Post Christmas Fun

Grandpa and Hannah


JJ and Hannah scaled this mountain of snow


Hannah posing atop this huge pile of snow.

The grandkids were here all day today. We had a grand time! We played Christmasopoly board game and then went outside to climb some huge piles of snow made by snowplows clearing the streets. We also dug a tunnel under this huge (8'- 10' high) mound of snow.

Christmas Day

The table is set with mom's silverware in honor of her passing exactly 9 years ago today. A plate Mark made us years ago will be used to serve my handmade chocolate peanut butter balls. The guests will be arriving shortly............

Christmas at our House

Christmas is just two days away and today we got a request from our Australian friend via her Christmas card to keep our blog updated because she checks in on us and keeps up with us this way.
So, dear Raimonda, here are some things you'd see around our house if you were spending Christmas with us.
We are hosting Christmas dinner this year, so I'll post 'people' pictures in the next few days when we all gather.


a nutcracker reminds us of Christmases spent in Germany


a cute snowman that we've had for many years. It reminds us of the many white Christmases and snowmen we've made over the years - lot of snow this year, but no snowmen in our yard.


so many Christmas cards from friends around the world - also our new Christmas monopoly game slated to be played on Christmas Day


Our centerpiece given by our kids a few years back and a runner made by a dear friend our last Christmas in Woodinville


The reason for the season


A treasured Christmas tree Mark made in his very early school years. I always treasure it and put it in a prominent place.


This was almost our main Christmas tree this year, but with Mark expected home and our hosting Christmas dinner, we felt we needed a real tree, but this one will one day be our only Christmas tree. We're just not there yet - maybe next year.


a close up of some ornaments - among them: old photos glued on orange can lids, hand painted bulbs made by kids/grandkids, popsicle stick angels, bulbs commemorating a first Christmas, a new grandchild, etc. All of them priceless to us and each one with a special meaning.


Our 8-foot live fir tree in all its glory. Note the star on the top. Drew made it about 30 years ago. It's aluminum foil covering a cardboard star mounted on a toilet paper tube. I treasure it and wouldn't trade it for a real silver star!

If you want to see what it looks like outside our house - just scroll down to the previous posting - it still looks like that outside. We are definitely having a white Christmas this year.

Winter Wonderland

It started snowing very heavily this morning about 9 o'clock and hasn't quit. Now less than 6 hours later this is what it looks like - with no hint of it stopping any time soon. I wonder what it look like tomorrow.

Here's our house as it looks right now......... those big white spots are huge snowflakes.

Out with Thanksgiving and In with Christmas

This was our week-end to take down the Thanksgiving/Fall decorations and put up the Christmas ones.
We got our tree up inside and changed the motif of our all-season wreathe, which we made last year. Pictured are the before and after of the change over yesterday.

Frozen Fog

This morning we woke up to 18 degrees and freezing fog. The dampness from the fog coated every tree limb and froze - makes for a beautiful sight! Now when the sun comes out the trees should sparkle.

Brrrrrrrrrrrr!

We woke up to sub-zero temperatures this morning with lots of snow. This same shot looks a lot different from what it did earlier this month.

Leaf Raking

We had the kids here over last week-end and they raked a big pile of leaves under the tree and then dropped into the pile from the lowest tree branch. It was a fun fall day! A few days later, the golf course crew came by and removed all the leaves. We got our fun in, just in time.

CBS Weatherman stuck in Yakima

If you have been following the Early Show on CBS, you have seen their weatherman traveling across the USA from Anchorage to NY. He started with just $50. He's working and begging his way across the country. He got to Yakima yesterday and got stranded. I actually emailed him and got an answer, but he managed to get out of town (barely) without our help.

Here's a video link to part of the story - followed by a written page about it.
Copy and paste to view them.

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7056423n

You can follow more of the story here:

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504463_162-20022835-504463.html?tag=latest

Where we live..........

If you want to see lots of photographs of where we live, click on this link........
note: you may have to copy and paste.

http://www.facebook.com/#!/album.php?aid=137911&id=119900176686

Gleaning

Yesterday, I had a craving for some fresh fruit, but was totally out. I didn't want to drive all the way to the store, so ...... since it was a gorgeous sunny day and the apple/pear harvests are finished, we decided to glean the orchards down our road. We only took what we could carry in our pockets and after a couple hours in the fridge, they were ready. Sooooo good!

Old Friends

We had a great time yesterday visiting old friends in our former stomping grounds.
We visited our former neighbors of 30 years - Jim Ennes and Diana Gore. We spent a couple of hours visiting with each of them in their homes before heading out to a surprise birthday party where we got to visit about 20-30 other long-time friends. We have missed our old friends since moving to the other side of the state, but it was great seeing and visiting them all again.

When we returned home, we found an email picture from my cousin Steven in Texas. Just to give you some perspective on the size of this animal - Steven is 6'4". This is his newest 'pet' named Golddust. They sure do grow 'em big in Texas.

Drew

Drew returns home today after 10 months in Qatar!

Foreign Fare

Drew's final dinner in Qatar consisted of sheep brains. Yummmm!

Fourth Grade in 1959

I just dug out a picture of my 4th grade class and sent it to some of my former classmates - what a hoot! Who says we don't improve with age!

One Year Come and Gone

Today marks exactly one year since we moved into our new house. It's been a great year! So glad we are here.....

Great Day in a Great Town

Yakima Avenue - the main street downtown


Old Train Depot - now a restaurant

one of many old stone churches 100+ years old

Capital Theater - live theater

Today has been such a great day, we decided to walk around downtown. We took a few pictures a long the way......What a great place this is. We love our new town.

Wedding

Yesterday we went to a friend's wedding near Olympia. Mark flew in from Boston to be a groomsman. He arrived late Saturday and flew out late Sunday. It was a whirlwind trip for all of us, but well worth it. It was good seeing old friends and, especially Mark. Here are a couple of pictures of Mark and his friend, Stephen James, as well as, the newly weds.

Happy Birthday, Drew

Our first born is 33 years old today. Sadly, he's on the other side of the world, but it won't be long now and he'll be back with us. We did celebrate his daughter Hannah's 7th birthday today, although it is another 2 days until her real birthday.

Apple Harvest

It is harvest time once again the Yakima valley. There seems to be an abundance of fresh produce everywhere. We went out for a walk in our neighborhood this morning and walked past this apple orchard. The branches are so heavily laden, it seems they will break.
In case you are wondering......yes, these apples do taste as good as they look.

Last Summer Days

In these last days of summer, we celebrated Hannah's 7th birthday at the pool yesterday. There are not too many of these warm summer days left.

When my dear friend Charlene was here a few days ago, we also noticed the summer days were waning. We took a hike in the Cowiche Canyon and notices some leaves starting to change colors. It seems fall is in the air.

Tobacco Growing

We went to the reservation today and discovered that the Yakama tribe grows its own tobacco. What a surprise! We had no idea tobacco could grow in this climate. We stopped along the side of the road and snapped this picture.

Labor Day Week-End

Long-time friends Barb and Jim Sullivan came over for a visit on their Harley this week-end. We had a wonderful visit with our greatly missed Woodinville friends. We cooked fresh, wild salmon on a cedar plank on our new grill.
We're trying to get them to move over to the sunny side of the mountains. They're thinking about it....

Yesterday we went blueberry picking with Sarah (daughter-in-law), her sister, and their parents. All together we picked more than 65 pounds - 21 of those pounds were ours to bring home. I love blueberries, so now I have enough to last me a while.

Shopping Cart

We were out recently and came upon this huge shopping cart. It is actually a vehicle - look closely and you'll see seats, a steering wheel, and an exhaust pipe.

Cranefly Migration

A couple of days ago, we witnessed a cranefly migration in back of our house. I had no idea there was such a thing, but sure enough, that is what it was. I saw more cranefly in a few minutes than I've seen in my entire life. Thousands of them were heading south to warmer climes. I wish I'd gotten a picture.

Breezy

Today we took JJ to the local airport where a different plane is presented and flown every Saturday afternoon. Today it was a 'Breezy' - so called because there is no enclosed area at all - hence it is breezy when flown. Here's the plane we saw - JJ even got to sit in the one passenger seat after the flight.
Hannah went with us last time, but opted out this time.

Camp

Grandson JJ just returned from camp. We got to bring him home from camp, so we were able to see the camp and meet several kids. He is pictured here with his camp friend Gabe.
This is a special week-long camp for children of deployed military. It's called "Operation Purple" and there is one in every state. It's a chance for kids to be with other kids who have a deployed parent. Our grandson loved it! He's proud of the camouflage soot on this face and didn't want it to come off.

Here's a link to some TV reports on the various Operation Purple camps.
http://www.militaryfamily.org/our-programs/operation-purple/media.html

Dress Up at our House

Hannah was here recently and got into Grandpa's old uniform.

Hanford

Yesterday, we finally got to tour the Hanford Nuclear Reactor site about 80 miles from here. The place is surrounded by the most desolate landscape I've seen. It's also full of rattlesnakes and scorpions - we didn't venture far away from the plant. What an experience it was! We learned so much! There was a lot of history we didn't know about, either. Too much to elaborate on here.

What a Day!

Yesterday our good friends Ray and Doretta Dalseg from Woodinville, were here for an early week-end visit. Our grandson JJ was out on a long anticipated fishing trip with his great-grandfather in an alpine lake west of here. Then we got a call from Sarah saying her grandfather had had a heart attack while out fishing. Fortunately, Sarah's uncle was with them and rowed the threesome to the other side of the lake where they could summon some help. It took a while to get back to Yakima and to a hospital, but they did. After finding blockage and inserting a stint, great-grandpa seems to be on the mend. Our grandson, JJ, was a trooper, summoned the initial help, and kept his head during the whole ordeal.
What a day it was! Today should be quiet and calm - our friends have returned home and nothing planned except a little yard work and maybe a swim later in the day.

Golf Lessons

When we moved here, we were offered one free golf lesson. I never thought I'd want to play, but thought I should take up this offer and at least learn a little about the game since we live right on the course. John opted out, so our daughter-in-law Sarah and I decided we'd do it. Today was the day. We had our first ever golf lesson. We were both surprised that we enjoyed it as much as we did. We've decided we're going to do it again and maybe get the grandkids signed up. too.

Updates

It seems we've been in a whirlwind lately....

Drew and family left for a week-long visit to Disney World in Florida. The kids were just told they were taking a vacation and had no idea where when they boarded the plane. They finally found out when they landed in Orlando. The kids have called several times to update us on the great time they are having - from hot rain, alligators, and dining with Cinderella in her castle, to 'real' trips to outer space, the water park, 6-inch grasshoppers, Space Mountain, and, of course, the Tower of Terror. They're just having too much fun - best vacation of their lives, they tell us. Drew will return to his deployment in Qatar the day Sarah and the kids return here. That'll be a tough time for everyone.

On the homefront.... my dear friend Alice came back for another visit - her second in 2 months. We just didn't have enough time during her first visit. We took a quick day trip to Woodinville to celebrate another friend's (Charlene's) birthday and visit Molbaks - our favorite haunt.

We drove by our old house - shouldn't have done that. It was distressing to see how little the new owners have done to maintain it. But, we've moved on and LOVE our new place.

There's more, but that's enough for this time....

Thanks for reading. Comments are always welcome.

Drew's Home!

On Wednesday we totally surprised the kids by taking them to airport under the pretense that we were going to fly out. Instead....they saw their dad arriving home after 6 months in the Middle East. What a great surprise it was since the kids had no idea he was coming home. We are all having a grand time with Drew being home - long walks, dinners, swims, etc. Another surprise in the works for the kids in the next few days. I don't want to blow it, in case they see this, so I'll save that for the next entry.

Cherries Galore!

It is cherry time in our town. The harvest is in and cherries are everywhere. We went to a local cherry farm today and will go back with the grandchildren on Saturday to pick some ourselves. We can finally get our fill of cherries!

Happy Anniversary

Happy Anniversary to Us!! Thirty-four years today and still going strong! No big plans.....I think we are saving that for next year.

Turtle

Our pet turtle died Saturday. We'd had him about 25 years and don't now how old he was when we got him. He could well have been 40 - 50 years old. He seemed fine one day and then was gone the next. We buried him in our planted area along side the house. So now, for the first time in 30 years, we don't have any sort of pet. we've been through them all - several dogs, many birds, a hermit crab, multiple fish, 4 turtles, and some others I probably can't remember. The grandkids have 3 pets at the moment - a lizard, a cat, and a dog, so if we start lamenting our pet-free home, we have plenty to visit. It's the end of an era for us - there's no turning back, either.

Air Conditioning!

I've never lived in a house with air conditioning until we moved here. Today is a hot day (90's), so we turned it on. It is wonderful! Having been in the Seattle area for the past 34 years, we didn't need it, but this side of the mountains is a different story.

122 Degrees !

That's the temperature in Doha, Qatar today where Drew is stationed. I can't imagine what that feels like. That's the high for the day - at night it dips down to 90 degrees. Can't wait until he is back.

Hiking

Long time friends, Alice and Jerry, came to visit for a few days. We hiked up in the hills above town. At the summit we could see Mt Rainier in the background and the town below. We also went to the Yakama Nation Cultural Center, as well as, a couple of other fun places. The weather was great - mostly 80's. We had a grand time!

Graduation

We just returned from a trip to Massachusetts to attend Mark's graduation.
Graduation was phenomenal! The day was sunny and bright. The graduation ceremony opened with a prayer and the national anthem followed by some inspiring messages.

After graduation we spent a couple of days on Nantucket Island. What a great place! There are no franchises on any sort - no Safeway, no McDonalds, no Starbucks - no national chains at all. The houses are all of the traditional New England architecture and most of the houses have names.

A great trip and a great time with Mark.