious couple hours of this…

The sun broke through the fog and we could see blue sky for just a few hours on Friday and now we are back to fog and rain. That couple of hours reminds us that the sky is still blue and the sun is still there and the fog will lift again.

How are the skies where you are?

 

Thanksgiving Long Weekend 2023

We had nine at our Thanksgiving table this year before three more family members made the drive on Friday. My sister and her husband traveled from Texas to be with us locals from Colville. I’m happy to announce that we were pleased with cooking the turkey in the convection oven. It took half the time and the results were good. We’ll make a couple tweaks next year…if we remember.

On Friday, later in the afternoon, this carload of three arrived from their six hour drive and we were eleven for a pulled pork dinner. Our daughter’s hubby unfortunately was under the weather and stayed home.

On Saturday our group split up and spent the morning and afternoon with separate adventures.

The older folk ventured across the line into Canada for some fun in Rossland and Trail, B.C. We had good interactions with the Border Agents again.

The sun was out for another glorious squinty day! Rossland is at a higher elevation and known as a skiing destination. The shaded sidewalks were icy. We tried to walk on the sunny side of the street.

We enjoyed the artwork around town and made some purchases before we traveled a bit further to enjoy lunch in Trail.

Persian food is a favorite in our family and we were happy with the quality of food at Kootenay Kabab in Trail.

Our carload made it back across the border to our Country Bungalow in time to watch the second half of the Cross state rivalry between the University of Washington and the Washington State Cougars, known as the Apple Cup. Having three University of Washington alumni in our family we are Husky fans. We are outnumbered on the side of the state that we live in now. Our Huskies waited until the last second of the game to win! With that win they are undefeated this season.

While we were in Canada our kids enjoyed time in Colville on our local kids’ property.

We all gathered together again for dinner and fun on Saturday evening.

Addy enjoyed time with her aunties and great auntie and JJ enjoyed his Uncle JOSH-SHU-WA. This weekend for JJ, Uncle Joshie was Uncle Josh shu wa.

Ember enjoyed the visiting hands that stroked her head. The large Thanksgiving banner was a great project for everyone to contribute their coloring skills to. Mexican Train was the game of the weekend.

We are thankful to be able to spend extended time together any time of the year but it is always a special time at Thanksgiving. So grateful for all who traveled a long way to get here! We don’t take that for granted.

As you can imagine the last several days have been very busy and I’ve had little time on the computer and for visiting. Hopefully I’ll catch up soon before the next grand adventure the end of this week!

Thank you to all for your visits and your comments. I appreciate every one of you!