Family Game Night

It has been so great living near our son and his family. With our other son also home for the holidays, it just doesn't get better than that. Both of them will be leaving on Sunday, so last night was game night at our house. It was a chance for us all to have some fun times together since it might be another year before we can all get together again. We had the board game Risk going while Grandpa and Hannah played some chess and then the keyboard. We also played a couple of rounds of dominoes.
While it was warm and cozy inside, outside it was cold (20's) and snowing.

Post Christmas

Mark did get in the day after he was scheduled to arrived and so we had the whole family together for Christmas. We had 19 people at Christmas dinner which was hosted by our daughter-in-law's parents. A great time was had by all. On Monday we are headed back to Woodinville for a wedding. We haven't been back since we moved in October. Don't know yet if we'll drive by our house - we'll see.

Christmas Time

Well, Christmas is almost here. All that is lacking is Mark. We was to have arrived yesterday, but the last leg of his flight couldn't make it due to heavy fog, so he was to stay the night in Seattle. He's trying to get another flight out today, but it is still foggy, so we'll just have to wait and see what happens.
Since I last posted, we have gotten word that Drew will be deployed to Qatar in early January. So glad we are here near his family while he is gone.
Merry Christmas to all of you!!

December Already??

It's December already?? We whizzed right by Thanksgiving without even taking any pictures. We had a great time with our family and even our daughter-in-law's parents joined us.
Soon we are off on our big family cruise. It had been so cold here that will be nice to get into the warm waters of Mexico. We'll have to get some pictures on this trip. I'll post them when we return......

Wreath Making

When our boys were young, we had a family tradition of making Christmas wreathes from the abundant evergreen boughs in our area. Now that we are in an area almost devoid of evergreen trees but very well supplied with grapevines, we decided to take a class on how to make wreathes from grapevines. We really enjoyed it and this will now be a new tradition for us. Here's the first one we made ourselves! We made several more and they just got better each time. The best part of these grapevine wreathes is that they last from year to year - the evergreen ones dried up and had to be made new every year. We also like that the vine wreathes can be used for several different seasonal events, depending on how they are decorated.

Halloween

Last night we celebrated our first Halloween with our grandchildren. They came with their cousins and we grabbed a quick picture. Of course, I had to get dressed up in my costume, too. I made this years ago when Mark was in second grade and also made a matching one for him. Maybe next year, I can get one the children to wear it.

Autumn

Fall is definitely in the air. The is cold and brisk at night, but the days generally warm up nicely. Late this afternoon, we stepped out on to our deck and just enjoyed the view. The picture at the top shows the view from our back deck.
Then we went out front for a couple more shots. After living amongst the tall trees of Western Washington, we are enjoying the unencumbered views which include the sunrise and sunset.

First Snow!

We are now settled in our new house, although we still have lots of boxes to unpack.
We got our internet and telephone connections today, as well as, our first flurries of snow.
We already love it here - it's great having a brand new house and, most of all, having family right here in town with us. They drop in frequently.
Happy Days !

The Big Move

The movers arrive in just 2 days. It will take another 2 days to pack and load and then on Wednesday everything will be delivered to our new house 150 miles from here.
We were over there a couple of days ago signing papers and going through the house to check for any last minute details that needed to be taken care of before taking possession.
John absolutely loves his new garage. We took some pictures of it so we could remember how great it looked before we put our 'stuff' in it.

Surprise Party and a New House

I can't tell you how surprised I was when one of my dearest friends surprised me with an early 60th birthday party with most of my oldest, dearest friends. There wasn't anyone there I'd known less than 25 years. Each one took a turn and said some kind words to me. I'll treasure that memory forever and am so grateful to those who made the effort to come, even those who had moved away years ago. What a wonderful memory! I know I'm blessed richly with great friends in my life. This party also served as a farewell party, too, since we are moving early next month.

So, day after that big event, we went back to Yakima and bought a new house. We had been struggling with which house to buy. There were several we liked, but finally boiled it down to two and then after a couple of stress-filled sleepless nights, we settled on one and had a great peace about it.

Here's a picture of our new house...............

New House

After the inspections, appraisals, and fixes on our current house, we have finally come to terms of the selling aspect of our big move.
Yesterday, we went to Yakima and made an offer on a new house. We still don't have a response, but will let you know. There are actually 2 houses we like, so we will make an offer on both and just see what happens. When we get an acceptance, we'll post pictures....... fun times!

Moving on....

We signed the papers yesterday to sell our house. Closing is October 5th. It's a big step for us. Now we need to buy a new house in our soon-to-be new hometown of Yakima.
We'll post more as know more.

Blueberry Time

This has certainly been the year for blueberries. The front page of our local newspaper recently touted the blueberry season we are having. All the right weather conditions came together to make this a crop to remember. We have been out picking blueberries several times in the past few weeks and now have a total 30 pounds in our freezer - that should hold us until next year.
Here's a picture of some of the blueberries on one of our own bushes. Also note that although it is only mid-August the leaves are already beginning to show signs of autumn. Theses leaves are also on the same blueberry bush.

Lean Times

We were recently having coffee with friends and talking about ways we save a little in these lean times. Here are some of our ideas:

We pick blueberries at a county park that was once a blueberry farm and so now all the blueberries are free for the picking. There are no signs - you just have to know it is there. We go once a week and so far this season have picked 22 pounds of blueberries. They are frozen and should last until next season. Of course, since the season is still going strong, we'll go back for one more round and may just top off the year with 30 pounds - all free!!

We are Starbuck's fans so we bought a Gold Card and get 10% off purchases plus several other perks. Last month Gold Card holders were sent a certificate for a free pint of Starbucks ice cream (value about $5). Earlier this week we were sent a certificate for a free Vivano (Starbucks smoothie). Often there are sample drinks and pastries in the shop of which we partake - of course. Another favorite of ours at Starbuck's is reading the newspaper. Patrons buy newspapers there, or bring their own, and after reading them, just leave them in the basket for others to read. We have canceled our local newspaper, because there is always one there for us to read. To top it off, we order one drink (10% off with the Gold Card) and split it between us as we peruse the newspapers. What better way to start the day! Oh, and don't forget the pastries behind the counter..... the banana bread for example costs about $1.75 per slice, but they give out the recipe cards and you can make an entire loaf of banana bread (10-12 slices) for less that the cost of one slice. Our Gold Card has paid for itself and then some!

Cherries are another favorite of ours this time of year. They generally sell for about $5 a pound, but this time of year they're about $2 a pound in the grocery store. Costco had them for $1.50 a pound, but a truck along side the road was selling them for $1 a pound, but.........buy 10 pounds and they are just $5 - that's only 50 cents a pound - now that is a real savings. We got enough to last us a year.

We never did have a gym membership, but if we did, we'd cancel it. We just get outside and hike several times a week. Who wants to be in a stuffy gym? Yuck. Also having a house with stairs is great exercise. We go up and down stairs several times a day - who need a stair-stepper exercise machine - not us.

Eating in rather than out is another huge way to cut back, as is cooking from scratch rather than buying packaged foods and mixes. We bake cookies rather than buy them, turn old bananas into yummy banana bread, never buy frozen meals, make popsicles from our own juice rather than buy them, make our own pies from the abundance of seasonal fruits and buy single-ply toilet paper (50 cents a roll).
As for the gasoline bill, we let our errands accumulate and run several in one outing, especially if it involves going to a neighboring town.

We try to make our big trips/vacations during the off season - now that we don't have school age children or jobs that tie us to a set schedule. We recently booked a family cruise and saved more than half, by going two weeks earlier than originally planned.

Not only is traveling off season a huge savings, but buying clothing is, too.
Food is bought seasonally, but clothing and travel are off season purchases.

What ways are you cutting back and saving big $$ ?

Back to Normal

After having the grandchildren here for 5 days and having 'historic heat' as the weatherman put it, we are back to normal.
The temps hit 106 at our house yesterday and the day before for the first time in recorded history. Seattle has never recorded any temperatures over a 100 degrees. Since our normal for this time of year is 77, we were ill-equipped for the heat - ie. no air conditioning, but we survived and are enjoying having our usual summer weather back again today.

The children are now with their other grandparents until their parents return on Monday, but we had some great summer fun with them while they were here. We went to the ice caves, went blueberry picking, played in a local river, and the local lake.
Here are some pictures of our adventures over the past few days.

Also in preparation for Drew and Sarah's return on Monday, we decided to surprise them by washing their car for them. We all joined in the fun of detailing their car.


Big Four Ice Cave Fields in July


Down the road to pick blueberries


Playing in the Snoqualmie River


Cottage Lake


Washing the car

Music in the Park

Every Thursday evening all summer there is a free concert in our local community park. We went last night for the first time this year. We are hoping to get to the others. It was a great time for everyone. Kids were swimming in the lake, families were having picnics on the lawn and others were just sitting and listening to the music. The weather was perfect for such an event.

New York Times

We are avid fans of the New York Times daily newspaper. We started subscribing about 2 years ago and never fail to learn something new and/or find something interesting when reading it. I especially love the human interest stories not found anywhere else. For instance.........

Today there was a delightful article about two Swedish women who went out looking for blueberries in the remote central part of the country and ended up finding one of the richest gold field if all of Europe. Why don't we hear about this anywhere else? Here's that article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/13/world/europe/13sweden.html?scp=1&sq=gold%20in%20sweden&st=cse

Note: you may have to copy and paste to open the link.

I will post some more of my favorites on occasion. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

July 4th

What a great July 4th we had! The weather was unusually great, especially for this part of the country. It was in the mid 80's and sunny. We decided to forego our usual visit to the local parade and go hiking the Cascades instead. We were at about the 4000 foot level, where we hiked through patches of snow and beautiful cascading waterfalls. The views were breathtaking, as was the hike (a lot of huffing a puffing on our part). Mark went much farther and higher than we did, since we were maxed out, so he got some of the best pictures, but here is one of mine. If I can get some of Mark's I'll add them later.

Another Week with the Kids

We are now enjoying another week-end with the kids - grandkids and our own kids. The weather has been perfect! Last week-end everyone was here for Father's Day. We were all 7 gathered together and now the kids are here again. Drew and Sarah are gone during the day, so we get some extra time with the grandchildren. Since Mark is here, too, and he always likes an adventure, we've been hiking, and boating, as well as, attending an African Children's Choir performance. Here are some pictures. Of our week-end.......oh, yeah, it is also our 33rd anniversary today!!

Father's Day

The hot dry spell we had is over. Rain and cool temps have returned.
Also returning is Mark who flew in a couple of days ago and Drew who arrives with his family later today. We're all 7 here for Father's Day. Hopefully the weather improves so we can get out for our favorite family activity - mountain hiking.
We'll try to get some pictures to post after the week-end.

Hot and Dry

Hot and dry are not words we generally use to describe our weather here in the Seattle area in early June, but that is how it is right now. We haven't had any rain in 2 weeks (this may be a record) and the temps got up in the 90's the past two days. These temps did break the record for today.
We're enjoying it while it lasts. How long will that be?? Don't know, but we'll keep you posted.

Paradise Valley Pix

We managed to get back to our new favorite hiking spot and even remembered to bring the camera. Here are a few photographs of the trails and views - look closely to see the snow covered Cascade Mountains on the territorial shot - it was very obvious 'in person' but didn't show up very well on the photograph.
There are several miles of hiking trails here in a 660 acre area. If you are local - try it out. It's definitely worth it.

Updates

There is not too much to tell. The house is still being shown, but there are no offers - yet. Mark finishes up the academic year shortly and will be home the first week of June.
We had two of our best spring days this past week-end, so we got out for some more hiking. It seems to be one of our favorite activities as the weather continues to improve.
Our property is looking so beautiful now - the rhodies and azaleas are in full bloom as are the apple and pear trees. Our first iris is also about to bloom. Although, we did lose several plants to the unusually cold winter, most are thriving. The decades old rose bushes I thought were lost, are slowing recovering.

Paradise Valley Hike

Just to take a break from our usual routine, we went on a hike in the Paradise Valley Conservation Area yesterday. It is a new hiking area Mark discovered for us just 5 minutes from our house. What a delightful time we had. There are numerous well-marked trails. Some are just for hikers and others are open to horses and bicycles. It is nature at it finest. Some of the vegetation is tagged with its name for those who want to learn a little while hiking.

As soon as we got there, we realized we should have brought the camera. I'm sure we'll go back soon and will be sure to take pictures for posting here.

Hiking is something our family our always enjoyed doing. We go way back to when we would put our baby (Drew) in a back pack and hike to Wallace Falls. We don't back pack anyone any more, but still enjoy the hikes.

Thanks for this new find, Mark.

Housing Update

There is a lot of activity concerning out house. One family has been back for a second look and another will be back this coming week. It is not easy living 'staged'. Everything needs to be as perfect as possible at all times. Fortunately, everyone who has come, has called first, but it doesn't necessarily have to be that way. Drop-ins can come at any time between 8 am and 9 pm.
At least the weather is cooperating as are the springtime plants. The rhododendruns are blooming and the azaleas are beginning to show, too. Our apple and pear trees just need another couple of days to flower. Everything seems to be about a month later that normal this year. Some very established plants did not make it through the winter and others show signs of damage, but it is still beautiful when the sun comes out. Even our turtle has emerged from his winter hybernation.

We're on the Market!

As of today at noon, our house is officially on the real estate market. Now we have to keep everything in 'show' condition and be ready for prospective buyers to come in at a moment's notice. The house has never looked better. We've spent the past 1-2 years getting it ready and now the time has come.
Here's a link with lots of pictures:
If it doesn't go directly to the site, you may have to copy and paste.

http://www.johnlscott.com/propertydetail.aspx?GroupID=85933054&ListingID=200001334&Sort=0

Staging our House

The papers have been signed to sell our house and nowadays that means a stager comes in and re-organizes the entire house. Our home is now supposed to look like a model home with nothing personal visible. What a distressing ordeal it was for us! After a couple of hours, the stager left and we were so distraught we couldn't even eat dinner. We had no idea this process would be so unsettling. I have lived in this house more than half my life and most all my adult life - far too long, it seems. We even discussed if we should be moving at all, but we know this is the time for us and waiting will just make it harder.
On the bright side, we were walking around the property yesterday and finally saw some real signs of spring. Our daffodils are now in full bloom and our native woodland wild flower - trillium - even appeared for us yesterday.

April?

April is a generally a great month, but it sure doesn't seem like April this year.
It usually means the weather will start improving, but not this year. Our first daffodil barely had its yellow head unveiled yesterday and it got snowed on today. It was just reported on the news that March was the coldest March on record - it was more like a typical February. Today proved that when we woke to more snow. Hopefully, this is the last of it for this year.

Regardless of the weather, April for us always starts off with Mark's birthday - yes, he was born on April Fool's Day and he is 22 years old today - in case you are reading this, Mark ...Happy Birthday!

Today is also the day our grandkids returned home after visiting for a few days. We had a great visit with them, as always. A trip to the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle was the high point of this visit for them.

Our new driveway was supposed to be poured last week, but got rained out. They are going to try again tomorrow.

Our house is scheduled to go on the market later this month - life may never be the same for us. The stager shows up next week as we get ready for the listing.

More news as it happens.....

Spring Break

This week is spring break for Mark, so he is here for the week before heading back to Boston this week-end to finish up the academic year. We have no big plans, just hanging out and enjoying the time together.
We continue to clean up and clear out. We tackled the garage last week - what an ordeal that was! We thought it might take a couple of days, but ended up taking a full week. It is finally done and looks great.
This week we are having the driveway jack-hammered out and re-poured. Thirty years of wear and tear, freeze and thaw had taken its toll. Now all we need is a dry (no rain) day to get the new cement poured. For anyone who knows about Pacific Northwest March weather, you know that dry days are few and far between.
The grandkids are coming for a few days and we're really looking forward to that.
More as it happens....
We've been told that we don't keep our family blog very well updated, so we'll try to improve.

The Moving Process Has Begun

Yesterday we had two realtors come over to our house and today another one will come. We are interviewing different realtors and will decide later this week who will be our listing agent. It didn't help that we had more new snow and temps in the low 20's, so one realtor parked in the street and walked down our snowy driveway to avoid possibly getting her car stuck. The landscaping and roof could not be seen, but the two here yesterday will be back later this week and hopefully they'll be able to see a little more.
The house needs to be in 'ready to show' condition now. We've spent the past year getting rid of a lot of things we don't need any more - what the real estate world has coined 'clutter'. so after 30 years in this house, we are ready, but unfortunately, the real estate is very poor. Oh, well, we'll just see how it goes. If it sells, we'll move, if it doesn't, we won't. Once our chosen realtor posts pictures, we post a link to them. Stay tuned for more updates.

Great Wolf Lodge

Our main Christmas gift to Drew and his family was a night at the Great Wolf Lodge here in Washington. This past Thursday was the day they picked. We drove down to visit them and see what this place is all about. What an amazing place! It was so much more than we thought it would be. It is not only an indoor water park, but also a great lodge, with restaurants and lots of activities for kids and adults. JJ's favorite was the electronic scavenger hunt. Hannah liked the water part features. Both kids loved the kid cabin they had in the room with their parents. It was complete with video games and bunk beds. If you are interested in visiting one of these lodges, here is the link: www.greatwolf.com

We had a fun visit with them all. They drove 3 hours east and we drove 2 hours south to meet and spend some time together. Can't wait until we move. Some realtors are coming this week for some preliminary talks on getting this house on the market - the worst housing market in my life time.

Spring is in the Air

It seems that every February we get a few days of sun and warmer temperatures. We just had those days. It makes such a difference. The daffodils are peeking through the soil, John started on the annual chore of pressure washing the decks, I got out and pruned the apple trees and rose bushes, the 100+ fern on the property are getting cut back, and we even got the roof cleaned. This morning, we are back to our usual rain, but our little taste of spring was fun while it lasted. We have often had snow and wind storms in March, but hopefully, this year, we'll be spared.

Drew is over on our side of the mountains this week-end, so we're meetimg him for dinner later today. He's our family tax whiz, so we are going to pick his brain, since we are not at all happy with out potential tax bill.

Winter Sunset and a Grease Pot

This is an odd pairing of topics, but it's just what came up today.
To start....John took the sunset picture at our house a few days ago. In the winter, the sun sets behind our house - in the summer it sets more to the side (west) of our house. This time of year, the setting sun rays stream though the back windows and flood the house with sunshine. The picture turned out great, so we thought we'd post it. Today it is snowing again, but the sun was nice was it lasted.

As for the grease pot......Anyone remember grease pots that were kept next to the stove in years gone by? When I was growing up in the 1950's, my mother kept one next to the stove. After cooking bacon for breakfast, she would pour the residual grease in the pot. Then the next time she was frying eggs or cooking green beans, the grease was used in the place of butter. As we became more aware of health issues, the grease pot was packed away.....never to be used again. My sister found it and recently gave it to me as a gift, since I had the matching salt and pepper shakers that completed the set. The threesome now are displayed - but not used - in our kitchen. I thought it might bring back memories to others, too.

Grandkids' New Pix

I do know that everyone thinks they have the best-looking, smartest, nicest, most wonderful grandkids and we are no exception. Here are some new pictures of our grandchildren that we received as Christmas gifts. I just had to share them!
JJ is 8 years old and Hannah is 5.

January Celebrations

January is a month full of one celebration after another in our family.
Both my sisters have their wedding anniversaries this month. My nephew and brother-in-law both have birthdays this month, as did my mother. She would have been 85 on the 25th. All the celebrating takes place in California, so we rarely attend, but it does make for a busy time just trying to remember and acknowledge all these events.
So here goes....
Happy Anniversary Tara and Richard!
Happy Anniversary Ava and Steve!
Happy Birthday, Richard!
Happy Birthday, Derek!
Also a happy birthday to my childhood friend, Colleen.
And....Mom, we all still remember your birthday, too.
February won't bring much relief....we have two more birthdays then, too, but they can wait a while.

The New Year

The old year 2008 went out with record cold and snow and now the new year 2009 has greeted us with record rain and flooding. What happened to normal? Is this global warming, el nino, la nina or just an abnormal weather pattern? That is for greater minds than mine to determine.

At least part of our lives is back to normal. Mark returned to college on Sunday. Drew and his family returned to their home on the other side of the state a few days before that, so our homelife is back to its usual routine. As I get older, I find I like our usual mundane routine. We love having the 'kids' visit and miss them when they leave, but there is something comforting in our usual, uneventful, daily routine. So, now it if off to Starbuck's.......