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.

Arrived back in Lynden on June 1st, 2010

6-17-10 - Wow! After that trip down into the Grand Canyon it was a fast trip home. On the way home stopped in Seattle and watched our Grand Daughter play some volleyball at U of W. They played a total of about 6 matches and I think won 3 and lost 3. There were over 64 teams in the tournament so had lots of competition.

Since then we have been trying to get our yard in shape even with all this rain we seem to get here in rainy WA. Our weather just doesn't seem to get any better and think it will be setting records for rain. We tryed to plan our arrival home after spring was over but I think we missed it by about three weeks. Before we know it the start of summer will be here (6-21-10) and still haven't seen the sun very much.

We have gotten in a couple of weeks of playing tennis since home. The first week we just got done and the sky opened up. But did get in some great games. This year there is a lot of younger plays. So for us older folks we have to pick it up.

I think there is light in the tunnel as far as getting all the yards in shape. So maybe if the work is catch up we can think about play. Oops, forgot about this 50 degree weather we have been having. But let look at the bright side we are upright and still moving, so that is good.

Just before heading down South Kaibab Trail - Grand Canyon

This picture should have been with our other blog posted on details of our trip down into the Grand Canyon. Well, I couldn't figure out how to put this picture in that blog , so you can see us now. It was a great trip and would recommend that anyone that loves the outdoors and likes to hike do this one.