Tag Archives: Leonard and Andrew’s Visit

Of Boats and Birthdays…

Tuesday July 29th was my brother and sister’s birthday. They are twins. It was fun to have one of the ‘twins’ with us to celebrate his birthday this year. Our Colville kids own a boat and the plan for this Tuesday was for them to treat their uncle and cousin to a day on the water. Their boat is not a yacht so Greg and I stayed home for boat time.

While the crew were boating I baked a cake and prepared our taco dinner. The candle on the cake had a small explosion of edible confetti that was fun. Note to self: read the directions before you light the candle. For the first candle I didn’t read the fact that I was supposed to put in the edible sprinkles ahead of lighting the candle. Thankfully there were two candles in the package and Jamie loaded up the second candle and Dan lit it for a successful ‘second take’ on singing and lighting and exploding!

The evening was capped off with a game of SkyJo which has become our ‘go to’ card game this year.

Wednesday morning was pack up day with a trip to the airport for our visitors. We stopped for breakfast at Frank’s Diner and another stop at Spokane Falls for a quick view before we continued on to the airport.

The Spokane International airport was a short ten minute drive from here. We dropped off my brother and nephew with hugs and good wishes. ‘God be with you till we meet again’.

We still had to make a couple shopping stops on the way back to Colville for supplies for our Vacation Bible School. After stopping at the Chef’s Store and Costco we drove the rest of our 70 mile trip to Colville with views of clouds that warned of Thunderstorms that were ready to burst at any minute.

We are thankful for the time we could all spend with my brother and nephew in our corner of the world.

Tee Time and Museum Time

While my brother and nephew were visiting a week ago we had a few activities planned. On Monday the 28th of July we had a Tee Time of 8:30 am. Greg, Leonard and Andrew golfed and I drove one of the golf carts. Dominion Meadows Golf Course in Colville is a great resource for our county. We enjoyed our time. The scores would have been real good if they were for 18 holes instead of 9.

After golf we enjoyed lunch at Rancho Grande Mexican Restaurant. After lunch we made a last minute decision to visit the Colville Museum run by the Steven’s County Historical Society.

We had a great introduction to the history of our area by a volunteer before strolling through the museum.

I have a more thorough post about the museum from another visit we made in 2020. You can see it here.

This time we took a tour of the lookout tower.

It was a good uphill trek to get to the tower and then a couple sets of stairs that showed me how out of shape I am from my sedentary time with Plantar Fasciitis.

The views were worth the huffing and puffing. It was nice to see these views of Colville.

The volunteer who took us up in the tower was a great resource of information about the history of the tower. You can read the information here.

The museum had some resident deer that we call city deer. They are less concerned by humans than the deer out in our part of the country.

It was a good full day and with the heat we were beat and stayed in for the evening.

This week we are supposed to have lower temperatures than last week which is fortunate since we are having Vacation Bible School this week. I’ll be busy selling t-shirts each evening again this year. It’s always fun to see the kids arrive each evening.

What’s new in your neck of the woods?

Dallas to Colville

My brother and our nephew traveled to Colville to enjoy a Father/Son time with us. Leonard is the youngest of my siblings being born 6 minutes after his twin, Lana. Andrew has an older sister, Hope. Hope was enjoying some cousin time in California. We stopped at The Master’s Brewpub in Deer Park on the way home from the airport for a meal.

As we continued home, we passed many sunflower fields. Andrew was born in the Ukraine so we pulled off the highway to get a photo of him with the sunflowers. They are Ukraine’s national flower and are associated with peace, the sun, and the warmth of the Ukrainian spirit.

Once home we had a walk about and played some Corn Hole.

On Sunday we met up with our family at church.

After church we enjoyed Greg’s famous Swedish Pancakes.

Sunday dinner was on Bayles Mountain. What a treat we had, lamb gyros with homemade gyros and tzatziki. Homemade Ice Cream with huckleberry sauce was our dessert. Our kids picked all the huckleberries themselves.

Jamie remembered to take the group shots and we are grateful for them. Andrew is our children’s cousin. He is cousin once removed to our grands.

Driving down our kids’ driveway for home we stopped for our traditional spot for a photo.

I’ll share our Monday and Tuesday doings in another post.

We had some intense thunderstorms yesterday and our temps dropped by 20 degrees by the time the storms ceased.

Happy August to you all.

Goodbye July Hodgepodge

Here we are at the end of July but before it’s over we have one more July Wednesday Hodgepodge. Thank you, Joyce from This Side of the Pond.

1. On July 29th 1957 The Tonite Show premiered with Jack Parr as it’s host. This marked the beginning of the modern day talk show. Do you watch any daytime or late night talk shows today? Do you have any thoughts on the hubbub surrounding the cancellation of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, or are you more in the camp of ‘who is Stephen Colbert? 

“Leave politics to the politicians and just get on with being entertaining. That’s the advice iconic late-night talk show host Jay Leno gave.”

I’m in the ‘who is yada yada’ camp. When supposed comedians and movie producers and sports teams become political it’s a shame and their demise is their own fault.

2. What’s the best part of your day? 

I have to say it’s the peace and quiet of the morning. My cup of coffee time and time in the Word of God starts the day off in a pleasant subtle life changing way. It plays a part in my Sanctification that has been ongoing since God called me to be one of His own through the door Jesus opened through His sacrifice for sin on the cross and His resurrection from the dead. The words of this song from Chris Tomlin speak to this life changing Faith. One God, One Savior, One Way to peace with God.

There is a savior for the sinnerHe is my friend and my forgiverThere is new mercy that flows like riversIt washes me, it washes me
~
I believe in JesusHe is the Son of GodHe died and rose to save my soulI confess that He is Lord
~
There is a cross that reminds meThere’s only one who is worthyAnd there is a grave forever emptyOh, I believe
Yes, I believe, oh
~
I believe in JesusHe is the Son of GodHe died and rose to save my soulI confess that He is Lord
~
You are LordYou are LordYou are LordI confess, You are Lord
My salvation, my rewardYou are all I’m living forYou are LordYou are LordI confess, You are Lord
Every knee will bow beforeJesus Christ forevermore
~
I believe in JesusHe is the Son of GodHe died and rose to save my soulI confess that He is LordOh, I believe in JesusHe is the Son of God(He died) He died (and rose) and rose to save my soulI confess that He is Lord
~
He died and rose to save my soulI confess that He is Lord
~

3. What’s something your generation does that you actually dislike?

I’m tweaking this question a little by changing does to did. My generation was a smoking generation and that is something I dislike/disliked. There was cigarette smoke everywhere including restaurants, offices I worked in, airplanes, and in many homes. What a relief it was when smoking was not allowed in contained public spaces anymore, especially in restaurants and airplanes. ‘Smoking sections’ were such a joke but we put up with them for years.

4. When you cook do you clean as you go, or clean it all up once you’re finished cooking? What’s the last thing you cooked/baked in your own kitchen? 

It varies on whether I clean as I go or after I’m finished. It really depends on how complicated a recipe or method is and if I need the same space to complete the recipe.

On Tuesday, I baked a cake for my youngest brother who is visiting us with his son. It was his birthday. Tuesday dinner was a true taco Tuesday here. I browned the meat, fried the taco shells and made guac and pica de gallo, etc. etc. It was a mess. Today, Wednesday, we are taking them to the airport in Spokane for their flight back to Dallas, Texas.

As I hurry this morning to finish this post my dear husband is washing up some of the pans from our taco meal prep from our dinner last night and also bringing me my morning cuppa. He’s a keeper, y’all!

5. Sum up your July in ten words or less. 

July a mix of celebration, organization, grief, sorrow ending with joy.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

I’m coming in late because we have been busy with my brother and our nephew. Lots to share on another day. I’d like to clarify that this iconic view that our family loves is from our kids’ driveway, not ours. We usually are inspired to take a photo here on our way home from their house.

I’ll be coming around late to visit, Hodgepodgers!