Tag Archives: Colville

First Things First…

Our little fourteen month old grandgirlie kept us on our toes during her waking hours. She is busy and on the move.

Baba had to have a little talk with her to let her know that it made me nervous when she chooses to stand on this toy instead of scooting on it.

It isn’t as easy to get good photos these days. As soon as I pull my big camera out Addy wants to investigate and try to grab the camera from me to play with. Baba and Addy spent lots of time with her building blocks and enjoyed “This Little Piggy”.

We are back home. We are still in the waiting room with our house sale and purchase of a new home. You’ll be the second to know if and when we have success on both these fronts. Can’t have one without the other, though. I’m asking God to give me more trust and peace in this waiting period.

As always on our visits to Colville I like take the current view photo from our kids’ driveway. Here’s our May 21st shot.

Soon I’ll share more photos of the Spokane river and a collage from our time at the Spokane Armed Forces Appreciation Parade that always takes place during the Lilac Festival.

Cheers! I’m getting caught up on the Royal wedding since our kids don’t have cable TV and I dvr’d it.

Centered Hodgepodge

1. What’s a word that describes your life? A word you wish described your life?

Centered is a word that describes my life and only because my center is Jesus. This doesn’t mean that life is not chaotic at times or sad or underwhelming but I’ve known since junior high who holds my life together.

Right now I’m waiting for my life to be more settled.

2. Back in my day we___________________________________?

There is so much I could say here, but… Back in my day we didn’t have hand held hairdryers, computers, cell phones, facebook, instagram, blogs.

3. When it comes to takeout are you more likely to opt for Italian, Mexican, or Chinese food? Does a typical week at your house include takeout?

Most regularly if we think about takeout it’s Chinese food. Delivery food is pizza. Typically we go out at least once a week for Mexican.

4. Think about the people you most respect. What is it about them that earned your respect?

Consistency and integrity. Living the life they proclaim. I appreciate loyalty, too.

5. What’s something your friends might see and say is ‘so you’?

Being straightforward and honest. Some might call it blunt. I think they could say I’m more apt to encourage instead of discourage.

6.  Insert your own random thought here.

We just spent 4 days in Colville celebrating our 1 year old granddaughter. This is our goodbye shot, but soon we will be living in the same city with fewer goodbyes. Crazy and good!

Not so random but the next couple months are going to be filled with staging, selling, buying, packing, goodbyes, unpacking and wondering what where and how it will all come together. I do know that soon I’ll be sitting and seeing new views and meeting new people and moving forward centered in Jesus now and forever.

I’ll be linking up to Wednesday Hodgepodge From This Side of the Pond.

Weekend Roundup “K”

Time to link-up to Tom’s Weekend Roundup. This week prompts are: 1. Starts with K 2. A favorite 3. Kids

Starts with “K.” 

Katie starts with K and she’s knowledgeable and kind and is our third kid.

A Favorite. 

The latest view from our Kid’s driveway.

Kids.

Six of our kids (our granddaughter Addy was sleeping).

Parting Shot…

Keeping up with this little Kid will keep you young or knock you out.

Happy weekend and Happy St. Patrick’s Day to you all.

From Afar…

…enjoyment through photos. These are photos our kids took (Laura) while spending time together in snowy Colville. I loved seeing the fun in the snow and happy faces from this side of the mountains where rain persists with no snow.

I think she likes her ride.

Hey mom, why can’t I move my legs?!

Our first born with his love.

Our second born with his favorite girls.

Our youngest with her love.

All of our favorites in one photo! Thankful for each one of them.

Awesome mama and our little delightful granddaughter.

The snow angel!

The early morning snow warriors.

I’m a grateful mom and baba for this time our kids had together. Addy got re-acquainted with her aunts and uncles. Now I’m praying for safe journeys home for Josh, Laura, Andrew and Katie.

Meanwhile back at the ranch (this old house) and at Mennonite Girls Can Cook I posted a One-skillet steak meal for two. Enjoy.

Happy President’s Day!

Reaching Back…

…for The Barn Collective

This was taken back in the middle of December on our trip to La Conner. We arrived to Skagit County early so we took a detour along the farm roads close to Mt. Vernon before we continued on to La Conner.

Linking up to The Barn Collective with Tom The Backroads Traveller. Click over to see more barns.

Our Sunday has started out cold with beautiful sun breaks and then some popcorn snow. Not enough snow here to cover anything. Some areas of Washington state are getting a lot. Our daughter-in-law sent us this photo of our son and son-in-law in the front yard of our middle son’s home in Northeastern Washington. They had a nice walk in the snow. All of our children are spending a weekend together in this winter wonderland. Praying for safe travels for them tomorrow.

Do you do anything special on our long President’s Weekend here in the USA?

Last Minute Trip…

…over the mountains and through the woods to see this little one and her parents!

We decided Friday evening to hit the road on Saturday morning to see our kids in northeastern Washington. We wanted to see them since they won’t be traveling to be with us at Christmas this year. I’ve been absent from visiting blogs because all my time has been spent chasing and enjoying our little Addy.

Addy recognized us and was willing to come to us with no hesitation. That is always a relief since there are weeks that pass between our visits.

Addy is cutting a new tooth and she continues to take a few steps at a time. Snow fell for most of the day on Sunday. We are heading home on Monday because of weather forecasts and the conditions on the roads and…I still need to decorate our tree.

It was a short and sweet trip getting caught up on all the new things Addy is enjoying from food to chatter to movement.

Fun times with gramps!

The Christmas tree was found and cut down on our kids’ property.

You have to catch a photo of her fast as she’s always on the go! She’s enjoying “pat a cake” and she can really move about in her walker!

It was fun to visit and have some sweet cuddles until next time.

The adults were able to complete a couple of projects, too, with extra hands keeping an eye on Addy.

We are hoping for clear sailing on the roads between Colville and Seattle today. Christmas is just one week away. Are you ready? We are more ready now that we’ve spent time with our kids in Colville.

Update: Thank you all for your good wishes and prayers. We made it home in great time and with very nice conditions most of the way home. We are very thankful we decided to come home on Monday as Tuesday welcomed snow and bad conditions on most of the roads we traveled yesterday. Today I will finally put the ornaments on the tree and since it is so rainy and blustery outside maybe I’ll even start wrapping some gifts.

Barns, Pumpkins, Corn Mazes and More!

On Sunday October 15th the girls headed to Knight Farm to enjoy the corn maze and pumpkin patch. The Barn built in 1907 is on the Washington State Heritage Barn Register.

With corn maze map in hand (Katie’s hand) we set off for the maze entrance.

Katie masterfully led us to each checkpoint in the maze never making a wrong turn.

Addy started out awake and soon fell fast asleep.

We started at the bottom at station #10 and ended our trek at station #1.

When we were done with the maze Addy woke up and we picked out 3 pumpkins. One for daddy, one for mommy, and one for Addy.

Yep, the cutest little pumpkin in the patch!

While in the maze I spotted these farms with barns in the distance.

The guys were done hunting on Sunday with early success bringing a buck home just after noon.  Andrew had to leave us all to drive the 350 miles back to Seattle so he could be in class on Monday morning. Dear, Josh and Dan started the hard work of prepping the venison while we were away at the pumpkin patch.

I spared everyone the full image of the buck in the back of our son’s truck but you can see the antlers if you look closely. One side of the antlers look like they are growing out of Joshua’s head. Andrew left before they had the celebratory toast.

Addy with auntie Katie before we got dressed for the pumpkin patch. She was interested in the guys excitement in retelling the story of how their successful hunting morning unfolded.

Linking up with Tom for The Barn Collective and Maggie at Normandy Life for Mosaic Monday.

Fishing

Each of our family members arrived at Dan and Jamie’s home at different hours on Thursday the 12th of October. The last to arrive were Katie, Andrew and Laura after Dear and I were fast asleep. Dear and I arrived first, Josh drove by himself arriving later in the afternoon. Katie and Andrew hit the road from Seattle after Andrew’s last class at the University of Washington. On their way through Spokane they picked up Laura who flew in after her work day. Hunting Season opening day wasn’t until Saturday the 14th so Friday was deemed fishing day. Dear and our original three loaded up their gear and headed to Lake Roosevelt (part of the Columbia River) to launch Dan and Jamie’s (new to them) boat for a day on the water.

Jamie, Laura, me and Addy enjoyed the morning getting re-acquainted. Andrew worked on some homework so he would be free to hunt on Saturday. Aeronautical Engineering involves lots of hours of homework. Close to noon Jamie packed up some lunch items and the stay at home crew drove to Colville Flats on Lake Roosevelt to meet up with the fishing crew and enjoy a picnic lunch together. The morning family time tired little miss Addy out and she slept through the drive and the lunch and all the way home again!

The views of Lake Roosevelt from one of the day use areas on the lake.

We had the area all to ourselves.

We enjoyed the views and the reflections. Andrew skipped some stones along the still water surface.

It was fun to watch the boat approach the flats where we had set up our picnic lunch.

Everyone made it out of the boat without getting wet.

The boat took off again with one more passenger, Andrew. The rest of us headed home for the late afternoon and evening. We enjoyed a meal together, fish and chicken tacos and then preparations were made for an early start for deer hunting on Saturday. The ladies and Addy had a Sign Painting Class to attend on Saturday. Speaking of Addy…

She is on the move with many skills. Crawling, holding herself up, pulling herself up to standing, side stepping while holding onto the sofa and increasing her balance. She’s a strong little babe. More to come.

So thankful for our family time all together under one roof for several days.

We are busy back here at home getting the kitchen ready for new quartz counter tops. I have taken some before photos so I’ll have a before and after post in the future. We are scheduled for templates to be made next Wednesday. With the quartz chosen we now will choose the backsplash product.

Hope all is going well in your corner of the world!