Fun Sunday

Yesterday we (Jeff, Susie, Hunter, Tim and I) went to the Wooden Boat Show on Lake Coeur d'Alene. Here's a few pictures. It was a very windy day! Those with little hair fared better on the pictures than those of us that have much hair!

From lois

Isn't this the cutest wooden tugboat?

From lois

From lois

From lois

Munchkin and the moose. One of Coeur 'Alene's trademarks is their moose statues all over the town.

From lois

Beautiful Lake Coeur d'Alene and the Coeur d'Alene Resort in the background

From lois

Sandy watery fun

From lois

No words necessary.

Hunter and Grandpa

Hunter gets to spend the night with Grandpa and Grandma and this is what I found them doing in the garage! Building a bird house ? bird feeder ? something like that.

From lois

Playtime and puppy at the Property.

We spent the afternoon at Todd and Amy's river property yesterday and ended up having a great time! Here's Todd jumping into the water.

From lois

From lois

From lois

From lois

Becky Zbylski brought her darling little tiny chihuhua puppy up and we all enjoyed it, especially Hunter.

From lois

From lois

Amy took Hunter for a jet ski ride and pretended to fall off, much to Hunter's delight!

From lois

From lois

From lois

From lois

Another book review!

This time a mystery thriller called "SUPREME JUSTICE" by Philip Margolin. It's a sequel to "Executive Privilege."

The first thing I liked about the book is that it is not graphic. No sex scenes and no creepy serial killer with horrible details about bodies. It's packed with action.

The book has gotten some mediocre ratings, but I feel that with any mystery thriller book you have to suspend some belief and just go with the book. Everything can't be completely 100% realistic.

The characters are believable, but not too well-rounded. The book is more about plot and action. Many characters are introduced, to the point where the main character, Brad Miller, almost doesn't seem like the main character. I didn't get lost, though, listening to it.

The action kept me going throughout the book. Sometimes (I listen to books instead of reading them) about half-way through I feel like skipping to the last 10 minutes because the author has lost my interest. Margolin keeps the plot going almost until the end. A disappointment in one detail at the end annoyed me where he leaves you hanging. All the other details were sewn up, though.

Brad Miller is a clerk to a Supreme Court Justice. I liked the setting of the Supreme Court and what goes on there. There are two or three plots going on at the same time and you will want to keep reading to find out how they tie together.

Not a bad summer read.

Grandpa and Hunter in their Adirondack chairs

Here's grandpa and the munchkins in their chairs.

From lois

Repurposing!!!!

Isn't this little Adirondack chair "cuter than a bug's ear" as my dad used to say. Tim made the chair last Saturday. He and I were scheduled to go four-wheeling for the morning. Tim said he didn't feel like going four-wheeling that morning, instead he felt like working in the shop and making this chair.

It's a repurposed chair from an old, large, computer table that Jeff and Susie had in their basement that went almost all the way across one side of the room and held two computers. When they got rid of it, Tim took the wood home and replaned it and made this chair! It should fit Hunter just fine. I'll try and get a picture of him in the chair soon.

From lois

Garage Sale Find

We found this FIRST EDITION Zane Grey book at a garage sale and snapped it up for 25 cents. 100 YEARS OLD. Copyright 1910. Lo and behold, come to find out it's only worth $3.96. Oh, well. It was fun, anyway.

From lois

Some cute little kid slippers

Here are some cute little felted slippers. I got the pattern from Dorlene Cross. They are about 6 inches long so might fit a 3-4 year old. I do want to make some baby slippers, so will work on another pair and try to make them a lot smaller. They were so fun to make!!

From lois

Hunter's Soccer Camp

Here are a couple of pictures of Hunter's soccer camp. Of course, Grandpa and I had to be there to watch him. He did really well and was enjoying himself. In the first picture he is actually winning the race since they are practicing running backwards toward the girl on the right.

From lois

From lois

Book Review

Just for something different I am going to do a book review of Empire of the Summer Moon by S. C. Gwynne.

I like murder mysteries and thrillers but am always looking for a good non-fiction book to read. Sometimes I will start one and about half way through find it is too boring to finish. So, this is a good one! Here are a couple of good things about it:

1) Mr. Gwynne illustrates both sides of the "rise and fall of the Comanches." You don't come away feeling totally sympathic toward the Americans (or Mexicans or Spanish) or the Comanches. (Note: after rereading this comment I will have to amend it by saying that Mr. Gwynne portrays how unfairly and stupidly the Americans and the American government acted toward the Comanches. Whether you consider this a fact or an opinion, I guess, is debatable!)

2) Inside of the timeline of events are fascinating facts that he has thoroughly researched, so the book does not become dry.

Inside the story of the rise and fall of the Comanche Indian tribe is the story of Quanah Parker and his mother, Cynthia Ann Parker, the famous white girl, who at the age of 9 was captured by the Comanches and, years later, ransomed back. We see the Texas Rangers and how they began and became skilled by copying fighting tactics of the Comanches.

Most of all is a wonderful picture of the Comanche Indians, how brutal and terrible they were, but yet how sad the whole picture is of their defeat and move to reservations. We don't meet Quanah until about halfway into the book, but then we learn a lot about him.

Still, you have to enjoy history to like this book. There are lots of facts about Texas history. I do recommend it.

A Day at St. Maries

We drove to St. Maries for the day while Carissa and Ben were here to Todd and Amy's river property. The day started out brisk, so game of croquet warmed everyone up. It was too cold to enjoy any water sports, unfortunately, but it was still very relaxing.






A walkway that Tim and Todd built to go from shore to the dock.








Fastest burger flipper in the West!



This water's too cold, Mom, even with this wet suit on!

A Few Miscellaneous...

I have been too lazy to put any pictures up, in addition to the fact that we haven't taken too many lately.

I didn't get too many pictures of Fathers Day, unfortunately. Didn't even get a picture of Tim. It was at Todd and Amys this year. Everyone brought something. It was an Italian theme. Amy prepared stuffed chicken breasts and pasta, Sandra brought an orzo salad. By the way, I highly recommend this salad. Jeff and Susie brought the fondue and I brought mozarella sticks and gelato and ice cream.

Hunter was able to perform some tricks for us, including somersaults and cartwheels.




The fondue table. Susie brought the fondue.




Jeff is working on the fondue pot, which is malfunctioning.

A Very Special Niece Visiting

Suzanne is here for a week from North Carolina to see us and attend our Post Falls Convention. We are so happy to have her!

Memorial Day Weekend

Over Memorial Day weekend some of Tim's cousins came over - some he and his siblings had met once or so, and some that had never met. Lots of table talk and stories flew across the table as everyone became acquainted. Lots of fun!







Yes, we had rain and Tim was out barbequing in a downpour!

Can't resist this picture of the boys.




It was Grandpa's 89th birthday and he wanted a flag to put out on his little patio.

Great Aunt Darlene and Hunter spending some quality time.