Happy New Years ~ 2011

Happy New Year 2011!!

Can't believe that it is now 2011!  Where has 2010 gone?  I have been doing some reflecting the last couple of days ~ mostly while driving and Christopher napped and then once we have settled back into our motor home in the evenings.

One year ago we were facing some major changes in our lives.  Our plumbing business was almost non-existent.  We had a total of six customers from January 1 to March 21.  We knew something had to change so we started looking for new work.  


We applied for and was given employment with Funtastic Shows.  W were with them from March 24 to September 30, 2010.  You can read all about our adventures with the carnival by going to our archives beginning in early February where we begin to share about our new adventure.  We had lots of fun, met lots of people, made many new friends and faced a few challenges.  In thinking back about our time with the carnival we give thanks to God for his protection over us when we had major motor home problems on our way to Wenatchee and then as we headed to Sequim.  God gave us strength to work 10 days straight in Salem, OR and 17 days in Puyallup, WA.  We had surprise visits from the Tuski's, the Alesse's and the Coast to Coast Triplets and reconnected with Cory & Karen Crawford.  He was faithful as we got back on our feet financially.


October found us traveling to see family in Pasco, WA and Lewiston, ID.  On our return to Whatcom County the end of October we had another issue with the engine in our motor home where it caught on fire.  It took three weeks to get authorization from the insurance company and the repairs to be made.  During that time we stayed at our friends, Jim & Mei's condo, The Haishan Inn.  While waiting for the motor home to be repaired Ron was busy looking for work and I worked at Northwood Alliance Church.  

We applied for and were hired to sell Christmas trees.  We were assigned a lot in Edmonds, WA.  You can read all about our time selling Christmas trees by going to the archives in November.  We worked at the tree lot from November 22nd to December 24th.  We sold 281 trees!  We did not make the money we thought we would make but we had fun!  We also had lots of visitors: Dee & Tim Griffith, Jim & Mary Lang, Patrick & Patricia Alesse, Bryan Weiderspohn along with Evan and Lauren and Stacey Lynch.


After completing our gig of selling Christmas trees we made our way to Moses Lake, WA where we were able to visit with Ron's Aunt Ione, Uncle John and cousin Hans!  Then we were off to Newport, WA and Post Falls, ID for some Orofino High School Maniacs Basketball and of course see Brandon, Danalyn, Max & Christopher.  After three days in Post Falls we made our way to Clarkston, WA/Lewiston, ID to celebrate Christmas with Brandon and his family and some relaxation.  

And now we plan for 2011 

We will be here in Clarkston/Lewiston till Saturday, January 8th when we head back to Whatcom County.

January 10th to 21st Ron has jury duty in Whatcom County.  We also plan on doing lots of visiting with friends and family.  Need to get more Grammy time with Opal and her parents, Jamie & Suzanne before we start on our next adventure.

On February 13th we head out on the road again...this time to Hondo, Texas!  where we have accepted new positions at Lone Star Corral.  I will be the Office Manager and Ron will be the Outside Property Manager.  Lone Star Corral is an Escapees Co-op Campground.  They have 130 sites.


I will be posting our itinerary as soon as Ron has it figured out.  You can follow it on the left side of my blog under "Where we are going?" and you can see where we are at under "Where Are We?"


We hope you have enjoyed following along with us this past year and we look forward to you doing the same in 2011.  


I want to say a special thank you to all my followers - there are now 80 of you that admit to following along.  I know of a few more who just check in every once in awhile and I thank you as well for tagging along.  As usual I love to read your comments and answer your questions.

Happy New Year 2011!!!

 

Christmas Celebration in Lewiston 2010

After getting settled in at the campground and a couple of phone calls with Danalyn & Brandon we decided to have leftover spaghetti and salad for dinner and then open Christmas presents.  Christopher was excited that it was almost time to open gifts.  He had been eying them since he arrived in Post Falls on Tuesday afternoon and here it was Thursday night.

So without further ado ~~~

Max with his TWO nerf guns!  Bullets fly everywhere and Grammy is the perfect place to hide behind because Max knows not to shoot Grammy :)

Christopher getting help from Daddy in a shooting war with Max.

Christopher handing out presents.

Ron opening our gift from Brandon & Danalyn.  Two important dates were noted: January 7th we find out if we are getting a new granddaughter or grandson! and May 27th when she/he is to make her/his first appearance!!!!

Ron still studying the calendar (no more surprises) and Brandon & Danalyn opening their grill which they can use on the stove in the kitchen.  No more standing outside in the freezing cold to grill hamburgers :)

Christopher checking out his new puzzle.

Showing Grammy his puzzle.

Max and Christohpher opening a joint present.

Max opening his snow shoes.  He could have used those in Post Falls but they had been shipped to Lewiston.  Guess Max & Grandpa may have to take a day trip to go play in the snow.

Christopher checking out his Mickey Mouse book.

Brandon & Danalyn checking out their new cookbooks.

Max trying to figure out those snow shoes.

Christopher with his gifts and the wrapping paper.

Ron, Brandon, & Danalyn checking out their gifts.

The family enjoying opening their gifts.

Danalyn checking out her new bag and finding $20 inside.  This Grammy then remembered she forgot to include Brandon's $20 in his package.  Forgetful Grammy!

Max checking out the race track set that he and Christopher got.

And everyone knows good boys brush their teeth after eating another candy cane.

The devotional prayer journal book I received...so thankful for a special gift to use every day.

Christopher playing with the race track and trucks.

And you will notice I don't have many pictures of Max.  He is 12 and just does not like to let me take his picture.  Hopefully I can get some this coming week while he is playing basketball.  Or else I will have to have Grandpa hold him down in a tickling match so I can get some pictures of that darn boy!!!


We had a wonderful evening of watching the boys open their gifts and play and play some more.  And of course, we are so excited to find out that another little Workentin is due to join our family in 2011!!!

Prayer request ~ please keep this little one in your prayers as she/he is growing inside of Danalyn.  And for Danalyn not to get overly tired as she works at Life Care Center and is Mommy to Christopher & Max and wife to Brandon.

From Post Falls to Clarkston, WA/Lewiston, IDI

We woke up about 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, Dec. 30th to see if we were going to be able to make it from Post Falls to Lewiston.  Remember the roads between these two places were closed yesterday afternoon.  And this is what we found when we looked outside:

It was still snowing when we woke up. 

So we got on line.  Checked the roads, talked to Brandon to see what the team was doing and made our decision.  We would go to Lewiston IF we could get out of our site.  They had plowed the roads in the campground the day before and we had about 2' of snow in front of the rig.  So first on the agenda I got busy putting the breakfast casserole in the oven.  Thanks Lynda for the recipe, not only was it a hit with Ron on Christmas morning the grand boys ate it with gusto.  While I was busy with breakfast stuff Ron climbed on the roof of the motor home and took down the satellite dish, used the ladder to get the windshield cover off (it had to be stored in the tub as it was frozen solid) and stopped a guy with a truck with a plow on the frontend.  Yeah!  God answered our prayers.  This kind gentleman plowed the road in front of the motor home giving Ron a pretty clear and flat area to get the motor home out of our site.

The next prayer went up for the motor home to start.  Remember we had been having problems and we got the battery replaced while in Edmonds, WA.  It took a few minutes but it finally turned over.  Christopher said "thank you Jesus" after hearing me saying thanks.  It is so sweet to hear him talk about Jesus.  We had been hearing how Christmas was Jesus' birthday and we had to sing to him a few times in the last couple of days.  So we got the motor home ready, got the Jeep loaded and we were off.  We left Post Falls about 11:30 a.m. and arrived in Clarkston at Hells Canyon RV Park & Marina.  This is what we looked like:

Icicles!!

That big clump of dirty snow was attached to the side of the Jeep till Ron knocked it off.

Ice build up on the step

More icicles on the side of the motor home.  The compartment just under the awning arm is frozen shut.  Hopefully tomorrow Ron will be able to open it.

Icicle hanging off the water hookup spot.

The backend of the motor home.  It definitely needs a bath when we get back to Whatcom County.

Another picture of the front end.  And this is after 4 hours of driving.

Drivers side of the Jeep.

Close up of the ice build up on the Jeep.

 We arrived safely at the campground, got the motor home all set up and then called Danalyn to come and get the boys and their suitcase.  We love our little Jeep but with the seat set up so Christopher could ride in his carseat there was absolutely no room for their suitcase.  Good thing we had the motor home to carry their belongings.


We will be here in Clarkston/Lewiston till the morning of January 8th when we will start our return trip to Blaine.

And this is what we came to Post Falls for ~ Basketball!!

Our reason for coming to Post Falls was to meet up with Brandon and his family to catch a few games of basketball.  Brandon is the head coach for the Orofino Maniacs.  

This is the weather we had to drive to from Post Falls to Spirit Lake where the tournament was being held.

The two head coaches talking before the game.

Before the game they look so relaxed.  The manager is on the left, Travis, the JV coach is in the middle, Brandon on the right.  Looks pretty sharp in that tie, if I say so myself.

Warm up for the team

And Grandpa got recruited to do the book :)

Danalyn watching the action on the floor. Christopher pointing to where I should be taking pictures and Max wondering what am I doing?  This is one of a few facial pictures I got of Max...he usually looks away from the camera.

Watching the game.  Don't think Christopher sat still for more than 30 seconds and that was when he got in trouble.  Did I say he got in trouble - he wasn't listening to Mommy.

A picture of the tiger... Christopher thought he looked scary.

My beautiful daughter-in-love, Danalyn

And Tigger came along to watch the game.

The Coach in action.

And the Coach yelling "set a screen, set a screen, set a screen!"  Do you think they got the message?

Christopher yelling "Go team go!"

Coach is getting a better look.

Watching the Ref....and not liking what the Ref is saying.

And this is the Coach after getting called for a Technical.

The Coach had to stay in his seat for the rest of the game.  Got the Technical because he yelled "This is RIDICULOUS! to the Ref.

 It was not a pretty sight to see Brandon get the technical but that is what happens when the Coach doesn't like the calls the Ref's are making.

The score at the end of the game.  The Maniacs were the guests and this looks like the fouls were pretty evenly called but in actuality we had 2x the number of fouls then the other team.  It was a sad loss.

Christopher & Grandpa sharing a hug during the JV game.

Christopher and Grammy.  Grandpa needs to tell Grammy when he is taking the picture :)

And we had to get our hands stamped so we could come and go.

And bundled up and ready to go back to the motor home after the game.

And it was still snowing as we returned from Spirit Lake to Post Falls.

During the JV game Brandon got a call from the AD (Athletic Director) that the roads between Post Falls and Lewiston were closed due to snow, drifting snow, and high winds.  So the team was staying another night.  While driving home we got a text from Danalyn texted us that the boys were pooling their money to buy pizza because some of the boys had no money left (they thought they were going home after the JV game).  

So once a team mom always a team mom.

I said I was making a chicken & cheese casserole.  Did they want me to make a couple of extra casseroles for the teams.  SURE was the reply we got back.  So after discussing the situation with Ron we made a stop at Wally World and bought stuff to make spaghetti, garlic bread, salad, milk and of course the boys would need a snack for later in the evening so we bought chips and oranges.  And then we went to the motor home and did some cooking!

The dining table loaded with food stuff and the electric fry pan to brown the hamburger.

And simmering sauce and water boiling for noodles.

And the food: chicken & cheese casserole, spaghetti noodles & sauce, bread with butter, milk and chips.

Better picture of the bread, butter and salad.  The oranges are on the other counter.

Christopher and Max were served first.  Didn't know what would be left after 16 teenage boys helped themselves.

In the front, some of the boys eating, in the background is Brandon, Danalyn & the boys.

The whole group eating dinner.  We took over the breakfast area in the hotel.

And at the end of the day Grandpa and Christopher!

All in all we had a terrific and busy day!  More basketball awaits us once we are back in Lewiston.  Max has games on Monday and Thursday and the high school boys have games on Tuesday and Friday!  It will definitely be a busy week and we are happy we are here to enjoy it.