Grandpa Mel ...

I hope you've read Kimi's beautiful blog about Grandpa Mel ... Saturday night was such a special night ... to go and see grandpa and be able to hold his hand and gently kiss him on the forehead. How grateful I am for those precious moments. Erin offered an amazing prayer on behalf of all of us ... There was an amazing calm, peaceful feeling in grandpa's room. Those who are on the other side of the veil are very close by, attending our sweet grandpa ...

As I looked through some of the photos I have of grandma and grandpa, I thought I'd post some that captured some pretty amazing moments.

Their wedding day ...
Grandpa at his college graduation ... with Grandma Ernestine and little Orkell.

... grandpa with little Melvin Reuel ....
... with Kelly and Dad ...
... horsin' around ... ha ha.

... what a good looking couple!!!
... Our greatest examples ... we love you so much grandma and grandpa!

Grrr ...

It was so fun to see you all this weekend. What a special trip! I'll post lots of pictures soon, but I wanted to post one of Jim that one of his fellow counselors took while he was up in the Montana wilderness this summer ... in all of his bearded glory ... hee hee. I love it! Gorgeous ... and the sunset isn't bad either ...

Happy Birthday Sweet Boy ...

I love you sweet Jaxon ... I miss you so much. I miss your bright, blue eyes and your never-ending hugs. You are my heart. Love, Tare Bear

Eight years ago, sweet little Jaxon was born and changed all of our lives forever. I miss him so much and can't wait to see him again. I know we're all thinking of him today (and always) ... I am so grateful for the knowledge that families can be together forever. I feel so blessed to be a part of our eternal family ... I love you all bunches and tons.

Seattle ...

We went over to Seattle this weekend with some friends of ours ... and we had a GREAT time! See some of the fun stuff in the next two posts ... it was, appropriately enough, raining ... which was a welcome relief from the heat of the past few weeks ... the shot above is the view from our hotel room ... and here's my cute Jim, sans beard, relaxing ... I'm so glad to have him back!

Pike Street Marketplace ...

... One of our favorite places ... those of you who've been there know what a fun melting-pot of crazy people, colorful flavors, sights and smells Pike Street Marketplace is ... it's quite fun place to people-watch ... Lots of local artisans that come and sell their wares ... it's such a unique experience every time we visit. Some of the shop stay the same ... which we're grateful for ... as Sotté Vocé has the best Basil Olive Oil and Peppered Balsamic Vinegar we've ever tried ... we have to grab a couple of bottles every time we visit ... here are some pictures we took in the market ... check out the gorgeous flowers ... amazing.

The old buildings line either side of the street ... all have beautiful flowers over head ...

SO many visitors ... fresh fish, fruits, etc ... kind of like a farmer's market on steroids.

Check out these peppers ... I've never seen anything like them .... such vibrant colors ... in long strands and in wreaths ... to be used fresh or dried for decoration ... they were dripping with rain ...

Take me out to the ball game ...

So, we went over to Seattle for the Mariner's game on Saturday ... it was SO fun! My good friend from work, Shirlene, and her husband Wayne invited us to go with them ... Shirlene had gotten four 'Diamond Club' tickets from one of her biggest vendors, and so we got the royal treatment ... wow ... we walked in our own entrance ... were able to have an amazing pre-game, buffet-style dinner with gourmet offerings like: Salmon Oscar, Chicken with Porcini Sauce, Beef Wellington and other things like fresh fruit, aged cheese and amazing pasta ... and desserts. Don't even get me started on the desserts ... all in our own restaurant under the ball park ... it was unbelievable. All of it was 'taken care of' for having 'Diamond Club' tickets ... Then a SHORT walk to our seats (like 100 steps), which were two rows behind home plate ... Ha ha! I'd never been to a major league baseball game before ... and this was quite the experience! It was so fun to be with Jim and our good friends. It was such a fun night.

This was the view from our seats ... we were right at homebase ... so fun. The pitches were so fast, you couldn't even SEE some of them!

This was the program and the menu ... ha ha ha ... you could just mark what you wanted and pass it down your row ... and within about 10 minutes, you had your little treat in your hot little hands ... not like we were hungry after that dinner! Wow!

We snapped a picture our ourselves ... a little too close??? Y'think???

Our good friends, Wayne and Shirlene Ingraham. We love these guys! They're like our family up here ... I don't know what I'd do without Shirlene ... she's my sanity at work! They're so good to us ... THANK YOU Shirl and D'W!!!!
Our seats, looking down ... one row in front of us, and then the camera guy was down in a little pit ... it was fun to watch him film the game ... there were SO many balls that came flying our way ... crazy!

This is a picture of the readerboard at Safeco field ... it was daylight when the game started, but it was dark by the time it ended ... and it was raining (welcome to Seattle!) ... so they had the stadium covered ... My hair thanked them.

Jimbo's coming home!!!

So, Jim will be back later tonight - FOR GOOD! I'm so excited. We thought it might be later in the week, but all the kids will be on their way home as of noon today ... so Jim gets to head home this afternoon!


His friend Joe, who was a therapist at Explorations, will be bringing him home (thanks Joe!!!) ... so they should roll in sometime late this evening. Joe will be picking his wife up at the Spokane airport tomorrow afternoon, and she'll drive back home with him ... so he'll be staying tonight with us! It'll be fun to meet one of the people that Jim's spoken so highly about ... Joe and his wife will soon be sealed in the temple - so pretty exciting times for them! Jim said he's got lots of pictures, so I'm sure we'll be posting those this week too! Hope you're all doing well! Love you! We're going to try and sneak down weekend after next ... we've been missing you all!

Hug those you love ...

... I just heard that yesterday morning a disgruntled tenant at our old apartments walked into the manager's office and shot and killed our friend Bette. She was so kind to Jim and I when we moved up here - taking a chance on renting to us because neither of us had jobs yet ... She treated us like her own kids. For the two years we lived there, we'd go in and visit her just to say 'hi' - she was such a sweet lady. I'm just sick. The dispute was a long-standing disagreement about a parking space. A parking space. I'm so sad for her family.

Hug your sweet families and keep praying for protection in daily comings and goings ... I love you all VERY much!!!

Kids Do the Darndest things ...

As I look through all of your amazing family photos ... I've decided to come clean with you all and let you know that Jim and I are the proud parents of two boys and two girls ... It may seem virtually impossible, but with the advances in modern science, it's been quite the science project, er, umm, I mean miracle. It's time to introduce you to our brood. As it seems, with all of the 'comings' and 'goings' of our busy summer, what with their athletic practices, and Mensa meetings ... I haven't been able to get all of them in the same place at the same time for a family photo ... so until we're able, these still shots of each of them will have to do ...


Here's our fifteen year old Jimmy John. He's quite little vocalist. He's first soprano in the all boys choir ... Jim is so proud.

This is our little artist ... you knew we'd have to have one sooner or later, huh? Our little Saffron is quite talented. When she's not eating the glue, she using it to stick all kinds of macaroni to her shoes. At thirteen, she's almost to the second grade reading level ... and if she keeps practicing, she should be able to form audible words by next spring.

At ten, Lionel Rupert is our resident health fanatic. As soon as he learned that eating carrots may improve eyesight, it's a rarity to find him without a beta carotene popsicle hangin' out his mouth. Bless his heart ... he's got perfect vision, and we just don't have the heart to tell him.

Oh our shining star ... little Chrysathemum ... we like to call her 'Rysanthemum' for short. She's almost three weeks old and at this rate, doctors tell us we'll need to buy her a girls size 8 outfit for her first birthday ... can you believe it? Quite the over-achiever already, wouldn't you say?!

Oh I feel as though a weight has lifted from my shoulders ... I mean, if you can't laugh about it ... you'd cry, right? Where's the fun in that???!!!

Our new Sandpoint Store ...

So this is some of my daily life ... in pictures. I had to run up to Sandpoint and get some shots of our newly remodeled store ... it's a beautiful store - and it's kicking Super Wal-Mart's bum! Woo-hoo! I think either people don't like Wal-Mart, or they love our store, so that's why we're doing so well ... that and the store's been there for forty years or so there's a loyal customer base. It was recently updated to look like the rest of our stores, so it's kinda fun. Kimmy, mom and dad have visited a Yoke's Fresh Market in person ... but here's a peek for the rest o' ya. Love ya all. I'm working on some more exciting things to post, I promise. Jim'll be home next week! So I'll be sure to update then too!