LaConner Pickleball Tournament over!!

Sept 3, 2010 - Had a great day on the pickleball courts.Total of 22 teams started the morning under sunny skies. I had a new partner in mixed doubles today,Vi Stockman, really good friends. Vi is a tennis player and hasn't played much pickleball but still we did OK and won 3 games and lost 2. Didn't get any awards but it was a real learning experience as there are lots of good teams.

When the dust settled today we didn't get any awards in the Gienger household. Ione and Colby had a good start and won their first two games but then lost the next two games. Then Vi and I won two games and went into the losers bracket and won our first game. Then in our next loser game lost and were done for the day.

Then we had our usual Banquet and the Canadians did such a good job. Ione was awarded the overall best lady player and got a new Champion Pickleball paddle. then we had some lesser awards for a BBQ dinner/ice-cream. It was a really fun time and Ron & Vi 'Stockman really enjoyed it very much.

So now we will be getting ready for the birthdays on Sunday - Evan who will be 16 and Jessica who will be 17. Now we will be praying for nice weather as they are predicting cloudy with a chance of rain, maybe. We will have to wait and see how it works out. Thats it for tonight.

TT Park at LaConner, WA!

Aug 25, 2010 - Arrived at LaConner TT Park for our annual Labor Day week of pickleball. We found when we arrived that are favorite site was reserved by the park for a large weekend group of 180 people. We did find a site that was in lots of trees and never seen the sun.

Then on Sunday the 28th we moved to site 214 which is on Shark Street. This site is more in the open and has worked out much better. The only probblem has been trying to get the DirecTV Dish working for TV. So far no luck and still don't have TV. We have been getting the computer on the internet from the motor home which is a record, this park just has soo many trees,etc. and can never get cell service, except by walking to the beach or clubhouse.

We have had lots of pickleball going on, with the most pickleballers we have seen for our annual tournament. So far we have had Men and Ladies partner switch matches all in on Monday the 29th. I won all my matches for a total of 6-0 and since we had three other people with no lossses had to have a playoff and I ended up with 3rd place. Ione won all her games and won 1st place. So had a good day.

Then today, Sept. 1st played men's doubles and we had 13 teams. Had some great games and lots of fun. I had a new partner Ron Chance, who is a new pickleball player and 56 yrs. old. So he is just a young guy. We started the day plaaying the team that won the gold. We had a great match with Ron/Ron winning 11-9. Then had a great match again Bob Lanius and Mike Phipps and won that gamee11-6. So we are cruizing along with a 2-0 record and then came Carol and Windell. We just couldn't get our game going and lost 11-6. So that means we play the guys we beat in the first match. Things didn't improve much and we couldn't get going and lost 11-3. S0 our playing was over for the day.

While us guys were playing pickleball doubles the girls were out shopping and they got back about 4 PM with lots of things. Ione found a gift for Jessie and also some stuff for her self. That's it for today from Sunny LaConner. We did have a day of rain on Tuesday but today was sunny and great. Thats it for today.

The girls will be playing mixed doubles in the morning. Carol and Barry arrived today so Carol will be Ione's partner. Go girls and have a great day.

When will I catch up!!

Aug 20, 2010 - Well we are back from our trip to Eastern Washington. Had a great time at Keller Ferry with our family. The weather was in the high 90's until the day we had to leave. Had a really bad wind storm which made things interesting.

We survived the storm and headed to Silver Lake Bible Camp the next day for another week at the camp. Things went really well and enjoyed time with our grand daughter Jada. She will be going into third grade this fall. We had about 325 hungry middle schoolers at camp this week. With that bunch there was never a dull moment. We really prefer working with High Schoolers but we never know which group will be there when we arrive.


Now is just about time to head to LaConner for 14 days and will be doing our pickleball tournament and seeing old friends. That's it for tonight.

Wow! It's hot in Lynden!

7-08-10 - Well summer finally arrived here in Lynden yesterday. It made a high of about 87 degrees and I think today it will be 90 plus. It is hard to adjust from a temp of about 57 to 87 in one day. But we will take it and enjoy.

Seems like maybe this afternoon we will take a bike ride to Birch Bay. It will feel good with a breeze from riding to keep you cooler. Then do some exploring around the area once we have reached the beach.

Got most of the yard stuff done this week so will just take it easy as it is too hot to do much in 90 degree weather. Will be soon packing up and heading to Eastern Washington for about three weeks. We leave Lynden on the 18th and will be back in town on the 9th of Aug. Should be fun doing our work at Silver Lake Bible Camp and spending some time at Keller Ferry with our family. That's it from our end of the world.

Strawberries!

6-25-10 - It is that time of year in Whatcom County where we live in the summer for u-pick strawberries. They are SO good right off the brushes, so today Ione & I picked a total of 29 lbs. @ 1.35 per pound. They will disappear fast, for pie, jam, with ice-cream and many other things.

Also deep in work doing yards and catching up from our long stay this winter in AZ. Always something to do when home for these retired folks. Time to go.

Crabtree Fathers Day - At the Park!!

6-20-10 - What a surprise we got at Fathers day picnic. We arrived and noticed this older truck parked in front.

Then everyone was bringing in their food for the big dinner, which we have every year rain or shine. We usually eat outside but there is a cabin if it rains we go inside, even has a fireplace. But we didn't get any rain but is really was cool. The temp was about a 62 degrees for June 20th. So not sure where summer is because tomorrow is the first day of summer. So then after much eating, talking and telling stories. The truck came up in conversation and found out it has been in the family for 50 years plus.

It is a 1948 Studebaker flatbed truck. It was originally owned by Art Crabtree (Grandma) and now deceased. Then Uncle Gene Crabtree had it many years in his potato growing business. Then due to it's age set many years in the yard and never was driven. Then somehow it ended up at Bob Crabtree's home. Since he is a body repair man maybe something is going to happening soon. Well after sitting there also for many years, just two weeks ago it came out with a shiny new paint job, new upholstery and now is really looking good. It is now back with Uncle Gene and he is so proud of his truck. So he was the one that parked it right out front for everyone to see. So we had to take a lot of family pictures next to the shiny truck and it made for a very nice day. Now we all have something to talk about for next year.

50th Anniversary Dinner at Mambo Italiano Cafe, Fairhaven

6-19-10 - Our two daughters invited us to a dinner for our anniversary which was on May 13th, 2010. But since we were still in AZ and them in Washington we had to wait until we got home.

The Cafe had a table set for 15 people. We arrived a little early and took some pictures, etc. They had a cake, flowers, etc. set up and everything was looking just great. When everyone arrived we all sat down for dinner. The menu had some great things and after sometime of reading all the items we were ready to order.

The service was good and the food was soon arriving at our table, we had pizza's, pasta's and a few things in between. So everyone had just what they ordered. Then after much eating and talking it was on to desert. Jada are youngest granddaughter was asking, Grandpa when is desert. I told her it was coming shortly and soon Aunt Lisa got up to start serving desert. Then after everyone enjoyed a great cake with fruit topping. Lisa then mentions that we have a gift for the honored couple. We think, they just took us out for dinner and more. So here comes a gift bag. We lift it and not very heavy. Take out all the paper and there is a book. The title "Out 50th Wedding Anniversary Album - May 13th 1960 - 2010.

What a surprise this book have took weeks to put together. It told the story with pictures of our first day of marriage through raising a family, our travels, etc. Not sure how many months it took the girls to put it together but it is SO amazing. It will be something we can have for the rest of our life. This was such thing that they did for their Dad & Mom. We are so proud of our families and wish them only good things.