May 2024

On May 2nd, we attended our TLC meeting at the temple then loaded up and headed to Boise.  We are going to Mt. Vernon with Craig and Robbie.  We decided not to go on the freeway all the way to Seattle.  We drove to Yakima then headed north to Leavenworth, Washington. Leavenworth is a quaint German village (tourist trap).  Christmas is their real busy time, so we were glad not to have that much activity going on.  

We stopped for gas and were intrigued with what we saw

We didn't have time to walk through the village now

going to change our plans and come home through here

We grabbed some pamphlets so we can plan a night and morning exploring here!

We had very little traffic and very good roads as we went over Stevens Pass headed for Everett.  But we are glad we waited till May to come.  

We could have had bad roads any earlier

We were surprised to see this much snow on the mountain 

We went north from Everett into Bellingham and spent the night in a Comfort Inn.  It was very nice.  We went out to get some soup/sandwich for dinner and had a very nice evening.  

Next morning, Saturday the 4th, we had a very nice continental breakfast at the motel (quote from Lon - for the price we paid it should have been nice)

At noon, Ed and Starla came to meet up with us and we headed out to Staci and Derek's home.  They are celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary with a party today.  

Derek and Staci

No one had told Ken that we were coming.  As we got out of the car, Bonnie turned him around and he was so surprised to see us.  He knew immediately who we were. We had a great afternoon visiting.

Staci and Derek had bought a house built in 1900 and they have been remodeling it for years.  The inside is finally finished and now they will start working on the outside.

They have a nice big lot right in the mountains. West side of the house

fenced garden and shop

pond with fish in it in front of house

Staci

Front of house, Lon and Ken visiting (Lon in blue sweatshirt)

The gardners shack

covered patio with a bar in the corner

Sisters - Starla and Staci

Starla and Ed's daughter, Hannah with Hadley and Andrew with Lochlan

Quinn and Sherri

We had a beautiful afternoon.  The weather threatened rain, but none came till we were done.  It was a little chilly though.  We went to Ken and Bonnie's after the party.  Ed fixed us some great salmon and shrimp for supper.  We had grazed all afternoon at Staci's, but we did enjoy the fish.  Again, we enjoyed visiting then went back to our Comfort Inn.

Sunday morning, we had hoped to find a ward to go to church, but the only English ward met at noon, and we had to be to Ken and Bonnie's by 1 for a pizza party with the family.  We drove around the campus of Skagit Valley Community College where Ken and Farrell taught, and Craig attended and played basketball.  A walk down memory lane.  Everyone came except Quinn and Sherri, and Jorgan.

Rhiley and Gideon with children Crue and Ruby

 

Starla and Ed, the master chef for Salmon and shrimp!

Starla and Ed live with Ken and Bonnie to help care for them both.  They do an amazing job. 

Ed and Starla with their 4 grandchildren, Hadley, Ruby, Lochlan and Crue

and their children, Gideon, Hannah and Jorgan

We had such a wonderful time with our Washington family.  They treated us like royalty.  It was sad when we had to say good-bye and head down the road.  We left about 4 and arrived in Leavenworth before dark. We stopped for some chocolate on our way into town.

more candy than you can name.  We found some interesting flavors to buy

Lon and Nancy, it was a little cold this high in the mountains

the 4 travelers, Craig, Robbie, Nancy and Lon

We checked into the motel and walked to the main street to look for a good place to eat.  We found a cute restaurant with live music and good food. 

We stayed at the Bavarian Lodge.  It was so cute, kind of expensive though

We checked in and went for a walk before bed.

The rooms were large and decorated as a mountain cabin.

lots of antiques in the lobby

We really enjoyed the atmosphere, this is the elevator door

We ate a great breakfast at the motel on Monday morning and went sight-seeing and shopping.  We walked up and down the shopping strip.  The best shop was the 3 story Christmas store.  It was great.  We bought a few shirts and jackets and left just after noon for home.

The weather was not good over the Blue's

We had a snowstorm that made seeing and driving a little challenging.  

We were thankful when we dropped down into the valley and had great weather the rest of the way home.  We stayed with Craig and Robbie and headed for home on Tuesday morning.  We had a wonderful trip.  It is always fun to travel with these two.  

Wednesday, I had lunch with Mom, Connie, and Sharon at Serenity.  It is always fun to be with my sisters.  Sharon is here for a week, and of course I won't see her again because of our temple schedule. She will be back in October so hopefully it will be on a week when I have more time to visit.

Lon was supposed to have gone fishing, but the wind was blowing too hard so he went golfing instead. 

Got a new photo of Larry.  He is loving in Florida now and seems to be doing great physically but he has no idea who Blanca is and lives in his own imaginary world.  But at least he is happy.

Hadley has her first two teeth!  She is growing up so fast

On the 24th, we ran to Twin and got Mother's hair done, then met up with this bunch for breakfast at the Big Bear Dinner.  Aydan, Justin, Shayla, Kyleigh, Gideon and Ryanne.  Gideon has been home for about a month and heads back to Japan till October then he will be stationed in San Diego for his last year. So good to see him.  Ryanne just graduated from nursing school.

So proud of her

She is headed back to Lewiston to take her boards then headed on a trip to Asia.  I think she said she will be in 5 different countries. She will meet up with Gideon for part of her trip.

Justin and Shayla were down this weekend to attend the high school graduation of Dillon.

Gideon, Aydan, Dillon, Riley, Ryanne, Mason, Kyleigh.

After breakfast we headed to the cemetery to get flowers on the graves for Memorial Day. 

 

We always decorate Dad, John, Lon's parents and grandparents but we don't do the other 30 that Mom used to do. Just not enough hours in our days anymore.  We then headed to Mindi and Justin's house.

Our Christmas gift from these two was a trip to the Hale Theatre for a show.  We choose an original play from the Hale Theatre called "May We All".  It was great as usual.  We were a little disappointed that they used newer country songs than the older ones that we know, but it was great as usual.

The energy, atmosphere, singing and dancing are amazing and we really love going to these shows with Mindi and Justin.

We went to dinner at Hannah and Jacob's with Nathan and Loren.  Our little Hadley is almost walking now.  She is so busy and just plain beautiful.  We found out that Hannah is expecting her second, a little boy.  There will be only one year between the two so it's a good thing this little girl is getting mobile.  We stayed over and went to church with Mindi and Justin then headed for home.  It was a wonderful weekend with family.  

Lon and LaRon went fishing for crappie on the 28th.  They caught a nice mess of fish.  The winds have been so bad this spring that Lon hasn't had much of an opportunity to fish.  

Well, these are the highlights for the month of May.  Of course, every day in the temple is special.  We just love the people we are able to serve with and the people we get to serve.  The weeks just seem to fly by as we go from mornings to nights and try to get in these special moments with our family on our days off.  We end this month with our morning rotation beginning. Not our favorite (not morning people), but the temple has been busy, and we have lots of training scheduled so the time really flies by.  And we say good-bye to May