Tag Archives: Big Wheels

Gathering the Long Weekend

The Long Memorial Day weekend gathered many of our family together in different environments in person and with the help of media. We enjoyed seeing loved ones near and far enjoying each other and growing together. Relationships grow intentionally with the help of God. We love each other, correct each other, sharpen each other, forgive each other and encourage each other. God builds these relationships on the foundation of His saving grace and His forgiveness. Because He has forgiven us much we can forgive and love others.

Some snapshots from Arizona where cousins got together for their annual Memorial Day Weekend in Surprise.

Our son Dan gifted Jamie with the weekend away while he stayed home and was Mister Mom. Our DIL’s enjoyed lots of ‘girl’ time with our nieces from California and Arizona.

Our oldest son and some of our nephews from California and Arizona had their annual golf tournament and for the first time it ended in a tie!

The cousins, original and by marriage! These are our kids, my sister Vera’s and my sister Kathy’s.

On Saturday our son Dan came over with Addy and JJ for fun and dinner with Baba and Gramps.

There was an inspection of the hole dug for the new hydrant.

A vehicle got washed and a couple kids got soaked.

Big Wheels were brought out of storage.

This year all the effort to get those wheels moving were up to Addy and JJ. We did not have to give them a push or carry the Big Wheels up to the top of the walkway.

There was a lot of exploring on our acreage.

Some searching of unsuspecting bugs commenced.

They know to not disturb the Bumble Bees.

After all this outside fun we all came in and enjoyed a crock pot roast beef dinner with mashed potatoes, carrots and broccoli, more conversation, reading a story book and time to head home for bed. We are proud of our son for giving his dear wife the gift of a much deserved break from her constant excellent mothering.  He is a great hands on dad to Addy and JJ.

Our daughter and her hubby enjoyed some outside time on the weekend, too. We love seeing their smiling faces and that beautiful rhododendron in their front yard.

We were blessed with amazing weather over the Memorial Day Weekend. That is something we do not take for granted here in the Pacific Northwest!

On Sunday after church we took an hour long drive to Curlew Lake State Park to enjoy some time with several families from our church who were camping together. We had some long conversations, enjoyed dinner together and then headed back home. We crossed the beautiful Columbia River at Lake Roosevelt going and coming back home.

On Monday, Memorial Day we had some rain and thunder in the morning and I thought I’d have to move my mowing to Tuesday but the sun broke through and dried things up enough for my weekly mow. I’m happy for God to water my Spring planters! Our deep red peonies are the first to pop here so I’ll show them sometime soon.

Mid August Fun

Our grands were dropped off last Thursday for some time at Gramps and Baba’s.

The new dollar store water blasters were broken in.

Hunting for hidden marbles is always fun.

Big Wheels in the backyard…

…and Big Wheels in the front yard.

Inside fun consisted of washing dishes (tupperware), working on a craft and building with Construx. All too soon it was time for them to be picked up for home and lunch. Hope they were still hungry after all the snacks they had at Babas.

It was fun to see this photo of our ‘Coast kids’ enjoying time together at the Seattle Sounders game on Sunday night. Too bad the Sounders lost. Thank you Laura for taking this photo!!

We are in another hot pattern here with the high predicted over 100 on Thursday. Watering in the early hours will have to be the norm for a while longer. Hope this new week is going well in your corner.

Time Well Spent

Uncle Joshie and Auntie Lolo arrived late on Thursday night for a few days in our neck of the woods. When they arrived after being delayed by roadworks on Highway 395 between Chewelah and Arden we chatted for a while then hit the sack for a full day of fun on Friday.

Auntie Lolo took most of these photos, by the way.  Thank you, Laura!

The 8 of us gathered on Friday morning for breakfast at our country bungalow. Katie and Andrew were stuck on the westside and not with us all for this gathering. After breakfast on Friday, Josh and Dan headed out to golf, Dear worked on some much needed  maintenance on the lawnmower and the girls and JJ met up to walk on the Rotary trail.

It was sunny and hot and humid and we persevered.

After our walk and golfing and naps everyone gathered again at our country bungalow for dinner and fun until bedtime for our grands. For dinner we made Chili Verde which had some great spice depth with sides of rice, veggies, corn and flour tortillas.

The grands showed off their skills on the Big Wheels.

Bedtime came as usual and the grands and their parents headed home for the evening. A full good day for us all.

On Saturday duty called and Josh and Laura headed to our local kids mountain for the day while Dear and I worked on the lawn after a few days of delay because of rain.

I mowed the front and back lawns and Dear weed wacked.

The kids went to the Farmer’s Market, played pickle ball and worked on dinner for all of us.

After our delicious meal on our kids mountain we opted for a walk down the driveway.

 

A great spot for a selfie before we tried to beat the mosquito bites on the way back up the driveway!

On Sunday we all gathered at church and then enjoyed lunch out before Josh and Laura headed to the airport and home. One of the highlights of our church morning was that JJ was willing to go into his Sunday School class with no regrets or resistance so mommy could attend the service in peace. Addy has been willing and happy to attend Sunday School for a while now.

Hope you all had a good weekend. We are grateful for the good times we spent together this weekend.