Our Week-End in Leavenworth, Washington

We spent the most lovely weekend in this little town about 100 miles north of where we live. We gathered there with old friends going back more than 30 years. What a wonderful time we all together in this pristine setting.

A Birthday Party

We had a wonderful family get-together on Sunday for our daughter-in-law's 35th birthday. Her twin sister joined us with her family, as well as, their parents and grandparents and a few other in-laws. Here's the cake we all shared.

October at our House

I looked out the back of our house this morning just as the sun was rising and this is what I saw...

Harvest Time

We live in an agricultural area and it is never more evident now at this time of year. We can walk down our road in either direction and be in an apple and pear orchard. The fruit has been harvested, so we often gather up a piece or two that was left behind. Fresh fruit right off the tree! It just doesn't get any better than that. As a friend told me..... no little sticker to remove, either.

Here is a look at the orchards down the road from us right before the harvest.

Family Game Night

We had the whole family together for game night last night. Mark (far left) was here for the long week-end before heading back to Boston today. Drew and family live close by, so we see them often, but having us all together is a treat! Next get together will be Thanksgiving at our house!

Summer

Summer is almost gone......

The kids start back to school on the 31st. No more bike rides over here for a quick visit, no more calls in the middle of a hot afternoon asking "Can we go swimming?" and no more long walks after dinner ending with popsicles on the deck after sunset.

There are still a few weeks of golf, though. Sarah and I have had the best time playing golf together. The course here is beautiful!

One last fling before school will be a trip to the planetarium in Goldendale. We've been wanting to do this trip for a couple of years now, and it is finally on our calendars for next week.

What I love most about summer is warm temps, short sleeves, sandals, frapachinos, long daylight hours, and having the kids come by most every day. Life does not get better than this.

Double Rainbow

We were out on a walk after dinner last week with our kids and saw the biggest, brightest rainbow I'd had ever seen. Here are some shots we took and one someone else took. A perfect ending to a perfect day.

Frappuccino

Last summer we discovered frappuccinos. We got a gift card from Starbucks for a free one, so we tried it. The idea of cold coffee was not appealing at first, but ...WOW! what a beverage. We were hooked from that very first one. So, now that is our favorite summer drink. We found ourselves going to Starbucks far too often, so decided to go on the hunt for a frappuccino machine. Apparently, there is only one and it is made by Mr. Coffee. We bought it and now we can indulge ourselves everyday. What a treat!

It begins by brewing the coffee and dripping it into the lower portion where it is blended with the ice, cocoa, and milk. We highly recommend this!

New York Times

For several years now we have been subscribers to the New York Times newspaper. I just love the stories of inspirations and creativity. The international stories about people's struggles and lives around the world cannot be found anywhere else.

I'd like to post links to two stories that inspired me in today's paper:

The first is about a boy who wanted/needed a summer job. Instead of going around and asking for one, as most everyon does, he had a creative and inovative way to get the job he wanted instead of settling for something he didn't want - or worse, not getting a job at all. Pass this along to anyone who is looking for find work......
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/13/us/13jobsatlanta.html?scp=1&sq=robbie%20brown%20summer%20job&st=cse

The other inspiring story I found in today's newspaper is about a school that was having all the same problems most other schools are having - not enough money. Instead of protesting and demanding, this superintendent came up with a brillant idea! Pass this along to your local school....
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/13/nyregion/tiny-newcomb-ny-recruits-students-worldwide.html?_r=1&scp=3&sq=michael%20winerip&st=cse

That's it for today. The weather is gorgeous!!! Gotta get outside.
"This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it."

Coeur d'Alene

Here are some pictures from our 35th anniversary vacation. It was the best week-end we've had in ages. It's the first time I remember returning from a vacation feeling rested. Here are some pictures: John on Lake Coeur d'Alene on morning.

Jan on our deck overlooking the lake.

Suspension bridge we walked over on our hike.

Peaceful hiking trail

Moose statue overlooking the lake on a cloudy morning.

Wild Horse Monument we encountered on the drive over.

We spent the long Memorial Day week-end at Coeur d'Alene Resort in Idaho - http://www.cdaresort.com/. We had a great room overlooking the lake and took full advantage of it.

We took a walk/hike every morning to get the day started and to counter balance the over-eating we did these few days.

We took a lake cruise Sunday afternoon - but took no pictures - we just have those in our minds as memories.

The remote controls drapes in the room were the best! We opened them in the morning to let the sun in and see the beautiful view of the lake without even getting out of bed.

Huckleberries must be the state fruit - we ate huckleberry pancakes with huckleberry syrup for breakfast. We drank huckleberry lemonade in the afternoon and had huckleberry sorbet on top of huckleberry pie for dessert. Of course, there were chocolate covered huckleberries to tide us over between meals.

Spring!

It really feels like the first day of spring today with warm temps - not quite 70, but really close. Yard work awaits, but couldn't pass up the chance to get out and enjoy the day with a walk and then relax on the deck - it is Sunday, after all. All the work will still be there tomorrow.

Our 35th anniversary is approaching, so we are thinking about what we want to do. We've just about got it narrowed it down, but not quite. On our 30th, we all went on a cruise. This anniversary won't be 'big', but we do want to get away for a little while. We'll post info as we get closer......

Boston Marathon

Our daughter-in-law Sarah and her sister are running the Boston Marathon right now! What an achievement!

Happy Birthday, Mark

Our baby boy is 24 years old today! I can't believe it. This is me this morning trying to get a grasp on our youngest being so old.

.......and no, this is not an April Fool's Day joke - he really was born on this day.

Spring has Sprung

It seems like spring has been a very long time in coming this year. The temps are still topping out in the 50's, but at least we saw some wild flowers blooming while on a hike this morning AND the golf course started up the sprinklers this morning. That's out signal that spring is here - or at least - just around the corner. I'm SO ready for warmer temps.

Whirlwind Week-end !

Mark flew in just before mid-night on Friday. Saturday we were up early and headed over the mountains to watch Hannah in her gymnastics meet and shop at the huge Apple Store over there. Mark got a new i-Pod phone - I marvelled at the new iPads!
That evening it was back over the mountains headed home. Beautiful day of sunshine with lots of snow in the mountains, but none on the roads - a perfect scenario. We were all gathered here for dessert and talked until way too late into the night. It made for a very long day, but since Drew had to fly out the next morning for DC, it was the only time we could all 7 be together.
We had planned for a hike on Sunday afternoon, but a very rare day of rain changed those plans, so we stayed home and played the boardgame "Risk". Not my favorite, but JJ and Mark really like it, so we joined it. Sarah and the kids stayed for dinner, but we called it an early evening and headed to bed since Mark had a 6am flight this morning - which means we are up at 4:30 - not easy after the busy week-end we had.
One great factor in living here, is that the airport is only 5 miles away and we can drive right up to the front door and park. It only takes 10 minutes from getting in our car here at home to being inside the airport - what a great change from dealing with the mega-airports we've dealt with before.
All in all - it was a great week-end, but very tiring. Think I'll go back to bed before starting my day.

Spring

It's not quite Spring, but the snow is gone, the iris are beginning to show their new growth and the primroses are blooming. It is still cold, but spring is just around the corner, so we're feeling encouraged.
This morning we drove grandson JJ up to White Pass with a friend,so they could ski. Still lots of snow up there and more still falling. It felt like the middle of winter while up there.
We move the clocks up tonight, so we'll have some daylight after dinner. Sounds good to me. I love after dinner walks.

Snow Mold

Ever since the snow melted, we have been wondering what is wrong with our beautiful golf course lawn. Well...... it seems we have 'snow mold' - caused by the lawn being covered in snow for so long. Fortunately, it should go away in the spring. I hope so.

Vacation Pictures

Drew and Sarah just sent us some pictures from their Caribbean cruise vacation. Here is one. Great times for them and for us - because we get to have the kids for 12 whole days!!

Caribbean

We have the grandkids with us for about 10 days while Drew and Sarah enjoy a Caribbean cruise. Here's a little of what they wrote this morning:

We had a wonderful day in St. Thomas. Went on a great shore excursion! We were on a catamaran and went snorkeling. We saw turtles, snakes, rays, and lots of fish. One was tiny and bright blue with green dots!!! I got burned so today we are going to try and do a little less sun. The Suite is awesome. Free wireless Internet, walk-in closet, and lots of other cool stuff we will tell you of when we got home. We had breakfast on our deck this morning and right now we are pulling into Dominica. Tell JJ we are going to a place where they filmed part of Pirates of the Caribbean! We will take pictures. We have had perfect weather so far.

and more......
Today we spent the day in Dominica. It is beautiful here, a "garden island". We went up into the mountains and we saw many places where Pirates of the Caribbean II was filmed. We swam through a narrow gorge and jumped into a water fall then we went to some natural mineral hot springs and soaked there. It was very fun and relaxing.

On the homefront, we are 'enjoying' temperatures in the teen's while they bask in 80 degree weather. Oh, well, we get to have the children with us and are enjoying having them here.
By this time next week, we'll all be back to normal.

January

It's been too long since I've posted anything, so today is the day.
Next week the grandkids move in for 10 days while their parents take a much deserved vacation. We are gearing up for this - it has been a while since we were full-time parents dealing with homework, packed lunches, driving to sports activites, etc. There will be no time for the January 'blahs'.
We'll be back after the parents return.......

Happy New Year 2011

We couldn't get from Christmas to the new year without having my birthday. We took a day trip to a small Bavarian town in the mountains about 100 miles north of here. We strolled around the town and through the shops. We picked up a Black Forest cake and brought it home to have as my birthday cake. Drew and family came over to celebrate with us. Calls came in from around the world - Germany and Australia in particular.
I think my most favorite part of my birthday, is hearing from people all over the country and the world. I love keeping in touch. The phone calls and cards mean a lot to me.
Then it was on to the New Year!! Today Drew and family are skiing. It's a beautiful sunny day, but only in the teen's here - must be single digit temps in the mountains. I'm looking forward to hearing about their day of skiing when they return.
The kids start back to school on Monday. We'll miss having them with us during the day as we have the past couple of weeks - digging snow caves and tunnels, playing board games, etc.